With some of the wettest few months having just passed, the soil is still in a damp state. It got a chance to dry up over the last two weeks but last weekend’s rain has made it hard to get the tilling done. That is the only way to let air circulate deep down into the soil to help dry it out.

There is no use in trying to sow or transplant until the soil dries out to a nice fine tilt. After all of the rain, there will be a serious lack of nutrients in the soil, especially if artificial nutrients are constantly used, as they wash away very quickly.

The garden here is not too bad that way as nothing only farmyard manure was ever used and this lasts in the soil. Roots of any plants sitting in saturated soil for a long period of time will eventually cause dieback (I get a lot of queries about this).

When small plants can’t get off to an early start, they will be stunted and never really recover. So it’s just as well to wait until the soil warms up because until then it’s a waste of time sowing. It’s amazing what a few hours of sunshine can do to plants and soil alike – its early yet so no need to panic.

I have some tomato plants on an indoor south-facing window sill and they flourish when the sun shines – it does make a difference. The soil around here is limestone and most crops do well both in the garden and on the farm. We had no flooding as the land soaks reasonably quickly with a few days of decent weather.

The seedlings in the greenhouse are coming on well and are outside on mild days to harden them up as they can go spidery in the greenhouse. Last week I sowed seeds of brussels sprouts and savoy cabbage, along with some scallions indoors in trays.

The first potatoes are just sown – my father always had to sow a few before 17 March, after that they were not classed as early. We don’t sow too early as it’s a bother if there’s a heavy frost in May as they have to be covered at night as a result.

I have several new gardeners who like to follow my advice on sowing. It’s great to see so many young people getting back to gardening – some people believe it is one of the latest hobbies, however that is not true.

When I was young, gardeners were a real need and every household had a plot, let it be big or small. So bring on a bit of decent weather to get a start on 2016.

If you have any queries or questions, please email me at lilysgarden1@gmail.com