Episode 655: Planting Early, Protecting Brassicas & My First Real Beekeeping Experience

We’re at the end of April and everything suddenly feels early this year. Warm days, fast growth, and that sense that the season has properly kicked into gear. I’ve taken a few risks in the kitchen garden, made good progress down on the allotment, and had a beekeeping experience that’s left me more excited than ever about keeping my own hive. Here’s what’s been happening.

From the Kitchen Garden; Planting Early

I’ve done something I don’t normally do at this time of year: I planted out all my tender plants. Tomatoes, aubergines, chillies, peppers, courgettes — they’re all in the ground. It’s a gamble, but with fleece ready and plenty of backup plants, I’m willing to take the chance.

The kitchen garden looks full now, even though a few brassicas are still flowering before they come out. A big job finally ticked off was moving the Belfast sinks that hold our herbs. With my brother’s help, they’re now in front of the potting shed and look much better there.

Seed sowing is calming down, although I did lose a batch of sweetcorn after leaving them too long in the heated propagator. A reminder that airflow matters. I’ve also sown Crown Prince pumpkins — one of my favourites — and I’m hoping to save seed from them later in the year.

Watering has suddenly become a daily job. Mulching with compost is helping, but if this dry spell continues, we’ll be relying heavily on the water butts.

Down the Allotment; Protecting Brassicas

It’s been warm enough that I regretted not taking water with me, so a reminder to take fluids, sunscreen and a hat. I’ve made myself ill before by ignoring that.

The last of the potatoes went in this week — King Edwards — finishing off six weeks of staggered planting. Compost is always tight, but we had just enough to mulch the bed.

The brassicas are all planted out too: sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, kale. A bit of lime, firm soil, and a good watering. The pigeons have already shown interest, but instead of netting, I’ve put up children’s windmill toys. They move in the breeze, scare off pigeons, and still let the smaller birds in to deal with slugs and snails.

A quick mow made the whole plot look better, and the asparagus bed is now producing well. I picked a good handful this week, and more spears are appearing every day.

Recipe of the Week

With early peas and fresh mint ready, I made a simple pea and mint soup. Butter, onion, garlic, peas, stock, fresh mint — blended until smooth and served with crusty bread. It tastes like spring in a bowl and is a great way to use those first early peas.

From the Podding Shed; My First Real Beekeeping Experience

For my birthday, my wife booked me onto a beekeeping experience day, and it was fascinating. The beekeeper I visited manages 140 hives across Sussex, and as we arrived, a swarm was already moving between trees. Standing in the middle of thousands of bees was incredible — they weren’t aggressive, just busy.

We suited up and went through several hives, checking for eggs, honey stores, pollen and queen cells. I learned a huge amount, including how to spot signs of swarming. One hive was a bit angry, and after we took our suits off, I did get stung twice, but it hasn’t put me off at all.

What it has done is confirm that keeping bees at home isn’t suitable — too close to neighbours. The allotment is the better option, but the council requires experience before granting permission, which is tricky when you can’t get experience without keeping bees. I’m working with them to find a way forward.

I’m more excited than ever to start keeping bees properly.