First and foremost

It may be cold outside, but for years Jack First has been laughing at the weather and reaping a rich harvest from an ancient form of gardening.

Right now, Jack, 61, is enjoying salad crops produced from sowings he made in January. His success is nothing new – it’s down to “hot beds” inspired by the Roman Empire and, in particular, the Emperor Tiberius, who, during a campaign in Germany, founded the science of growing crops on hot heaps of decomposing manure.

It was a technique still used widely in Victorian times when many of the stately homes of England made extensive use of ‘hot beds’.

And Jack First – who lives in Hipperholme, near Halifax, and runs teaching and work experience at allotments belonging to the Cellar Project, a Saltaire-based charity, at Bradford –has now written a book on the subject, arguing that there are serious commercial possibilities in hot-bedding once again.

But he also says that the ordinary gardener can get a lot of fun out of trying it on a small scale to produce the kind of early salads he sells at a premium through a community shop in Bradford.

Once upon a time, the best hot-bed material was bedding from horse stables – the perfect mix of manure, straw and urine. And it still is, says Jack, but the composition of the straw has changed, because of combine harvesting, and he has had to recalculate most of the old guidance on the timing of decomposition and the strength of the heat generated.

But other materials, including wet leaves and waste wool, run it close. While hot, it acts as a barrier to pests and gives enough kickstart for several crops at a time, says the book.

Jack First usually has lettuces following radishes and followed by carrots, all planted at the same time but maturing one after the other. The carrots will be ready in May, with cauliflowers close behind, grown from seeds started indoors in October. He crops potatoes over April and May and tomatoes in July. The final flourish of the year is a melon crop from a combination of hot beds and a polytunnel.

Hot Beds: How to Grow Early Crops Using an Age-Old Technique, by Jack First, is published by Green Books, priced £9.95 and is available from greenbooks.co.uk/hot-beds/ or email [email protected]