Kitchen Garden March 2018

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EDITOR’S LETTER

WELCOME March marks the beginning of the most exciting part of the gardening year – spring – when our long winter finally loses its grip and plants start to grow with an exuberance that is never really equalled. It’s a time when we can finally start making some tentative sowings and when most of us start the bulk of our crops in trays and soil. Of course, if you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse, polytunnel or even a sunny windowsill, you can sow early with more confidence, but whatever your situation we have some great top tips for you in this issue to help you to make the most of this amazing season.

Fed up with losing your potato and tomato crops to blight? Ben Vanheems proves that it is not inevitable that this should happen and offers some great top tips for avoiding it. And if you like the idea of growing your crops on raised beds but don’t have the budget or materials, don’t despair. Expert gardener and composting guru Andrew Davenport shows you how to raise up your veggies…without the beds!

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Steve Ott, editor Contact me at: sott@mortons.co.uk | 01507 529396 Find us at www.kitchengarden.co.uk Contact subscriptions: 01507 529529

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CHECK OUT OUR GREAT GIVEAWAYS AT WWW.KITCHENGARDEN.CO.UK www.kitchengarden.co.uk

MARCH 2018 | 3

CONTENTS

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU GROW GREAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

06 ✪ ON THE COVER

32 YOU

YOUR PLOT

@GrowWithKG 6 ON THE VEG PATCH

KitchenGardenUK

Sow leeks and peas, mulch asparagus beds, tend to strawberries and figs, plant shallots

KitchenGardenMag

10 IN THE GREENHOUSE Tend to broad beans, sow some marigolds to beat pests, start annual herbs and cucumbers

@GrowWithKG /kitchengardenmagazine FOR OUR CONTACT DETAILS TURN TO PAGE 15

12 WHAT’S NEW? The latest news, comment and advice from the world of kitchen gardening

40

14 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS Learn what other KG readers have been up to and pick up some great first-hand advice

20 KG PROBLEM SOLVER ✪ Your questions answered plus expert advice on strawberry pests and diseases from RHS expert Guy Barter

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE...

£20

32 PASSIONATE PLOTTER 2017

114 NEXT MONTH Some of the highlights to be found in your April issue plus news of great free gifts

74

Third-prize winner Adrian Read of Northallerton takes us on a tour of his well-tended plot

104 DIARY DATES

ON PAGE 24 HAVING TROUBLE FINDING A COPY OF THIS MAGAZINE? Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month

4 | MARCH 2018

Why not visit a garden or book yourself on to a course?

110 LAST WORD ✪ Is your plot pristine or are you happy to have a few weedy bits? KG’s Emma Rawlings takes a fun look at plot personalities www.kitchengarden.co.uk

MARCH 2018

106 Scan this, and we’ll tell you!

This month cookery expert Anna Pettigrew offers some delicious recipes for asparagus, chard and celeriac ✪

18

Pg 106

GET GROWING 16 ON THE PLOT WITH THE THREE MUDKETEERS The team unpack their latest gadget – a swish new wormery – and select some new seed varieties to try

18 FLOWERS FOR YOUR PATCH Try calendulas to add colour to your plot and your plate

26 GROWING ON A GRAND SCALE Gardening writer Gaby Bartai travels to Gordon Castle near Inverness to see one of Britain’s grandest walled gardens

60 GRUBBING FOR GOLD! Exotic veg enthusiast Sally Cunningham encourages us to search out pignuts, a British native worth foraging for

62 NEW VARIETY ON TRIAL This month new tomato ‘Oh Happy Day F1’

64 A SALAD GARDEN OF DELIGHTS Former head gardener Sue Stickland describes how to grow fresh salads all year round ✪

70 FOOD FOR MODERN VEGETARIANS

26 WHAT TO BUY

Top chef Maria Elia brings you some inspirational ideas for mouthwatering veg-based dishes

22 INSTANT SAVERS

74 STRAWBERRY HEAVEN ✪

This month make some great savings on propagators, bird scarers and soil treatments

Gardening expert Andrew Davenport explains how to make raised beds without the need for fancy framework

Professional fruit grower David Patch offers his top tips on growing strawberries and recommends some great varieties

78 SAVE 15% ON TOP STRAWBERRY VARIETIES ✪

40 BROAD IN THE BEAN

80 STARTING OFF SEEDS ✪

86 GARDEN STORE

Organic gardener Rob Smith explains how to get the best from your broad bean crop and shares his favourite varieties

Deputy editor Emma Rawlings has some advice to help you get the best from your spring sowings

More great new products and services including some super Mum’s Day gifts

45 PASSIVE SOLAR GREENHOUSES

85 GROWING ONLINE

96 TRIED AND TESTED – GLOVES ✪

A roundup of more the best websites, blogs and social media posts

The Kitchen Garden team puts gardening gloves through their paces

88 WELLIES AND WELLBEING

100 GREAT READER OFFERS

Bereavement counsellor and gardening enthusiast Joanne Maxwell explains how gardening can lift our spirits

Claim your free* chilli and sweet pepper collection plus save on tomatoes, herbs, rhubarb and onions (*Just pay p&p)

92 MAKE MEASURING TOOLS

102 GREAT GIVEAWAYS WORTH OVER £2338 ✪

36 CREATING A RIDGE AND FURROW PLOT

Green gardener Wendy Pillar discovers some year-round greenhouses with zero heating bills

51 BYE-BYE BLIGHT ✪ Fancy a blight-free season? KG’s Ben Vanheems shows you how

56 ALIEN TASTE INVASION ✪ KG editor Steve Ott explains how to grow delicious kohl rabi www.kitchengarden.co.uk

Practical gardener Joyce Russell shows you how to make some useful tools for sowing and planting

This month you could win organic pest controls, fruit trees, and more MARCH 2018 | 5

TASKS FOR YOUR VEGETABLE PATCH IN MARCH BY MARTIN FISH BREAK UP SOIL On fine, dry days spend a little time on the plot with a fork or cultivator and break down any lumps of soil after digging, to start creating a fine tilth ready for sowing and planting. Don’t, however, do this if the soil is wet and sticky!

CHECK CHITTED POTATOES Check potatoes that are being chitted indoors to make sure they are developing short shoots. If no shoots are growing, it may be too cold, or if they are growing long and lanky, it is usually because the potatoes are in too warm a position.

MONITOR FORCED RHUBARB If you are forcing rhubarb under a large forcing pot, check it on a weekly basis and as soon as you get some slender, pink stalks, you can start to pull them. When checking, do it as fast as possible to keep the light out.

HOE WEEDS As the soil gradually starts to warm up, annual weeds will start to grow. On dry, sunny days run the hoe between spring cabbages and other plants in the garden to loosen the soil surface and kill any weed seeds that are starting to germinate.

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JOBS FOR THE MONTH

SOW LEEKS IN PLUG TRAYS STEP 1: Leeks are a great winter veg for the garden and will crop for many months.

The seeds can be sown directly into the garden and transplanted, but I find I get much better results starting the seedlings off in cell trays with a plug around 2.5cm (1in) across. Simply fill the tray with multipurpose compost, lightly firm and make a shallow depression with a dibber about 1cm (½in) deep.

STEP 2: The black, angular seeds of leeks are just large enough to handle individually. As the germination rate is usually very high, drop a single seed into the hole in each cell. When it comes to varieties, there are lots to choose from, including many F1 hybrids such as ‘Sultan’ and ‘Below Zero’, but I also grow ‘Musselburgh’, an old variety that is very tasty and crops from October to March.

STEP 3: Once sown, either cover the seeds over with a compost or vermiculite, which holds in the moisture and aids germination. Water with a fine rose to thoroughly moisten the compost and then stand the tray in a cold greenhouse or polytunnel to germinate, making sure the compost isn’t allowed to dry out. Grow the seedlings on until they are ready for f the h garden d in latee May or earlly June.

To give early potatoes a head start, pot chitted tubers into small pots of compost in a frost-free place to start them into growth. In a month, the growing plants can be planted out into the garden.

MULCH ASPARAGUS BED SOW PEAS The first garden peas of the season are always worth waiting for and are delicious when popped straight from the pod! Most varieties can be sown from mid-March onwards as the soil gradually warms up, although the round seeded types such as ‘Douce Provence’ and ‘Meteor’ are tougher and can be sown in cooler soil conditions. I prefer to sow directly into the soil by making a wide drill with a spade a couple of inches deep.

The seeds can then be spaced evenly along the flat bottom of the drill and covered over with soil, before lightly firming down. If covered with a cloche, they should soon start to push through. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

W While the asparagus bed is still dormant, it’s the ideal time to give it a final clean through in readiness for the new spears that appear in late April. Carefully remove any weeds along the rows, taking care not to disturb the shallow roots or new shoots that are only a few inches below the surface.

When weed free, apply a good thick mulch of garden compost, well-rotted manure or old mushroom compost over the bed.

Ideally, it should be around 5cm (2in) deep or a little more. This will help to seal in moisture through the growing season, keep the soil in good, fertile condition and smother any new weeds.

SOW NOW

Onions, lettuce, salad leaves, broad beans, peas, carrots, parsnips, summer cabbage, radishes, leeks, spring onions, bulb onions, spinach.

PLANT NOW

Onion sets, garlic, rhubarb, Jerusalem artichokes, shallots, asparagus, early potatoes.

HARVEST

Kale, winter cabbage, leeks, celeriac, Swiss chard, swede, Jerusalem artichokes, spinach, parsnips, cauliflower.

MARCH 2018 | 7

GET GROWING

■ Sow brassica seeds such as summer cabbages and calabrese into plug trays of compost to produce strong seedlings for planting out in May. Germinate in a cold frame or cold greenhouse.

PRUNE AUTUMN RASPBERRIES Late February or early March is the time to prune autumn fruiting raspberries, ideally just before they start into growth for the season. The pruning method is really simple and basically consists of cutting all the canes down to ground level.

Don’t be tempted to leave several inchess of old cane as this can c encourage die-back k and fungal diseases, so when pruning p cut as close to ground leve el as possible. poss b e.

After pruning, weed along the row and if you have some garden compost give the plants a mulch.

In a few weeks’ time new shoots will start to grow from below ground level and when they are a few inches tall, feed along the

row with some general fertiliser such as Growmore or blood, fish and bone to encourage strong growth. The new canes will grow through the summer and produce flowers and fruit this autumn.

CHECK CONTAINER GROWN STRAWBERRIES Strawberry plants that were potted into hanging baskets or containers a month or two ago should now be starting to make new growth. As new foliage appears, keep the compost moist, but not wet. For an early crop, keep the containers in a sheltered, sunny part of the garden and as flower buds develop, keep an eye on the weather and if frost is forecast, protect the flowers with fleece.

POT PERENNIAL HERBS

■ In mild areas you can plant early varieties of potatoes, but where it is cooler it’s best to wait a while longer. Where I live in North Yorkshire, I never plant until the first week in April.

■ As Brussels sprouts and kale come to an end, pass the woody stems through a shredder before adding them to the compost heap.

■ Shallots are tough and can be planted directly into the garden now. Space the bulbs around 15cm/6in apart and when planted the tip of the bulbs should be just visible.

■ Finish planting bare root fruit bushes as soon as possible and after planting prune back the stems hard to aid establishment and encourage plenty of new growth through the summer.

8 | MARCH 2018

Perennial herbs such as thyme, mint, chives, rosemary and sage grow very well in pots, especially when stood in a sunny spot. Young herb plants that are showing signs of new growth can be potted into larger pots to grow on for summer use. If you intend to keep the plants in pots for a few years, use a mix of half and half multi-purpose and John Innes compost.

GROWING FIGS A freshly picked, ripe fig from the garden is absolutely wonderful – the seedless flesh is very sweet and melts in your mouth.

Figs are hardy to around 15C (59F), but the embryo fruits that develop in the tips of the shoots are killed by a few degrees of frost, which delays fruiting the following year.

Some varieties of fig are more suited to our weather and the most reliable and hardy type is ‘Brown Turkey’ which produces brown/purple fruits when ripe with dark red flesh. ‘Brunswick’ and ‘White Marseilles’ are also suitable for growing outside, but for any fig

to grow and fruit well, it needs to be planted in a warm, sheltered position.

Figs can be grown two ways, as a free-standing bush or fan trained against a wall or fence.

Bushes lend themselves to being grown in large containers and the advantage of growing this way is you can move the plants around in summer into a sunny spot and in winter they can be brought under cover.

This helps to protect the embryo fruits from heavy frosts.

Fan-trained plants should be grown against a south- or west-facing wall where they can take

advantage of the warm sun. Pruning is usually done twice a year. In summer the new shoots are shortened to keep the growth compact and to encourage side shoots and embryo fruits to develop for the following year.

In early spring a second prune can be given to further shorten long

growths and also to thin out woody stems. On fans, stems growing away from the wall can be shortened and some of the old stems cut back to the base to encourage new replacement stems.

This encourages plenty of fruiting shoots and prevents the base of the fan becoming bare. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

Take care of small plants, thinning if necessary

WITH JOYCE RUSSELL Pictures by Ben Russell

■ Sow cucumbers, melons, peppers, French beans, courgettes and basil at 20C (68F) ■ You can still sow tomatoes and aubergines early in the month…

■ …Or buy in small plants from garden centres and plant suppliers in the coming weeks ■ Prick out and pot on before any plant outgrows its pot

10 | MARCH 2018

■ Make sure all seedlings get plenty of light ■ Earth up around potatoes to encourage more tubers ■ Leave doors and windows open on warm days ■ Water carefully: tomatoes like a lot of moisture; cucumbers can rot if compost is too wet

A NEW GREENHOUSE Think about the layout inside a greenhouse. It isn’t impossible to change this if something doesn’t work well, but it is much better to plan at the beginning and get it right from the start. Do you want several raised beds, or one or two long ones? Maybe you prefer to garden ‘on the flat’ and are happy to leave a packed-earth path – this allows for easier changes in future years. One path works well in a small structure; in a larger one you may want two paths so you can gain access to all beds.

Measure and draw before you commit to anything costly. You can even mock up

heights and sizes of beds with cardboard.

As a minimum, lay everything out with sticks and string. This gives you a good idea of how easy it is to manoeuvre around beds and along paths. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

JOBS THIS MONTH

BRILLIANT BEANS Autumn-sown broad beans will be in flower this month and they may start to form small pods too. The beauty of growing these under cover is that you get the first sweet juicy beans a few weeks before any outdoor ones. Take care of your plants! They have stood through a long winter and shouldn’t be neglected just at the point when they come into their own.

Keep the soil moist while plants are in flower and use sticks and string to keep rows upright.

If leaves are yellowing, use a liquid feed to give a nutrient boost, or use compost as a mulch.

Leave easy access through windows and doors so insects can help to pollinate.

■ Keep a plan of sowing dates and try not to push timing too late. A lot of summer crops need to be sown in the next few weeks and if you miss the moment, plants may never catch up with your expectations.

■ Strawberries may be in flower this month. Use a soft paintbrush to transfer pollen if there aren’t many insects around. Poor pollination can lead to misshapen fruits.

GREENHOUSE GADGETS: SOLAR PANELS

BROCCOLI

A small panel can power a light, or run n the timer on an automatic watering system. A slightly larger panel can heat a propagator or run a pump. Of course, you can go much bigger again and run all sorts of gadgets off solar power, but price is a factor for most gardeners. A small unit may be less than £100, or look for second-hand ones – often advertised for providing light in garden sheds.

Check the wattage you need and make sure any unit is completely weather sealed. Units can fix to a greenhouse frame – position in full sun, where children, pets or winds can’t damage them.

Early purple sprouting broccoli may already be finished, but later varieties are coming into their own. If you are a broccoli lover, then it is well worth prolonging the season by growing a few plants under cover. Sowing will start next month for next year’s crop, so make sure you buy seeds of favourite varieties. ‘Claret’ is a winner with large ge purple spears ovver a long period.

Let spears reach a good size to maximise the harvest.

CARE OF SMALL PLANTS

MARIGOLDS These simple flowers do valiant work in keeping pests out of the greenhouse. The strong odour seems to play some part in repelling whitefly and the roots secrete a chemical that controls nematodes in the soil. The flowers are pretty too, so it is well worth dotting a few plants between rows of tomatoes and near strawberry plants.

Sow seed on the surface of potting compost in March at 15C (59F). You can enjoy flowers from late spring right through to early winter.

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■ Overwintered crops, like spinach, chard and salad, may start to bolt. Keep picking as long as you can and while leaves still have good flavour.

Clear rows when all gets out of control: you will know that point and be pleased to make space for new sowings.

■ Sow cucumbers around the middle of the month. This ttiming should mean they don’t outgrow a large propagator before it is time to plant in the greenhouse. Remember that few households need more tthan three cucumber plants in ffull production.

■ Curled leaves on pepper plants are a sign of greenfly.

Squirt the pests off with water outdoors and bring the clean plants back into the propagator.

The greenhouse is full of small plants at this time of year and there is a lot invested in those babies.

A propagator will maintain a reasonably steady temperature for tender plants, but it doesn’t have a ■ Sow two or three early way to cool down in bright sun. You are probably courgettes: strong healthy safest opening the cover in the daytime and putting it plants can bear fruit in May. back on each evening, when temperatures drop again.

Plants suffer less harm in slightly cool conditions than they do in baking heat.

Thin out seedlings if too many germinate in pots and rows. Each plant will do better if DELICIOUS it doesn’t compete for light, air, moisture HERBS and nutrients. And don’t crowd pots in a Sow basil in a propagator, or on a propagator: spread them out on warm kitchen windowledge. Make one sowing days and put them back in at night.

in March and another in April if you want to ensure a good basil crop. The early sowing can give large early plants, but these may suffer in a cold spring. The second sowing is a guarantee against failure.

Sow coriander in rows directly in the soil.

This gives a good late spring/summer crop, but you may need to re-sow if plants bolt in the heat of a greenhouse.

MARCH 2018 | 11

YOU

YOUR PLOT

WHAT’S NEW? ALL THE LATEST NEWS, PRODUCTS & FACTS FROM THE WORLD OF KITCHEN GARDENING

CLIMATE’S WINNERS & LOSERS

GARDEN HEROES If you’ve ever wondered how insects like beetles, slugs and snails help our gardens to prosper, Ben Raskin’s latest book, Bees, Bugs & Butterflies, explains the great work our garden heroes do for our crops. This family guide explains all about the small creatures that we wouldn’t survive without, detailing the positive influence that these little beasties make to our planet. Published in association with the Soil Association and Friends of the Earth, the book comes with stickers and fun games.

Kids will love the activities, including a how-to on building your very own bug apartment block or a lacewing hotel.

This guide is the third in Ben Raskin’s series of family guides designed to help us understand the tremendous work our garden wildlife can do. A colourful and stimulating book that the whole family can enjoy.

Bees, Bugs & Butterflies

by Ben Raskin is published by Barnes & Noble. Price: £9.99 Review by Theo Osborn

According to the National Trust’s wildlife and weather review, traditional British seasons were unpredictable last year – one of the hottest on record.

The mild start to th he year – combined with ha damp summer – contributed ib d to rampant vegetation growth across the country. The premature spring weather prompted many flowers to arrive earlier than usual. August was one of the wettest on record.

The review notes Th thaat it was a ggood year for bbumblebees whereas wasps endured mixed ffortunes and, despite the warm d sprring, continue to be scarce in many places. l The latter months of the year saw an explosion of berries, nuts and seeds, while there was a good apple harvest and reports of a bumper year for acorns.

The heavily laden boughs were the legacy of a fine spring, which also meant crops were harvested earlier than usual.

Matthew Oates of the National Trust said: “These days, there are huge discrepancies between the winners and losers in the natural world. I’m extremely worried about some species – especially some of our insects and our native ash trees – but also buoyed by success stories that emerge at our places each year.”

For more on this, visit: http:// bit.ly/NT2017Review

SUPER SURGE IN VEGANISM One in five adults are going vegan or dairy-free in 2018, according to new research from Blue Diamond Almonds.

The poll found that veganism is at an all-time high with over half a million people currently pursuing a vegan diet in this country, and 5% of adults attempting to take on the diet last year. Almost 10% of people want to go fully vegan in 2018, with double

that number opting just to remove all dairy products from their diet. The number is exceptionally high in young adults, with more than a quarter aiming to cut out dairy products completely.

Veganism has proven to be an extremely tough diet to follow through with 60% of people who tried the diet for the first time in 2017 giving up, citing

the main reason for giving up being that it’s too hard to maintain. Vegan products on the market have been increasing year on year as the amount of people using the diet has risen 360% in the past decade.

Story by Theo Osborn

Well, we all like dressing up as vegetables, don’t we? Duvall, a city in Washington, US, however, has taken it one step further. Each March, the town organises a pedestrian-only vegetable parade to celebrate the work of the farmers in the community. Participants dress up as vegetables with people-powered floats, handmade costumes, local musicians and marching bands. This year the event takes place on Saturday, March 24 at 3pm.

Maybe we Brits should have one? www.marchofthevegetables.org

Enter our Spot the Difference competition (page 17) to win a copy of this book.

DO YOU HAVE SOME HOT STORIES FOR OUR NEWS PAGES? SEND THEM TO TFLANAGAN@MORTONS.CO.UK 12 | MARCH 2018

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