Denise >

Here’s  me proudly presenting the first Spring Greens (ie Spring cabbage) of the season.

This is an event we look forward to every year, as it is the only fresh and tender vegetable we can reliably produce through the dearth of winter – in January, February and early March.

That’s thanks to the greenhouses of course!

In mid-Autumn, one of the four greenhouses here in the walled garden (one of the two from which tomato plants have been cleared) is planted up with cabbages started and grown-on in plastic pots. Once the protective boarding is fitted, no later than the end of October, the light available is reduced by about 40%, and the growth rate slows ; and that compensates for the mild conditions here in Uist, and certainly in the greenhouses.

These conditions result in Spring Greens starting to be big enough to harvest in late December or early January ; and we’ll continue picking them until early March.