The last lesson this term!

Due to the prevalent coronavirus situation, we are moving on to distance learning for the rest of the course. It is a pity that our face-to-face lessons have gone, but this is the safest solution for all - to prevent everyone from spreading the virus as best as we can! Hope you all stay healthy!

The topic this week is Seeds and Planting. Please find the article to read below, and 2 recordings. The 1st has the definitions of some words. The 2nd recording has more words to listen and repeat (to practise pronounciation). Then there are some questions - so you can make your own notes and answers and we can look at later in the year.

Picture of an ornamental garden:

Questions
1. Do you choose an ornamental garden or a vegetable/flower garden or both?
2. What would you plant in the vegetable/flower garden?
3. What are your favourite vegetables and why?
4. What would your ornamental garden or veg/flower garden look like? (Draw a picture of your own garden / or your wishful garden)

News Article:  What to plant now? 

1st Recording - Definitions

2nd Recording - Listen and Repeat

Self-isolation has sparked a gardening boom across Britain – so get digging!

Telegraph, By Matthew Appleby, 26 March 2020 (shorter version)

Are nurseries still delivering?

Yes. Online sales are booming as mail order retailers fill the gap left by garden centres closing. Specialists such as Suttons, Gardening Express, Hayloft and Mr Fothergill’s are seeing huge spikes in interest. It’s not just “edibles” and children’s grow-your-own kits – compost, sundries and flowering ornamental plants are selling fast, too. Chrysanthemums Direct’s Martyn Flint has reported a 20 per cent increase in sales, “as people gear up for a spot of gardening during time in self-isolation”. For indoor gardeners, Patch is still delivering houseplants.

Garden centres may be closed, but online deliveries are still possible 

Are there delays in online delivery? 

Online suppliers are flat-out. David Turner of Mr Fothergill’s says: “We’re dispatching with a skeleton staff to maximise social distancing and, due to our large stockpile of bulk seed, we still have enough to pack to keep supplies available.” Gardening Express has moved staff from potting and retail to dispatch.

“If I put a plant online, it sells,” says the company’s Chris Bonnett. “Online retail is being encouraged by the Government. They’ve got to keep the economy going one way or another.”

Derek Jarman of Hayloft says its new plant-packing glasshouse “gives us a facility well in excess of current requirements. We’re seeing good sales across all categories, particularly fruit, vegetables and compost. If this continues, we’ll be short of stock to sell after Easter.”

Can still visit your allotment?

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, has clarified that going to the allotment is recommended as a permitted form of outdoor exercise. However, Liz Bunting, legal adviser for the National Allotment Society, says you must follow social distancing and hygiene advice. If you’re self-isolating, stay away – even to feed cooped chickens. “We are living through a crisis, the likes of which none of us has experienced before,” says Bunting. “Not since wartime has the community spirit that exists on allotment sites been more important.”

What is selling fast?

With fine weather across the country, it's a great time to plant flowers.  Suttons says salad leaves seed sales are up 700 per cent (the most popular varieties include Little Gem lettuce), tomato seeds are up 421 per cent (Sweet Million and Gardener’s Delight are top), while beetroot Boltardy sales are up 461 per cent.

Overall, the biggest spikers are bean seeds: dwarf French bean Compass, runner bean Firestorm, climbing French bean Cobra and broad bean. Strawberries are much in demand, as are courgette and mushroom kits. Hilary Cutler, marketing director of Suttons, says: “The nation is taking self-sufficiency to a new level.”

What should I plant now?

Sow beetroot, salads, broad beans, chard, carrots, peas, spinach and radishes outside. Plant potatoes, strawberry runners, asparagus crowns, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic and onions. Under cover, to avoid late frosts, grow tomatoes, peppers and aubergines. To accelerate production, force rhubarb by putting a bucket over it and use cloches over lettuces. Now is the last chance to plant bare-root fruit trees and bushes.