Yay!! Someone Noticed The North!

[Snadger]

Well there's north and then .......... there's north ...........

I totally agree. All the mags base their dates on the south of england, which is a real pain. I only started sowing my seeds two weeks ago and will not be planting out until early June. So PLEASE can I make a request that editors please think about those of us who are doing just the same as everyone else, but a few weeks behind.

Up here, though, we do have the advantage that once they do go out in early June we have 24 hour daylight to assist growing

Well said Jennie! EVERYWHERE's 'darn sarf' to you innit!

[sewer rat]

Well there's north and then .......... there's north ...........

I totally agree. All the mags base their dates on the south of england, which is a real pain. I only started sowing my seeds two weeks ago and will not be planting out until early June. So PLEASE can I make a request that editors please think about those of us who are doing just the same as everyone else, but a few weeks behind.

Up here, though, we do have the advantage that once they do go out in early June we have 24 hour daylight to assist growing

Here, Here Jennie ! Though having said that I have started earlier this year and so far have got away with it as it has been very warm (I am only talking about in the tunnel here) and have already had first crop of lettuces, chard and spinach.

[Maf]

Those folk down south are well strange... Take Sheffield for example !!

[SueA]

It must be more difficult for you in Scotland/Shetlands etc. because there's even a big difference between conditions up there. I remember going to gardens in the Dumfries & Galloway area which were quite tropical because of the Gulf stream & where things which would never grow in my garden were thriving, at least you have Beechgrove garden on T.V. which caters for Scotland, we just have BBC 'nothing higher than Birmingham' here!
Is the 'gardening in the north' going to be a series or just a one off in GYO (haven't got my copy yet so it might be obvious in the mag. but I wouldn't know)?

[Alice]

Looks like there's a big demand for information on growing up North.
I reckon Rat could write the book in all that spare time he has

And yes SueA, I agree with you. It's not just a matter of how many degrees north you are, there's all the other variables - witness the sub tropical gardens at Logan and the beatiful gardens at Inverewe.
Vegetable garden at Inverewe - so mild on the coast there.

[JennieAtkinson]

You are absolutely right Alice - even within Shetland there are areas which are milder and more sheltered.

I do though think for beginners to the veg and gardening world it would be really beneficial to have some indication of regional variances. Sometimes indicating only to plant out "once the chance of frost has passsed" means you sowed at the same time as everyone else but have to keep the plants going for another three or four weeks, which end up leggy and tend not to survive when planted (yep ... been there, done that!). Even some small recognition rather than a full blown article ........

ok I'll get off my soap box now .......

Glad so many of you feel the same though.

[coreopsis]

I'll join in the choir of North.Sometimes the sowing guide on the packet doesn't apply to us.I knew I would be behind the rest of folks for at least a couple of weeks but sometimes it's not easy to work out the best dates for sowing and planting.

As for Inverewe Gardens,it is very nice over there

[cwipnip]

what really irrotated me about this article was that she was a southerner, its not that i have anything against sounterners but its the fact that she she has lerned to grow in the south,

i mean she says that there is no point growing outdoor tomatos, but a fellow on my allotment got a larger crop of tomatoes with a similar amount of plants!

also sweetcorn and runner beans do not need a greenhouse at all, yes you need to start them indoors for the first few weeks but htere are plenty of ways of protecting your plants from the frost.

next time they do a northern article they should have a northerer do it who knows our climate!

[crichmond]

i mean she says that there is no point growing outdoor tomatos, but a fellow on my allotment got a larger crop of tomatoes with a similar amount of plants!

also sweetcorn and runner beans do not need a greenhouse at all, yes you need to start them indoors for the first few weeks

I agree, I had a good crop of toms from the plants planted outside, and the sweetcorn I grew gave me a great crop last year even though they were an american variety yes they were started in modules in the greenhouse and planted out when about 10inch high.

[sewer rat]

Looks like there's a big demand for information on growing up North.
I reckon Rat could write the book in all that spare time he has

No probs - will rattle one off whilst I'm at the Farmers Market today.

Outdoor Toms - not worth the gamble
Sweetcorn - you're having a laugh
Runner Beans - not a problem so long as you're out the wind

[Nicos]

It is very important to be aware of different starting dates/last frost dates isn't it???..well done GYO

I was about to plant out some climbing 'French'French beans directly into the soil yesterday as the packet said May onwards- and thought I'd put a bit of fleece over them.
OH stopped me ( being THE expert gardener in our household!)..saying it was too early and to wait until June!!


I pointed out we're 'Darn sarff' here compared to Cheshire- so we got out last years English packet- yup- 'June onwards' this years French one 'May onwards'....see- France is a HUGE country in comparison to the UK.....I'm presuming those must be southern French planting dates????

We'll compromise- mid May!!

see- must be REALLY confusing for newbies to GYO

[HayleyB]

Right so us down sarf, can heed advice given in the latest copy of GYO but only after a month as it is of course the JUNE issue. Those even further sarf can heed next months advice now but all you lot up norf will have to wait for at least two months to heed the advice given in this week's mag.

All clear....... Great

[SarzWix]

Right so us down sarf, can heed advice given in the latest copy of GYO but only after a month as it is of course the JUNE issue. Those even further sarf can heed next months advice now but all you lot up norf will have to wait for at least two months to heed the advice given in this week's mag.

All clear....... Great

Until it's actually June, then we can all do June stuff at the same time. But then in another month or so, Oop North we have to do the autumn stuff a bit earlier than Darn Sarf, coz we get first frosts earlier...

Confused?!

[Nicos]

yes...but those 'up north' are only north of the ones 'darn saarf' when they're up there and in the right country - cos they're darn saarf when they're not- but oop norf to those even further darn sarf...yup...got that

[Alice]

As I said earlier I don't think it's all about north and south - it's about taking local conditions into account.