This week on the veg grower podcast, Richard has been busy potting on young plants, sowing parsnips and tending to his Rhubarb.

Potting on

We start this week in the greenhouse, where Richard is potting on lots of young plants into bigger and bigger pots. Richard like to wait for the compost to have plenty of roots before potting up. That way the root ball comes out easily and the compost doesn't get wasted.

Potting up is essential for encouraging growth in our young plants. Given the roots more space to stretch out and search for moisture and nutrients.

Richard usually uses a large collection of plastic pots which get re used over and over again. However he is also using some biodegradable pots including some from wool pots.

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Sowing parsnips.

This week Richard has sown some parsnips. Parsnips of course being a fantastic tasty winter veg.

But getting parsnips seeds to germinate can be tricky!!!

Richard believes this to be due to the soil temperature. Parsnip seed germinates in soil above 12c. There's an old wives tail about how to test if the soil is warm enough but the best way to test is with a soil thermometer.

Chef Scott's recipe of the week.

This week chef Scott has a delicious Asparagus hummus recipe for you to try. A great way to make a healthy tasty dip from your asparagus harvests.

Rhubarb check up.

Inspired by the asparagus recipe Richard heads over to his asparagus and rhubarb to make a few pickings. Rhubarb is in plentiful supply currently but flower spikes have appeared.

Flower spikes on Rhubarb is usually a sign of stress. Given the weather its not surprising and its easy to rectify.