...How to chit potatoes for planting...

Simple. Place them in a dark dry place and wait for them to chit. It should chit pretty soon (1-2 weeks) but it is ready for planting in 4 weeks time. 

Some store-bought potatoes may take longer to plant as they are sprayed with chemicals to delay chitting.

Don't wet your potatoes as they will go mouldy. That's why it's important to store them in a dry place and wait for them to chit. 

When your potato tubers have long sprouting buds (by long I mean over 2 cm) they are ready for planting. 

Why is it important to chit your potatoes before planting?
Because you get harvest earlier if you do so. In fact, this is up to 3 weeks earlier... 

When you chop your chitted potatoes for planting, make sure you use a clean knife washed with antibacterial. You want to give your potato plants a great start. 

Lastly, people ask me: can I chit a potato now, and harvest at Xmas time? 

Τhe answer is no. If you chit your potatoes now, and you grow them in bags inside, then you may get your first potatoes in early February. 

Potatoes hate frost. It's not a good time to plant them outside this time of the year. But there's nothing stopping you growing them inside the house.

...Forget-me-nots...

Forget-me-nots. The flowers of nostalgia!

Forget-me-nots are such a lovely plant, and its light blue / light pink flower combinations are beautiful. You can buy some cheap seeds on ebay and start growing them. It's really simple.

They make your garden full of colour and texture, and you can grow them in pots and offer them to friends as Easter presents (they bloom just before Easter on year 2 / bear in mind that your plant will not give flowers on year 1). 

To sow, you start your seeds inside, a couple of weeks before the last frost, and when the plants are easy to handle, you transfer them outside. You will notice that your first forget-me-not sprouts will appear in about 10 days time from the day you sowed them. Don't forget to water the seed / sprouts regularly while inside.

You can grow them from seed straight in the garden too, but they usually take a bit longer to sprout (4-6 weeks). But when you sow in the garden, make sure that the last frost has passed. 

Also, a word of advice. Don't sow too many seeds on your starting pots of compost. Forget-me-nots have a very high percentage of success when it comes to sprouting; you don't want to have to throw sprouts or plants away. The final plant does take some space, especially when sown in borders. Yet, it only reaches its final size on year 2, just before blooming. 

 
Forget-me-nots hardly require any care. I have never watered them while in the garden, the lovely British rain does the trick. 

I have not noticed any problems with slugs - they don't seem to like their young tender leafs. 

Mine have shades of light blue, light purple and light pink, all on the same plant. No idea if this is common, but I bet that fairy nature has worked a little miracle. Certainly my favourite flowers ever! 

Have fun growing them!

Forget Me Not

Forgive,
But never forget.
Love,
And never regret.
The one,
Is the one,
you will never forget,
And will make you never,
Want to regret.

(a poem by Nikki)