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Super squash
Get ready for a BUMPER CROP with our comprehensive growing guide
Easy projects: Plan ahead for a winter of plenty
MAY 2011
WINTER VEG
£3.60
✦ Build a raised bed ✦ Plant a tub of beans ✦ Make a wormery ✦ Design a bird scarer
• Troubleshooting • Herb propagation • Patio orchards
14.Maxicrop WP.indd 2
23/1/09 11:28:41
www.kelsey.co.uk Published by: Kelsey Publishing Group, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG Telephone: 01959 541444 Editorial team Gi.ed@kelsey.co.uk www.growitmag.com Editor | Benedict Vanheems Sub editor | Martin Oldaker Designer | Kate Holt www.atgraphicsuk.com Publisher | Stephen Curtis Friends and contributors Rebecca Wells, Anne Swithinbank, Martyn Cox, Paul Wagland, Steve Bradley, Charles Dowding, Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell , Ann Somerset Miles, Jeannine McAndrew, Terry Beebe, Lucy Halliday, Tessa Evelegh, Dave Hamilton, Mike Woolnough, Andy Cawthray, Shannon Denny, Angela Youngman, Victoria Poolman, Andrew Haynes Advertising Advertisement Manager: Simone Daws Telephone: 01733 353386 Email: gi.adsales@kelsey.co.uk Advertisement Director David Lerpiniere Telephone: 01959 543507 Email: gi.adsales@kelsey.co.uk Production Manager | Natasha Austin Telephone: 01733 353386 Email: natasha.austin@kelseypb.co.uk Subscriptions Save money by taking out a subscription to Grow it! See offer on page 46. Distribution Problems getting your magazine in the shops? Please contact our distributors, Marketforce, on 0203 1483333, or better still, SUBSCRIBE, you know it makes sense! If you would like to sell Grow it! magazine, or help distribute it in your local area, please call Jerry on 01869 325845 Printing William Gibbons & Sons Limited Willenhall, West Midlands. Kelsey Publishing Group Gold Winner, Printing and Publishing, National Green Apple Awards 2006 for Environmental Best Practice by Commerce and Industry.
Editor's welcome I f there’s any group that appreciates the advantages to be had from working with nature, it’s the dedicated band of kitchen gardeners who tend and toil. While Mother Nature sometimes throws some surprises our way, she’s on the whole an obliging partner, sending rain and warmth to help crops grow, winter frosts to check pests, and a balance of creatures great and small to maintain the healthy ecosystem on which our plants depend. What we’re increasingly realising these days is that Mother Nature will help us if we just let her. Patience is a virtue that pays off, in gardening terms, as less of a need for pesticides, sound
tapestry. She also takes a look at some of the common pests and diseases that can be kept in check by inviting these allies on board. Ann Somerset Miles shares her tips for making your garden or allotment more birdfriendly (page 49), while Angela Youngman explains why planting up your roof (yes, your roof!) could be the solution to boosting bee numbers in urban areas (turn to page 89). Natural allies can be found below ground, too, with worms the best-known subterranean troopers. As well as ‘digging’ the soil for us, worms can turn kitchen scraps into the gardener’s proverbial gold by way of a wormery. You can buy a purpose-made wormery from any of the catalogues or make your own from an old
What we’re increasingly realising these days is that Mother Nature will help us if we just let her soil structure and a richer, more vibrant local environment. Decades of tinkering with nature’s delicate balance has lead to the deployment of an increasingly potent mix of chemical cocktails as we attempt to keep things artificially on an even keel. Thankfully today’s home grower realises that a step back to more organic, wildlifefriendly techniques will pay dividends. In this issue we examine a number of ways of inviting nature on board to save time and money while contributing to the health of local ecosystems. Jeannine McAndrew (see page 52) investigates the good guys of the productive plot – the aphid-ravenous ladybirds, slug-munching hedgehogs and caterpillar-crunching blue tits that form a weave of this wholesome
In this issue...
dustbin, as Mike Woolnough demonstrates (page 82). And why not make your own liquid plant feed while you’re at it? Selfsufficiency guru Dave Hamilton’s been doing this for years and show us how we can too from page 76. There’s plenty more advice in this issue to make the most of Mother Nature’s helping hand, so delve in and transform your plot into a wildlifefriendly, productive haven. One final note – please turn to page 18 for the launch of this year’s Your Plot competition. We’ve some superb prizes to be won and with categories for all kitchen gardeners, everyone has a chance of winning something. I can’t wait to read about your plots and compare notes!
Benedict Vanheems, Editor
Grow it! magazine is printed on environmentally accredited paper which is sourced from forests managed in keeping with environmental, economic and social sustainability standards. The paper is bleached without the use of any chlorine chemicals. Copyright Kelsey Publishing Group 2011
Rebecca Wells On the allotment, p14
Jeannine McAndrew Dave Hamilton Troubleshoot tips, p52 Plant feeds, p76
Mike Woolnough Compost kings, p79
Grow it! May 2011
3
Contents May 2011
44
REGULARS 6 WHAT’S NEW
All the latest from the world of kitchen gardening, including a sneak preview of this July’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, plus the 10 most profitable veg for small spaces
8 YOUR SAY
Share your top tips, growing successes and horticultural conundrums through our readers’’ letters page
On the
COVER
10 READER OFFER
Got behind on your propagation? Then send off today for your FREE tomato plants and fertiliser, plus take advantage of some generous offers on fruit and asparagus
89
14 GROWER’S DIARY
Rebecca Wells is busy on her allotment sowing, potting on and planting out ready for warmer days
18 YOUR PLOT 2011
It’s time to launch our hugely popular Your Plot competition for 2011! Start taking photos now for our July entry deadline
20 ASK ANNE
Got a horticultural question or seeking some ideas? Then put your query to Gardeners’ Question Time’s Anne Swithinbank. This month there are tips on windowsill crops, outdoor cucumbers, blown sprouts and stir-fry vegetables
66
14
28 COMPETITION
Save valuable time (and your back!) with this month’s competition. We’ve two sets of labour-saving devices to give away that will make life on the allotment that much easier
46 SUBSCRIBE!
FEATURES
turn your outdoor plot into a haven for our feathered friends
8 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Subscribe to Grow it! and never miss an issue of your favourite magazine
Grow it! pays a visit to the very first Edible Garden Show – a feast of ideas for grow-ityourself enthusiasts
92 YOUNG GROWER
40 COLD INTENT
The salad days are here as Victoria Poolman shows little green fingers how to grow a bucket of healthy, tasty salad
94 IN THE KITCHEN
Late spring into early summer is asparagus season. Make the most of this fleeting window of luxury with three lip-smacking recipes
98 NOTES FROM THE POTTING SHED
Andrew Haynes ponders what it is about garden open days that us Brits love so much
4
May 2011 Grow it!
It may be warm outside but this is precisely the time to start off our winter crops. Charles Dowding explains what needs doing
44 BEANS IN A BASKET
o Transform an old wicker basket into an attractive home for productive French beans – delicious!
49 FEATHER THEIR NEST
On the
COVER
On the
COVER
Is your garden as bird-friendly as it could be? Ann Somerset Miles shares some tips to
52 THE GOOD, THE BAD AD On th e AND THE UGLY
Get the balance right between garden foe and garden friend. Jeannine McAndrew looks at the common suspects, good and bad
COVER
57 CURIOUS CUCURBITS TS
On the Relish the many colours, shapes COVER and textures of squashes and pumpkins. Our grow guide will d show you how to grow them – and get a bumper harvest!
62 HOUSE IN ORDER
Clear the decks and spruce up the hen house before summer proper arrives. Terry Beebe talks us through the process
The Practical team May
14 PAGES
OF SEASONAL ADVICE, TOP TIPS AND EXPERT KNOW-HOW
Every issue our team of regular experts reveals the main jobs for the month along with bags of ideas
The fruit grower p25
The city grower p29
Extend your fruit garden onto the patio. Benedict Vanheems looks at container fruit trees for the smallest of spaces
Pack a flavoursome punch with a steady harvest of peas. City gardener Martyn Cox explains the best ways of growing them
PROTECT YOUR CROPS
On the
GET TO KNOW YOUR FRIENDS AND ENEMIES IN THE GARDEN
COVER
The organic allotmenteer p33
Paul Wagland’s out on the plot planting a late crop of spuds and building a raised bed. Plus, are allotment chooks right for you?
The under cover grower p36 If you’re hankering after something different then Steve Bradley’s greenhouse oca experiment is definitely for you
52
The BEST VALUE kitchen garden magazine JUST £3.60
IDEAS GALORE!
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82 PRACTICAL PROJECT
easy-to-make wormery and you’ll be well on your way to producing on-tap, nutrient-rich liquid feed plus the richest compost
74 SCARE TACTICS
84 TEA TOTAL
Shoo away hungry pigeons from your ur plot with some stylish bird scarers. Tessa essa Evelegh explains how to make them On the in her colourful practical project
76 FERTILE GROUND
Get ready for a BUMPER CROP with our comprehensive growing guide
On the
We drink enough of it so it’s about time we grew some of it! Shannon Denny looks at why we might soon be growing more of our own tea
COVER 89 HIGH PROFILE
ers, Don’t fork out on expensive fertilisers, says Dave Hamilton, try making your own liquid feed – it’s easy!
Super squash
COVER Put worms to work with Andy Cawthray’s
Herbs are relatively expensive, so bulk up your collection by mastering some essential propagation techniques On the
COVER
SEEDS
In the kitchen garden compost is king. Mike Woolnough takes a look at the various compost bins available to buy
LIVEN UP YOUR PLOT WITH QUICK-GROWING SALAD LEAVES
Jazz up the allotment shed roof by giving it a cloak of vegetation. Angela Youngman finds out why green roofs are taking our rooftops by storm
Easy projects:
✦ Build a raised bed ✦ Plant a tub of beans ✦ Make a wormery ✦ Design a bird scarer
WINTER VEG Plan ahead for a winter of plenty
£3.60
70 PROPAGATION STATIONS
79 FEED THE EARTH
pay p&p
Step up your salads
MAY 2011
66 A LEAF LESS ORDINARY ARY
Fed up with the usual lettuce? Let Lucy Halliday tempt you with some On the COVER of the many other leafy salads available to grow.
FREE!
TOMATO PLAN FOR EVERY TS READER *Just
• Troubleshooting • Herb propagation • Patio orchards
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Don't miss an issue of your favourite magazine! Turn to page 46 now Grow it! May 2011
5
Patios of plenty
NEWS
Kent-based Victoriana Nurseries is holding a free ‘patio produce’ day on 14 May. Visitors will be able to see container cropping ideas and pitch their kitchen gardening queries to on-hand experts. A resident bee keeper will be available to guide those thinking of getting started with bees, while there will be activities to keep youngsters busy. Discounts are available on the day, including 15% off vegetable plants and seeds, and an equal discount on all potted soft and tree fruits. The nursery will open from 11am to 4pm. For more details visit www.victoriananursery.co.uk or call 01233 740529.
Send your news stories to gi.ed@kelsey.co.uk
Edible wonder
5-10 JULY 2011
HAMPTON COURT PALACE The RHS Edible Garden at this July’s Hampton Court Palace FLOWER Flower Show is shaping up to be the biggest yet. Featured fruit SHOW and veg will include traditional favourites, recent introductions and
some that may be more commonly grown in future. There will also be a ‘food for free’ area, showing plants that can be foraged. Visitors will be able to explore an exhibit of hops; a living willow arch leading through a fruit and nut orchard; a cider apple orchard; and a natural pond complete with resident geese. The centerpiece will be a more formal area featuring a fruit cage, ornamental vegetables, herbs and an edible and medicinal flower border. Exiting this area, visitors will enter an area showcasing crops from warmer climates which are now more evident in the UK. Completing the Edible Garden will be a small olive grove and a large tropical house sheltering a jungle of exotic fruit trees and palms. An area of giant vegetables will provide the final surprise. The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show runs from 5-10 July. To buy tickets online visit www.theticketfactory.com/rhs/online or call 0844 3387505. Tickets start at £14.50 for RHS members and £18.50 for non-members.
Grow your savings With summer in its salad days, many new kitchen gardeners will be flexing their green fingers for the first time. And with prices for fresh produce set to reach new records for the fifth year in a row, it’s time more of us appreciated just how much money growing your own can save. Seed company Marshalls, for example, has worked out that a regular packet of its runner beans will sow a single 7.5m (25ft) row with a typical yield of 13.6kg (30lbs). With the average cost for a regular packet of seeds at £2.85, that equates to just 21p a kilo! As supermarket prices hit up to £7.50 for the same weight, this makes it 37 times cheaper to grow them yourself. Similar saving can be made with sprouting broccoli (9p a kilo) and mixed salad leaves (just 21p per kilo). 6
May 2011 Grow it!
TOP 10 PROFITABLE VEG
1 Runner beans 2 French beans 3 Salad leaves 4 Rocket 5 Carrots 6 Tomatoes (grafted) 7 Aubergines 8 Spinach 9 Beetroot 10 Turnip
Pippa digs in
Television personality Pippa Greenwood has officially opened the new Hook Cross allotment site in Hook, Hampshire. New allotmenteers, villagers, the local MP, councillors and well wishers cheered as Pippa planted the first apple tree in the community orchard – an old Hampshire variety, Hambledon Deux Ans (c. 1750) – to mark the opening. As plot holders took possession of the allotment site, they learnt that the association has also been awarded a Big Lottery Fund grant of £10,000 to help with the allotment build. Anyone wanting to learn more about the Hook Allotment Association can visit www.hookallotments.com
Gardeners’ gold Urine is full of valuable nutrients which, if used correctly, can be of enormous benefit in the garden. Use it to speed up the composting process or dilute it to create a safe and effective liquid feed. Despite its advantages, collecting urine can sometimes prove a messy and unpleasant business but a new watering can-comechamber pot could be the answer. The Peecan has arrived from Sweden and is available from online store www.evergreener.com Costing £60, each Peecan includes a lid to contain any whiffs and prevent your personal liquid feed from sloshing about.
READER OFFER
Tickets please
In the March issue (see ‘What’s new’, page 7) we reported the launch of a new kitchen gardening show at Loseley Park near Guildford, Surrey. The Grow Your Own Show will run over the May Day bank holiday on 1-2 May. As well as demonstrations, edible show gardens and talks, visitors will be able to find out more about cooking their produce, the joys of poultry, and bee and pig keeping. We’ve teamed up with The Grow Your Own Show to bring readers a two-for-one ticket offer. Simply buy one £10 adult entry tickets in advance and you’ll receive another completely free! Call the booking office on 01483 444789 and choose option one. Quote Grow it!to receive the discount. For more details on the show visit www.thegrowyourownshow.co.uk
SHOESTRING SELF-SUFFICIENCY Kitchen gardening should save money but that doesn’t stop all those ‘essential’ gardening gadgets from chipping away at your budget. That’s where a new book from Grow it!’s very own Dave Hamilton comes in handy. Dave’s book Grow Your Food for Free (Well Almost) details numerous money-saving tips to help you grow for less. Crammed with practical projects, the book covers topics such as how to raise, harvest and store plants while recycling and reusing materials creatively. You can get hold of a copy from Green Books (01803 863260, www.greenbooks.co.uk). ● Turn to page 76 for Dave’s tips on making your own plant feeds
Celebrate compost
A competition run by charity Garden Organic to encourage people to share their passion for compost has met a keen response. The ‘Celebrate Compost’ competition called on gardeners to put their love for compost on paper by designing a poster to urge more of us to make our own for Compost Awareness Week. The competition saw over 70 entries across all age groups. In the 8-11 years category, the pupils of East Oxford Primary School channelled their efforts to create a fantastic collage. Winner of the 12-17 years category, Orla Kenny, produced a beautiful hand-drawn illustration of the compost heap, and winner of the adults 18 and over category, J Shergold, created a photo montage (pictured) to celebrate the lovely brown stuff. The winning poster will be displayed on the Garden Organic, Community Composting Network and Recycle Now websites during Compost Awareness Week, which runs from 1 May. Grow it! May 2011
7
Show review Young gardeners join in the fun at The Edible Garden Show
1
2
Food for thought
The brand new Edible Garden Show, launched in March, proved a hit among home growers hungry for ideas. Grow it! went along to seek some inspiration
G
ardening and food lovers turned out in their thousands for the UK’s first-ever national event for grow-it-yourselfers – The Edible Garden Show. The show was held at Warwickshire’s Stoneleigh Park from March 18-20, with more than 10,000 visitors looking for ideas for their home plots. The Edible Garden Show marks a groundbreaking change in the public’s perception of food production and eating habits. Its arrival has been welcomed by experienced growers, budding kitchen gardeners and families keen to join the unstoppable grow-yourown revolution sweeping the country. With its mix of celebrity gardeners, chefs, experts and kitchen gardening exhibitors, there was plenty to whet the appetite of all enthusiasts. Here’s a roundup of some of the show highlights. 8
May 2011 Grow it!
4
3 1 VEGGY TABLE
Those bombarded by slugs will love this tabletop veg garden from VeggyTables – not even the most determined mollusc would be able to scale to these lofty heights! The VeggyTables on display at the show ranged in height from 45cm (18in) to 90cm (36in). With a generous depth of 20cm (8in), they’d be suitable for salads and courgettes. Add on an optional extension kit to double the depth for the likes of potatoes and root veg. Contact: 01271 817533, www.veggytables.co.uk
2 SEEDY BUSINESS
Needless to say the show presented ample opportunity to top up seed stores – complete with first-hand growing tips. Here Tony Ward of Kings Seeds offers a visitor some ideas for container crops. Like many companies, over the past few
years Kings Seeds has seen a shift away from flower seeds towards vegetable and herb seeds. Contact: 01376 570000, www.kingsseeds.com
3 SHOP TALK
Television presenter James Wong wooed the audience in the Experts’ Theatre. James’ talk, entitled ‘Incredible Edibles’, encouraged us to try out less-ordinary crops instead of the staples we can buy so cheaply in the shops. For example, in place of potatoes try exotic sweet potatoes; swap inexpensive onions with pricey saffron; or ditch two-a-penny cabbage for the feisty Japanese crop wasabi. Getting more bang for your gardening buck was the moral of his talk!
4 QUESTION TIME
The show attracted popular BBC Radio 4 programme Gardeners’ Question Time which was recorded from
5 6
7
9
8 Next year’s Edible Garden Show will take place at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, from March 16-18, 2012. For more information about the show visit: www.theediblegarden show.co.uk
10 Stoneleigh on the opening day with Eric Robson and the GQT panel – Pippa Greenwood (pictured), Bob Flowerdew and our very own Anne Swithinbank. The show was broadcast at the end of March.
5 ANIMAL FARM
With chickens, pigs and goats to admire, the Smallholder Marquee was the place to be for those seeking advice on keeping animals, with experts on hand to guide and encourage.
6 TALL ORDER
The world’s largest garden spade made an appearance at the show. Manufactured in the UK by Bulldog Tools, it stands 3.61m (12ft) tall, weighs 180kg and took 160 hours to make. The spade beat the previous world record by a clear half metre. Contact: 01279 401572, www.bulldogtools.co.uk
7 GRAB YOUR BAGS
How about this novel approach to setting up grow bags? The Grow Bag Holder clamps bags into place for a tidier, easier-to-move, space-saving alternative. The bags sit on their sides, ensuring deeper root growth and better drainage. The holders can be stacked to create a stunning edible (or ornamental) display. Contact: 01256 896301, www.kakoi.co.uk
8 GOURMET SILLS
Even if you don’t have a veggie patch you’ll at least have a windowsill to grow a few greens. Sow Gourmet demonstrated their range of microgreens raised on special compostable grow pads. They offer a monthly subscription service, with a new gourmet green delivered to your door at the start of each month. Contact: www.sowgourmet.co.uk
9 SQUARE MEAL
Ideal for those with only a tiny outdoor space is the concept of the square metre garden. Higrow demonstrated how a compact bed can give all manner of tasty leaves, spuds and roots. The kit pictured here includes the wooden surround, nine 15-litre grow sacks complete with peat-free growing medium, and an assortment of seeds – all for £39.99. Contact: 01482 782400, www.squaremetregardening.co.uk
10 FIELD REPS
Representatives from the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) were on hand to give a flavour of life on the allotment field with a series of raised beds planted up with seasonal favourites. The Society represents the allotment movement in the UK,
11 offering a range of benefits to members, including practical and legal advice. Contact: 01536 266576, www.nsalg.org.uk
11 BUSY BEES
Bees are essential to our livelihoods, pollinating 71 of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of food worldwide. In Europe 4,000 vegetable varieties continue to exist thanks to pollination by bees. The British Beekeepers’ Association’s stand explained why bees are so important and some of the nectar-rich plants we can grow to sustain honey bees. Bee-friendly springtime shrubs on display included the likes of mahonia, viburnum, rhododendron and forsythia, all creating a colourful scene. Contact: 024 7669 6679, www.britishbee.org.uk
Grow it! May 2011
9
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Offer 1: Asparagus grow kit Enjoy
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Please send order and payment to: Grow it! FREE Tomato Kit, Dept GROW3, PO Box 99, Sudbury, CO10 2SN
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✪
Your say
This month’s star letter wins a strawberry tub from Two Wests and Elliott.
Write to us, with a picture if possible, at Grow it!, Kelsey Publishing, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG. Alternatively email: gi.ed@kelsey.co.uk
I found an abandoned golf caddie on my allotment site and on further enquiries found that it was going to the local refuse centre. Not wanting to see it go to waste I asked if I could keep it and decided to try and find a use for it. Ten minutes later it struck me that it would be perfect for moving grow bags from the plot to my greenhouse at home. We are a onecar family and I always walk to and from the plot through the village. I did get a few funny looks but it’s better than carrying the grow bag! F Simpson, Manchester
Editor replies: What an excellent
idea. Have any other readers got recycling tips?
Wayward veg
I have been an admirer of your magazine for several years and wanted to let you know how impressed I was with your recent January issue, especially the informative article on potatoes. I’m concerned, though, that your magazine is going down market, as indicated by the ‘Beet that!’ letter on page 11. It would appear that you are now inviting readers to take pictures of root vegetables – I think we all know where this will lead... As for donating a whole four pages to Brussels sprouts – do you not know that nobody, and I mean nobody, likes Brussels sprouts... or wants to grow them!
Please can you reassure us that the magazine will maintain its normal high standards and remain a prized and treasured read? A Bard, no address supplied
Editorreplies: Fear not Mr Bard,
your favourite read will certainly be maintaining its standards. With regards your aversion to Brussels sprouts, perhaps you’re boiling them for too long? Six minutes in the minimum of boiling salted water is more than enough. Or have you tried sautéing them with bacon or chorizo? Please give them another try!
Child’s play
PLANTS OF DISTINCTION
✪
STAR Carried away LETTER
Drop us a line and share your growing stories, advice, questions and opinions
Top tomatoes
Like many gardeners, I love my tomatoes and grow at least three plants every year. Your tomato article ‘Home sweet home’ (April 2011 issue, page 40) certainly provided some nifty ideas for growing this year’s crop. The straw bale technique seems ingenious, but as I’m only growing a handful of plants I’ll be trying the double grow bag plus ring culture idea you pictured. This year I’ve chosen a couple of novelty varieties to brighten up summertime salads. As well as the yellow ‘Sungold’, which is meant to have an exceptionally sweet taste, I’m also trying the stripy ‘Red Zebra’. My small four by six greenhouse keeps plants safe from blight and as I normally start seeds off at the end of February there’s usually something to pick by the start of July. I can’t wait to see how the extra root space afforded by the two-bag system pays off. J Matthews, Bristol
I was interested to read of the RHS launching a plan to develop school gardens – numbers of which, I imagine, are not great. When I was at grammar school (many years ago!) we had an area of land beside the school divided into small plots of about 14 foot square, each plot allocated to two pupils to maintain. We also had a pond containing fish and other creatures. Unfortunately, since that time the area had to be used to extend the school buildings, so I imagine gardening is no longer practiced there. B Finn, Kent 12 May 2011 Grow it!
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06/04/2011 15:44 31/03/2011 12:19
Grower's diary
Springtime
joy!
Rebecca Wells is making the most of warmer, sunnier days to sow and pot on her summer staples. With growing conditions improving and things moving fast, Rebecca’s full of the joys of spring
I
sn’t this the most exciting time of year? On Christmas morning when the children were little (and, let’s face it, Christmas morning makes little children of most of us) the excited cry would go up ‘He’s been! He’s been!’ as they made out the bulging stocking at the end of their beds in
the early morning light. I feel that excitement now as I survey the scene in the greenhouse at the bottom of the garden every morning. Donning outdoor shoes with my dressing gown and with the first mug of tea in my hand, I slide back the door to examine anew the bent stems and first leaves of the seedlings as they push through the compost. Of course, it’s too much to hope that more have grown overnight since I checked all the trays the previous evening, but it’s the thrill of spotting the first signs of germination. Each year I marvel at the conversion of tiny grain to plant. I hope this wonder and joy never leaves me.
Greenhouse residents
The young tomato plants enjoy added protection from their fishboxes
14 May 2011 Grow it!
The first sowing of tomatoes has now made it to stage three of the process. Started off in the propagator on the kitchen windowsill, they go down to the home greenhouse where they are pricked out into 9cm pots. Tomatoes root up their stems, so I always prick them out deeper than they had grown, so that the leaves are just above soil level. This makes for stronger plants
Early morning in the greenhouse – no better place to be!
better able to take up nutrients because they have a larger root system. I will do the same when they go into their final growing positions. The individual pots are put into recycled polystyrene fish boxes which offer an extra layer of insulation in the unheated greenhouse. Here I can easily nurture and protect them with fleece each night. Now I need the space in the home greenhouse for later sowings so the good, sturdy tomato plantlets are moved, still in their fish boxes, down to the allotment greenhouse. It’s the plant version of nursery school because I am less able to check them twice a day. The chillies, sweet peppers and aubergines were sown at the same time but are slower than tomatoes. They too have now been pricked out but, still as tiny plants, remain in the home greenhouse. This doesn’t mean that the propagator has been put away. It’s full of small pots of later or slower seeds, including several different half-hardy annuals such as morning glory and bells of Ireland, plus some more unusual perennials, such as a very dark dieramma and some rather special
named varieties of aquilegia. Often these plants are tremendously difficult to source and the only way to have them is to grow from seed. I am also trying Lysimachia ‘Beaujolais’, a fantastic perennial which I’ve found very tricky to germinate. I have tried for several years running and have decided that, if they don’t grow this year, I shall throw in the (horticultural) towel.
Hardening and sowing
The home greenhouse, now with some space freed up, has taken those seeds which do not need the bottom heat provided by the propagator. I spent most of a glorious Sunday moving trays outside to harden off and sowing the next batches. I have constructed a cloche to run over the whole of one of the raised salad beds at the bottom of the garden. This cloche has two purposes: I can use it as a hardening-off space but also to allow me to extend my season with protected early crops. Already small lettuce plants, sown and grown on in the greenhouse, have been planted out. I look forward to harvesting the first of the summer salad leaves later in May. In between them is a row or two of ‘French Breakfast’ radish. I have sown other salad crops, such as spinach and two types of salad leaf mixtures in modules in the greenhouse. I’m not sure yet what the difference between Tuscan and Provençal leaves will be but I’m sure that they will both be delicious. Spring onions are up and beetroot, sown as multiples in modules, have germinated already. I’ve never tried growing beetroot like this but Monty Don suggested it in the first of this year’s Gardeners’ World programmes so I thought I’d try it. It’s nice to have you back, Monty! I brought home six ‘Accent’ seed potatoes from the seed-swapping day I helped at last month and these have been chitting nicely. We love waxy, first early potatoes but don’t bother to grow any others. On a large allotment field like ours blight is a problem and, anyway, I need the space for other things. We like to grow our early potatoes in tubs at home away from danger and I have started
Above: The spectacular dusky love-in-a-mist Nigella damascena; Left: The first allotment bouquet of the year. Below left: Chitted ‘Accent’ potatoes ready for their pots
mine off already. Three tubers were put into large black plastic tubs and covered with a layer of compost. I shall add to it as the haulms appear and we look forward to enjoying the new potatoes with melted butter – mmmm!
Flower power
Regular readers will know I like to grow flowers on my allotment, partly because they look pretty and allow me to cut flowers, and partly to attract beneficial insects and birds which will, in turn, help me to deal with pests. This year I have sown pinches of annual seed into modules in colour-coded mixes (remember, I am a garden designer!). I thought that orange pot marigold ‘Neon’ would look rather good with blue cornflowers and a very dark blue lovein-a-mist which has spectacular maroon
seedpods. The lacy white-flowered orlaya has been put in with an almost black opium poppy and, in another tray, I’ve included the pretty Brizia maxima (quaking grass), with the cornflower and nigella mix. Orlaya was much used at Chelsea two years ago and I don’t see why my allotment shouldn’t look as chic. Some will be planted in rows or patches between other crops, others will go into the cutting garden in spaces between the perennial plants, and others will go into new beds we hope to cut out on the orchard and where I am keen to have more pollinator-attracting plants. I have already taken the first allotment-grown, hand-tied bunch to friends in Somerset. I was able to pick some pittosporum and euphorbia as foliage to go with some grape hyacinths and white hyacinths which I had in pots inside one year and planted out when they were over. They come up year after year.
Orchard hopes
Talking of the orchard allotment, the last of the winter pruning has been completed and the buds on the fruit Grow it! May 2011 15
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Grower's diary trees have almost burst. The pears come first with the quince and the plums following closely behind. Lastly come the apples, usually after the mid-May Franklin nights when we, in Devon, can be sure there will be no more frosts. From the buds I can see it should be another really good fruit year. We had always planned to have fattening hens on the orchard and laid out the trees accordingly, leaving us a good space in the middle for their run. We are already so busy with various projects this year, however, that I can see that meat-hen raising will have to be postponed. But in the meantime, what to do with the space? Pumpkins and winter squash are a vegetable we love, lasting well through the colder months and forming a vitamin and mineral-rich basis for stews, curries and soups. The space at the centre of the orchard will make a grand pumpkin patch, where the more vigorous plants can romp away to their hearts’ content. Andrew and I have spread a sheet of stout black plastic, weighted down with logs, over the grass. Later we will get old car tyres from the garage which we will fill with good compost and into which we will plant the pumpkins. I think it will all look rather splendid and the scheme has the added advantage of cutting down on the grass mowing there.
Things a-stirring
On the main allotments everything is really stirring. We still have a few parsnips and brassicas hanging on but, as the latter start to go to seed, the hens are more than happy to have
Our rhubarb is one of the earliest on the field
The pumpkin patch awaits
the plants. The new year’s crops have started and we’ve already enjoyed some of our rhubarb. We inherited several crowns when we took the allotment on. I don’t know what variety we have but it’s always much earlier than others around us, even without forcing it. Perhaps we have ‘Timperley Early’. The beds that have been empty over winter have now been dug and manure distributed where needed. Most beds have been covered with black plastic in order to warm them and to stop rain leaching out the nutrients. I was pleased to see how well this system had worked when I came to plant out my broad beans and mangetout peas, peeling just enough of the plastic sheet back to give me the room I need and leaving the rest for the runner beans to be planted out later. The recent gloriously warm sunny days have faded the memories of the harsh winter. Meals have been taken outside and everyone seems to have a spring in their step and a smile on their faces. The allotment car park is regularly full as activity on the field increases. You may think that I have been precipitant and perhaps even foolhardy in rushing into early sowing and pricking out. Why all the rush? Well, at one of the busiest times of the year allotment-wise my husband Andrew and I will be in Yorkshire building a garden with and for our daughter Kate and her partner Chris. I’ve
The recent gloriously warm sunny days have faded the memories of the harsh winter 16 May 2011 Grow it!
had to decide to wait or to take the risk with seedlings. Fingers crossed! We have allowed only a week to complete the job so it will feel a little like Ground Force. I leave it up to you to decide who is Alan Titchmarsh and who is Charlie Dimmock!
Rebecca's tips
✓ Make sure you properly pr harden off of young plants before be setting them outside ou into their final positions. po Depending on where you live the risk ri of frost will have passed pa from as early as the first week of May Ma to as late as mid June in parts of Scotland. ✓ To ease the transition to
outside for tender plants, drape a layer or two of fleece over them after planting. Keep this in place for a week or two until they are settled. ✓ Warmer weather brings renewed weed growth. Hoe regularly picking a fine, dry day so the uprooted weeds quickly shrivel away. ✓ Taller varieties of broad
beans may need some support. Use string stretched between corner canes to keep them from flopping over.
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06/04/2011 15:46
Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition Comp
CALL FOR ENTRIES We want to nose around your kitchen garden! Write in and tell us all about your productive plot and you could win a generous horticultural spending spree
Barbara Jannsen’s packed polytunnel helped make her last year’s winner Inset right: A horn of plenty, courtesy of Barbara Jannsen
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t’s that time of year again – the launch of the kitchen gardening world’s most prestigious competition! The ‘Your Plot 2011’ competition promises to showcase the very best productive plots from across the country, giving you the chance to show us why you’re justly proud of your kitchen garden, patio plot or allotment. We love reading about your successes, challenges and achievements, so we’re hoping to make this year’s competition the biggest yet. Your Plot 2011 has three categories: best overall plot, best container/raised bed plot and best allotment plot, with prizes to be won for each. Everyone and anyone can get involved, whether you’ve just started out or are a well-weathered expert. And it doesn’t matter how large or small your productive space is – we want to see everything! Last year’s standard of entries was exceptional. Our overall winner, Barbara Jannsen, wowed us with a zoned plot incorporating raised beds of allotment staples and exotics, a fruit garden and a polytunnel bursting with heat-loving crops. 18 May 2011 Grow it!
Best allotment plot went to Sylvia James whose energetic enthusiasm transformed an unloved plot into a hive of activity in just five months. And if you thought you needed lots of space to grow food then you’d have been more than inspired by our container/ raised bed plot winner Vee Wilkinson; her first-floor balcony of edibles would put many terrestrial kitchen gardens to shame! Take a look at these pictures from last year’s entrants to whet your appetite. Inspiration and shared experiences is what the Your Plot competition is all about, so write in and tell us about your own productive plot. Tell us how it got started, a little about its laid out, what you are growing and a few of your proudest achievements. We’ll be taking a detailed look at the cream of entries in an autumn issue of Grow it!, so this is your chance to share your green-fingered exploits with other readers. So don’t delay – start taking pictures of your plot as it bursts into life now. You have until the end of July to take further pictures and get your entries in. We can’t wait to see your plots and hear what makes them tick. Good luck!
The burgeoning balcony of Vee Wilkinson
tion Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ENTER NOW! PRIZES WORTH
£1,000
Prizes to be won...
TO BE WON
Best overall plot:
This year’s overall Your Plot 2011 victor can look forward to an extravagant spending spree at top horticultural sundries supplier Harrod Horticultural. The winner will be able to spend £500 on all manner of goodies to make their plot even better – a tempting proposition indeed. Harrod Horticultural stocks a wide variety of kit for the growing enthusiast, so the one problem our winner will have is deciding what to spend their prize fund on! Whether you’re after gardening accessories, pest controls or tools, Harrod Horticultural has it covered. For more details on their range visit their website at www.harrodhorticultural.com or give them a call on 0845 4025300.
Best container/ raised bed plot:
The winner of the best container/raised bed plot will win a £250 shopping experience courtesy of gardening tools and growing solutions provider Burgon & Ball. Burgon & Ball sells a range of handsome Home Allotment patio planting bags, accessories, labels and harvesting equipment to help you make the most of your space. For details of their range visit www.burgonball.com or call them on 0114 2338262.
Above: Busy Devon mum Maxine Lawrence gets her children involved Right: Sylvia James’ allotment plot was bare five months earlier!
Best allotment plot:
For the best allotment plot winner we’ve teamed up with quality garden tools manufacturer Bulldog Tools to stock up the tool shed. All Bulldog’s tools are hand-forged here in Britain from a unique specification steel for strength and durability. The best allotment plot winner can look forward to receiving £250-worth of Bulldog tools. To find a stockist near you or for further details of Bulldog Tools visit: www.bulldogtools.co.uk or phone 01279 401572.
Below: Early summer on Linda and David Willox’s Essex allotment
HOW TO ENTER To enter the Your Plot 2011 competition simply send us no more than five pictures of your kitchen garden plot and a maximum of 250 words to describe how you got it under way, its layout, what you grow, how you grow it and why you are proud of your plot. Take pictures from now and as your plot reaches its peak of productivity to show it at its best. If you are using a digital camera then take your pictures at the highest possible quality setting (5+ megapixels) so we can use them to a good size within the magazine. We will feature the best entries in an autumn issue. Post your entries to: Grow it! Your Plot Competition, Kelsey Publishing Group, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG. Alternatively email them to: gi.ed@kelsey.co.uk Don’t forget to include your name and contact details. The closing date for entries is 31st July 2011.
Grow it! May 2011 19
Ask Anne
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Anne Swithinbank, one of Britain’s favourite gardeners and a member of Radio Four’s Gardeners’ Question Time panel, answers your growing questions.
Right on cue
I don’t own a greenhouse or cold frame, so everything I grow on my allotment has to be hardy. I love cucumbers and wondered if there’s a variety tough enough to survive the great outdoors? M Eglesham, Shropshire
ROBSTEPHAUSTRALIA
While indoor cucumbers are long, slender and just like shop ones, outdoor kinds have a character all their own. Most are shorter, fatter, sometimes slightly spiny and blessed with a much more interesting taste and texture. So yes, you can enjoy home-grown cucumbers outdoors in Shropshire. First buy seed of an outdoor variety like ‘Burpless Tasty Green’ or ‘Marketmore’. Next, what I do is build a 1.2m (4ft)-high climbing frame out of hazel poles (bamboo canes would be fine) and twine. I usually grow four plants, so set one upright per plant at 30cm (12in) intervals and lash on two or three
parallel horizontals. I then stretch some netting over the frame and tie in well. The soil in front of the supports is slightly raised and well conditioned with plenty of well-rotted compost. Towards the end of May or beginning of June, sow two seeds per station, put your favourite slug deterrent in place – I use ferric phosphate-based pellets – and wait for germination. If the weather turns cold at night, pop a cut down lemonade bottle cloche over the seeds or seedlings as protection (best remove by day in case they cook). Thin to one per station and let them grow.
Office compost I collect compostable waste from my office. There are about 30 of us – which makes for a lot of coffee grounds and tea bags over the course of a week! Is it possible to add too much of this to my compost heap? I’m concerned it might lose its balance. K Turner, Aberdeenshire I don’t think you can overdo this, as long as you observe the usual rules of applying any material in a thin layer, alternating wet soggy material with coarse, stemmy ingredients. If you’re short of stem, a bale of straw might balance things up. Coffee grounds are generally held to be neutral (rather than alkaline or acidic) as most of the acidity is lost when the coffee is brewed. They contain nitrogen, calcium and magnesium and some folk even use 20 May 2011 Grow it!
them loose and uncomposted to deter slugs and cats. The major problem with tea bags is the bag, as many are made of polypropylene and are not decomposable. I can’t imagine you sitting there ripping holes in umpteen bags before putting them out. The only answer is to persuade the office to switch to biodegradable ones. Or a giant teapot. It’s true I often find the odd bag in my well-rotted garden
compost, though we brew most of our tea from loose leaves. After making a batch of compost, you could always do a soil pH test to make sure it has not become unduly acidic from the teabags.
Window wonders
I love reading Grow it! while I wait (very patiently!) for an allotment plot to become available. In the meantime I have nothing more than a windowsill to play with. Can you recommend suitable vegetables for a sunny sill – both indoors and out?
Write in with your questions for Anne to:
Ask Anne, Grow it!, Kelsey Publishing, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG. Alternatively email: gi.ed@kelsey.co.uk
T Peacock, London
Indoors, you’d be mad not to include a yearround supply of basil. I would buy supermarket pot-grown basil, which I usually keep for a few months at a time. Harvesting it regularly by taking whole shoots and feeding every fortnight will keep growth coming. You can try potting it on too. Chilli peppers also love a windowsill and you can keep plants through the winter for another year by trimming in autumn, holding back slightly on the water during winter and then pruning a bit harder in spring. Outdoors, a generous window box is ideal for all the cut-and-come-again salad crops, especially during winter when other crops might struggle. ‘Tumbler’ tomatoes, strawberries and parsley would be good too. Again, supermarket potted parsley is great. Cut it initially then let it sprout, take it out of the pot, divide it into about six clumps and plant them out. Then you could have a pot with a French bean and another with a few ‘Early Nantes’ carrots. To keep a succession, germinate the carrots in 9cm (4in) pots from February (indoors) to July. Grow them on as a cluster then plant them into the containers to
finish off. Try similar things with beetroot. Check out wall planters like the Woolly Pocket (www.woollypocket.com) to use the walls as well. Sweet potatoes maybe? Soon, you’ll be writing a book on it!
QUINN.ANYA
Exotic tastes
In a bid to liven up my stir-fries I’m looking to grow some hot and spicy additions – perhaps something that won’t take up lots of space but will carry lots of flavour. Have you got any suggestions? W Matthews, Norfolk
I expect you’ve tried some of the Oriental cut-and-come-again spicy leaf mixtures. These contain pak choi, Chinese broccoli and kale, mustards, mizuna and all kinds of tasty leaves to use as salads or to show very briefly to the wok or frying pan. If you have plenty of bed space, they grow fast in wide drills at this time of the year, or will grow equally well in polythene-lined crates in 10cm (4in) of compost. It’s too late now to sow sweet or chilli peppers, but there should be plants for sale and as long as there is no more likelihood of frost, they can stand out in pots on a sunny patio. ‘Lany’ is one of the best sweet peppers I’ve grown but I also like long-fruited kinds like ‘Big Banana’. But if it’s unusual flavours you want, how about Florence fennel – which is sown now. Or lemon grass, although this will need the warmth of a greenhouse or conservatory in winter. Coriander is easy sown direct to the top of a large pot of compost now. Chives I‘d sow into a pot first, transplant to a tray and then plant out. Hardy and perennial, you should have them forever. Try ‘Chopsuey Greens’ from Chiltern Seeds (01229 581137, www.chilternseeds.co.uk), which are an aromatic member of the chrysanthemum family. Grow it! May 2011 21
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Ask Anne
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Tree of Life I have two very old apple trees in my garden, one of which seems to be coming to the end of its life. It is particularly gnarled and last year produced only a few apples. Is there anything I can do to give it a final lease of life or am I better off replacing it? A Sopwell, Berkshire If your tree is still ornamental and you enjoy its shape, form and blossom, there is some merit to hanging on to it for a bit longer. Ways of improving its health would include feeding it (a slow-release or controlled release fertiliser over the roots would be best) and if possible, a mulch of well-rotted compost or other soil conditioner over the root area. An interesting, more sustainable approach to feeding would be to grow nitrogen-fixing plants such as wild lupin under the canopy. For potash, grow a clump of comfrey nearby (Symphytum x uplandicum or Russian comfrey is sterile and won’t spread by seed) and apply the cut plant as a mulch. This is a forest garden approach and you can read a lot more about it in Creating A Forest Garden by Marin Crawford. The other point worth noting is that apples usually need
a pollinator nearby. This could be the other apple if it is in the same group (flowers at a similar time). If not, maybe it has recently lost its pollinating partner and this has affected its set. You could try planting another apple to make sure. If space is short, an upright cordon or three will do and at least you’ll get some fruit from those. Meanwhile, the old apple tree could be host to some clematis, honeysuckle or a rambling rose? Or if fruitfulness is paramount, a thorn-less blackberry, loganberry or goji berry.
Over blown
My Brussels sprouts failed to form tight buttons despite having a long growing season on rich, fertile ground. Instead the sprouts were open, blown and bitter. What could have gone wrong? K Richards, West Yorkshire
22 May 2011 Grow it!
Most varieties benefit from 75cm (30in) between them, which seems ridiculously generous when planting out. You could grow lettuce or other small, quick crops in between plants during the early stages. Did you give them a long enough growing season to form large, firm sprouts? Sow early varieties at the beginning of March, mid-season ones in the third week of March and again in the second week of April. I always sow under cover for planting out later. They don’t want to rock about in the soil, so I plant mine along the bottom of a wide,
UNWINS
‘Blown’ sprouts have probably been troubling growers since at least 1213, which I believe is the earliest mention (in Belgium) of this fabulous veg. Rich, fertile ground (limed if necessary) is good for sprouts, but any digging or adding of well-rotted compost or manure into the soil or as a mulch should be carried out during the preceding autumn. Like other brassicas, they need firm soil and don’t do well planted into a fluffy, recently dug bed. Space is another issue, as I often feel sprouts ‘blow’ when crowded together.
10cm (4in) deep drill, so the soil falls in and supports them. Or draw soil up around stems as they grow. Stake plants as they rise up to prevent wind rock.
The Practical team May
Benedict Vanheems
Martyn Cox
Paul Wagland
Steve Bradley
Pull on your Wellies and get busy on the productive plot armed with all this month’s seasonal advice from the Practical Team. Discover how to take your fruit garden to new heights and get the most from strawberries, learn how to stop springtime 14 PAGES insect pests in their tracks, start off a late-season batch of maincrop spuds, OF SEASONAL and ensure you get the balance right between daytime heat and night-time ADVICE, TOP TIPS cool in the greenhouse. It’s another busy month! AND EXPERT KNOW-HOW
25
Plant up a patio orchard for years of apples, pears, cherries, plums and more. Benedict Vanheems explains how
29
Freshly shelled peas are a true summertime treat. Martyn Cox plants his peas and makes the case for rosemary
Get your allotment plot in order
36
with Paul Wagland’s step-by-step guide to setting up some raised beds, page 33 Greenhouse and polytunnel expert Steve Bradley has a taste for the exotic. Find out how to plant oca tubers Grow it! January 2011
1
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24 May 2011 Grow it!
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This month Benedict Vanheems is editor of Grow it! and is a passionate home-grower.
Strawberry ‘Roman’ offers stunning flowers and fruits!
Warmer weather means that many fruit trees and plants are now blooming. Ensure you protect the blossom, advises Benedict Vanheems, as it offers the promise of all the fruit to come
F
ruit plants covered in blossom in May are soon likely to be covered in fruit, and this knowledge makes the sight even more uplifting. Most of us don’t have as much space in our gardens as we’d like, so ‘dual purpose’ plants, that are attractive and productive, really earn their keep. But it’s not just trees that are blooming this month. Strawberry ‘Roman’ is covered in particularly pretty pink flowers in May. Then you can enjoy the lovely red fruits right up to September, so it deserves to be grown more widely in window boxes, planters and hanging baskets. A great advantage of growing these fruits right next to the house is that birds are unlikely to eat your crop.
STEP-BY-STEP
1
Create a patio orchard Plant a vertical garden Build a fruit cage
If you’re going to grow fruit in baskets and containers, it’s vital to be aware that plants will be much more dependent on you for food than if they were grown in the ground. Apply a regular organic feed such as liquid seaweed during the growing season. It’s also worth bearing in mind that containers such as hanging baskets can dry out very quickly in warm weather. As they are positioned near to walls or fences they usually need watering even on rainy days. One way to enjoy the benefits of having strawberries growing right outside your door, without having to devote hours to watering them every week, is to invest in a Polanter. This is an ingenious new vertical growing system that has been designed to offer ideal conditions for plants with the minimum of fuss. Once the Polanter is filled with plants and affixed to the wall all you have to do is attach your hose to the nozzle at the bottom, and in a jiffy you’ll have put enough water into the inner tube to keep 12 plants perfectly happy for 24 hours. You won’t have to worry about putting straw under the developing fruits and each one will get plenty of air and light, so they ripen to perfection with less risk of problems like mildew.
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the fruit grower
THE FRUIT GROWER
Planting up a Polanter
First put around 2cm (1in) of gravel into the bottom of the Polanter to aid drainage then add compost up to the first hole. Specialist basket and container compost is ideal.
2
Put the strawberry plant in the centre of the hole, gently firming the compost around it. Add another layer of compost and more plants until the Polanter is filled up.
3
Strawberries are ready to pick when they are bright red. Check your plants regularly as ‘everbearing’ varieties such as ‘Roman’ crop for a long period, with new flushes of fruits. Grow it! May 2011 25
S
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the fruit grower
FIVE CORDON FRUIT VARIETIES APPLE ‘FALSTAFF’:
This awardwinning, frostresistant variety gives bumper crops of crisp, juicy fruits. It’s selffertile so requires no pollinator. PEAR ‘CONCORD’:
Even when young this variety gives heavy crops of sweet fruit that can be stored for months. It’s also self-fertile.
PLUM ‘VICTORIA’:
An award-winning self-fertile variety that produces heavy crops of pink fruits that are delicious cooked or eaten fresh.
Patio cordons offer a choice of fruit from the smallest space
Create a patio orchard
T
here was a time when having a small garden meant that at best you could hope to grow one type of fruit tree. Enjoying the freshly-picked flavour of different home-grown fruits simply wasn’t an option for most of us. But the advent of cordon fruit trees, developed to be grown to around 2m (7ft) tall, means that anyone with a sunny patio can enjoy a selection of different varieties. You can plant them in large pots spaced around 90cm (3ft) apart. They can form a decorative feature in their own right, or be used to screen or as a hedge to separate a different area of the garden. Growing them against a wall is always a good option as the extra heat generated by the wall helps to give you even bigger crops. If you choose self-fertile varieties you don’t have to worry about selecting trees with similar flowering periods to
26 May 2011 Grow it!
cross pollinate one another, so there is nothing to stop you growing a whole range of different fruits. Another advantage of growing a group of smaller trees is that they are very easy to protect from frosts and bad weather. They will be portable so you can easily move them to a more sheltered spot, but it will also be easy to cover them with a layer of fleece. Cordon trees are grown on intermediate root stock, so a little light pruning every autumn is enough to keep them at a very manageable size. This means that harvesting the fruit will also be easy. Obviously you won’t get the same crops from a cordon as you would a full-sized tree, though you can still expect up to 5kg (11lbs) of fruit from each established plant, which is a very respectable harvest from a small amount of space. If you buy container-grown plants
GREENGAGE ‘DENNISTON’S SUPERB’: Ideal for
a sheltered spot, this self-fertile tree produces abundant golden fruits with an unrivaled flavour.
CHERRY ‘SUMMER SUN’: Use netting
to protect the ripening fruit from birds and you’ll get heavy crops of delicious, large, dark-red fruits.
then you can create your own patio orchard at any time of year. However, if you want to make the most of mail-order offers, this month is your last chance to buy cold-stored trees. It is vital that any trees planted now are watered regularly until they are established. Add a thick layer of chipped bark at the top of your containers to help conserve moisture and remove any weeds as soon as you spot them of they will compete with your plants for water.
Protect your crops from birds Now is the key time to think about protecting your emerging fruit crops from hungry pests. Fruit cages are traditionally built to keep birds away from soft fruits but they are also effective at keeping out squirrels, and they can be draped with fleece during late frosts. The netting should be large enough to allow access for pollinating insects such as bees and hoverflies. Depending on their size and styling, fruit cages needn’t be expensive. Companies such as Agrifames (0845 2604450, www.agriframes.co.uk) supply small designs suitable for
STEP-BY-STEP
1
Select a suitable sunny site and start by constructing the frame. Lay the components out first and then insert rods into the connectors, getting a friend to help if necessary.
strawberry beds for just £59; these are sturdy enough to be used for many years. Expect to pay from £199 199 for a classic walk-in cage made from om galvanised steel that’s around 2.5x5m x5m (8x17ft). This will be large enough to grow raspberries, a selection of bush ush fruits and a few rows of strawberries. ies. Extremely decorative designs are also available and may be worth a closer ser look if you’re growing fruit in your front garden. For allotment use, however, er, you might prefer to pick up a simple le bamboo fruit cage from Suttons (0844 0844 9222899, www.suttons.co.uk) for £34.95.
Build a fruit cage
2
Next cover the frame with netting. Take time over pegging it down at regular intervals all along the bottom edge as this is where birds are most likely to gain access.
3
Larger, walk-in designs come with a door frame. Cover it in netting first and use cable ties to clip it in place before hanging the door on the hinges provided.
Start picking gooseberries
There are a few different fruits that need to be thinned in order for the remaining fruitlets to grow to their full potential. This task is a treat when it comes to gooseberries, as the thinnings can be collected and cooked into a delicious crumble or fruit fool. As a general rule, aim to remove every other young fruit and the ones you leave will swell into delicious globes of sweet flesh, especially if you grow a dessert variety such as ‘Leveller’. Keep a close eye out for gooseberry sawfly larvae too. The eggs are laid on buds at the tips of branches, so the tiny green caterpillars are most likely to be on the new growth. Pick off any that you see and pop them onto your bird table. Grow it! May 2011 27
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the fruit grower
Thin raspberry canes
Raspberries are likely to put on rampant growth in May and you will need to keep a close eye on the shoots of summer-fruiting types. These need to grow for a whole year to provide next year’s crop, so it’s essential that you only keep the ones that are growing in the right place. Any that emerge on your pathways or too far away from their supports should be removed. The best way to do this is to put on sturdy gloves, grasp the offending cane and give it a sharp tug, so it comes away at ground level. Aim to have just one cane every 10cm (4in) along the length of your supports. This means each remaining one can be given the best chance of giving you a bumper harvest.
Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition ✦ Competition
WIN W
A SEEDER AND CULTIVATOR!
e could all do with a helping hand, so this month we’ve put together a special package of two time-saving devices that will transform the way you tend your plot. We’ve two sets to give away, comprising a garden seeder and wheeled cultivator. An ideal row crop planter, the 1001-B Garden Seeder is a tool that takes the guesswork out of sowing. Here’s how it works: install one of the precision seed plates that best fits your seed then adjust the depth of planting on the ground opener. Set the row marker for the desired spacing, fill the hopper with seeds then begin pushing along your well-prepared soil. The 1001-B plants at precise depths and spacings, delivering and covering seeds in one operation to eliminate the problems of seed rot and skipped plants. The results will speak for themselves when your perfect, evenly-spaced seedlings emerge! Standard seed plates included with the 1001-B are suitable for: sweetcorn; radish, leeks and spinach; carrots, lettuce and turnips; beans and small peas; jumbo peas; beets and Swiss chard. Optional
✄ COMPETITION
6500W Kentucky Style High Wheel Cultivator
extras to the 1001B Garden Seeder include further seed plates, a storage case and a sidedress fertiliser attachment. Meanwhile, the 6500W Kentucky Style High Wheel Cultivator will save time and money in soil preparation. Ideal for a multitude of garden jobs, from light ploughing to furrowing and cultivating, the 6500W is a very versatile tool indeed. It features traditional oak handles and a heavy-duty, powder-coated tubular steel frame. The 60cm (24in) steel wheel ensures the cultivator glides effortlessly through the ground. The three-position, adjustable height handle and tool bar depth mean that the 6500W fits individual needs. The 6500W is designed for use on soil that has already been tilled; it is not a groundbreaking tool.
Grow it! Time-Savers Competition Kelsey Publishing Group, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG
Q. How wide is the wheel of the 6500W Cultivator? ............................................................................................................................................................................ Name ................................................................................................................................................................ Address............................................................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................................................................ ................................................................................................................Post code ........................................ Telephone ........................................................................................................................................................ If you would like to receive emails from Grow it! and the Kelsey Digital team containing news and special offers, please include your email address here. ................................................................................................. Kelsey Publishing, publisher of Grow it! would like to contact you from time to time by post and phone with special offers and information that we think will interest to you. Tick here if you prefer not to receive these offers Occasionally we may pass your details to carefully selected third parties whose products we think will be of interest to you. Tick here if you would prefer not to receive these offers
1001-B Garden Seeder
❖ For more time-saving garden equipment, including powered and hand tools visit www.gardening-tools-direct. co.uk or call 0845 5196095. Or to browse a complete online garden centre take a click to www.blueworldgardener.co.uk
HOW TO ENTER To enter the competition simply fill in the coupon, left, answering the question, and post back to us at the address shown. The first two entries pulled from the Grow it! hat after the closing date will win a 1001-B Garden Seeder and a 6500W Kentucky Style High Wheel Cultivator! The closing date for entries is May 12th 2011.
This month Growing peas Planting rosemary Pest control
Martyn Cox writes a gardening column for The Mail on Sunday and Saga Magazine. He is the author of seven books and has a small, plant-packed garden in East London
Pick peas regularly to keep them coming
Peas don’t always come in serried rows. Martyn Cox explains how to grow a perfect pot of pods that any self-respecting city gardener would be proud of
Y
ou might often associate peas with long rows planted on an allotment or in a kitchen garden, but you don’t need loads of space to grow a tasty crop of your own. Compact varieties of peas can be grown in pots, raised beds or in gaps in beds and borders. Nothing compares to the taste of peas picked straight from the pod but apart from a flavour that is far superior to anything you’re like to find in the shops, peas are an attractive crop to grow that look great when trained up ornamental supports. Before you starting growing peas, put some time aside to peruse a few seed catalogues and pick some varieties. ‘Canoe’ has long, curved pods with tender, sweet-tasting peas. ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ is an early dwarf variety that’s renowned for its heavy crops, while ‘Greensage’ has really tasty, tender peas. Some work even harder for their keep, boasting highly decorative pods – ‘Purple Podded’ is a heritage variety with dusky purple pods, while ‘Blauwschokker’ has red and violet flowers followed by purple pods. To grow in raised beds or the ground, choose a sunny, well-drained spot and work in plenty of well-rotted manure or garden compost before sowing to improve the soil. Make a shallow trench, 23cm (9in) wide by 3cm (1in) deep then sow in two parallel lines, spacing seeds 5cm (2in) apart. Cover with soil and water. Alternatively, fill a 30cm (12in)diameter pot with multipurpose compost and mix in a handful of controlled release fertiliser granules. Make holes with a dibber 4cm (2in) deep, every 5cm (2in) and drop a seed in. Cover and water. When the seedlings are about 5cm (2in) tall you will need to add some supports to prevent them collapsing under their own weight as they grow. Either make a rustic wigwam with twigs or use garden canes tied together at the top. Once they get going the peas will grip to the supports with their tendrils. You can give them a helping hand to start off with by securing stems with soft twine.
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the city gower
THE CITY GROWER
Peas are a delightful quick-grower well suited to smaller gardens
Looking after peas is a doddle. Ensure that the compost or soil is never allowed to dry out and boost plants by feeding with a liquid tomato fertiliser every other week once the flowers appear. Peas will generally be ready for picking about three months after sowing. To ensure a ready supply throughout the summer, pick regularly to encourage more pods to develop. Aim to pick those at the bottom first, as these are generally more mature.
Shoots and score
Young pea shoots are a real delicacy, transforming a salad or stir-fry with their sweet, fresh flavour. Sow pea seeds thickly across the surface of moist compost or on a tray of damp kitchen towel. Keep in a dark place to germinate then transfer to a bright windowsill to grow on, watering regularly. Harvest the shoots as soon as they’re big enough for a crisp, nutrientpacked treat.
Grow it! May 2011 29
S
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the city grower
Grow some rosemary R osemary is one of the most welcome herbs in the garden. Apart from providing wonderfully tasty leaves that can be picked all year round, the branches of this evergreen shrub are transformed in spring by masses of colourful flowers. Heralding from the Mediterranean, this is a sunloving herb that does best when planted in well-drained soil in a sunny, sheltered spot. If you don’t have enough room in a bed then grow plants in pots. You can plant rosemary at any time but those started from young plants in spring will establish quickly. Improve clay soil by digging in plenty of leafmould or grit to improve drainage. Alternatively plant into 20cm (8in) pots filled with soil-based John Innes compost. Although you might think there’s just a handful of varieties, there are actually dozens available ranging in height from 30cm (12in) to over 1m (3.3ft) and with flowers in a wide range of colours. Some grow bolt upright, while others spread or have a more arching habit. Jekka’s Herb Farm (01454 418878, www.jekkasherbfarm.com) and Highdown Nursery (01273 492976, www.highdownnursery.com) have a good selection of rosemary varieties. Growing rosemary is dead easy. Plants are fairly drought tolerant, though they will need watering regularly
during dry summers, especially if being grown in containers. Feed plants with a balanced fertiliser after they have finished flowering. They require very little pruning. Remove wayward branches or any that spoil the shape of the plant. Keep plants compact by cutting back stems after the blooms start to fade or plants will become leggy. Plants that are growing in welldrained soil should survive winter with very little problem but those in pots are more vulnerable to rotting roots caused by rain and snow. Protect them by raising pots onto pot feet and placing in a rain shadow. Covering the branches with horticultural fleece will help insulate against frost. The only problem you’re likely to encounter when growing this herb is rosemary beetle, an instantly recognisable small oval beetle that is embellished with metallic green and purple stripes. Its greyish larvae are also a nuisance. The pest can appear in great numbers and will quickly strip the stems of leaves. Fortunately it’s easy to spot and can be removed by hand and despatched under foot.
Rosemary beetles have a metallic sheen
Apart from providing leaves that can be picked all year, the branches are transformed in spring by masses of flowers
FIVE OF THE BEST ROSEMARY...
BENENDEN BLUE: Has handsome needles and small, dark blue flowers. An upright plant reaching 80cm (2ft 8in) tall. 30 May 2011 Grow it!
MISS JESSOPP’S UPRIGHT: Pick this
plant for the most upright growing habit. Bears pale blue flowers. Height 1m (3ft 4in).
MAJORCA PINK: A tall plant with an upright, arching habit. The real treat is its pretty pink blooms. Can reach 1m (3ft 4in).
SUDBURY BLUE:
Another tall, upright variety with very aromatic leaves and stunning blue flowers. Reaches 1m (3ft 4in).
LADY IN WHITE:
Bright white flowers on upright branches make this a most attractive rosemary. Height 60cm (2ft).
Warmer weather usually results in greater numbers of pests in the garden, drawn to soft sappy growth like magnets. Although it’s virtually impossible to completely win the battle against the multitude of pesky critters, you can prevent them from annihilating your edibles with greater vigilance and by taking action against them this spring. For me, garden enemy number one is aphids. They are a problem on chives, strawberries, beans, kiwi fruit, basil and just about everything else. Here they will suck sap, reducing the vigour of plants, stunting leaves and reducing a potentially good yield. Fortunately they are easy to control, as long as you spot them early enough. Regularly check plants and squash any you find by hand. Black bean aphids are attracted to the tender young shoot tips of broad beans, so pinch out tips of plants to prevent problems. If they go unnoticed and you end up with an infestation on your hands, there’s no alternative other than to use a spray. Organic pesticides containing horticultural soft soap or natural plants oils are ideal, as are products such as Organic Pest Control
and Growing Success Bug Killer. Check the small print of any sprays carefully for guidance on how long you have to leave plants after spraying before starting to harvest. Another major menace is gooseberry sawfly. Despite its name, this pest also targets red, white and blackcurrant Aphids are enemy number plants. The pale green, caterpillarone but easily like larvae cause rapid and severe dealt with defoliation of plants, often reducing bushes to bare stems by harvest time. Damage starts in mid to late spring but there can be three generations of the pest a year, so problems can continue through the summer. Again, you need to regularly inspect plants to prevent problems getting out of hand. Check plants daily remembering to examine the undersides of leaves, especially in the centre of the bush. Give plants the ✦ Forgotten to sow tomatoes, occasional shake to see if any caterpillars aubergines and peppers? fall out. If you find any, remove and squash Don’t despair – check out your by hand. Infestations will need spraying garden centre or nursery for with a pesticide containing pyrethrum or ready-grown young plants. thiacloprid, such as Provado Ultimate ✦ Prevent potatoes from Bug Killer or Scott’s Bug Clear Gun for turning green and inedible Fruit and Veg. by earthing up spuds planted between the end of March and early April. Cover the stems with soil, or compost if grown in pots, leaving about 7cm (3in) of foliage showing.
Quick jobs May
✦ Remove the central flower spike from clumps of rhubarb to ensure the plant continues to produce stems for harvesting. ✦ Feed tomato plants weekly with a fertiliser high in potash to help the fruit swell. Tie in stems and remove side-shoots of vine types as necessary.
Straw poles Cover strawberry plants boasting flowers or fruit with sheets of horticultural fleece if frost is forecast overnight. This will stop them from turning black, turning to mush and then acting as an entry point for disease. You can drape fleece directly over the plants or, for a season-long solution create a miniature fruit cage. To do this secure lengths of bamboo canes together to form a sturdy framework. Once the frost risk is over you can use the frame as a support for insect or bird netting to keep plants clear of pest attack. I also like to tuck in a layer of straw beneath the developing fruits to keep them clean; you could use black polythene or purpose-bought strawberry mats if straw isn’t immediately available. Grow it! May 2011 31
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the city grower
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P032.indd 14
07/04/2011 15:18
This month
Paul Wagland is an RHS-qualified gardener and keen allotmenteer, with three thriving plots in deepest Essex.
Organisation is vital to get the most from your plot and raised beds are an easy way to stay on top. Paul Wagland puts the case for these helpful allotment additions
I
’m a great fan of raised beds and tend to treat them as the central part of any allotment plan. The initial work involved in building them might seem intimidating, but it’s really not difficult and once completed will cut down on your regular maintenance. There are many advantages to this system; your plot will look ordered and attractive,
STEP-BY-STEP
1
Raised beds Growing potatoes Allotment chickens
Making raised beds
The edges of the beds can be made from any timber you can get hold of cheaply, but avoid thin, flexible planks. Beds three metres (10ft) long by one metre (3ft 4in) wide is an ideal size.
2
the soil in your beds can be tailored to your crops and as they are raised above ground level you shouldn’t have any trouble with excess water. It’s also a very effective way of stopping people from walking on the beds and compacting your vitally important soil structure. Raised beds are a fairly permanent structure, so you need to be sure you are putting them in the right place. When you have decided where your beds will go, clear and level the ground as best you can. Mark out the site using pegs and string before taking a step back and thinking about how your plot will work. Walk the paths and make sure you can reach all the cultivated areas. Once your beds are built you will need to thoroughly dig-over the ground inside them and then fill with clean topsoil. Now is a good time to mix in manure, leaf mould, compost or sand according to the requirements of your plants and the quality of the topsoil. If you are building raised beds as a first step into the world of vegetable gardening my advice would be to start small. Don’t turn half the garden into a veg patch – even if you survive the initial digging you will never stay on top of the sowing, planting, weeding and watering. Cultivate a small area well and you’ll have much better success. Then you can build on this year by year.
Cut the boards carefully to length. An electric jigsaw makes very light work of this job – cordless types are the best for allotmenteers.
3
Very thick boards can be screwed directly to one another. Alternatively attach them to posts driven into the ground. This also stops lighter timber from moving around. Grow it! May 2011 33
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the organic allotmenteer
THE ORGANIC ALLOTMENTEER
S
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the organic allotmenteer
Grow somepotatoes P otatoes are one of the best things to grow to improve the soil; the roots and regular hoeing break up compacted soil and the dense canopy of leaves is effective at suppressing weeds. However, you will need to provide plenty of water during the growing season. Thirsty plants will divert stored water away from the tubers in a drought in order to survive, but while this may save the plant, it will ruin your crop. The solution is simple: don’t allow the plants to wilt or dry out! Choosing a range of varieties will keep you producing potatoes for a very long season. First and second earlies traditionally provide new potatoes, while maincrop varieties produce larger tubers suitable for chipping, baking, roasting and mashing. You can plant all types at the same time (traditionally late March, but later is fine) and the different types will mature at different speeds. For a longer cropping period (and also to spread the work at this busy time of year) I like to stagger my planting over a couple of months. First earlies can be planted in mid to late March and harvested in June or July. Second earlies can go in from late March to early April and should be ready in July or early August. If you only have limited room on your plot you could stop there, as it gives you the opportunity to plant another, fast-growing crop in the soil vacated by the potatoes. Maincrop varieties planted mid to late April and lifted in August for immediate use, or in September for storage, take up more room for longer. However, if you do have lots of space you can extend the harvest period even longer with a late maincrop, planted
Earth up young potato stems as they grow
in late April or early May and lifted in October for storage. Gardeners in the south of England can bring planting dates forward by a week or two, while those in the North should delay them by the same amount. You can also plant later than this without any problem, into June or even July if you can still find seed potatoes for sale or you save your own. If you are feeling adventurous and don’t mind
taking a bit of a gamble, you can even try for new potatoes on Christmas day. You can buy second-cropping potatoes from some suppliers, otherwise when you lift early potatoes in the summer, set a few aside. In June or July, replant them as you did previously and cover in September with large cloches. All being well, you should be able to lift them on Christmas eve and enjoy tender new potatoes for your dinner.
FIVE POTATOES TO TRY
VIVALDI: My favourite all-round spud; easy to grow, mouth-wateringly tasty and with a smooth, creamy texture. 34 May 2011 Grow it!
PINK FIR APPLE: A very old variety with curiously knobbled, pink-skinned tubers. Delicious nutty flavour and waxy flesh. Great as a salad potato.
ROCKET: Perhaps the fastest-growing early potato, with good allround disease resistance. It grows well in containers or bags.
SARPO AXONA: A strain specially bred for blight resistance. The tubers have a very good flavour and are suitable for all culinary uses.
MARFONA: Producing consistently high yields, this second early is a great choice for those who like large baking potatoes.
1
Planting your tubers
You can dig a trench for a line of tubers or plant them in individual holes. Either way they should be about 10cm (4in) deep and 30-40cm (12-16in) apart, with 50-75cm (20-30in) between rows. More space gives higher yields.
2
Sprinkle an organic potato feed into the trench or holes, then add your tubers with the ‘rose’ end (where most of the sprouts are forming) upwards. Gently cover with soil, taking care not to damage the rose.
Allotment chickens
After growing your own veg, keeping Ex-battery hens are a a few hens has to be the easiest good option for firstway to produce your own food. The time chook keepers Allotment Act of 1950 allows you to keep hens and rabbits on your plot unless contrary to local by-laws. You’ll need to visit hens once a day, a task which could be shared with family members or fellow plotholders. Letting chooks out of a coop in the morning and shutting them in at night could be tiresome but a simple automatic door will save you the trouble. Chickens are sociable creatures and keeping a single hen on her own is not an option. Three is a minimum, and five or six is a good number to keep the typical family in fresh eggs. You will need a hen house sized to suit your flock. This can be bought or built (I’ve seen old sheds converted effectively) and should be sited within a wire run so the chickens can roam during the day. The more space you give your birds, the happier they will be. Make sure your run has a roof and sink the wire into the ground to a depth of 40cm (16in) to deter foxes.
Use a sowing line
3
When the young leaves appear, carefully pull more soil over them with a hoe or rake (this is called earthing up). This protects foliage from frost and encourages more tubers to form. Repeat until there are no more frosts.
Make a herb spiral While most herbs are not difficult to grow, it can be tricky to find a spot in the garden where they can be kept together because of their diverse requirements. A clever way to create a variety of conditions in a small space is to build a herb spiral – a conical mound of earth planted on all sides from bottom to top. Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary and thyme like sunny, well-drained sites and will do best at the top of the spiral in full sun and where the soil is bound to be driest. Herbs which need more moisture will grow better at the bottom of the spiral, with sun-lovers like mint facing south and plants like parsley and Good King Henry on the northern face where the lower light levels will encourage leaf growth.
Although it may seem a little strict, sowing in straight lines really does allow you to squeeze in more plants and makes weeding your rows easier. To make your own line, simply tie some garden twine to a piece of old cane and push it into the ground. Next, pull the twine taut and secure at the other end with another cane. After you have sown your seeds, leave the line in place until they germinate – this will stop you from accidentally disturbing the soil when hoeing or weeding. For the more image-conscious gardener there are some very pretty off-the-peg designs available, such as the oak garden line, pictured here, from Harrod Horticultural (0845 4025300, www.harrodhorticultural.com). Fans of car boot sales should keep an eye out for antique sowing lines – they look great and can cost pennies. Grow it! May 2011 35
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the organic allotmenteer
STEP-BY-STEP
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the under cover grower
THE UNDER COVER GROWER
This month Avoiding disease Planting oca Emergency heating Steve Bradley has an RHS Master of Horticulture diploma and lectures widely on gardening. He has written over 30 books on the subject and is gardening editor of The Sun.
External shade netting on rollers offers the greatest flexibility at this time of year
36 May 2011 Grow it!
The transition from spring to summer is a delicate one. While daytime temperatures often soar, a night-time frost is still a distinct possibility. Be on guard, advises Steve Bradley
B
y May, the days are consistently warmer and they’re getting much longer, which is an added bonus at such a busy time when there’s so much work to be done. Quite how warm the days are is variable and depends largely on how far north you live and the amount of cloud cover. Cloud can be a mixed blessing, because while we dislike grey skies, those warm, clear days can be the precursor to a ground frost if the skies remain clear at night. This constant fear of a snap frost tends to dictate how fast you can move and ‘harden off’ your plants before they are transplanted out into the garden to allow those plants intended to remain inside greenhouses and polythene tunnels the amount of growing room they really need at long last.
The temperature in a protected area can rise dramatically at this time of year
The temperature in a protected area can rise dramatically at this time of year with just a few hours of sunshine but then dip almost as quickly if the clouds gather, so ventilating and trying to keep the temperature fairly constant can be time consuming. Damping down to increase the humidity will help, but try to do this in the morning, if possible, as the presence of standing water overnight (especially if the nights are cold) can still encourage grey mould and damping off to damage or kill young plants and seedlings. Even early crops of tomato, pepper and cucumber can be vulnerable because, despite the fact that the plants are quite large, the flowers can still be attacked by the fungal spores. This problem can be particularly bad in polythene-clad structures, though an application of anti-condensation spray to keep the plastic clear should help. Rather than simply relying on using water applications to lower the temperature inside the structure, use shading too. Shading paint is applied directly to the cladding of a greenhouse or polythene tunnel and is very easy to apply in layers as the temperature builds up. Shade netting may need to be removed and replaced over the structure for protection depending on the weather conditions, although many do have the advantage of providing some frost protection if left in place overnight. Despite all the hard work (and often long hours) involved in gardening at this time of year, it is always exciting, whether it’s your first season or your 50th. Seeds and plants of new varieties you are growing for the first time are fascinating. As well as a natural curiosity about how they perform, there is always the anxiety of dealing with something new and making extra certain you are doing the right thing – and, sometimes, that awful guessing that you know what the right thing is!
Experimental oca Oca, or Oxalis tuberosa to give it its Latin name, is an annual plant that overwinters as underground stem tubers. The plant has been cultivated for many generations in parts of South America for its tubers, which are used as a root vegetable. These plants need a long growing season so, ideally, they should be started in a greenhouse or polythene tunnel and then either grown outdoors in a warm, sunny position or grown under protection throughout the life of the crop. As you can see from the step-by-step pictures, the tubers look a little bit like ‘Pink Fir Apple’ potatoes. This crop seems tailor-made for polythene tunnel production, either in the border soil or in containers in our British growing conditions. The early start is important because these plants only start to produce their edible tubers in the autumn as the days get shorter and the top growth is frost tender. As yet (because it’s so new to this country) I have no idea how hardy the tubers are, so even if the plants are growing outdoors they may need to be brought inside to extend the season and get a heavier crop of tubers. With this being a trial run, I am playing safe and growing the plants in two different ways. Most of the research I have done suggests they should be grown like potatoes. However, I found one reference saying they should be treated like sweet potatoes. The problem is that the cultivation of these two crops is very different as
STEP-BY-STEP
ral This vegetable hases:seve oca, common nam yam or d lan Zea w oka, Ne ted rela not is it yam (although yam . to the actual at all) 4 OTHER EXOTIC VEG
Oca has the distinctive trilobed leaves of common ornamental oxalis
potatoes need to be earthed-up (or covered with successive layers of compost), whereas sweet potatoes don’t. That said sweet potatoes need plenty of room to spread as they produce large quantities of trailing foliage. So, I will grow some in 25-litre pots and others in a growing bag to see how they perform. The tubers of oca can be boiled, baked, fried or used in stews and soups, served like potatoes or eaten raw. Also, the leaves and young shoots can be eaten as a green vegetable, so it’s very versatile.
Planting oca
BITTER MELON: The fruits of this curcurbit should be eaten young. Slightly bitter in taste, you may also enjoy the mildly nutty tendrils and young shoots. Sow now and grow in a similar way to cucumbers.
THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the under cover grower
Name changer
GINGER: Plant pieces of root with a horn-like shoot bud into pots of compost in spring. Keep warm and pot on as the plant grows. The fresh foliage can also be used in cooking, as can the stunning flowers. TURMERIC: With roots similar to ginger in appearance, turmeric (pictured left) is very easy to grow. Like ginger, it needs warmth and regular feeding to give its best. The leaves look a bit like the house plant aspidistra. LABLAB: More often grown as an ornamental in this country, the lablab bean is usually eaten whole like mangetout. It needs very strong supports and results can be variable, but worth a try.
1
Place four to five tubers horizontally in a large pot half-filled with compost and cover them with about 10cm (4in) of compost.
2
Water the compost thoroughly before placing it in a polythene tunnel or greenhouse to start off into growth.
3
Alternatively, cut holes in a grow bag then loosen the exposed compost. Plant the tubers so they are covered by 4cm (2in) of compost. Water well before placing under protection. Grow it! May 2011 37
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THE PRACTICAL TEAM – the under cover grower
FUEL CONSUMPTION
The smallest heater, which has a 300 Watt output, uses 27g (1oz) of propane gas per hour, so an 11kg (22lb) gas canister should last for about one month if the heater was left burning for 12 hours a day.
Backup heating
F
luctuating temperatures can be a real problem during the days, especially in the first part of the month, but it’s the nights that can cause the most concern, especially as the temperature nudges down towards freezing. Most parts of the UK can experience a rogue frost throughout the month and all your hard work and preparation can be either lost or severely set back with just a few hours of low temperatures. So you have to resist the temptation to empty, clean and store your greenhouse heater just yet. If it is bulky, smelly and takes up too much valuable space, you could look at getting a smaller one for this time of year. Yes, you may be able to use horticultural fleece or even sheets of newspaper over the plants to give protection from one or two degrees of
STEP-BY-STEP
1
Fasten the heating unit to a firm base, preferably above ground level to improve air circulation, to keep it stable.
38 May 2011 Grow it!
frost, but if the temperature is very low, something more will be required. For emergency heating at night, a small heater will produce just enough heat to keep out the frost and there are some types that can actually help the plants to grow, as they produce carbon dioxide as a by-product from the heating process. A small, propane-fuelled heater can be just as useful on cool, dull or windy days to provide a small amount of heat to give the temperature a lift. It will also promote the growth of plants in those critical early stages of growth. This type of heater is much less messy to deal with than many paraffin-fuelled heaters and there are no fumes lingering inside the structure. You may be able to use any remaining fuel for other purposes and – perhaps even more of a consideration these days – the cost of oil-based fuels such as paraffin is steadily increasing.
Frost protection
2
Attach the flexible hose to the gas regulator unit, and fasten the hose firmly with a jubilee clip.
3
Using a spanner or wrench connect the regulator unit to the propane gas bottle.
You’ve come so far, so don’t risk it all on inadequate backup heating
USEFUL CONTACTS ✦ Bio Green propane heater: Mr Fothergill’s (01638 751161, www.mr-fothergills.co.uk) ✦ Coolglass shading: Capital Gardens (020 8465 7474, www.capitalgardens.co.uk) ✦ Summer Cloud shading: Gardening Naturally (01285 654241, www.gardening-naturally.com) ✦ Varishade shading and SunClear anti-condensation spray: LBS Garden Warehouse (01282 873370, www.lbsgardenwarehouse.co.uk) ✦ Disease controls: Bayer Garden (0845 3454100, www.bayergarden.co.uk)
4
Test the heater is working by lighting the gas nozzle using a long match or taper. Once tested, the heater is ready for use.
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Veg grow guide
The frosted leaves of very winter-hardy ‘Cavolo Nero’ kale
COLD INTENT The growing season may have only recently got underway but the wise gardener is making plans now for this winter. Charles Dowding looks at suitable crops to tithe us through those colder months
S
Spreading manure in December to feed the soil and future crops
40 May 2011 Grow it!
pring is here and we are excited to be sowing and planting beans, courgettes, tomatoes and sweetcorn for eating in summer and early autumn. But then what? With some careful planning and a little extra time, you can also enjoy harvests for much of the winter season, including salads, leafy vegetables and roots, all contributing tasty and healthy meals through the generally less healthy
time of year. Some of these will need storing, others can be harvested fresh. It is good for our plots that we venture out in winter to harvest the goodies and do some weeding or whatever needs attention. The rhythm becomes little and often, keeping things tidy, rather than occasional major makeovers. A no-dig system works well in winter gardening because the ground can be cleared around remaining vegetables and
STEP-BY-STEP composted, without needing to clear whole areas for digging. In my gardens, well-rotted compost or manure is spread around growing vegetables like leeks, sprouts and kale, in the autumn or winter, as a first step in preparing soil for the following spring and summer. Think of compost as food for the soil as much as food for plants: its nutrients are not water soluble and lie mostly dormant in winter, waiting to feed new growth in spring and summer.
Whole or half-season veg?
Some winter harvests need a whole season to grow in. These include crops such as celeriac, onions, parsnips, Brussels sprouts Turnip ‘Atlantic F1’ and maincrop in autumn, sown potatoes. It is in August after an onion crop now too late to sow celeriac and onions, although they can still be set out as plants. For the others, Brussels sprouts grow well from a May sowing, parsnips can be sown as late as the middle of June if moisture is assured in the seedbed, and potatoes can be planted in May, although they then have less time to grow before the season of blight arrives. Many other winter vegetables can be grown in half a season, so they may follow an earlier harvest of spring salads, beetroot, carrots, early potatoes, garlic, peas, broad beans and spinach. Here are three tips for succeeding ing with this.
TOP TIPS!
✓ Start seedlings elsewhere: Raise plants from an earlier sowing, forr setting out as soon as a first rst harvest is finished. For example xample a row or two of leeks can be sown in April for planting by the middle of July, swede can be module-sown in early June to plant out by the end of June, and many salads can be sown indoors throughout summer to plant on the same day that space is cleared, even as late as after the onion harvest. ✓ Feed your soil: Keep soil in good heart with annual dressings of compost and/or manure to ensure two worthwhile
Follow-on brassicas
1
2
3
4
5
6
In this example, garlic occupies the ground for the first half of the year (pictured here in March). The organic matter on top of the beds will feed the crop as it becomes incorporated.
The garlic bulbs are hung up to dry in a warm, dry place. Hardneck varieties of garlic will keep right through the winter to further boost your winter larder.
No need to wait! The brassicas are planted immediately after lifting the garlic to maximise the growing time before winter arrives. A knee-high dibber saves the back.
harvests. I even spread compost a few months before sowing carrots and parsnips, which do not fork because it is not incorporated. In other words the seeds are sown into a drill with compost around them. This is good for soil and boosts the harvests of roots; last year I dug 16kg (35lbs) parsnips from a 3m (10ft) row of un-dug soil with compost on top.
The garlic is ready as soon as the leaves start to die back a little. In this instance the crop is lifted on the first day of July in preparation for the brassicas that follow.
With the garlic cleared the brassicas can go in. These have been raised in modules beforehand. Sprouting broccoli, kale, cauliflower and flower sprouts are the choice of crops here.
Watered as appropriate, the now brassica bed rapidly establishes. This picture was taken in September and shows how much growth has occurred. Hearty winter harvests look assured.
✓ Weed regularly: Keep on top of weeds at all times so that clean ground is easy to clear and re-plant, sometimes on the same day. This applies all year round because if soil is kept clean around vegetables in winter, soil can quickly be made ready for sowing in spring by simply clearing the remains of a winter harvest after it is finished. Grow it! May 2011 41
S
Veg grow guide Harvests of certain vegetables can continue all winter except in extreme cold, say -10°C. I find that a wellcomposted soil stays relatively soft when frozen so I’m able to pull frozen leeks and swedes or dig parsnips in all but the most enduring freezes.
WHEN TO SOW OR PLANT WINTER VEGETABLES
Early May: Sow parsnips and winter squash if you’ve not already done so.
Plant onions, potatoes, May: celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes and
winter squash.
Sow kale, sprouting broccoli, June: cabbage, cauliflower, swede, carrots and beetroot. Plant out leeks and Brussels sprouts.
July:
Sow kale, radicchio, parsley and sorrel. Plant beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and leeks.
August:
Leafy vegetables
Sow turnip, oriental leaves, rocket, endive, lettuce, spinach, land cress, chervil, coriander and winter purslane. Plant radicchio, oriental leaves etc.
Leeks are a great standby, in almost all weathers, as long as you have Sow lamb’s lettuce and sown a true winter variety such as oriental leaves in the first week of ‘Bandit’, ‘Edison’, ‘Bleu de Solaise’ or September. Plant all remaining ‘Musselburgh’, although the latter is salads. Sow salads for growing more variable in quality than it used to under cover. be. All these varieties are fully winter Plant salads in covered hardy and then grow strongly in April spaces, garlic outdoors and broad to offer large harvests by month’s end beans at the end of the month. when there are few other fresh greens. Savoy cabbage is reliable because, in spite of being holed by caterpillars in summer and early autumn, their should stand well. Leave the plants’ leaves are tough enough to survive and tops on (pigeons permitting) so that plants then have enough resources for new buttons can develop as the stem developing fine hearts in winter and elongates until April. By this time any early spring. My favourites are ‘Ormskirk’ remaining sprouts will be opening into and ‘Endeavour F1’. Pigeons show less flowering stems, which are even more interest in savoys than in other brassicas. delicious than tight buttons. Kale is also easier to grow than some other brassicas and is extremely frost Root vegetables hardy. There are dwarf varieties for small Swede has a reputation for being er green gardens and larger difficult to grow gro but is much stlandse’ ones such as ‘Westlandse’ easier whe when you sow a eat for harvests of great little lat later than is often or abundance. ‘Redbor Leek moth has been a problem reco recommended, indoors recently and I find the best remedy ful F1’ is really beautiful in m modules in early is to sow in good time, in early April all winter, when June. Ju The beauty of outdoors, to have good-sized plants by its leaves turn a swedes, sw apart from the middle of June. When planted in welldeep, dark red on their th lovely flavour, manured ground these should then be tall stems. ‘Red is complete winter strong and large enough to resist and grow rs Russian’ kale offers hardiness, ha so they away from the caterpillars’ nibbling in flat leaves that are late summer. I lost hardly any leeks last can ca be harvested year – despite many being eaten tasty in salads on when needed, from late August to October, hich compact plants which although althou rabbits may they recovered well e. are also decorative. nibble ttheir roots. from November. ts are Brussels sprouts Parsnips are a British hristmas and productive until Christmas speciality, amazingly amaz little-grown then grow more slowly. The sprouts of a in mainland Europe, for example. Their later-maturing variety such as ‘Bosworth’ size is governed by soil fertility and by
September:
October:
Harvesting swede in January after a -12°C night! Far left: Picking off kale leaves in January. The central core is left to grow on
how much you thin them. Some varieties suffer a shoulder rot called canker but are still mostly edible: the relative absence of pests and utter hardiness make parsnips a great winter staple, with their sweetness increasing as winter progresses. Celeriac can stand outdoors except in really cold winters. The roots store well so it is safest to harvest them by December for storing in a shed, somewhere cool at least, or cover them with fleece in November. Celeriac grows best in moist soil and you may struggle to achieve large roots in light soils, but the rich and sweet flavour makes it worth attempting.
Outdoor salads
Lamb’s lettuce is the hardiest salad and should survive in all weathers, even under snow for a week or more. Pickings are small because individual heads rarely grow larger than the diameter of a grapefruit. They want harvesting
Leek moth
42 May 2011 Grow it!
Peekaboo! Hardy lamb’s lettuce shelters under a tent cloche
wind above all will pay dividends. Even a double layer of fleece draped reasonably tight on top of leaves will help plants survive the cold and then grow some more in March and April.
Stored harvests To complement all these delicious outdoor vegetables, there are many possible roots, fruits and hearts to store, mostly in cool and dry conditions. Here is a brief list to give some ideas and to whet your appetite.
Indoor salads
at this size, before the bottom leaves turn yellow. When picking them, cut above soil level so that side-shoots from the base can grow into secondary harvests for late winter and early spring. Coriander is hardy beyond most expectations and offers some great flavours in winter meals. Chervil and parsley are a little less hardy but can be prolific when given some protection, such as from a cloche. Many other salads can survive a winter outdoors but will not yield many leaves until the second half of March. Much also depends on the winter’s weather. Some kind of protection is really worthwhile and any cover which gives some protection against the
STEP-BY-STEP
1
Any salad plants grown in a greenhouse, polytunnel, conservatory – even on windowsills – can give repeat pickings in winter. This is especially the case when the leaves are carefully pinched or cut individually, rather than slicing through all leaves including the baby heart ones. I plant all winter salads at a spacing of 23cm (9in) inches apart. The seeds for these salads sown in September then planted in October, either in soil or in boxes filled with compost and manure (yes, you can use well-rotted manure!). The larger, outer leaves are picked off as they grow from November until April, with no extra feeding. Suitable plants to grow include pak choi of any kind, mizuna, mustards of any type and intensity you fancy (try ‘Red Frills’ for its sheer beauty), salad rocket, spinach, endive, lettuce such as ‘Grenoble Red’ (which works well as a winter leaf lettuce), broad-leaved sorrel, parsley, chervil, coriander, winter purslane, leaf radish and land cress. The range of possible salads is actually greater in winter than in summer, so have a go and make the most of them all! Far from being a time of famine, there are feasts to be had from the land and from your stores of summer-grown vegetables. Nevertheless, to ensure this continuation of harvests it’s essential that the groundwork is laid from now.
Root crops: Beetroot and carrots are best lifted in November. Store the roots in sacks with a little soil on them and keep them cool. Turnips are less hardy than swede and can be pulled in December to store in cool sacks. Spuds: Potatoes can be kept in paper sacks in the cool. They will sprout after Christmas but are still edible. Leafy veg: Cabbage ball-head hearts are cut in November. Keep them moist and as cool as possible. Salad leaves can be picked, washed and stored in a polythene bag for a week, in the cool. Alliums: Garlic stores from a late June/early July harvest in the dry and warm. Hardneck varieties are the best keepers. Onions harvested in early August should store all winter if dry and free of mildew (neck rot). Squash: Squash keeps best when warm and dry, in the house. It’s essential that only fruits with hard, well-seasoned skin are put into storage.
Follow-on lettuces
The previous summer crop is cleared away ready for the follow-on winter lettuce. If the ground is dry, water it thoroughly before re-planting. Dibber holes ready for your plugs of lettuce.
2
I find the best way of growing lettuce like this is to start them off in goodsized module trays. Here you can see how developed the root system is of this ‘Grenoble Red’ winter-hardy lettuce.
3
The lettuce plugs go out in September into the pre-dibbered holes. Work on a spacing of 23cm (9in), which will give slugs less places to hide while the lettuces become established. Grow it! May 2011 43
PRACTICAL PROJECT: MAY
Beans in a basket
Fresh, home-grown French beans take some beating. Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell plants some into an old wicker basket for a patio crop to remember
F
rench beans will grow happily in a container as long as the soil is rich and moist. They are prolific croppers and will provide a good harvest over four to six weeks. You can extend the cropping time by sowing more beans four weeks after the first batch. This is known as successional sowing (you will need another container in which to plant this later crop). As the second sowing will take place later in the year, when the temperature is warmer, the beans can be sown directly into the container. The earlier crop should be sown individually in long pots. The deep, round basket used here is an ideal size in which to grow five dwarf French bean plants. It is lined with a gardenrefuse sack, which stops water leaking from the basket – but don’t forget to make some drainage holes in the base. Another advantage of using a basket is that it is lightweight. If you are growing crops on a roof terrace, you need to be careful about how much weight you are introducing, so growing in this way makes sense. Don’t be tempted to include too many French bean plants in your baskets. Five make a really bushy group and will produce a good crop of lovely, crisp, string-less green beans. When the plants start to flower, feed them weekly with a liquid manure or seaweed extract to ensure a longlasting crop. To guarantee the very best flavour, pick your beans just before you cook them.
What you will need
sket ✔ Round, cylindrical ba paper ws ne and r tte po ✔ Paper rden ✔ Heavy-duty plastic ga k refuse sac ✔ Seed tray ds ✔ Dwarf French bean see mixed st po com ose urp ✔ Multip nure 3:1 with well-rotted ma st po com ✔ Seed
READER OFFER Pick your beans just before cooking
44 May 2011 Grow it!
For more excitin exciting projects get hold of Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell’s book Grow Your Own Vegetables in Pots, published by CICO Books. You can order a copy for £10.99 (usual price £12.99) by calling 01256 302699 and quoting offer code ‘GLR4ZF’. Price includes free post and packing.
The end result makes for a really bushy and attractive display – that’s edible!
STEP-BY-STEP
Planting a basket of dwarf French beans 1
Make some newspaper pots using a paper potter. Alternatively use loo roll centres. Fill each pot with sowing compost. Make a hole in the centre with a stick, push one bean into each hole and cover with compost.
2 1
2
Water the beans and put the pots into a coldframe or bring inside and place on a cool windowsill to allow the beans to germinate. Keep the compost moist at all times.
3
Push the plastic garden refuse sack well into the basket and roll the edge around the top of the rim. Make a few slits in the bottom of the sack for drainage.
4
Place a few sheets of folded newspaper into the base to aid moisture retention. Now add the well-mixed compost and manure and fill the basket to the brim.
3
4
5
Unfurl the plastic sack from around the rim of the basket. Roll it up and tuck inside, beneath the compost level so it is out of sight.
6
Plant the young beans into the basket, still inside their paper pots, once the first two real leaves have emerged. Space them widely – about five will be plenty in this size of basket.
7
Soak the beans with water poured from a watering can fitted with a fine rose. Move the basket to a warm, protected and sunny position to grow on. Keep the compost moist.
5
6
8
When flowers appear and the small beans start to form, you may need to give the plants some support. Tying them with string to a few canes will stop them flopping over the edge of the basket.
Pair up
7
8
For an excellent companion plant to beans try growing some summer savory, which looks a little like thyme. It will ward off aphids with its powerful aroma. The herb also happens to taste great with beans!
Grow it! May 2011 45
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Wildlife gardening
Feather their nest
Birds aren’t just handsome visitors to the garden, they’re an essential part of the ecosystem, helping to keep pests in check. Ann Somerset Miles explains how to make your garden more bird-friendly Above: A family of starlings discusses the busy day ahead Right: Get the balance right and you may tempt the likes of this handsome greater spotted woodpecker to your patch Below: While blackfly are a nuisance on the productive plot, they’re tasty fare for a thriving blue tit population
G
arden birds are in decline. A number of things have conspired to take their toll on bird populations: two severe winters, last year’s late spring and a hot, dry summer; the removal of farmland hedgerows with suitable nesting sites; greater density of housing with smaller (and somewhat urbanised) gardens; and increasing traffic are just a few that spring to mind. Yet birds crucial to the biodiversity of any productive plot and, in the far wider sense, are beneficial to the planet. Years ago, gardeners and farmers were told that their gardens and farmland were vital to ‘save the birds’. We were encouraged to plant bird corridors – native trees and shrubs that would connect together areas of countryside rapidly disappearing under concrete. Conservation starts at home! We may own our gardens and make them our private refuge, but we do not own the air above it. The air connects us to the poles and the rainforests beyond. Look at any Atlantic weather chart and its movement of frontal systems – air masses may impinge on us from north, south, east and west, each affecting our climate and, of course, conditions in our gardens. What can this tell us? Apart from weather conditions, they indicate migration routes. We care for birds throughout the seasons,
they move on, and if they have visited our garden meanwhile, we know we have made a useful contribution to the global environment.
Vital link
Birds are part of the chain of biodiversity, so that if one species disappears or declines, other creatures flourish, often to the detriment of the garden. For example, greenfly will rapidly multiply when there are fewer tits to devour them, while Grow it! May 2011 49
S
Wildlife gardening Where to begin
Undergrowth from shrubs and climbers provide a refuge for winged visitors such as the woodpigeon
snails will have an easier ride when the thrush no longer visits. Gardeners can help to redress the balance of declining bird populations by creating a bird-friendly garden – and it does not have to be wild or messy! (Though I do love a little bit of wilderness and miraculously it arrives here without any help from me! ‘Neglect’ my husband calls it.) A garden that is well-maintained and friendly to all wildlife will be even more beneficial to birds. All creatures are part of the chain. Sadly, you may do so well that you experience the horror of watching a sparrow hawk kill – a top predator, nevertheless, is always the sign of a healthy food chain and environment.
First you need to understand your locality: climate, soil, natural habitat and indigenous plants, plus the birds you are likely to see. Of the 250 regular British and Northern European species, only about 30 are widespread in gardens. The annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch lists only 20 that are most likely to be seen nationally but as it’s held in late January it doesn’t include possible migrants. According to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, the regularly spotted birds include the blackbird, blue tit, brambling, carrion crow, chaffinch, coal tit, collared dove, dunnock (hedge sparrow), feral pigeon, goldfinch, great tit, greenfinch, house sparrow, jackdaw, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, robin, song thrush, starling, woodpigeon and wren. On my own chart, I also include – and see – blackcap, fieldfare, bullfinch, house martin, jay, little owl, pheasant, redwing, sparrow-hawk, swallow, swift, mistle thrush, marsh tit, greyand pied-wagtail, green and greater-spotted woodpeckers and the yellowhammer. And, in one very hot and insect-laden summer, we had spotted flycatchers nesting and chiffchaffs feeding in the hazels. Of course, there’s wildlife in every garden and only you can decide what ‘passers-by’ you want to encourage. Birds don’t see each garden as a single entity and our boundaries are not their boundaries with some breeding birds requiring larger territories than others. Trees
How to encourage visiting birds WHAT TO PLANT
Birds need cover to give them protection from predators. Any suitable plants that we provide will supplement natural food sources, offer suitable nesting sites and act as an additional supply of nesting material. Evergreens
such as holly and ivy offer dense winter cover, while small berry-bearing trees and shrubs are vital sources of foods. These include cotoneaster (pictured), elder, pyracantha, hawthorn and honeysuckle. A tucked-away wild area (if you can bear it) of bramble, nettle and teasel is ideal.
FEEDING STATIONS
It seems obvious to feed birds during hard weather conditions and doing so couldn’t be easier. A covered bird table located near some undergrowth is fine for birds that like to perch, though some will prefer to feed on the ground, so positioned at the edge of a border is good. Squirrel50 May 2011 Grow it!
proof feeders can be hung from poles or branches of a convenient tree. Remember that few birds fly direct to a feeding station but arrive in stages, flying or hopping from branch to branch. Don’t overfeed because food will only deteriorate. Fill feeders overnight, as birds feed early and keep feeders well clear of prowling cats. On the table feed mixed seed. Have a deep dish available into which suet fat balls or a lump of stale cheese can be slotted. In summer live mealworms or earthworms can be fed in this way. Dried fruit is loved by blackbirds, as is sponge or fruit cake which attracts numerous birds – particularly tits, robins and finches (no
need to feed them expensive cakes though!). Three types of hanging feeder will be useful: one with close wire mesh for peanuts (so the birds have to peck at the nuts but cannot extract them whole), a plastic feeder with feeding ports and perches for seed, and an open ball tube to hold suet balls free of plastic mesh. Continue to feed as spring arrives because the birds will need to build their strength for the months ahead
and shrubs need to be the right kind. Essential are climbers and thorny hedges. Lawns should not be too shorn with, if possible, some left as ‘meadow’. Damp areas of moist leaf litter will be appreciated. Under no circumstances should any chemicals, baits or sprays be used in the birdfriendly garden.
Systems thinking
Right: A song thrush surveys his surrounds from an elder Starling damage on a pear. Any losses should be thought of as part of the rich tapestry of life!
There is always a negative side of course. Some bird species can also inflict damage to plants and crops: bullfinches stripping the damson buds, sparrows destroying pea seedlings, jackdaws uprooting newly planted onion sets, starlings pecking the almost ripe pears or pigeons descending onto the cabbages, for example. But then, we share the world and it’s up to us to protect what we sow and grow. That aside and apart from the benefits birds bring to the garden, they are a joy to watch and the garden somehow comes alive with their continuing presence. Irritating though it might be when blackbirds ferreting for grubs and worms f|ling dead leaves every-which way, I wouldn’t be without birds. If the species visiting you are increasing, you have the balance right and will know you are doing your bit to protect declining populations. Birds, of course, are only one aspect of garden wildlife but probably the most visible. We should not ignore other vital
when feeding their young non-stop throughout the daylight hours. If we want to encourage birds to stay and breed during the summer (and also attract summer migrants) then they will also need natural food, either in the form of plant material – foliage, fruit, berries and seeds, or as the larvae and
insects that feed on plants. The latter is of course where birds’ help in the garden is so vital, cleaning up what we wish to eradicate. I’d rather see the green woodpecker feeding on our unwanted ants than use ant powder!
WATER SUPPLY
Birds need to bathe as well
forms of wildlife; we need to consider the whole ecosystem. So later in the year, I’ll be writing about the plight of the bumblebee, extending my eco-plot and the creation of a new wildlifefriendly potager.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Visit the RSPB website at www.rspb.org.uk for a wealth of bird care advice. Their next Big Garden Birdwatch takes place on over the weekend of 28-29 January 2012 and you only need an hour to participate. Alternatively sign up for their regular e-newsletter which is full of useful tips: email@supportus.rspb.org.uk
as drink, so offer them a continual source of clean water. Birdbaths can be supplemented with water stations elsewhere in the garden. For these I use large terracotta plant saucers sat atop tall chimney pots purchased from a builders’ merchant. Keep them meticulously clean and topped up with fresh rain water.
VISITOR LOGBOOK
Fruit and sponge cakes attract a wide variety of feathered friends
Keep some record of the birds you see and hear in the garden or flying overhead. A chart can be created in Microsoft Excel or Word, or use ruled sheets of paper with a list of anticipated birds down the side and the 12 months of the year across the top, as pictured here. List the species you anticipate, leaving space for ‘occasionals’. It’s good when
the latter become a regular. Charts serve as a useful record in trends; I’ve been keeping one for six years now. It’s even more useful if you also keep a garden diary in which you write about weather patterns, what you plant and other circumstances. A good field guide will help with identification, or join the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Grow it! May 2011 51
Pest and disease control
I
n a well-balanced garden, where rich soil is growing lots of healthy crops, pests and diseases shouldn’t ever become too much of an issue. Prevention is always better than cure and swift action if you do spot a potential problem can make a world of difference. Crop rotation, for example, where you avoid growing the same plants in the same spot for two years in a row, goes g a long way to preventing the build up of pests p and diseases in the soil, while avoiding depleting deple the particular nutrients that each plant requires. requ And if you choose a three of four-year crop cr rotation plan, you can be actively improving improvin different aspects of the soil, so that each crop is growing in its ideal conditions. A lot of pest and disease prevention prev is commonsense. You won’t go far wrong if you bear these four golden rules in mind:
KEEP YOUR HOE SHARPENED SHA AND USE IT REGULARLY REGULA
Knowing your friends and enemies in the garden helps you to protect your crops, so gen up with our at-aglance guide. Words by Jeannine McAndrew
Use it on your veg beds and at the base of fruit trees and bushes to keep them the free of weeds where problems can lurk. This Thi also exposes any pests and their larvae to hungry hung birds.
FEED THE SOIL, SO IT I FEEDS YOUR PLANTS FOR YOU Y
A regular addition of organic matter such as well-rotted manure or garden compost will provide vital nutrients and help he to improve the soil structure, helping it to t retain moisture. This way your soil will be getting more rich get and fertile every single year. In contrast, if you simply add chemical fertilisers, fertiliser your soil doesn’t benefit and plants will put on weak, sappy growth that is a magnet for aphids and the ap diseases that they can bring with them.
NIP PROBLEMS IN THE T BUD
If you spot any infected plants plant clear them away and burn them. While most organic matter should be added to the compost heap, this is com the one exception as you don’t don want to harbour diseases and then spread them the around your plot in the future.
MAKE THE MOST OF NATURE’S HELP AND SAVE YOURSELF TIME YOU
Robins carry a healthy appetite for all manner of insect pests. A welcome sight indeed!
52 May 2011 Grow it!
There are legions of natural allies only too happy to eat grubs, slugs, aphids aph and all the other pests, so try to achieve a balance and help them to get on with what wha they do best. This approach not only saves time and money – an organic garden full of different wildlife is a di much more interesting and enjoyable place to en grow fruit and veg.
Did you know?
Many pests have evolved to reproduce quickly, bearing thousands of offspring a season if left unchecked. Most of their predators, however, take a whole year to have their young. This means that if you use a chemical spray that kills a pest and its predators, you’ll soon have plenty more pests but no natural enemies to keep them in check, leaving you much worse off than you were before.
The good
Make the most of your natural allies and they’ll do plenty of work for you.
Blue tits: These birds are an extremely welcome sight in any veg garden. The birds can have 10 or 12 chicks in spring, and each one will need to be fed around 150 caterpillars a day. Many garden birds eat pests, especially when they are feeding young, so put up nesting boxes and grow plenty of shrubs and trees to provide shelter for them.
bodyweight in slugs and snails every night, so do all you can to encourage them and never use slug pellets. Hedgehogs are nocturnal so if you spot one wandering around in daylight then something is wrong. Pop it in a cardboard box and take him to your nearest animal rescue centre. Visit www.britishhedgehogs.org. uk for more details.
it has at least one gentlysloping side and it will attract more birds and hedgehogs to your plot too. Ladybirds: Ladybirds and their larvae are vital allies for any kitchen gardener. They eat blackfly and greenfly in vast quantities – and will also happily munch through insect eggs and small caterpillars.
Hedgehogs: These prickly characters can eat their own
Amphibians: Frogs, toads and newts are all carnivorous and slugs are one of their favourite foods. Even a small pond, a metre (3.3ft) wide and 70cm (28in) deep in the middle, will soon be colonised by amphibians. Plant lots of cover around the edges for when the young are ready to leave the water and you may find that they choose to live near to your pond all year round. Ensure
Researchers at Cornell University in the United States discovered that
just half a pint glass full of ladybirds will clear a 280m2 (3,013sq ft) area of aphids. Hoverfly: The larvae of these insects feast on aphids although the adults, like bees, feed on nectar and help to pollinate garden plants. They look rather like wasps, which also do a lot more good around the garden than many people realise. Although wasps can be a pest in autumn, when they can get drunk feeding on fallen fruit, they spend most of the year eating aphids and caterpillars and feeding them to their young. As a general rule, yellow-and-black striped insects are the gardener’s friend, so if you spot any in your greenhouse, open the windows to let them fly free rather than reaching for a swatter! Grow it! May 2011 53
S
Pest and disease control
The BAD IMAGE COURTESY OF WWW.BLACKTHORNARABLE.CO.UK
These common pests can affect your crops, but if you spot the problem early or use simple barriers you can easily keep them at bay.
Slugs and snails: These molluscs are the main bugbear of most gardeners, but the good news is that plenty of animals are only too delighted to devour them. Hedgehogs, black beetles, frogs and toads are all voracious predators. What’s more, barrier methods such as copper tape work extremely well, as does going on a hunt with a torch on damp evenings. Another effective control is to invest in nematodes, which you simply water onto your beds and compost heaps. This treatment can remove 90% of the slugs and if you repeat it around six weeks later to get any that you missed, you can transform your whole growing season. Carrot root fly: You may not realise your crops are affected by this problem until you come to harvest
54 May 2011 Grow it!
them and you see that maggots have tunnelled all through the roots. The adult female fly can smell carrot foliage from long distances and lays her eggs in the soil nearby. As soon as they hatch, the tiny larvae burrow underground and into your crops. You can minimise the problem by only thinning carrots in the evening (when the flies are dormant) and growing carrots in between rows of onions and garlic. You can also buy carrot fly nematodes. But perhaps the easiest form of control is to cover your crops with fine netting or Enviromesh. Ensure that the bottom is well secured or the flies will get in underneath! Rabbits: These animals can cause devastating damage, and young plants are particularly at risk. Rabbits are ‘crepuscular’, meaning they tend to feed at dawn and dusk when they are least at risk from predators and you are unlikely to spot them. Normal fencing is not enough as they can soon dig underneath, so you can either dig a trench
around your veg garden and ensure the fence is buried 16cm (7in) under the ground all around at an angle of 45 degrees, or invest in some electric fencing. Rabbits can jump over fences up to 1m (3.3ft) tall.
Aphids: Also known as plant lice, these unsightly pests suck sap from plants and secrete a sticky liquid that is loved by ants, who ‘farm’ them, moving them to good feeding grounds such as your young plants. As well as distorting new growth, aphids can spread nasty viruses. Unless held in check by predators or disease, a single aphid has the potential to produce 600 billion descendants in one season. Females are born pregnant
and give birth to live young that in turn can start giving birth to more in just 20 days. Luckily these soft-bodied insects are very easy to deal with. Simply wash them off your plants with a fine jet of water from your hosepipe – this kills them instantly. If you don’t have a hosepipe, a simple squirt of washing up liquid in a water-filled plant mister will do the trick. Neither of these methods will harm the aphid’s natural predators. Cabbage white caterpillars: Sadly there are lots of caterpillars that enjoy eating brassicas as much as we do. You can often spot the eggs laid in clusters on the undersides of leaves. You can rub them off if you only have a few plants, but if you have a whole row or more of cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli to protect, the easiest thing is to make a simple cage from bamboo poles and put netting or Enviromesh over the top. You can buy ‘Build-aballs’ to make your own cages (£13.95 for 12) from suppliers such as Harrod Horticultural (0845 4025300, www.harrodhorticultural.com).
The ugly
Most diseases don’t take hold if plants are growing strongly, but these are the most common problems that you may spot
Powdery mildew: If leaves or stems on your plants suddenly get a white coating, almost as if they have been dusted with icing sugar, this is a sure sign that your plants are under stress. Usually brought on by lack of water, powdery mildew is a common sight on squash plants towards the end of the growing season. Remove and destroy any infected leaves or shoots and ensure plants are well watered and given a generous layer of mulch. Blight: In a damp, warm summer, this fungal disease can affect potatoes, tomatoes and other members of the solanum family. The first signs will be brown rot affecting the leaves and stems, and if left unchecked, it can spread to your crops. Keep a close eye on your plants in humid weather and remove and burn any affected parts that you see. If this illness has been a problem in the past, ensure you follow a strict plot rotation scheme. Invest in blight-resistant varieties such as ‘Sarpo’ potatoes from Thompson & Morgan (0844 2485383, www.thompson-morgan.com). Damping off: It can be heartbreaking to have a whole tray of seedlings suddenly keel over and die. If this happens
Did you know?
When digging your veg beds you will sometimes spot a cluster of slugs’ or snails’ eggs. Each one is around 2mm (0.1in) in diameter, transparent and squishy. Pop them on your bird table if you have one, or simply squash them with the back of a trowel. When you buy plants from garden centres you may spot small yellow or white balls in the compost. These are sometimes mistaken for eggs but are in fact slow-release fertiliser.
Rust
Cucumber mosaic virus
to you then damping off is the most likely cause. This fungal infection can strike overnight and often without warning. You can go a long way to prevent it happening by not sowing seeds too close together and by keeping your seedlings well ventilated. If you are reusing pots or trays, ensure you have cleaned them thoroughly with Jeyes Fluid and use tap water rather than rainwater on vulnerable young plants. Rust: Easily identified by red spots on the leaves, this disease is quite common. It is unlikely to be very serious, though it can reduce the vigour of your plants. Rust can be a sign that you’ve used too much nitrogen-rich fertiliser, causing vulnerable growth. Remove any affected leaves, where possible, and destroy them.
Cucumber mosaic virus: Despite the name, this disease doesn’t just affect cucumbers but a whole range of leafy veg. Symptoms include yellowing leaves that can become curled and distorted, and stunted growth, leading to reduced yields. Your hoe is your greatest ally in this particular fight, as the virus can be
harboured in innocentlooking weeds such as groundsel and chickweed, from where it spreads to your crops. You can even spread the virus via your tools and hands, so be sure to wash them thoroughly between jobs. Buy seeds of plants known to be resistant to this virus if it has been a problem for you in the past.
Biological pest control suppliers ✦ Buzz Organics: 0845 0509409, www.buzzorganics.co.uk ✦ Gardening Naturally: 0845 6800296, www.gardening-naturally.com ✦ Ladybird Plant Care: 0845 0945499, www.ladybirdplantcare.co.uk ✦ Nemasys: www.nemasysinfo.com Grow it! May 2011 55
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56 May 2011 Grow it!
P056.indd 14
07/04/2011 15:35
Veg grow guide
urious Ccucurbits Squash and pumpkins – members of the cucurbit family – promise a colourful and tasty growing experience. Benedict Vanheems digs deep for these charismatic performers
I
f you’re looking for diversity, colour and showmanship in the kitchen garden, you won’t find many better performers than the cucurbits. This unconventional family of fruiting vegetables has some of the most prized and talked about siblings. There’s nothing quiet, shy or retiring about these bold and brazen beauties! Cucurbits include squashes, marrows, courgettes, melons and loofahs. This article concentrates on the showiest of the cucurbits: the hefty orange whoppers of pumpkins, plus Grow it! May 2011 57
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Veg grow guide gather your haul and bring it under cover to store. Winter squashes are a highly useful crop, not only because they offer such a diverse range of eating, but because of their long-storing ability. Store harvested fruits in an unheated room indoors and they’ll keep until late winter or even into spring the following year – a fulsome bridge to span the infamous ‘hungry gap’ of February and March. Completing the line-up are the summer squashes. These squashes are grown in exactly the same way as their winter cousins; the only difference is in when the fruits are harvested. Rather than cutting the fruits in one go at the end of the season, summer squash are cut as they reach an appropriate size, in just the same way as courgettes. Young and tender is the mantra here, and fruits cut while small will have the most intense flavour. They make a welcome addition to the usual courgettes and come in a range of bright, summer colours. Expect to cut summer squash as early as July and enjoy them, fruit by fruit, until the first frost.
Growing pretty
the curious mix of shades, shapes, patterns and textures that arise from winter and summer squashes. All of these plants grow in much the same way, thriving in the very richest of soils and the very sunniest of sites. If you can offer these growing conditions then you will be assured of an impressive take of fruits over the course of the growing season.
Family traits
So let’s meet the family members. First in line is the pumpkin, perhaps the most impressive fruiting vegetable, with fruits often reaching epic, knee-buckling proportions. Many village shows hold competitions for the biggest pumpkin, such is their immense capacity for growth. Pumpkins are a great choice to get young gardeners hooked on growing. Select the right variety and keep plants well fed and watered and there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a shot at producing king-sized fruits. Of course, size isn’t everything and there are plenty of varieties with flavour to the fore; pumpkins are delicious roasted or made into the autumn staple of pumpkin pie. Next in line are the winter squash. Like pumpkins, winter squashes are left on the plant right through the summer to harvest ey once the foliage dies back in autumn. They are then enjoyed throughout the winter (hence their name). This makes for a very easy care routine – other than watering when needed you can pretty much take a back seat until October when it’s time to 58 May 2011 Grow it!
Winter squashes come in all shapes and sizes – a feast for the eye and stomach!
Squashes and pumpkins have a hearty appetite, which means ground preparation is one of the keys to success. Dig in plenty of organic matter (and then some more!) to ensure rampant and productive plants. It is quite common to level off semi-mature compost heaps and set plants into the top to trail down; it’s simply impossible to over-feed these ravenous fellows. If you intend to grow more than a handful of plants then barrow well-rotted compost or manure onto your pumpkin/squash patch and dig in to incorporate. Most people will be satisfied with just three or four plants. In this instance, there’s little point spreading your compost far and wide – instead, dig out individual planting pits where each plant will grow and concentrate all that richness where the plants will sit. Prepare planting pits by digging holes for each plant 30-40cm (12-16in) wide and deep. Fill each pit with well-rotted compost or manure. You can also use compostable kitchen scraps, which will start to rot down in the pits to create a rich, mo root environment for your plants. Fill your moist
On the trail O
Mo squashes and pumpkins tend to trail, Most though there are bush varieties which form th stockier st plants. The stems of trailing squash will snake sn through the plot through the course of the th summer, though you can easily encourage them th to sit where you want them to lie. Peg stems st in place or use the occasional stick to divert di stems away from other crops. Another option op is to coax trailing stems up trellising or some so other support. Trained over an archway, squashes sq make a very attractive garden feature while wh keeping plants off the ground.
STEP-BY-STEP
Growing squash and pumpkins
1
2
3
4
5
6
Remove pots from their propagator Sow individual seeds into 7cm (3in) pots once the seedlings have appeared. of multipurpose compost. Water the Germination should take about a week. pots then place them somewhere warm, Pot the young plants on as they grow. such as a propagator, to germinate.
Young plants may need protection from birds. An upturned hanging basket works well for this and can act as a support for a covering of protective fleece.
Plants are hungry and thirsty fellows, so give them copious amounts of feed if you want large fruits, and water in dry weather to sustain rapid growth.
Sowing squash
The early days of squash and pumpkin are exactly the same. Start the growing cycle off in April or early May by sowing the large seeds individually into 7cm (3in) plastic pots or large modules of multipurpose compost. Sow the seeds on their sides and push them down into the compost so that they sit about 2cm (1in) below the
While not essential, some gardeners like to apply a mulch of straw or some other organic matter to lock in the moisture and protect developing fruits from damp soil.
Cucurbits will fruit their hearts out if sound ground preparation is combined with the sunniest position on the plot
BENKETARO
pits then top them off with a 10-15cm (4-6in) layer of soil to leave a slight hillock at the soil surface. Set pits 60-100cm (2-3.5ft) apart, depending on the variety you want to grow. Trailing varieties will need more room than bush types. Prepare your pits earlier in the spring, though there’s no harm in doing so now if you haven’t already got round to it. The soil will settle over the next few weeks in time for planting out. Of course, cucurbits will fruit their hearts out if this sound ground preparation is combined with the sunniest position on the plot. Squashes and pumpkins may be vigorous in growing habit, but to guarantee ripe fruits they need to be sun-kissed. This is particularly the case for winter squash such as the butternuts, which are heavily dependent on the longest possible growing season coupled with a fine, warm summer.
Alternatively start seedlings off directly outdoors. Thin to leave the strongest seedling at each position and keep protected from cold weather.
Squash seedlings are a good, easy-tomanage size
surface. Water the pots then place them into a propagator to germinate. You could also use clear grocery bags, secured over pots with an elastic band, to create the humidity and added warmth they need. Germination will rapidly occur at any temperature above 15°C, with 21°C as an optimum. Any sunny warm windowsill or greenhouse will be suitable, so long as it doesn’t get too cold at night. Within a week to 10 days the plump seedlings will have pushed through to put on surprisingly quick growth. Move the seedlings on as they fill their pots into larger 10-12cm (4-5in) plastic pots. The earlier the start you can give your seedlings the better. Early April will guarantee a long growing season without the plants becoming too gangly before they are safe to be planted outside. Planting into prepared pits or ground can occur from mid May, so long as all chances of frost have passed and the plants have been properly hardened off. Keep an eagle eye Grow it! May 2011 59
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Veg grow guide up a lot of room, especially when left to trail at ground level, they will give a weighty harvest, challenging other crops for the total yield taken per unit area. Nevertheless, the prudent kitchen gardener will make the most of available ground by sowing a quick-growing crop in-between the young plants. Radishes, spring onions, looseleaf lettuce, baby turnips and other salads are excellent contenders and will be out of the ground before the chunky leaves of your squash crowd out the ground later on in the summer.
Feeding frenzy
on weather forecasts – any mention of cool nights around planting time should be a warning to delay for another week. Harden the young plants off by placing them outside for gradually longer spells as planting day approaches.
Outside chance
You can also try sowing seeds directly outdoors from early May. Set two to three seeds at each planting position and cover with a cloche to create a warm microclimate. A jam jar, clear Pyrex mixing bowl or upturned half drinks bottle
Plant squash into sheet mulching for a weed-free result
Set plants into their final positions only after hardening off properly
To ease the transition to outdoor conditions a temporary cover of fleece or cloches will pay off will work as well as a full-sized cloche. Once the seedlings are up, remove the smallest to leave the strongest in place to grow on. Remove cloches once the seedlings have grown on a bit and the weather no longer threatens frost. Planting of pot-raised seedlings may be delayed to as late as early June further north. This isn’t a problem; caution is preferable to cavalier chancing that might see plants hammered by a snap, late-season frost. Set bush varieties of squash 60-75cm (2-2.5ft) apart and trailing squash or pumpkins 60-100cm (2-3.5ft) apart, depending on the variety. To ease the transition to outdoor conditions a temporary cover of horticultural fleece or cloches will pay off. These can be removed after a week or two. Don’t be surprised if plants sulk for some time following planting. This is quite normal and as soon as a few days of warm, sunny weather have occurred plants will perk up and start to romp away. Squashes and pumpkins are rather spacehungry plants. But while they undeniably take 60 May 2011 Grow it!
Above: Keep plants well watered, especially once the fruits begin to swell Right: Plants quickly find their feet to grow with impressive speed
With plants well underway there’s now little else to do than wait for the fruits to appear – an exciting moment indeed! Until plants fill out and hide the ground from view it is worth hoiking out any weeds. While these chunky plants will hardly notice the diminutive weeds around them, it is good plot hygiene to keep on top of weeds and stop them spreading or setting seed for future crops. By the end of summer the pumpkin patch will be a thick mass of leaves and weeds won’t stand a chance. Pumpkins and squashes are exceptionally hungry plants. If you’ve prepared the ground thoroughly with ample organic matter then this should suffice. That said, if you’re after the very biggest fruits for exhibition then there’s no harm in applying an additional liquid feed. Pick one that’s high in potash (one for tomatoes would be ideal) and feed every week or more. Up the concentration for the biggest plants to sustain their vigorous growth. Watering will undoubtedly increase productivity in dry summers, though past experience has shown that a rich planting pit offers a good source of moisture as well as nutrients. Water early in the morning, if possible, to allow excess moisture to evaporate away during the warm of the day. Try to
WHAT TO GROW Pumpkin
Squash
The one to pick if you’re attempting a record breaker. These pumpkins have reached over 1,000lbs in weight! Jungle Seeds
DILL’S ATLANTIC GIANT:
BUTTERCUP: A winter variety forming medium-sized fruits of exceptional flavour. The dusky skins open to reveal a smooth, orange flesh. Jungle Seeds
AMAZONKA: Try this
PATTISON BLANC: The
pumpkin if space is tight. The compact, semi-bush plants form slightly flattened fruits that are ideal for roasting. Suttons
keep water off the leaves, aiming the hosepipe or watering can spout in-between the leaves to wet the ground beneath. If you are after bigger fruits then cover over the apex of lateral stems (where the side stems emerge from the main, central stem) with soil. This will stimulate additional roots and an extra source of nutrients and moisture. For this reason stems left to trail on the ground are likelier to yield larger fruits than those trained upwards onto supports.
The leaves of pumpkins and squash are likely to be knocked back by mildew by late summer, revealing the fruits beneath
SWEET DUMPLING:
What a stunner! This beauty has creamcoloured skin with a splattering of green. The meal-sized fruits keep well and have a good flavour. Unwins UCHIKI KURI: A very easy to grow variety of winter squash. The orange skinned fruits bear flesh with a sweet, nutty flavour. Kings Seeds
Harvest time
Summer squash will be ready to pick from July, as soon as the fruits have reached an appropriate size. The yellow, scalloped-edged ‘Patty Pan’, for example, can be cut away from the plant once they reach 10cm (4in) in diameter. Don’t let the fruits of summer squash swell too large – you may think you are getting more food for your efforts but this will only slow production of further fruits and the flavour of those you take will be watery and insipid. Pumpkins and winter squash are left to grow on throughout the summer and are taken all at once in October. Pumpkins have a slightly thinner skin and less dense flesh than winter squashes. As a result they do not store as well and are generally best used up by the end of November. Allow fruits to mature and the skins to set in situ before cutting away from the plants. Winter squash are the ones to grow for their long storage life. To encourage the hard skins needed for trouble-free storage leave the fruits on plants for as long as possible. Most plants (including summer squash and pumpkins) are likely to develop a little mildew by autumn and this is perfectly normal. Let the fruits grow on and continue to season in the warmth that remains from the remnants of summer. Winter squash are ready once they have become fully coloured and the skins are hardened. Bring them in towards the end of October (they can shake off a light frost)
INVINCIBLE: This unusual pumpkin boasts a steely blue skin and deep orange, very tasty flesh. It stores well, keeping until March. Marshalls
saucer-shaped fruits of this Patty Pan-type summer squash are borne as profusely as the best of the courgettes. The Real Seed Catalogue
BUTTERNUT: For many the ultimate in squashes with a creamy, dense texture and fine flavour. Needs the sunniest spot for best results. Thompson & Morgan
Above: Winter squash ‘Invincible’ ready to cut and store
and store at a temperature above 10°C – a spare, unheated bedroom would be perfect. Sound squash kept in the right conditions should last until March. With such an incredible range of squash and pumpkins to try there’s every chance you will become a fully signed-up member of the cucurbit fan club! Delve deep to explore the fringes of this fascinating group of crops and you’ll be rewarded with colourful and flavour-packed fruits.
SQUASH AND PUMPKIN SEED SUPPLIERS
✦ Jungle Seeds: 01491 614765, www.jungleseeds.co.uk ✦ Kings Seeds: 01376 570000, www.kingsseeds.com ✦ Marshalls: 01480 443390, www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk ✦ Suttons: 0844 9222899, www.suttons.co.uk ✦ The Real Seed Catalogue: 01239 821107, www.realseeds.co.uk ✦ Thompson & Morgan: 0844 2485383, www.thompson-morgan.com ✦ Unwins: 01480 443395, www.unwins.co.uk Grow it! May 2011 61
Poultry
House in order
It’s time for a spring clean. Terry Beebe offers his practical advice on the jobs that chicken owners need to be tackling now
F
or many of us the start of the winter we’ve just experienced must rank among one of the most severe for many years. The harsh weather in many parts of the country gave keepers a real headache as they struggled to protect their birds from the ravages of snow, wind and rain. Severe weather like this inevitably means that general maintenance and repair jobs get put off. Nevertheless, these sorts of jobs can’t be ignored for too long and now that spring is well underway we must redouble efforts to ensure our poultry setups are in top-notch condition, ready for all the activity to come. Of course, some of the damage caused has been serious; I recently saw a goose pen where the snowfall had been so heavy that the roof timbers had given way causing it to collapse. Fortunately, no harm was caused to the occupants but putting it right is going to be a major job.
Assess and repair
So now’s the time to get cracking! You should waste no time in carrying out a thorough evaluation of the condition of your housing, fencing, any electrified wiring, feeders and drinkers; everything, in fact, that could have taken a pounding over winter. Fence posts, gateposts and wire mesh should be repaired and/or replaced as necessary. These should be your priority as they are all potentially vital in terms of keeping your stock safe from predators. Posts that have worked themselves loose will need to be re-set, while all gate and door hinges, bolts and wire must be checked for security of fixing and continued effectiveness. Metal corrosion is best dealt with now, 62 May 2011 Grow it!
too. Never forget that a fox will take advantage of a surprisingly small chink in your poultry defences and only needs to strike once.
Safe house
When making post-winter checks and repairs on poultry houses start with the roof. The felt that covers many of these is vulnerable to bad weather, especially if it’s already endured a few winters. The heat during the summer months dries the material out, eventually turning it hard and brittle. This is then exploited by the freezing temperatures of winter so that cracks, splits and associated leaks are inevitable. If it’s not effectively repaired, then hardened and damaged felt will start breaking away in ever larger sections, so always replace the lot. Patching is rarely a practical, long-term
Healthy birds are happy birds. A thorough spring clean now will set them up for the warmer weather ahead Broken run fences, gates and wiring must all be made good
solution and typically proves to be a false economy. There are different grades of roofing felt available (of varying thicknesses) and my advice is to use the best you can afford. Opting for a heavy-duty grade is going to represent a better bet than fitting the thinner stuff so often used on modern shed roofs to save money. Although roofing felt is guaranteed, I’ve never known anyone who has actually claimed for it not lasting the length of time quoted. Of course, felt isn’t the only roofing option. More modern alternatives, such as Onduline sheeting, represent a practical if more expensive alternative. The ridged sheets of this material are easily fastened onto the roof frame for a durable solution. The wood on the coops will need to be treated with some sort of protective coating. Most of these products are chemicalfree which generally means that in practice it’s best to apply them annually. There are plenty of alternatives on the market, all
into every nook and cranny, literally. Finally, use Stalosan disinfectant on the floor and in the nest boxes before replacing the clean bedding with dust-free, softwood shavings. By taking these straightforward precautions you will be helping to guard against future insect problems and will be killing the bugs and bacteria that live on the house floor, as well as helping to minimise the unpleasant smell of ammonia. At this cleaning stage, also check for signs of any rats or mice; look for evidence of rat diggings nearby and underneath the sheds, plus gnawings around the openings and pop holes. These signs are normally pretty easy to spot. Mice tend to leave less obvious signs, but they are still a pest that requires dealing with before the weather warms up. Look for droppings and small holes and in dark, hard-to-get-at areas, check for nests made from feathers and any other soft materials that may have been lying around.
Outside runs and pens
available from DIY stores. Check for any signs of rot in the house structure and for broken wire on windows. The wood behind hinge plates can become sodden and rotten, so be aware of this possibility too. It means that retaining screws will become all too easy to pull out.
Fixtures and fittings
Cleaning inside the poultry house should really be classed as normal daily/weekly maintenance. But at this time of year it’s well worth giving the interior an extra thorough going over. My method for doing this involves removing all the internal parts of the house (perches, nest boxes, droppings trays, feeders and drinkers) first of all for cleaning. This then creates enough space to scrub and disinfect everything with a good-quality, safe product. I scrape all the perches and if I find any that are simply too encrusted, I replace with new. Using a power washer is a great way to clean the inside of the house but this needs to be done
on a reasonably warm day as the interior needs to dry out before the chickens can return. Putting birds back into a house that’s still wet can be a recipe for disaster, even if it’s clean. If you can, house them somewhere else until their primary residence is completely dry. One vital job not to forget before the birds return is to spray all components and the house interior against red mite. Use a quality treatment (as recommended by your local supplier), and make sure it’s forced
Poultry runs can become ‘sour’ if they are not dealt with regularly. As the weather gets warmer this will cause a smell and, to prevent this, the run floor needs to have the top couple of inches skimmed off. The material gathered in this way is best consigned to the Repairing compost heap. old, weatherdamaged roofing Dig down into the ground and material should turn the top few inches. If you are be a priority lucky enough to own a rotovator then use it to make short work of A leaking automatic drinker what can otherwise be a backinside the hen breaking and lengthy job. If you house is no joke. leave the ground relatively level, Frost damage is the birds will have a great time a common cause digging and hunting for insects of trouble
Grow it! May 2011 63
S
Poultry and will also carry out the final surface finishing in the process. As a rule, I always try to turn the soil at least once a month and add a sprinkling of Stalosan while I’m about it to help freshen-up the whole area. Regular digging like this in the run is another effective way of helping to prevent parasites and disease.
Drinkers and feeders
Rubbish clearance
Prolonged periods of bad weather always create problems with disposal of dirty, wet bedding. The local tip will take some but if you try to get rid of large amounts there’s a risk that they’ll turn you 64 May 2011 Grow it!
away, claiming that you’re dealing with commercial waste. Leaving the litter in neat piles can often be the simplest solution, especially when the weather is really bad. Never forget, though, that such piles can present attractive nesting places for rodents and other undesirables. So leaving heaps hanging around the place for prolonged periods is never a good idea. By all means transfer some to your compost heap and you might also like to try the rotting material on your allotment or veg patch. While you’re in a clearing frame of mind, take time to remove any rubbish that there may be around your sheds; make a point of getting rid of anything that could possibly be used by rodents as shelter. This is also a great time to start setting the traps and bait, to make sure that you get the rodent situation well under control both for your own health and also the protection of your birds. All keepers should be running permanent rodent bait and traps as a matter of course; this really is the only way that anyone can mount a serious challenge against these destructive and potentially dangerous pests. By keeping the areas around
Above: This kind of mess will prove an irresistible attraction to rats and mice, so get it cleared Left: Plastic drinkers become brittle with age and are easily cracked by ice
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Issue 86 – May 2011 £3.50
your poultry house clear, clean and tidy, you’ll go a long way towards effectively limiting the activities of rats and mice. These creatures love dark places to hide and will thrive in and around old bags of bedding and waste feed. The simple rule is to remove all temptation. In practical terms, the effective control of rodent activity is a major achievement for all domestic poultry keepers these days. With your poultry house spic and span, aim to keep it that way with a regular cleaning regime. Your chickens will be happier and all the healthier for it.
Further information
For more in-depth information on poultry keeping subscribe Super to Practical Poultry. Take Sumatra! advantage of an introductory Red mite HOUSE RULES offer and receive your first Incubation three issues for just £3 when Chicken-friendly vets you take out a subscription by direct debit! Call 01959 541444 and quote ‘GI edit’. Practical Poultry includes down-to-earth, practical articles covering all aspects of this fantastic hobby; everything from health and welfare, housing, sourcing and buying birds to owners’ stories, Q&As and reports from the active Practical Poultry forum. THE UK'S BEST SELLING POULTRY MAGAZINE!
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Freezing conditions are likely to have damaged and split plastic drinkers, which will need to be replaced. If you use an automatic drinker system then it’s important to ensure that the tops are secure; ice can push up the seals, causing the mechanism to flow continually and flood. I advise close inspection of these units, just to be on the safe side. They may look okay outwardly but it’s best to be sure. I always strip mine down and reassemble them carefully then I can be sure that they’re in perfect working order. There’s nothing worse than a newly-cleaned, dry pen becoming flooded by a faulty drinker. All standard drinkers and feeders should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. In fact, this is something all keepers should be doing on a regular basis to minimise the risk of infection.
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GI - Fancy Feed May11.indd 2
07/04/2011 15:38
Veg grow guide Home-grown salads make for fantastic eating!
A LEAF
y r a n i d l ess or
If you think there’s little more to salad leaves than lettuce, think again. Lucy Halliday reviews a sample of the many leafy wonders available to the home grower
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HAIR SQUARED
An fine harvest of mixed leaves promises an interesting and varied salad
66 May 2011 Grow it!
alad can be one of life’s little pleasures and, equally, somewhat of a disappointment. Some of the most satisfying meals I have ever eaten have been salads; a highlight last summer was going out into the garden with a big bowl, a fork, balsamic vinegar and olive oil to indulge in a salad so fresh it never even entered the house! Alas, we are all too often forced to except the second-rate collations offered to us by supermarkets and in restaurants. Lacking in imagination, the vast majority of these salads spoil the good name of what should be an exceptional and flavoursome treat. Growing your own salad leaves allows you to enjoy them as they were meant
to be – as fresh as possible. But that’s not the only reason you should give it a try. If you’re looking for a crop that’s easy to grow and as varied and exotic as you like, you should definitely give salad leaves a spin. Crisp salad leaves will grow just about anywhere and no matter how much space or time you have, there’s something you can try. Perfect for beginner and expert alike, just a few key pointers will set you up for marvellous returns. In fact, some salads are so easy it’s mostly a case of ‘just add water!’. Salad leaves are also one of the few crops that’s possible to produce year round with little fuss. From the traditional and tasty ‘Little Gem’ to the exuberant leaves of hardy oriental
Whatever salad takes your fancy, there are a few general rules that are useful to know before exploring the wonderful world of a leaf less ordinary. All of the salad leaves discussed here will happily grow in the open ground or containers. To container-grow most crops, lettuce included, you will need to make sure you provide the gardener’s perfect paradox of moist but free-draining soil. To do this add a layer of grit to the bottom of the container and use a
The best thing about growing salad leaves is that you won't have to settle for a bland supermarket iceberg or a pre-packed air-freighted disaster
STEPHEN SHIRLEY
Salad basics
good, quality compost with plenty of organic material. Containers for salad leaves can be as shallow as 15cm (6in) but pots that are a little deeper than this will be better for moisture retention. Hanging baskets and window boxes will prove very fruitful, so long as they are kept well watered. If salad leaves are allowed to dry out their growth will be seriously stunted and, if your crop survives, it will give leaves that have a more bitter taste. Drying plants out can also make them prone to bolting (when they send up flowering stems). The moral is that religious watering is the major key to success. A top up feed of liquid fertiliser mid season will keep container crops well fed. Most salad leaf crops can be sown in rows, in modules for planting out, or can simply be grown for cropping young by broadcast-sowing seed over a finely-raked patch of soil or container of compost. Container growing will probably exclude weeds, but if you are growing in open ground then keep your salad patch as weed free as time allows; being thirsty, fast-growing plants, salad leaves won’t appreciate the competition. You will have to fend off the pest competition too, from the likes of slugs, snails, aphids and caterpillars – all have the potential to wreck your crop. Now what to grow? MARK DIACONO
mustards, there is nothing stopping you cutting fresh leaves from January to December. If you’re an impatient sort, there are even salads that will meet your taste buds within a matter of weeks. Of course, the best thing about growing salad leaves yourself is that you won’t have to settle for a bland supermarket iceberg or a pre-packed, air-freighted disaster with browning and bruised leaves. Choice is something there’s plenty of in salads: from sweet, crisp, juicy leaves with bright splashes of colour, to tangy and peppery flavours that will really liven things up. If you give them a try you’ll be amazed at the complex palate of flavours and colours that a simple collection of salad leaves offers. So, take your pick from the menu below. Try something different and serve up a salad to be proud of.
Fresh and juicy
Corn salad: Also known as lamb’s
lettuce, corn salad is a sweet juicy, easy-to-grow salad forming neat rosette of leaves that can be harvested whole. Successional sowings of seeds 1cm (0.5in) deep from August to October will keep you supplied with winter greens, though I also like to sow some in early spring for an extra ‘hungry gap’ harvest.
Pea shoots: Pea shoots are an easy
indoor cheat for those without any growing space at all. Just sprinkle some dried peas from the supermarket into a tray or pot of moist compost, poke them in to the soil about 1cm (0.5in) deep and wait for their juicy shoots, which taste of fresh peas.
Hanging baskets will need regular watering but can be handy where space is limited
Salad burnet: It may look like
rather delicate, but salad burnet is a drought-tolerant plant, making it a good selection for the more forgetful gardener. A hardy perennial which will readily self-sow, its little leaves have a hint of cucumber to taste. Sow at the cooler times of spring or early autumn, remove any flower heads that appear, and crop regularly. Grow it! May 2011 67
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Veg grow guide Hot and peppery
Tangy and tart
Sorrel: Lemony and sharp but with succulent leaves, sorrel is a perennial. Although you can keep plants for more than one year, the leaves will get tougher so many grow it as an annual to avoid this. Sow direct in March or April leaving up to 30cm (12in) between plant, depending on the size of the leaves you are after. From June to November you can pick individual leaves or give the whole plant a hair cut to a few centimetres/an inch above ground level to stimulate fresh new growth.
Wild rocket: Also a perennial, wild
Land cress: An equally peppery salad punch comes from this plant with very different requirements. Land cress also has that super watercress-like kick but prefers cool, moist soil in part shade – great news for less productive parts of the garden. Sow seeds thinly 1cm (0.5in) deep from March to August in rows 15cm (6in) apart. Thin plants to 10cm (4in) as soon as they are large enough. Plants for overwintering can be sown from August to September. from April to July for harvests from July to October. A sunny spot is best and this plant will tolerate dry conditions, though once again watering greatly improves flavour and yield. Purslane is also a healthy choice as it contains more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy crop.
serves the common ‘Little Gem’ lettuce very well). Seeds can be station sown outdoors in March, leaving 10-15cm (46in) between each station and covering with roughly 1.5cm (0.5in) of soil. Seedlings will emerge after a week and once they are large enough to handle, thin them to 25cm (10in) apart. You can start cropping leaves from your plants as soon as they are 15-20cm (6-8in) tall. Do this by either cutting off the green tops or taking longer cuttings from a section of the plant at a time. New growth will soon sprout from the base.
Purslane: For a salad leaf with a real
difference try purslane (right), a succulent half-hardy annual with a salty and slightly sour taste. Sow seeds 1-2cm (0.5in) deep
DOBIES
rocket is another excellent, tangy salad leaf with delicate frond-like leaves that make a pretty garnish. Sow seed thinly anytime from early March to September and thin to 10cm (4in) or so between plants. Pick individual leaves or take whole plants as needed. Keep this salad especially well watered as rocket easily gets a bit flower-happy in dry weather.
Nasturtiums: Not only a joy to behold with its glowing orange, red and yellow blooms, but also a salad staple round at my house. The unique peppery tang of the nasturtium is delicious in a mixed salad, topped off with a few of their edible flowers. Nasturtiums thrive best in poor, sandy soil which is easy to achieve by mixing extra sand or grit in to a container compost mix. Sow seeds 1cm (0.5in) deep and 30cm (12in) apart in rows, or closer in a pot. Pick the freshest young leaves and always inspect them for blackfly before serving!
Eye-catching Orache: The variety ‘Triple Purple’ (opposite, top) is a really stunning and vigorous salad plant. The intensely purple leaves are tender when young and the plants, if left to grow, reach a metre in height, looking great in an ornamental boarder. Sow seed from April onwards for crops until September. The leaves taste like slightly salty spinach.
Salty and sour
68 May 2011 Grow it!
MATT LAVIN
Agretti: Agretti (right) is known by a colourful array of other names including: roscano, barba di trate and Russian thistle. It’s the salad leaf of the moment and much sought after. A huge hit with Italian restaurants, it’s rarely grown thanks to its very short shelf life and poor germination rate. Agretti grows as a small bush with long chive-like leaves that have a very pleasant, mild flavour with a hint of sourness. They are delicious, especially braised with garlic and olive oil (a treatment which also
Mustard: Oriental mustards come in a range of great colours and leaf shapes, sometimes growing to sculptural proportions. Try ‘Red Giant’ (pictured opposite), ‘Osaka Purple’ or ‘Korean Red Leaf Mustard’ to add a larger scale colour
STEP-BY-STEP
Growing salad leaves
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Different salad leaves have different sowing requirements, so check seed packets for precise instructions. Most cutand-come-again types are sown 1cm (0.5in) deep into rows 10-20cm (4-8in) apart.
Cover the seeds back over and water up and down the rows using a fine spray or watering can fitted with a fine rose. Seedlings usually appear within about five to ten days.
statement to your salad patch. Sow April to August for peppery leaves that can be used small or shredded when large.
Chard: ‘Rainbow’ chard is a must for any colourful salad dish coming in shades from bright red through pink and orange to yellow and brilliant white. ‘Bulls blood’ chard has a gorgeous deep-red colour in both its stems and leaves. Station-sown baby leaves can be picked regularly from each plant, with plants lasting a whole year into the colder months, given regular cropping to keep their leaves small and tender. Sow single seeds from March and thin the resulting cluster of seedlings or prick out to another spot. Container-grown chard will need at least 30cm (12in) depth for its large taproot. Young beetroot leaves also make a related colourful salad snack.
Salad leaf plants can also be started If the seeds were not sown thinly then off under cover in modules of some thinning out will be required. compost. This is handy to get a head Pull or pinch out seedlings to leave an inch or so between each individual plant. start or to have a supply of plants ready to set out as soon as another crop has This will give them more room to grow. finished and is cleared.
Thin module trays to leave one plant per cell. Plant the young plantlets out as soon as they have filled their modules. Don’t delay or else plants can become nutrient-starved and stressed.
Broadcast-sown seed will create a thicker carpet of salad leaves rather than neat rows. Leaves will need regular going over to harvest those that are ready and to encourage new growth to follow. Grow it! May 2011 69
Know-how
G
Propagation stations
EXTRACT TAKEN FROM EASY TO GROW! HERBS (COLLINS & BROWN)
Herbs go a long way to avouring food with their natural aromas and sensational tastes. Keep them coming with these simple propagation techniques
70 May 2011 Grow it!
Softwood cuttings are a reliable way to propagate leafy herbs such as mint Right: Some herbs such as mint will readily root in water. Simply place cuttings into a jar of water on the windowsill
rowing herbs from seed is not always appropriate or even possible. A number of herbs either do not set seed or do not come true from seed. These include many varieties with variegated or decorative foliage, or particular ower colours. As is the case with shrubs, producing a mature plant from seed is often a slow process. Thankfully there are other methods we can employ which use established plants to produce further identical ones; these can sometimes be planted into their permanent growing positions immediately. The only means of reproducing the parent plant exactly is by vegetative propagation, which is most commonly done by cuttings.
Taking cuttings
A cutting is a length of stem that under suitable conditions is able to produce its own roots and form a new plant. The different types of cuttings include softwood, greenwood, semi-ripe, hardwood and water. Softwood cuttings root quickly but easily wilt, so greenwood cuttings are preferable. Woody shrubs can be propagated by hardwood cuttings taken during the autumn or early winter and then rooted outside in a sandy trench. Most cuttings can be rooted into pure coarse sand, but for better results use one of the following mixes: equal amounts of peat substitute and sharp sand; equal amounts of peat substitute and perlite (made from volcanic rock); or equal amounts of peat substitute, perlite and coarse sand. Peat substitute retains moisture and encourages roots; perlite retains moisture and air; and sand aerates the mix and supplies bulk and density, making the inserted cutting more secure. Cuttings must not be allowed to wilt. Take them early in the day, before the sun is hot, and keep them sprayed with a mist spray before you insert them into the cutting mix. Once they are inserted, cover the container with a plastic bag to retain moisture until the cuttings have rooted.
Semi-ripe cuttings
Semi-ripe cuttings are ideal for propagating woody herbs such as sweet bay or rosemary. Trees and shrubs are usually propagated from semi-ripe wood. Semi-ripe cuttings should be taken from mid to late summer when the shoots are starting to ripen and become harder. Hormone rooting powder encourages the cutting to root and is available from garden centres. These cuttings will normally root by the following spring.
Divide healthy, disease-free established plants
Plant division
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Take 10-15cm (4-6in) cuttings from the current season’s growth. Strip off any leaves from the lower part of the stems.
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Insert the base of the stem into hormone rooting powder; knock off any excess. Insert about 2.5cm (1in) into the compost.
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Space the cuttings at intervals around the edge of the pot. Keep the mixture damp and cover with a clear plastic bag to retain moisture.
Softwood cuttings
This is the best type of cutting to take from most herbs. Softwood cuttings should be taken when the soft spring growth has firmed up in late spring or early summer. Take the cutting from the tip of a healthy stem – it may vary in length according to the plant. The tip of the cutting will be floppy and the base just firm enough to insert into the cutting compost. It is important to keep the cuttings moist at all times and to avoid handling them too much.
Many herbaceous plants and some shrubs can be propagated by dividing the parent plant. The main advantage of this method is that you reproduce the mother plant exactly (with seed there is often some variation). You will also be starting off with a good-sized plant that will quickly establish. Select healthy specimens, free from imperfections or disease. The method of division depends on the type of plant and its root system. In most cases all or most of the plant will have to be dug up, divided as required then replanted into fresh soil. Fork compost into the area from which the plant was dug to revitalise the soil.
Other propagation methods
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Select cuttings 5-10cm (2-4in) long from the tip of a healthy, nonflowering main stem. Strip the leaves off the lower half of the stem.
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Remove the growing tip at the top of the cutting then make a hole in the cutting compost mix and insert the cutting. Firm around the cutting gently.
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Label and water the cutting. Place a plastic bag over the pot to prevent it from drying out. Keep the compost watered as the cutting takes root.
Sowing seed, division and taking cuttings are the most common methods of propagating plants, but some herbs lend themselves to other techniques. These include layering, by runners and suckers, or by division of bulbs and corms. The method of propagation will depend on what herb you have and want to propagate. Layering and dropping use the natural tendency of some woody plants to develop roots and new shoots at points where their stems come into contact with the soil. Suckers are produced by some shrubs and trees, such as sweet bay. They originate from the underground root system or at Grow it! May 2011 71
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Know-how
Dropping a woody herb
Dropping is a traditional method of propagating woody plants. It involves digging a hole deep enough to half-sink the plant into the soil. Where the stems touch the soil a new root system will be produced. Once established the new plants can be detached from the parent and planted in a different site.
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In the spring dig a hole large enough to sink the plant by 7-10cm (3-4in).
Chives can be divided every now and then to bulk out numbers
the base of the main stem of a mature plant and may appear as leafy shoots near the base of the parent plant or as much as several feet away. They produce their own root system and can be detached from the parent plant, dug up and planted as new plants. Many herbs, such as chives, grow from bulbs or corms. These multiply over the years to produce a clump that can then be split up into individual bulbs and planted to make new plants. Clumps of fibrous roots can be lifted and divided just after flowering or in early spring to form smaller plants, each with plenty of roots and
shoots. Using your hands or a knife, ease or cut pieces from the outside of a dug up plant. The centre of the plant can be replanted but discard old and woody centres. Once the plant has been divided, either re-pot the small clumps or, in the case of large clumps, plant them directly into prepared soil. Some herbs, such as mint, produce rhizomes – stems that run from the plant at ground level or underground. Rhizomes produce both roots and shoots along their length that look like several separate plants but are, in fact, all connected. Divide rhizomes after flowering or in spring.
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Place the plant (here a rosemary) into the hole and carefully push the soil back around the stems to bury them slightly.
READER OFFER
More tips on herb growing can be found in Easy to Grow! Herbs, published by Collins & Brown. Readers can buy a copy for just £4, including free UK p&p. Call 0870 7871613 and quote reference ‘CH1411’. 72 May 2011 Grow it!
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Keep the plant watered during dry spells and lift in the autumn, when roots should have formed on the stems. Cut each one from the main plant and pot them up as individual plants.
GI May 11 LBS Horticulture.indd 2
06/04/2011 16:36
PRACTICAL PROJECT: MAY
Scare tactics
Fed up with pigeons and other birds nipping at your hard-earned crops? Scare them away in style with these pretty bird scarers. Tessa Evelegh explains how to make them. Photography by Debbie Patterson
O
ne of the main problems allotment growers face is protecting their precious fruit and veg from garden denizens great and small. Birds love to plunder tender shoots and succulent fruits, so there’s always a quest for devices to shoo them off humanely… and while you’re about it, you might as well make them decorative. These bird scarers, made of coloured wire hung with tiny bells, look great fun in the veg patch, especially in spring and early summer when everything is still very small and green. But while we humans love the bright, shiny colours and tinkling bells, it’s a decidedly scary combination for birds, who would really rather steer clear! The galvanised steel wire used in this project is available from most garden centres, while anodised craft wire can be found in jewellery and craft stores or on the internet. Variations of the bird scarer in the step-by-step can be made using different colours of anodised craft wire and by varying the flower shape. Why not try making several of these cheery scarers oo before mounting them on bamboo canes and letting them brighten up whole rows of produce?
What you will need
Tools ✔ Wire cutter/pliers l, slightly ✔ Short piece of dowe cane oo mb ba a thicker than dowel er nn thi of ce ✔ Short pie Materials gauge ✔ 2.8m (9.5ft) of 2mm/12spring the for e wir galvanized steel e galvanized ug ga 18m/ ✔ 1.5m (5ft) of 1m shape steel wire for the flower m/18-gauge 1m of l ✔ 2.8m (9.5ft) ree e wir ft cra green anodised m/23-gauge 6m 0.5 of l ✔ 8.2m (27ft) ree lilac anodised craft wire wire ✔ 1.5m (5ft) fine florist’s e ✔ Bamboo can ✔ 6 small bells
74 May 2011 Grow it!
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STEP-BY-STEP
Making a bird scarer
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Wind the 2mm steel wire around the thicker dowel, leaving a tail of straight wire before you begin winding. Wind all the way down the dowel, pull the coil off the end and continue winding until you have created the length you need. Remove the dowel.
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Make a lilac coil in the same way, by winding it around a piece of the thickest gauge of wire. Make it long enough to go around all the ‘petals’ of the flower shape.
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Slip a short piece of fine florist’s wire into each bell and wire the bells in place at intervals around the flower as desired.
Now make the flower by shaping the thinner-gauge wire. Using 1mm steel wire start by leaving a long ‘stalk’ then make an open spiral of wire for the centre. When the spiral’s almost the required size, use your fingers to form bends in the last ‘round’, creating the flower outline.
Now slip the green coil onto the flower, feeding it all the way through to the spiral at the centre as shown.
Slip the flower ‘stem’ into the top of the wire spring that you made in step 1. In this way the flower should bob around slightly in the breeze.
Wind the green craft wire around the thinner piece of dowel until you’ve made a coil long enough to cover the central spiral of the flower. You may need to pull it down the dowel as you go, so that you can carry on winding. Slip the green coil off the dowel.
In the same way, slip the lilac wire coil onto the wiggly part of the flower – the curved ‘petal’ shapes around the outside. Keep each loop of the lilac wire as tight as possible to create a strong impact of colour.
Fit the other end of the spring over the bamboo cane, winding the tail around the cane to fix it on firmly. To use, simply push the cane into the ground. Make further bird scarer to create a floral swathe of colour.
Grow it! May 2011 75
Know-how Organic growing Healthy, wellfed soils mean healthy, nutrientrich crops
as we might take a vitamin pill to balance out any deficiencies a plant can be fed a liquid feed to keep it in good form. It goes without saying that healthier plants are less likely to become prone to pests and diseases and will produce a better crop than plants which are malnourished.
When to feed
Greenhouse and polytunnel plants will need a helping hand from a liquid feed. If you are growing in any kind of container you will also need to add a feed from time to time, no matter what you are growing. The bonus of a liquid feed is that it gives plants a dose of nutrients in a form they can easily
FERTILE GROUND
There’s no need to fork out on expensive fertilisers. Dave Hamilton looks at how common garden herbs and weeds can be turned into plant-nourishing liquid feeds
P
Greenhouse crops like tomatoes will rely on you for regular liquid feeding
76 May 2011 Grow it!
eople’s lifestyles are often written all over their faces. A 40-a-day smoker who likes a drink in the evening, likes to eat out and prefers to watch sport rather than participate will look distinctly different from someone who drinks moderately, doesn’t smoke and eats a healthy diet. In short, if we put rubbish into our systems we’re unlikely to function as well as we should. Well, the same can be said for plants. If the soil is lacking in nutrients your plants won’t get the botanical equivalent of a balanced diet and they will struggle as a result. To address this problem it is best to work towards a healthy soil that’s teaming with microbes and the nutrients they free up. Of course, it can be hard to achieve this ideal living soil when we are continually cultivating a vegetable plot to get as much from it as we can. So just
Grow some comfrey plants for a ready supply of feed-producing leaves
absorb. This extra boost can be applied at precisely the time when a plant needs to expend more of its reserves, for example when flowering or fruiting. If you wish to buy in a good all-round commercial feed, then the best in my opinion is a seaweed-based feed such as Maxicrop. Seaweed feeds have the right balance of nutrients, including many minor nutrients essential to a plant but often lacking in the soil or other fertilisers. For those worried about animal welfare or contaminants in manure, it is also a good alternative to using animal-based feeds.
Home-made feeds
Every year I make a big batch of comfrey and nettle feed. I may be in the minority, but I even find the potent smell it can give off rather pleasing, as I know it’s a foretaste of the good it will do my plants. The combination of the deep roots of comfrey and sprawling roots of nettle mean that together these two plants seek out a range of nutrients in the soil before storing them in their leaves. Using these leaves to make your own liquid feed means you will pass on most of the major and minor nutrients needed to maintain a healthy plant. To make a feed from the leaves simply grab as many nettle and comfrey
Phosphorous (P)
Leaf growth and photosynthesis
Roots, stems, germination
Flowers and fruit, disease resistance
DEFICIENCY Yellow leaves, SYMPTOMS stunted growth, premature leaf drop
Stunted growth, purpling of plant, small crops lacking in flavour
Scorching on edge of leaves
SUGGESTED WEED/HERB FEED
Chickweed Clovers Dandelion Nettle Vetches
Comfrey, Dock Sheep’s sorrel, Clovers, Lemon balm, Fat hen / Lamb’s quarters (Goosefoot family)
Chickweed Comfrey (good source), Tansy Dock, Borage
Urine, chicken poo, worm casts, farmyard manure
Chicken poo, rock dust, worm casts, farmyard manure
Wood ash*, worm casts, farmyard manure
NEEDED FOR
ALTERNATIVE FEEDS
Potassium (K)
(sometimes called potash)
* Limit to 1-2 applications a year and avoid using on acid-loving crops
leaves as you can and pile them into the bottom of a bucket or water butt. Top up with water to submerge the leaves then allow to stand for two weeks or more. As I say, this method will give off something of a whiff, so I wouldn’t make it too close to your neighbour’s fence! I usually apply it neat as the mixture is already diluted but, of course, the more concentrated you make it the more you will have to water it down.
STEP-BY-STEP
CHART REPRODUCED IN PART FROM GROW YOUR FOOD FOR FREE BY DAVID HAMILTON (GREEN BOOKS)
Nitrogen (N)
Weed-based feeds
Some common garden weeds are known to be mineral accumulators – a fairly self-explanatory term that describes the way they draw up minerals from the soil to accumulate in their leaves. To use weeds to make a liquid feed it is important to take plants that haven’t gone to seed; use them at the leaf stage. Weeds can be gathered from the garden or your local surroundings
Dilute home-made liquid feeds thoroughly for use on young plants and seedlings
and added to the compost to enrich it, or they can be turned into a liquid feed as already described. The chart above shows the three major nutrients and the weeds that they can be found in. Feeds are like a smoothie for your garden; it will give them that extra boost and ensure they are strong enough to withstand the majority of pests and diseases a garden can throw at them in any given growing season.
Make an odourless feed
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This less smelly alternative to making a liquid feed requires a little more time to prepare. Start by placing one bucket inside another to check they fit.
In this case a combination of nettle/ comfrey feed is being prepared. With leaves in position, weigh them down and allow to stand for two weeks.
Now make holes in the base of the top bucket using a drill or garden skewer. Space the holes one or two inches apart at regular intervals across the base.
Collect the feed from the bottom bucket. Tip it out or for a more permanent setup install a water buttstyle tap, available from homebrew or hardware stores.
Put the buckets back together and place your chosen leaves into the top bucket. You can use many leaves aside from comfrey and nettle – check the chart for detail.
Water down the concentrated liquid between 8:1 and 20:1, depending on the strength required, and apply. 20:1 is good as a general feed, with 8:1 for fruiting plants. Grow it! May 2011 77
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Se e w ou eb r s it n e e! w !
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Controls a wide range of important pest species including Whitefly, Aphid, Spider Mite and Mealybug
DILUTION RATES: 1 litre concentrate to 500 litres of water. 2ml concentrate to 1 litre of water
for bigger, healthier and
Cobalt, Copper, Selenium,
The Environmentally Friendly
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For best results repeat spray weekly.
Apply to your soil now
0 s! ED 50tre ILUT D Li N
Environmentally friendly plant stimulant & pesticide
www.themagicingredient.com Enquiries: 07702635445
Solux2
is the safer alternative to glass around the garden - greenhouse, sheds, cold frames, cloches. Easily cut to size with a hobby knife. Twin walled PE panels.
Flutes create an obscuring effect.
4 panels 60 x 120 cms* £15 2 panels 120 x 120 cms* £15
Don’t be
Chicken about
Keep slugs, snails and roots in check.
Worming
Free-range and deep litter birds are most at risk from common poultry worms which can cause: Illness Reduced egg quality
Shocka mats are a capillary matting impregnated one side with copper. As well as deterring slugs & snails, plant roots do not penetrate into the mat. Ideal for protecting plants in greenhouse or cold frames .3 x 5 m £10 .9x 10 m £30
Easy to use -7 day in feed treatment Kills all stages of common worms Zero egg withdrawal for chickens
Flubenvet
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Proven poultry wormer now in a 60g pack for the domestic poultry keeper. For further information contact: Janssen Animal Health, 50-100 Holmers Farm Way, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP12 4EG, UK. Tel 01494 567555 Fax 01494 567556 EMail ahealth@its.jnj.com
Flubenvet 1% medicated pre-mixture
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60 years growing vegetables without digging or weeding. ASK for FREE GUIDE More than 60 years ago, our lambing yard was used to grow tomatoes commercially. Each year after lambing, tomato seedlings were simply planted in holes through the straw ground covering! No digging, weeding or feed. Learn this technique for many other applications, using carbon mulches and no sheep! Useful from a single bed to acres. SO EASY (Free PDF by e-mail £1 printed copy by post or FREE copy with orders)
Ordering
Delivery charge (per delivery): £3.95 UK mainland. £6.50 non mainland. £8.00 Ireland.
Secure on line shopping: www.gardenandplants.co.uk By Phone: 01243 533566 By Post:: North Mundham Farm LLP, N. Mundham, Chichester, PO20 1JQ. (Cheques: “North Mundham Farm”)
78 May 2011 Grow it! GROW IT 132 x 90w.indd 1 P078.indd 14
7/5/10 10:06:00 07/04/2011 15:52
Product review
Feed the earth
Compost bins are an essential part of any food-growing operation. With so many bins to choose from, Mike Woolnough proves that a good composting setup certainly needn’t cost the earth
A
s gardeners the thought of throwing away garden or kitchen waste is nothing short of criminal. Even putting this material out for recycling by the council is a needless waste of a valuable commodity that could be working wonders for your garden. If you do no more than turn this into compost for use as a top-dressing or mulch around established plants you’ll be doing a world of good. The natural actions of rain and earthworms will work it down into the soil and spread its goodness to the plants’ roots. Using your compost in seed trays and pots will show even more rewarding results. Some gardeners consider composting to be easy – just toss everything onto the heap and leave it to rot! However, you will never produce good compost this way as your bin needs to be carefully managed. The key word when composting is ‘variation’. Varying compost bin ingredients and spreading these as thin layers or mixing together is the trick. A thick layer of just about anything will cause a compost heap to stall, blocking easy airflow and allowing putrefaction to create an awfully slimy mess rather than the lovely crumbly stuff we want. It is important to include green layers and brown layers. Green layers
comprise weeds and kitchen waste, the outer leaves of cabbages and so on. Brown layers are woody substances such as twigs, cut down raspberry canes, artichoke stems and so forth (these should be chopped up into short lengths to speed decomposition). The brown layer can also include wood products such as paper and cardboard, which will break down and produce compost much faster than twigs. Paper from your shredder is ideal while cardboard should be torn into small pieces. Any compost bin or heap must produce and retain heat because this is the only way to kill any weed seeds lurking in the mix. There’s nothing worse than top-dressing with compost and spreading weeds all over your plots! Some kind of cover is needed to keep the heat in and the worst of the rain out. Your compost bin contents need to be damp but not soggy. If your lid is completely waterproof then occasionally water your heap with a watering can or hose. For bins without a lid lay an old piece of carpet on top of the rotting material and secure in place with a couple of bricks or similar. One important thing to remember is that many local authorities provide compost bins at a highly subsidised price, or in some cases even free. Pay a
visit to www.getcomposting.com and type in your postcode; the site will show you what’s on offer locally and help you to decide which composting bin to buy. So let’s see what’s available for composting enthusiasts.
COMPOST MAKER Rather than waiting for bacteria and microscopic life to move in and take up residence in your compost bin, kick-start the natural decomposition process by introducing this mix of microbes and enzymes. Simply tip the contents of a sachet into a full watering can, stir and water over your compostable material. It works well with any composting system. FEATURES ✓ Speeds decomposition ✓ Natural microbes and enzymes ✓ Five sachets included Price: £4.99 Supplier: Gardening Naturally (0845 6800296, www.gardening-naturally.com)
Grow it! May 2011 79
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Product review
BEEHIVE COMPOSTER Your compost heap doesn’t have to look unsightly. Supplied in a natural pressure-treated finish, you can then paint this composter if you wish, in the colour of your choice, to make it an attractive focal point. The top hinges for filling and there’s a door at the base for harvesting the compost. Price: £89.95 Capacity: 495 litres FEATURES Supplier: Primrose ✓ Natural finish (0118 9459999, ✓ Paint for final look ✓ Hinged top for filling www.primrose.co.uk)
COMPOST TUMBLER Compost tumblers are a relatively new idea and this model is a good, value-for-money starter. Simply crank the handle once or twice a week and compost can be produced in just three weeks. Tumblers are particularly good at composting grass cuttings, which can sometimes turn into a black, gooey mess in traditional compost heaps.
FEATURES ✓ Very easy to empty ✓ Rapid composting time ✓ Zinc-coated steel frame Price: £79.99 Capacity: 200 litres Supplier: Greenfingers (0845 3450728, www.greenfingers.com)
COMPOST BIN KIT
What could be better than a traditional wooden compost bin? A plastic bin that never rots! Constructed from recycled plastic, these bins are available in green, black or terracotta. The sections clip together for easy assembly and each bin comes complete with lid and bottom access door. FEATURES ✓ Insulating plastic construction ✓ Choice of three colours ✓ Optional plastic cover Price: £130 Capacity: 1,000 litres Supplier: Link-a-Bord (01773 590566, www.linkabord.co.uk) 80 May 2011 Grow it!
WOODEN COMPOSTER This is a great-value traditional compost bin, constructed from FSC pressure-treated timber slats that slot into one another for easy assembly. Once the compost has fully matured the framework is broken down and shoveling can begin. Ideally you’d fill it through the growing season, leave to mature over winter then use the contents in spring before starting over. Price: £34.95 FEATURES Capacity: 510 litres ✓ Rot-proof timber Supplier: Two Wests ✓ Sturdy construction & Elliott (01246 451077, ✓ Attractive, traditional look www.twowests.co.uk)
COMPOSTAIR
TIMBER COMPOST BIN
A compost bin you can roll up and store when not in use – there’s a novel idea! The composter comes in a roll so that you can adjust the size of your bin to suit the size of your garden. The egg box-like cone walling incorporates a breather tube that allows air into the heart of the decomposing matter to speed up the process and keep contents sweet.
This bin comes complete with a cover to keep the contents neither too wet nor dry. Also included is a good-sized bottom door for harvesting your compost. This system allows a continuous flow – weeds, stalks and other organic material fed into the top, with the mature compost shoveled out from the below.
FEATURES ✓ Maximises aeration ✓ Adjustable diameter ✓ Optional lid available
FEATURES ✓ Inclusive compost cover ✓ Easy access to compost ✓ Pressure-treated timber
Price: £39.95 Capacity: 300 litres Supplier: Harrod Horticultural (0845 402 5300, www.harrodhorticultural.com)
Price: £89.95 Capacity: 756 litres Supplier: Ferndale Lodge (0844 3140043, www.ferndale-lodge.co.uk)
ROTOL COMPOST CONVERTER D This Rotol compost bin is, in my opinion, better than the more traditional ‘Dalek’style plastic bins. Simply fill, wait for the contents to mature, then lift off the container, reposition and begin filling again. The neat stack of compost left behind is then ready for use. For best results run two of the bins, so that one can be filling while the other is maturing. FEATURES ✓ Excellent entry-level bin ✓ Regular Gardening Which? 'Best buy’ ✓ Easy to manage Price: £24.95 Capacity: 220 litres Supplier: Original Organics (0808 1209676, www.originalorganics.co.uk)
CLASSIC TRIPLE WOODEN COMPOST BIN Traditional composting setups comprise three bays in constant use – the first for filling with fresh material, the second maturing and the third full of lovely compost ready to use. Once the third bay is empty the contents of the second can be forked into it and the second bay filled from the first, ensuring a constant flow of material. All this turning helps to aerate the contents and accelerate the composting process. Price: £197.25 Capacity: 1860 litres FEATURES Supplier: The Recycle ✓ Enormous capacity Works (01254 820088, ✓ Sliding panels for access www.recycleworks.co.uk) ✓ Can be added to in future Grow it! May 2011 81
PRACTICAL PROJECT: MAY
Worm cast
Give worms the starring role with this quick-to-assemble composting project. Andy Cawthray shows us how to make a wormery from a plastic dustbin
Y
ou have to admire the whole composting process – it’s the ultimate in recycling, taking garden waste from the vegetable patch, breaking it down and then using the result to grow more vegetables. Wormeries are a great way to compost, especially if space is limited. This month’s project provides a very quick and easy way to make your own. It takes less than an hour to build and costs around £15 if you have a source of worms. This is also one project that the kids will definitely want to be involved in! One of the advantages of a wormery over a traditional compost heap is that as you feed your worms they will break down the food into two main constituents. Firstly there will be a liquid by-product that can be tapped off from the bottom of the bin. This is great as a fertiliser for the garden (it’s very strong though, so make sure you dilute it 10:1 before using it on your plants). Your worms will also create some excellent and rich compost. As you feed your worms the bin will gradually fill up. Once it is full remove the top 10-15cm (4-6in) where your worms will be living, empty out the compost down to the gravel layer and then replace your worms, remembering to add more food. Use that beautiful compost around the vegetable garden and witness the fantastic results that follow.
Feeding worms GO FOR IT! ✔ Egg shells ✔ Coffee grounds and teabags ✔ Fruit and salads ✔ Vegetable peelings ✔ Annual weeds BEST AVOIDED ✗ Grass clippings ✗ Meat or fish (attracts vermin) ✗ Diseased plants ✗ Weed seeds or plant seed heads
What you will need Tools ✔ Drill and drill bits ✔ Tape measure
Materials ✔ Plastic dustbin ✔ Water butt tap fitting les ✔ Gravel or small pebb le matting eab rm pe of ce ✔ Small pie al dding material ✔ Spent compost for be ling brand ✔ About 40 0 compost/ ught from bo be can ese worms (th a muck heap) retailers or by digging in
82 May 2011 Grow it!
Brandling worms ar are the stars of this co composting method
STEP-BY-STEP
How to make a wormery
1
2
3
4
5
6
Drill a hole large enough for the water butt tap fitting. Set this about 5cm (2in) from the base of the bin and then securely fit the tap into position. This will allow you to siphon off the nutrient-rich liquid that’s produced.
Move the bin to its desired location, remembering to raise it slightly so that the tap is accessible to collect the liquid. Fill the bin with 8cm (3in) of gravel and/or pebbles to act as drainage and a reservoir for the liquid.
Add a good 10cm (4in) layer of spent compost. The compost layer will form the bedding for the worms, helping them to get settled in and comfortable. Make a hollow in the centre of the compost then add your worms.
Drill a pattern of breathing holes into the lid of the bin. Just like us, your worms will breathe and need plenty of fresh air to stay healthy and active. The holes will also keep the bin contents fresher.
Cover the gravel/pebbles with the permeable matting. The matting will allow the liquid to pass through while keeping the compost and worms from clogging up the gravel layer. Feed it right to the edges of the wormery.
Add a selection of food scraps (see table opposite). Bury some and partly cover the surface with the remainder. Now place a thick sheet of moist newspaper over the food to keep the light out and moisture in. Grow it! May 2011 83
Grow guide
You grow your fruit and veg. Now grow your break time tea!
TEA total Have you got what it takes to grow your own cuppa? Pop the kettle on and read on as Shannon Denny investigates
I
84 May 2011 Grow it!
EMILY RAE
The flowers of Camellia sinensis make this useful plant a decorative addition to the garden
f you’re like most Britons, you spend at least a small part of your day standing over a kettle, dunking a teabag in a mug and eventually sipping a warm liquid known as tea. In this country we’ve been practising this art for hundreds of years, roughly since Garway’s Coffee House in London started marketing the beverage as a health drink in 1657. But the tradition in the Far East goes back even further. According to legend, the second emperor of China Shen Nung discovered the drink when tea leaves blew into
his cup of hot water way back in 2737 BC. Japan began growing its own tea around the sixth century, following the migration of Buddhist monks. China remained the unrivalled centre of the tea trade though, until the popularity of the drink in Europe, Russia and the American colonies drove demand for the little black leaves sky high. Tea cultivation spread to Taiwan at the end of the 17th century, and The East India Company launched its first tea plantations in India just after losing its Chinese trade monopoly in 1834. In the early part of the last century, Sumatra, Indonesia and Kenya also got in on the production of tea.
Thirsty work
According to the UK Tea Council we’re getting through 165 million cups of this stuff daily – that’s 60.2 billion cups per year! So why
Acid lovers
If you’ve had good results with Japanese camellia your garden may well be a candidate for growing its tea-bearing cousin. “We would recommend to people if they know they’ve got acidic soil and their camellias, heathers and other acid-loving
EMILY RAE
don’t we cultivate tea ourselves, rather than going to the effort of importing it? Domestic production was allegedly considered at the outbreak of the Second World War, but since tea plants require a minimum establishment period of several years the decision was made to stockpile the stuff rather than cultivate it. As a result, tea was rationed from 1940 until 1952. The Tregothnan estate – located in Cornwall and occupied by the same family since 1335 – pioneered tea growing in this country. Plants were first established here over two centuries ago and the estate launched Britain’s first tea plantation in 2000. Thanks to their efforts, the idea of a home-grown cuppa is spreading, or possibly steeping, gradually. Emily Rae from plant gift company Plants4Presents says they are responding to demand by supplying tea plants by mail order that are nearly ready for harvest. “It’s Camellia sinensis, so it’s quite similar to the camellias people are familiar with, which are the Camellia japonica. It’s got dark, waxy green leaves, which is what’s used to make the tea.”
Above: Tea plants following planting out. A weedsuppressing membrane saves time weeding, though a mulch of bark chippings will do the job
plants are doing well, then they could plant out in the garden. But if they’ve got chalky or alkaline soil, then they’re better off in a pot.” Emily’s location in Sussex has proved ideal, allowing them to successfully move tea plants from the greenhouse to a vast bed Right: A threeoutside. “We’re just in the middle year-old plant of the countryside off the chalk ready for edge,” Emily says. “It’s good potting on or planting out for growing tea because we’ve got acidic soil here.” Tea plants require protection from very A British tea strong winds and prefer a plantation thriving slightly shaded position as under glass
Domestic production was allegedly considered at the outbreak of the Second World War
EMILY RAE
opposed to full sun, “but they’re not massively fussy”. As with flowering camellias, young tea bushes may struggle to survive winter conditions. “They are hardy plants so they can go straight outside,” Emily says, “but in the winter months they need to be protected in the first year or so from very cold conditions. So for anything below -2°C or -3°C, we’d suggest fleece-wrapping them or moving them indoors if they’re still in a pot.”
At the other end of the calendar year, the priority shifts to irrigation. “They like quite wet soil. They don’t like to dry out,” she explains. “We water once a week in the winter and every day in the summer. If people want to make watering easier for themselves, there’s no reason why they can’t pot up into a bigger pot. That will allow it to have a bit more water reserves to draw on. You’d normally re-pot in the spring or summer, and again Grow it! May 2011 85
S
Grow guide Dried green tea – you can still see the distinctive leaf shape
With luck though, you should discover that your miniature tea plantation is no one-hit wonder. “They should put on several flushes of young growth over the year,” says Emily. “You’d probably have two or three flushes over a season. It will be a bit variable in this country.” This year Emily’s plants displayed their first flush in March and another in May.
pruning or shaping; they’re quite suitable for a beginner.” With practice, you might even adopt the tool-free technique used on the large plantations of China and India, where time is of the essence. “When they’re harvesting for tea production they actually don’t do it with secateurs; they do it with their hands and just rub the tips off, and it doesn’t do any long-
Black tea, green tea, white tea, Earl Grey and oolong can all be made from the versatile Camellia sinensis Tiny ornamental white flowers with a very slight fragrance tend to appear in November or December. If your experience of farming
choose acidic soil or ericaceous compost.” Camellias planted out in soil will grow larger than those kept in pots. “In the Himalayas they normally grow them up to quite big bushes, about two metres tall, but in this climate it really depends,” says Emily. “Realistically you should be able to get them up to a metre over time.”
Tender tips
Once your C. sinensis has survived the British climate and established itself, the next task is taking off the leaves to be converted into something more suited to a teapot that a plant pot. “You would normally say that tea plants are ready for their first harvest in their third or fourth year. From the tea taster’s point of view, the best are the very tips of the leaf, so the very young, fresh tips are what’s harvested.” But don’t be prematurely overcome by your own thirst for a home-made brew; Emily warns against harvesting too soon. “If you have very young plants the leaves don’t have the right flavour. And if you harvest too early you’ll just strip the plant down so you have nothing left. You would always want to leave enough older leaves on the plant for it to produce its food so it can grow on.” 86 May 2011 Grow it!
Freshly picked tea leaves can be steeped immediately for a refreshing and healthy cuppa
in Assam or Darjeeling is a bit limited, don’t worry – the home harvesting process is not difficult to grasp. “Use sharp secateurs to keep the cuts clean,” Emily advises. “They don’t need a lot of
term damage,” Emily says.
Tea time
With these little leaves in hand, you are almost ready to toast your success. Daniel Abadi, whose company Toppers Teas has partnered with Plants4Presents to produce and market the first packaged Sussex-grown tea, is well versed in the preparation of the perfect cup. “Essentially all teas come from the same plant and it’s just how much you process it,” he explains. In other words, black tea, green tea, white tea, Earl Grey and oolong can all be made from the versatile Camellia sinensis. Even the exotic lapsang souchong is from the same source; its unusual flavour comes from smoking black tea leaves over pine needles. A white tea isn’t oxidised at all, while a green tea is slightly
White tea, made from fresh leaves, has some of the highest levels of antioxidants
TEA SUPPLIERS ✦ Plants4Presents: 0845 2268026, plants4presents.co.uk ✦ Toppers Teas: 01273 906194, www.toppersteas.co.uk
oxidised and black teas are oxidised the most. So without getting into molecular drawings, what does this mean? “You’re exposing it to oxygen and changing the chemical makeup,” says Daniel. “And with that you change its health properties and its taste.” According to experts, tea reduces blood pressure, inhibits growth of fat cells and possesses anti-ageing properties. The less oxidation, the greater the health factors. “It’s a bit like when you boil a vegetable,” explains Daniel.
Young tea leaves “The more you boil it, the less ready for picking nutrients you have. It’s like that when you process or refine tea.” Toppers’ Sussex-grown produce is a white tea called South Downs Tea True Provenance. “It’s a very soft, subtle, mellow taste – very, very delicate. You can get quite a few brews out of a couple of leaves.” In the future Daniel hopes to harvest enough leaves to make green and black teas a possibility too. Down the road, Emily raves about the Toppers product and also tucks into her own plants when she’s thirsty for a unique treat. “For white tea, you can use the leaves fresh so you can literally just take them off the plant, put them in a teapot, steep for five minutes and pour yourself a cup.” The leaves can re-used throughout the day and she says she finds it more thirst-quenching than her typical choice of Earl Grey. “But I can’t drink it all the time because I wouldn’t have any plants left!” For a tea drinker and garden lover, this sounds like a very happy dilemma to have.
Sips and starts: Herbal infusion how-to Dutch-born organic gardener Iris Borgers is education officer and supervisor at Grow Mayow, a community garden and nursery in South London that’s a food growing and plant production site created by regenerating a derelict park keeper’s depot. The project works with the local community to promote health, wellbeing, intercultural awareness, environmental sustainability and permaculture. We asked Iris to share her advice on converting herb cuttings into herbal infusions suitable for serving in your favourite cup. Which herbs make the best infusions? Lemon balm is one of those really great plants: the smell is so soothing, you can also drink it cold like a cordial, and it grows everywhere. Chamomile, obviously, as everyone’s got that growing somewhere, or you can even find it in hedgerows. It’s fantastic for relaxation and just eases your mind. It’s lovely and soothing for children when they’re teething. Feverfew is very good for headaches and migraines. Some people don’t like the smell but it’s a very beneficial plant. Peppermint is good for stomach aches, stomach ulcers, mouth ulcers and the kidneys. If you’re raising mint you have to be careful, though – it grows fast and will take over a garden, so it’s best to have the herb in its own pot so it doesn’t go wild. How do you harvest herbs for use in tisanes? With all of these, you can actually make an infusion from the whole plant. You don’t have to worry about just picking the leaves, so include the little stems. Just crop the whole thing, which is very good for the plant as well. What do you advise for the perfect cup – fresh leaves or dried ones? You don’t have to dry them; you can use them instantly. But if you pick a whole bunch you can dry them to keep for later on. Use garden twine or rope for this. I always use wooden clothes pegs because they are sustainable. You can write on the clothes peg and hang up the herbs on a little string.
Lemon balm is an easy-to-grow herbal tea
What’s your preparation method? It’s just like making ordinary tea. I love fresh mint tea or lemon balm. If you have a pot in a windowsill or out in your garden, just clip a bunch off. Boil your kettle and pour the water over the herbs in a cup. So do you need to strain the leaves and stems? You don’t have to but some people do. And what about storage of dried herbs for future infusions? Herbs have to be dried for a long time, otherwise if you put them into a container they might get mouldy, so make sure the plant is really well dried out. After the cuttings have become very brittle and dry, I put them into a Kilner jar or brown paper bag. Grow it! May 2011 87
Next
month Step into summer with Grow it! Long days and warmer weather trumpet the arrival of summer in style. By June your plot will be a hive of activity – with lots to do! Take a break from all those green-fingered jobs and pick up your essential read. Next month there’ll be plenty of ideas to keep your plot fresh. We’ll be showing you how to freeze excess produce, tend to container herbs and grow kale. We’ll be paying a visit to the Heritage Seed Library, reviewing specialist gardening tools and offering tips on getting the most from garden chooks. You won’t want to miss this packed issue!
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Greener growing
HIGH PROFILE
Glam up garden buildings, allotment sheds, garages and even rabbit hutches with a colourful, wildlife-friendly green roof. Angela Youngman explores the options
This intensive and productive roof garden sits atop North Harringay Primary School, London
Even steeper roofs can be greened given regular supporting frames to stop material sliding away
RYAN SOMMA)
S
pace is at a premium in most gardens or allotments. No gardener ever has enough room for everything they want to do, which is why increasing numbers of gardeners are turning to roofs to seek out additional space. Green roofs are steadily becoming a feature of allotments and gardens nationwide. Using roofs is nothing new. For centuries people have been living in earth-sheltered houses. Back in the Second World War, Anderson Shelters were automatically covered with earth and the roofs were used to grow vegetables. Today, greater environmental awareness and decreasing space on the ground are making people look more carefully into alternatives. As a result, green roofs can now be found everywhere – on top of garden sheds, stables, bird houses, hives, dog kennels, pergolas and garages. Incorporating a green roof into your garden offers considerable advantages. It provides a habitat for wildlife and reduces the amount of water going into the sewer network. By using up some of the rainwater it slows down the speed that water runs off the roof. The presence of vegetation helps to act as a cooling influence in built up areas since it absorbs heat. A green roof also attracts more pollinating insects, particularly bees into the area. Another consideration is the aesthetic quality – green roofs can look most attractive, helping to freshen up neighbourhoods while injecting a little more plant life into the area. So long as a green roof is properly maintained, the underlying roof will last longer than a conventional roof, as there is less degradation by wind, weather and UV light.
Grow it! May 2011 89
Greener growing
RYAN SOMMA
Garden buildings can be transformed with stunning effect through a green roof
Raise the roof
There are two main types of green roofs – intensive and extensive. Intensive roofs are traditional gardens set on top of a flat roof. These are often known as roof gardens and can incorporate trees, shrubs and planters. Extensive roofs are much lower cover and have minimal amounts of soil. Sedums are the commonest type of extensive green roof plant, but increasingly herbs are being used. The Little Green Roof Project in Manchester is helping to create a network of small green roofs on allotments and communal sites throughout the area. Where access and the roof structure are suitable herbs and vegetables are being grown in addition to sedum and wild flowers. For example, a mini herb garden comprising rosemary, thyme and chives has been created on top of an allotment shed in one part of the city. Roofs are also becoming another area to grow food, although this trend is still in its infancy. Gardeners in the USA and Canada are very much at the forefront of this movement and are growing more of their vegetables and herbs on town roofs. This is being undertaken by ordinary gardeners and restaurants, hotels and farms. As an example, the roof of the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver provides $40,000-worth of herbs a year for use by the chefs working in its kitchen. The Ecological Garden at Linnaea Farm in British Columbia grows radishes, dandelion, chard, beetroot, nettles, rocket, carrots, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, nasturtiums and herbs on its roof. The plants are grown in ice cream buckets and bins filled with soil. In the same state the Canada Church Street 90 May 2011 Grow it!
Wine Bar has turned its roof over to herbs, tomatoes, chillies, strawberries and edible flowers. These are grown in milk crates lined with rubbish bags. While in New York, the Brooklyn Grange project involves growing vegetables on an acre of industrial rooftop and is planning to expand onto other roofs in due course. Even schools have joined in – the Boston Latin School has set up a roof garden with its own greenhouse where the children grow vegetables for use in their school cafeteria. Apiaries are also appearing on roofs. Putting a hive on a green roof is a logical progression of the green roof movement. There are plants and flowers on the roof – bees will pollinate these and produce a honey crop. One of the first rooftop gardens designed specifically for honey bees was installed on the American Ice Company building in Baltimore. Designed by Jorg Breuning, the 511m2 (5,500 sq ft) roof features an array of plants and a water source for the bees.
thick – a cheap wooden shed from a DIY store is unlikely to be strong enough. You will also need to make sure that there is easy access to the roof. Can you work at the required height? (You need a good head for heights!) You should be able to get onto the roof easily and safely. Carrying bags of soil and other construction materials up ladders can be heavy work. Once construction of the roof is complete, it is still important to be able to reach the roof without difficulty on a regular basis. It will be necessary to clean out drainage channels, remove weeds and, if you are growing herbs, salads or vegetables, you will need to be able to harvest them. Always check with your local council as to whether planning permission is required. For small areas such as beehives or rabbit hutches, such permission won’t be needed. Sheds, garages and garden buildings may well require planning permission, however, especially if they can be seen from other gardens or houses.
Creating a green roof on a shed or garage isn't difficult but it does require some preparation Make your own
Creating a green roof on a shed or garage isn’t a difficult task but it does require some thought and preparation. Firstly make sure that your roof is strong enough. An average saturated extensive green roof can weigh up to 110 kilos per square metre (22.5 lbs per square foot), which means that most sheds and greenhouses will need some adaptation to take the extra weight. Additional supports may be necessary to take some of the weight. Walls and roofs need to be
Rooftop apiaries are a logical progression on nectar-rich green roofs, as here on the American Ice Company building in Baltimore
Green roofs can be placed on flat roofs and slightly sloping roofs. Roofs that slope at an angle of more than 22 degrees will need supports to prevent the planting material sliding away. No gutters should be discharging directly onto the roof; otherwise the plants will get too much water.
Installation
To install a green roof you will need to create a wooden or metal framework around the roof to hold the materials in
SED UM MAT TIN G
WAT ER R ETE NTIO N
DRA INA GE MAT
RO OT BAR RIE ROO R FD ECK
place. Once the framework is in place, the roof surface has to be covered with a thick, waterproof layer. This is followed by a roof barrier membrane to ensure that roots do not damage the roof structure; a drainage layer, a water retention mat and finally the planting material and chosen vegetation. Installing a solid waterproof layer is extremely important. Typical waterproof membranes used on green roofs include bituminous fabrics, butyl rubber and plastic. Such materials can be used on concrete, metal, timber or plastic surfaces. For small projects, pond liner is a good option, while builders’ plastic provides a cheaper alternative. Whatever material is used, it is important to make sure that all overlapping edges are fully sealed. Leaks can occur if this is ignored. Michael Thompson, creator of the Eco Shed in Norfolk, discovered this the hard way when he had to take up part of the roof after it had been completed in order to deal with a leak. The leak had been caused by a poor overlapping join in the builders’ plastic used as the waterproofing layer. Consequently, after the waterproof layer has been installed, the next step is to carry out a leak test. To do this you need to create a temporary dam at the lowest end of the slope or cover over drainage holes on a flat roof. Flood the surface with a hosepipe. Leave the water on the surface for 24 hours. Carefully watch the underside of the roof to see if any leaks begin to appear. If they do, then seal the fabric immediately. If the roof is fully sealed and leak proof it is less likely that problems will occur in the future.
MAT
Sedum roof layers
This cross-section shows the different layers used in constructing a typical sedum green roof. The layers consist of a waterproof barrier, a drainage mat to allow excess moisture to drain away, a moisture-retaining mat to hold moisture at the roots, then the sedum carpet itself.
(8in) or less; more intensive planting of salad crops or vegetables will require a deeper soil. Planting materials vary. Some people use ordinary soil mixed with gravel. The Little Green Roofs allotment shed project is a good example of how a simple DIY green roof can be installed. Having checked the load bearing capacity of the shed, a pine frame was added, together with pond liner, root barrier and filter fleece. Vegetation was planted into a growing medium of clay aggregate, horticultural grit, sand, sterilised loam and peat-free compost. If you are doing it yourself, costs can be kept to a minimum. Costs depend entirely on the size of the project. If planning a herb or sedum roof, using plugs and raising your own plants will prove cheaper than buying matting or plants. One couple managed to keep the cost of creating a green roof on top of their 60m2 (646 sq ft) shed to £250 by looking for inexpensive materials, growing their own plants and doing everything themselves. Grow-ityourselfers are a resourceful bunch and no doubt you will find a way to create green roofs at minimal outlay. Once in place, it will create a greener outlook and a welcome home for local wildlife.
Setting up a green roof
1
This green roof was created through Manchester’s Little Green Roof Project. To start with the roof is lined with a roof barrier, drainage mat and water-retaining mat.
2
A series of wooden frames are created to trap the growing medium in sections. This stops it sagging and washing away in heavy rain. The roof is planted with a mix of sedums and herbs.
3
Planting up a roof
Soil depths depend on what you choose to plant on the roof. Extensive green roofs with herbs, sedum and wild plants will require a soil depth of 20cm
STEP-BY-STEP
A recently-planted green roof will transform the roof of St Chad’s Primary School in Manchester. Pine frames hold everything safely in place
From the front you can see how the retaining frame (paler wood) is nailed onto the top of the shed roof. Rooftop chives can just be made out against the tree in the background. Grow it! May 2011 91
Young Growers LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
Containers of salads can keep you in leaves all summer long
Bucket of delights Salads are very quick and very easy to grow. Victoria Poolman starts off a container salad garden with some tempting tomatoes as a centrepiece
S
alad is super healthy for us to eat and is an ideal ingredient for lunch boxes or for summertime barbeques. What’s more, it’s really quick and easy to grow an assortment of salads that will last all season long. If you fancy trying your hand at lettuce, tomatoes, onions and chives, you needn’t set aside a large chunk of the garden; instead, you can plant them altogether in one pot or even a big leftover bucket or container. In fact, you can use just about anything you like to grow salads – empty water bottles from mum or dad’s office, a tyre laid flat and filled with compost, or even an old (but clean!) bin. If you’d rather buy a few colourful containers to brighten up your patio, your local garden centre will have lots to choose from. In this month’s activity we have chosen to grow salad leaves as they grow really quickly and have lots of lovely flavours. For the centrepiece to our salad garden we’ve planted a tomato
92 May 2011 Grow it!
because its fruits are a colourful addition on any dinner plate. What’s great about home-grown salad is you can be sure that no nasty pesticides are sprayed on them. You can grow lots and lots of salad throughout the summer by having a few buckets on the go at once, with seeds sown two weeks apart. This will save a lot of money too. Of course, you can also try spring onions, cress, cucumbers, herbs and radishes, which will really make your side salad into a meal! Why not try adding some other ingredients to your salads too, such as halved grapes or raisins, croutons, raw red onion, beans, ns, avocado or chunks of cheese? Then you can make a salad dressing by combining ombi bini ning ng one part balsamic vinegar with th two parts olive oil in a clean jam jar. Add a little honey, some herbs and wholegrain mustard to taste, put the lid on, then give a good shake before adding to your salad.
What are pesticides? Pesticides are what farmers sometimes spray onto their crops to prevent bugs and other animals from eating them up before it’s time to harvest. These pesticides are made from chemicals, which is why it is important to wash non-peelable fruit and vegetables that we buy from the shops. Even foods that are labelled as ‘organic’ have some pesticides used in their production, thou though not as many. By growing thing things yourself you can make sure that you have the he healthiest, tastiest, most local food po possible. And best of all, nothing tastes as go good as something you grew yourself!
STEP-BY-STEP
Planting a bucket of salad
1
2
3
4
Make sure there are drainage holes in the bottom of your bucket or pot then place a layer of broken pots or stones into the base to further improve drainage.
Give your tomato plants a good soaking before removing their pots. Be careful not to damage the root system of the plants as you ease them from their pots.
JUST FOR FUN...
A man goes to the doctor with a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his right ear and a banana in his left ear. “What’s wrong with me?” he asks the doctor. The doctor replies: “You’re not eating properly!”
Fill your pot to the top with potting compost. Use a trowel or your hands to scoop out a couple of big holes where your tomato plants will sit.
What you will need
✓ A large pot or bucket at least 30cm in diameter ✓ 2 tomato plants ✓ Mixed salad leaf seeds ✓ Potting compost ✓ Canes or sticks ✓ Garden string
Place your plants into the holes in your compost and firm back the compost around them. Make sure you leave plenty of room for your salad seed mix.
Did you know?
✦ The largest tomato plant on record reached a massive 19.5m tall. It was grown in Lancashire in 2000. ✦ Although tomatoes are full of wondrous vitamins don’t ever eat the leaves – they are poisonous!
5
Scatter your salad leaf mix onto the remaining compost before covering the seeds over with a light layer of compost. Give the container a good drink of water.
6
When your tomatoes have started flowering place a cane into the pot to ensure the stems have support when they begin to fruit. Give the tomatoes some liquid tomato feed.
✦ The jelly-like substance which surrounds the seeds in a tomato is the part of the fruit that has the highest amount of vitamin C.
Grow it! May 2011 93
SEASONAL FARE What could be better than the soft, unctuous taste of freshly picked asparagus? Not much! Try these three recipes to make the very most of this fleeting treat
CREAMY MOREL AND ASPARAGUS TART / SERVES 6-8 Try this tasty tart as a light lunch dish, served with home-grown new potatoes and a garden salad. Before you use the morels check them for bugs then brush away any dirt using a mushroom brush or a piece of kitchen paper.
INGREDIENTS For the pastry: 150g (5oz) butter, cubed 225g (8oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting 50g (2oz) Parmesan, finely grated 1 egg, beaten For the filling: 50g (2oz) butter 300g (11oz) fresh morels, halved Salt and black pepper Freshly grated nutmeg 250g (9oz) asparagus 4 eggs 284ml (0.5 pint) carton double cream 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan METHOD • Rub the butter and flour together in a bowl until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the Parmesan and two to four tablespoons of cold water to bring the mixture together to form a ball of dough. You may need to add slightly more water if it remains crumbly. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least an hour. • Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas 6). Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface and line a 30cm (12in) tart tin. Fill with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake blind for 12 minutes. • Remove the beans and paper, prick with a fork and brush with beaten egg. Bake for a further five minutes until crisp and golden. Turn the oven down to 180°C (350°F, gas 4).
94 May 2011 Grow it!
RECIPE BY VANESSA KENDELL
Try it:
An impressive yet easy dish
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan and when it starts to foam, add the morels. Toss lightly in the butter, season with salt and pepper and grate over the nutmeg. Cook gently for five minutes or so while you get on with the asparagus. • Steam the asparagus for a few minutes to start to soften them, then chop into 3cm (1in) lengths and cool slightly. Whisk the eggs and cream together, add the Parmesan and season well. Tip the asparagus and wilted morels into the pastry case and spoon over the egg and cream mixture. Cook the tart in the oven for 30 minutes until golden and puffed up.
RUSTIC ASPARAGUS / SERVES 4-6
Sometimes the finest ingredients are best enjoyed as simply as possible. This back-to-basics and ever-so-easy recipe is the ideal way to experience the pure flavour of freshly-cut spears. Eat it outdoors, accompanied by friends and a bottle of chilled wine. It’s a bit of a DIY dish and great fun for get-togethers. INGREDIENTS 2 bunches of asparagus 1 hard-boiled egg per person 25g (1oz) melted butter per person Pepper mill for grinding METHOD • Steam the asparagus for about 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. Test for tenderness by piercing with the point of a sharp knife.
RECIPE BY CLARISSA PORTER
• Put the hard-boiled eggs into a bowl and the melted butter in a small jug. Have a pepper mill handy. • Offer the eggs and tell your companions to shell them and remove the yolks, discarding the whites. Each person can mash their egg with a little butter and season with pepper, then dip their asparagus into the resulting mixture. Use fingers rather than forks!
What’s in season? Asparagus Beetroot Broccoli Broad beans Carrots Cauliflower Elderflower Mint New potatoes Peas Radishes Rhubarb Rocket Salad leaves Sorrel Spinach Spring greens Spring onions Watercress
PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS WITH PESTO AND ASPARAGUS / SERVES 4 This recipe is perfect served as a starter, one per person or with a dressed salad as a light supper dish. The asparagus tips offer a real burst of green flavour to be savoured. INGREDIENTS 4 large Portobello mushrooms A little olive oil 4 teaspoons pesto 5 Peppadew peppers, cut into thin strips 20 asparagus tips 2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan, finely grated A little balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper
• Cook the asparagus tips in boiling, salted water for about three minutes until al dente. Drain and refresh in cold water. Preheat the grill. • Mix the pesto with the Peppadew strips in a bowl and spoon over the gill side of each mushroom. Arrange five asparagus tips on top of each mushroom and sprinkle with Parmesan. Slide onto the middle shelf under the grill and cook for about six minutes until piping hot and the Parmesan has melted. Serve hot, drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar.
RECIPE BY LUCY YOUNG
METHOD • Carefully remove the stalks from the mushrooms, ensuring they remain whole. Brush each side of the mushrooms with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat and fry the mushrooms
for about three minutes on each side until lightly browned. Arrange gill side up on a baking sheet.
Grow it! May 2011 95
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If we’re not working in our own gardens then we’re having a nose around other people’s. Andrew Haynes explores that great British institution – the garden open day
N
ow’s the season for garden visiting and there’s much to be said for it. It is almost impossible to visit a garden and not come away with at least one good idea for your own. Gardens open to the public come in all shapes and sizes, from the large country estate to the small suburban garden. I am very fond of the ‘open village’ type of event. These are usually held to support a local worthy cause – new bats for the belfry or some such thing! The usual arrangement is for the visitor to pay a single fee to visit all the participating gardens, often a dozen or more. It offers a brilliant opportunity to have a nose round other people’s gardens. It is good to see that many will be growing at least a few fruits and vegetables. The mistakes made will be as much of an education as the job
The ever-popular fundraisers are the cream teas or strawberries and cream, both guaranteed to attract hordes of aggressive wasps well done. For example, five courgette plants may have been crammed into a space really only big enough for two, but there might be an absolutely brilliant runner bean support or some exotic vegetable that you’ve never even heard of before. At an event local to me the allotment site took part, with plot holders on hand to explain their methods. Then there is the tea. Now it is important to distinguish between ‘tea’ and ‘teas’, the former being pretty much what it says – a cup of lukewarm tea or squash (served at a similar temperature), plus a biscuit if you’re lucky! Teas on the other hand, in addition to the lukewarm beverages, usually entail a stale scone. The ever-popular fundraisers are the cream teas or strawberries and cream, both guaranteed to attract hordes of aggressive wasps. Having purchased your tea you are invited to sit at some rickety, guano-encrusted garden furniture, at which point the heavens open. This is England at its best and I love it! You will often find plant ‘bargains’ for sale at these events. Buyers beware! Amateur-raised 98 May 2011 Grow it!
plants often come with free rooted cuttings of ground elder or some other pernicious weed lurking in the pot. If they aren’t spotted in time these could soon become established and if ignored will develop into a problem that could take years to eradicate. Likewise there might be invertebrate passengers, most commonly vine weevils and slugs or snails – we all need more of these! The advice is to check plants thoroughly before planting them in your plot. In the world of open gardens, the real crème de la cream tea is the garden open for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS). To qualify for inclusion in the fabled ‘Yellow Book’ gardens are inspected to ensure that they are of a good standard, with a sufficient level of interest, and do not have an open mineshaft, alligators in the pond or anything else that might compromise the health and safety of visitors. The gardens where I work have opened for the scheme for more than 25 years, something that I am more than happy to support. Every year NGS gardens in England and Wales raise more than £2 million for nursing, caring and gardening charities. I have swapped seeds, plants and ideas with many of our visitors over the years; it is very much a two-way thing. Nine out of the 12 gardens listed nearest to us feature a vegetable plot, so if you’re not already a confirmed garden visitor – go on, give it a go!
Andrew Haynes has been a professional gardener for more than 30 years. He is head gardener at Edmondsham House in Dorset where he tends an area of fruit and veg equivalent to three full-size allotment plots. Andrew often leads guided tours and runs workshops at Edmondsham.
GYO growitad:Layout 1 01/04/2011 10:40 Page 1
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