Mind the (Hungry) Gap

(March-April)

The rustlings of spring are on the horizon and as the days get longer the temptation to get planting is growing. At the same time, we must be cautious for there are two gaps to navigate.

On the one hand we can have a gap in wintery conditions with a ‘false spring’, where it warms up nicely, the crocuses come out and it looks as if spring is right around the corner, then it snows and kills your seedlings!

With the UK’s temperate, oceanic climate and high latitude, this feature of warmer, longer days, punctuated by surprise frosts and snows also leads to the Hungry Gap; a period in spring where there is little or no fresh produce available. Whilst potentially inconvenient in the modern day if shops run short of supplies, this was of course a much more serious problem in the past. Whilst the risk of starvation is thankfully now not something we need worry about too much in the UK there are still some handy tricks and tips to ensure we can still get some tasty fresh spring veggies and to make sure our lovely ornamental plants survive:

• Sowing seed for any frost sensitive ornamental plants or garden vegetable crops such as beetroot safely indoors is advised before mid-April. Once all risk of frost is passed you will be rewarded with healthy young plants that will have a head start on those sown outside whilst avoiding the loss of plants from over eager outside early planting.

• Sprouted seedlings of seeds, often described as ‘microgreens’, can be a fun, affordable way of producing some tasty greens for the kitchen. A range of plants can be used for this such as alfalfa or chickpeas. One tried and tested plant that is often overlooked are peas – dried peas purchased from the shop can be soaked overnight and then lain on damp kitchen roll in a tray or sown in a shallow tray of compost. Within a couple of weeks they will have produced a small forest of bean shoots which can then be harvested with a pair of scissors for fresh spring veggies.

• For the adventurous spring has also traditionally been a time for foraging for wild greens, most commonly nettles, wild garlic and dandelions. Relevant precautions should of course be taken to ensure you are certain of a plant’s species before consumption and harvesting any away from where any animals may be using plants for the bathroom. With that in mind, a fun failsafe plant to try harvesting in the spring is the humble stinging nettle. Whilst this may sound an odd choice, given that it has the word ‘stinging’ in its name it is a surprisingly delicious, and incredibly nutritious food. The key with nettles is to harvest the top 20cm or so of nettles in the spring when they have safely outgrown the height where any canines may make use of them. Wearing gloves is of course recommended, but with a pair of gloves, a bag and a pair of scissors you can harvest a feast! Once you get them home, if you dice them and cook them up you can make a delicious soup or even nettle pesto!
  

In the next post we’ll be looking at ideas for getting your beds and pots prepared for the coming growing season and other handy hints for verdant flower beds and bumper crops, in the meantime, happy gardening!