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DoWn-to-earth aDvice for groWing frUit & veg | kitchengarDen.co.Uk | DeceMber 2013
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CONTENTS
EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU GROW GREAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
20 ✪ oN tHe CoVer follow uS At facebook. com/KitchengardenMag FOR OUR CONTACT DETAILS TURN TO Pg 16
SUBSCRIBERS’ CORNER See pAge 36 for detAilS
66 YOU
&
YOUR PLOT
JOBS THIS MONTH: 6 ON THe VeG pATCH
10 IN THe GreeNHOuSe
Sue Stickland explains how to protect your crops from the worst of the winter weather.
Plant a grapevine, maintain beds and borders, harvest Christmas produce, order new season seeds.
12 HOT TOpICS
The latest news and comment from the world of kitchen gardening.
18 ON MY pATCH
We visit more keen KG plotters. Plus, send us your pictures and win great prizes from Garden-mall.co.uk
102 NeXT MONTH
What’s in store for your January issue, plus details of your next gift of free seeds.
4 | DECEMBER 2013
20 BACK TO BASICS… BruSSelS SprOuTS
Great growing advice and top varieties for taste from Andrew Tokely.
Learn what other KG readers have been up to and pick up some great first-hand advice.
Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month
GET GROWING
This month; take cuttings from fruit, apply mulches, protect pot-grown crops, feed the birds, build cloches, check stored crops.
15 YOur leTTerS AND TIpS
hAvINg TROUbLE FINDINg A COPy OF ThIS mAgAzINE?
38
106 lAST WOrD
This month KG reader Peter Dean of Cambridge explains why kitchen gardening is such a great pastime.
23 FrOST-prOOF YOur plANTS ✪
28 BACK TO THe FuTure
In part one of her two-part series, Emma Rawlings travels to Nottingham to see one of the oldest allotment sites in the UK.
34 QueSTION TIMe
Regular Gardeners’ Question Time panellist Bob Flowerdew answers your fruit and veg growing conundrums.
38 TrIeD AND TASTeD ✪
Joe Maiden puts seven varieties of blue potatoes old and new through their paces.
42 THe YeAr OF THe SlOppY SpuD
KG readers report that their spuds are boiling to mush this year. Potato guru Alan Romans explains why.
46 COpING WITH ClAY ✪
Clay soil can be hard work... but very rewarding, as Helen Gazeley explains. www.kitchengarden.co.uk
DECEMBER 2013
RECIPES
Gaby Bartai has some delicious and original ideas for Christmas lunch as well as some great gifts for you to cook up
Pg 98
28
98
51
74 WHAT TO BUY
51 GET SET, GROW! ✪
£
49 SPOT THE SnOWMEn & WIn
Part one of Gaby Bartai’s report on the many new fruit and veg varieties to be released for 2014.
50 YOUR fREE CHRISTMAS CARD 82 KG BOOKSHELf
56 fRUIT AT A GLAnCE ✪
This month our concise growing guide to nuts.
Our roundup of the best new gardening and cookery books including some that would make great gifts.
58 KG TROUBLESHOOTER
84 GARDEn STORE ✪
96
Lucy Halliday turns her attention to pests and diseases of lettuces.
60 PLEASAnT fOR PHEASAnTS
77 MAKE A SPROUT WREATH ✪
Toby Buckland makes a hot bed for early crops and soon attracts some uninvited guests.
Follow our step-by-step guide to making a fun veg-themed wreath to decorate your door.
64 USInG YOUR fREE SEEDS
80 TOP TIPS WITH JOE
Our guide to getting the best from your free onion seeds.
KG’s Joe Maiden has some great ideas to make harvesting easier in 2014.
Great ideas for Christmas gifts for your gardening friends and family... or yourself!
86 GROWInG GUIDES
Helen Gazeley reviews the very best gardening websites.
88 PRODUCT REVIEWS
This month Joyce Russell puts nine tool sharpeners through their paces.
92 GIVEAWAYS WORTH MORE THAn £1852
66 GROWInG COnnECTIOnS
81 EXPERT’S CHOICE
This month we have gloves, hedge trimmers, outdoor dining equipment, slug and snail killer, tomato food, insect hotels, multi tools and repair tape.
74 HOW TO MAKE A SEED BOX ✪
96 THE POWER Of OnIOnS
94 READER SAVERS – SAVE OVER £29 ✪
Gardening writer Holly Farrell travels to the superb walled kitchen garden of Dorney Court in Berkshire.
Joyce Russell has a great weekend project for you to make whether as a Christmas gift or treat for yourself.
www.kitchengarden.co.uk
This month Michael Michaud of Sea Spring Seeds presents his favourite five veg varieties for you to try.
Nutritionist Susie Kearley explains the benefits of this popular veg on our diet... and has some delicious recipes to try.
Including a free lemon tree worth £12.95 for every reader (just pay p&p). DECEMBER 2013 | 5
YOU
&
YOUR PLOT
JOBS THIS MONTH... JOBS TO CARRY OUT ON YOUR PATCH AND UNDER COVER IN DECEMBER
10 MINUTE JOBS FOR DECEMBER RAKE UP FALLEN LEAVES
Rake up any remaining fallen leaves and put them into the compost bin. If there are lots they can be composted in a bin separately from other waste where they can take their time to rot. Alternatively, pack tightly into polythene bags and pierce the sides in several places with a fork.
SECURE CROP COVERS
Cabbages and other brassicas are vulnerable to pigeons this month and recently planted and sown crops will benefit from the protection of fleece. Check regularly to ensure that covers are still in place after windy days and that they haven’t become holed.
RECYCLE LABELS
Plastic labels can be cleaned of pencil and most inks using a pan scourer. Collect up any that may still be hiding around the plot and clean them prior to storing away. Make more from pieces of plastic cut from old milk containers or make some from timber scraps painted with matt white paint.
CHECK STAKES & TIES
Newly planted fruit trees will require a strong stake to prevent wind rock through the winter months. Check they’re still firmly in place and that tree ties are secure. Tallergrowing crops such as kale and Brussels sprouts, too, may require tying to prevent damage on exposed sites.
6 | DECEMBER 2013
PLOT TASKS CLEAN TOOLS
Sharp and efficient tools make tough jobs that little easier and with constant use wooden handles become polished and comfortable so they are worth taking care of. Clean soiled blades and have a bucket of sand impregnated with old engine oil. After every use dip the blades of spades and trowels in this a few times to clean and lubricate them or rub them over with an oily rag.
LIFT ROOT CROPS
TOP TIP Continue to check stored veg and fruit. Rogue out any less than perfect specimens and use straight away
...ON THE VEG PATCH SOW NOW
Salad leaves, exhibition onions, sprouting seeds, microgreens.
PLANT NOW
Bare-rooted fruit trees and bushes, bare-rooted hedging, rhubarb.
HARVEST NOW
Carrots, leeks, winter cabbages, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, chicory, celery/celeriac, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, endive, kohl rabi, winter lettuce, salsify, scorzonera, swede, turnip, parsnips.
FROM STORE
Apples, pears, potatoes, beetroot, onions, squashes. www.kitchengarden.co.uk
APPLY WINTER MULCHES Traditionally this is the time for winter digging to incorporate soil improvers and to remove deep-rooted weeds. However, it is also possible to avoid digging
altogether to the benefit of the soil and, some would say, the soil, too. No-dig techniques rely on worms to pull any organic matter applied to the surface of the soil underground where they, and other soil flora and fauna, can break it down and incorporate it. This also leaves the channels made in the soil by burrowing worms and other creatures intact, which in turn improves drainage and aeration, so improving root growth. Applying organic mulches, such as leafmould, garden compost or well rotted manure also protects the soil from the rain which otherwise washes out the nutrients.
Crops such as carrots, parsnips and leeks can become frozen into the ground in very cold weather, making them hard to extract when you need them. Lift them a few at a time during milder spells and heel in to an area which is less likely to freeze such as close to the house. Parsnips do not store well out of the ground, but carrots could alternatively be lifted and stored in sacks or trays of sand.
MOVE POT PLANTS
Potted plants such as fruit (grapes, olives, peaches, apricots, cherries etc.) which live on the patio should be moved closer to the house to protect them from the worst of the frosty weather. Wrap the pots in bubble wrap or just group them together for mutual protection. Alternatively move them to the shelter of an unheated greenhouse or polytunnel.
FEED THE BIRDS
Garden birds have a tough time during the winter. Make sure there is a fresh supply of food and unfrozen water available. High energy food such as fat balls and blocks will help them to keep warm; you can make your own by filling empty yoghurt pots with a mixture of lard and seeds. ➤
BLue potatoeS Tried & tasted
Blue, black and purple-skinned potatoes have been around for a very long time, but in modern times at least have been eclipsed by their white and red-skinned cousins. This month Joe Maiden takes a look at blue varieties old and new to see how they perform for yield and flavour
B
lue-skinned potatoes have never really been very popular although the Victorians did lots of breeding work. I have always wondered why they are not more widely grown; perhaps it is because the thought of blue mash puts some people off (some say that evolution has ‘programmed’ us not to eat blue food in case it is tainted). However, not all blue-skinned spuds have blue flesh, and one try soon tells you that the flavour of blue potatoes can equal most white and redskinned, white-fleshed, varieties. The arrival of a new blue-skinned variety – ‘Purple Majesty’ – prompted me to grow it against some other blue varieties I have grown for many years such as ‘Edzell Blue’, ‘Shetland Black’, ‘Salad Blue’ and ‘Arron Victory’. I put them all to the test plus a few I haven’t grown before – ‘Edgecote Purple’ and ‘Blue Danube’.
Ground preparation
Potatoes love well prepared land which is a little on the acid side. With this in mind and to avoid the build up of potato pests and diseases, I chose a site which had not had potatoes grown on it for four years. This site is central on my plot and in full sun. Work began during the summer of 2012. Straw and cow manure was collected together and heaped up to decay and in the autumn, after leaf fall, it was mixed in equal quantities with beech and oak leaves. This was covered with a polythene sheet and allowed to heat up and rot down still further. My heap contained about 35 barrowfuls before decomposition and once fully rotted produced 22 barrowfuls of brown crumbly dryish compost which money just can’t buy. Last December when the area was dug I opened up a trench 30cm (12in) deep and 30cm (12in) wide and the base of the trench was forked over. This was intended to give the spuds the deep root run and free drainage they like. Sometimes the soil can form a hard pan (impenetrable hard layer) if constantly cultivated
BLUE POTATOES
Blue-fleshed potatoes make tasty and unusual chips for children’s parties.
Regular earthing up early in the season protects the young growth from frost.
to the same depth and water can lodge in the trench, often causing root rot. A layer of the pre-prepared compost was placed into the trench and as I filled this in another trench was created and the forking and composting process was repeated over the whole area. The soil was allowed to settle over winter with the snow, wind and rain breaking down most of the lumps. At the end of February on a windy, sunny, drying day out came the rotavator, stirring all the compost and soil together. Preparation of the planting area was almost complete.
PlantinG
If you follow the ground preparation process above you’ll find planting so easy. For this trial of blue spuds the rows were set 76cm (30in) apart and the tubers 45cm (18in) apart in the rows. A few days before planting Vitax Potato Fertiliser was added at the recommended rate and raked in to the plot.
www.kitchengarden.co.uk
Planting in holes offers an easier alternative to digging trenches for potatoes.
My planting took place on Good Friday (March 29) and all I had to do was to dig holes 13cm (5in) deep with a trowel and place a seed potato flat in the base of each. Before covering the tuber with soil I scattered a few SlugGone pellets around the tuber. These pellets contain wool fibres which are abrasive to slugs’ skin and when they rot down they release organic fertilisers, useful when the crops are developing.
GrowinG on
If the weather is favourable the well chitted tubers soon emerge through the soil, but after a sunny day at this time of year we may well get a frost which can damage the young foliage often resulting in a poor crop. The easy and traditional way of protecting your crop against frost is to earth up the emerging plants. This consists of covering the emerging leaves with soil from between the rows, pulling it up around the stems with a swan neck hoe or mattock to form a ridge. Earthing up also prevents the tubers from becoming green and inedible – the soil covering eliminates light and prevents greening. Regular earthing up is also a wonderful way of keeping germinating weed seeds at bay as the soil movement kills them. By mid-June the potato foliage will have completely covered the soil keeping out the light so that any weeds which have escaped find it difficult to grow under the dense canopy. ➤
CHITTING POTATOES
Many gardeners fail to realise how important it is to keep seed potatoes in the correct conditions once they arrive from the supplier. During January and February many potatoes arrive through the post and it’s important to unpack them immediately and set them up in recycled egg cartons or seed trays so that the ‘eyes’ (the dimples from which the new shoots will emerge) are exposed to the light. The tubers should be kept in a light, airy, frost free position. Shoots will appear from the eyes and keeping these short and dark green is the best guarantee of a good crop.
DECEMBER 2013 | 39
GET GROWING
Vegetable troubleshooter
Lettuce Plant pathologist Lucy Halliday solves your crop problems
A
year round staple, with varieties to suit cooler months as well as shadier corners during high summer, lettuce can be a very reliable crop. However, its tender juicy leaves are as attractive to a throng of pests as they are to us. Lettuce is a quick growing crop so sow every few weeks for a succession of harvests; that way even if one crop is struck down by slugs or rabbits, another will be waiting in the wings.
SLUGS AND SNAILS
Green and blacky Slugs and snails
SymptomS: These usual suspects, when not in evidence themselves, leave silvery trails, ragged edged holes in the leaves and greeny-brown piles of faeces. They are most easily seen on cool damp evenings. prevention and Control: The ways of trapping, poisoning, deceiving or otherwise dealing with slugs and snails are many. However, with a crop as tender and vulnerable as lettuce the best tactic is to keep the slugs and snails at a good distance. This can mean all out war using a combination of biannual treatment with biological control nematodes such as Nemaslug combined with slug pellets, organic or otherwise, used liberally and regularly throughout spring. Alternatively, simple home-made plastic bottle cloches placed over newly transplanted, module grown young plants will stand a very good chance of growing away unimpeded.
Cutworm Grey mould
Picture: Dave Bevan
Root aphids Illustration Rosie Ward.
58 | DECEMBER 2013
www.kitchengarden.co.uk
PROBLEM SOLVER LETTUCE GREY MOULD
LETTUCE ROOT APHIDS
SymptomS: In humid conditions the leaves of lettuce can fall prey to fuzzy grey blotches of fungal mycelium (Botrytis cinerea), developing into slimy orangeybrown rot on the stems. This can spread if causing new leaves to shrivel and die, destroying the heads of lettuce in a short time if conditions are right. Biology: Lovers of still, humid air, this mould can be especially difficult when growing at the cooler beginning and end of the season, under cover or with densely grown cut and come again leaves. prevention and Control: Once again, vigilance and good hygiene are the best weapons against this fungal foe. Don’t leave infected plant material in the ground to allow spread. Remove infected leaves, or if necessary whole heads of lettuce, before it can spread, and pick up all fallen basal leaves when harvesting from a lettuce patch. Keep ventilation up as much as possible to avoid the conditions that favour mould growth and avoid stress or damage to the plants which can leave them susceptible. Avoid overhead watering.
Picture: Dave Bevan
SymptomS: Lettuces may wilt or die off suddenly as if under watered with a severe infestation. With a lesser aphid population they may also dwindle in their growth or look yellowed. As the aphids live around the roots you are unlikely to notice them without uprooting a lettuce to check. Biology: Lettuce root aphids sadly do what their name suggests and live underground among the roots. They are yellowy-white, waxy looking and wingless with small black spots on their abdomens. Their other hosts are Lombardy poplar and sow thistle. prevention and Control: Overwintered lettuce can carry a population from one year to the next. Crop rotation helps to keep numbers in check. Resistant cultivars are available such as ‘Beatrice’, ‘Avondefiance’, ‘Salad Bowl’ and ‘Lakeland’.
CUTWORM DAMPING OFF
GREEN AND BLACKFLY
Damping off (here on onions). www.kitchengarden.co.uk
SymptomS: Can cause leaves to grow distorted forming wrinkles and blister-like patterns; they may also yellow, inner leaves may fail to unfurl properly on Cos types. Aphids can be hard to spot on frilly leafed lettuce types so check regularly. Honeydew excreted by the aphids can encourage mould growth. Biology: There are over 500 species of leaf aphid species in Britain alone and these produce multiple generations in a year.
Picture: Dave Bevan
SymptomS: This will kill off seedlings at a very young age, sweeping through seed trays in distinct patches and causing seedlings to topple over from the base of the stem. Occasionally it can cause fluffy white areas of mould growth or stop seeds germinating at all. Biology: The clearly defined patches of dieoff shown as this fungus spreads are caused as the mycelium of the fungi grows out from one seedling to find another, joining the dots as it were in its search for more food. prevention and Control: Keep seedlings in a well ventilated area and sow thinly to allow good air flow. Seedlings grown in cooler conditions with plenty of good light are less tender and vulnerable. Always clean seed trays and pots thoroughly after each use to avoid spread and use proper sterilised seed composts.
SymptomS: Devastatingly the stems of young plants and seedlings are eaten through at ground level, often along with the base of the root plate. The culprits are nocturnal, soil dwelling moth caterpillars which are rarely spotted. Biology: Cutworms range from brown to yellow or green and are fat and curl up in a characteristic ‘C’ shape if disturbed. They feed at night throughout the year and are the larvae of various Noctuidae family moths. prevention and Control: Keep weeds down which provide shelter for feeding cutworms and egg laying sites for the adults. Hoe regularly around the plants exposing the caterpillars to predators. Plastic bottle cloches, pushed a few centimetres into the soil around the plant, can act as a protective collar.
prevention and Control: Beating aphids means regular checking and seizing an opportunity to reduce numbers when seen. Lettuce is a hard crop to remove aphids from by hand and although there are veg friendly sprays based on plant and fish oils or natural pyrethrum extracts, too much spraying can damage the delicate leaves. Lettuce matures fast so harvest what you can, washing off any greenfly, and resow some fresh batches rather than try to rehabilitate badly infected lettuce. DECEMBER 2013 | 59
A S GI
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★ ID
How to
Make a seed store This seed storage box offers a simple way to hold and organise your seeds. At the same time it ensures that they stay in good condition and that you are less likely to forget to sow. Joyce Russell explains in easy steps how it is made
S
ome people store seeds in a shoebox, others use a biscuit tin, or occasionally gardeners might spot a seed box in a garden shop. Different people have different preferences, but I like to store my seeds according to the season when they will be sown. I want to rifle through with ease if I’m looking for a particular pack and to be prompted to sow if a forgotten packet has worked itself to prominence. My husband Ben and I also like to make things ourselves when we can (we built, wired and plumbed our own house as an extreme example of that). Shoeboxes serve a function, but they aren’t the most attractive item to have in a hand-built house. The logical thing was to make a seed storage box that suits my needs and more than that: it makes me smile every time I see it. This is a simple weekend project. A box can be made in an afternoon by anyone with a few basic tools. And, with Christmas just round the corner, a personalised seed storage box would make a lovely simple gift. You could add some interesting packets of seed, or a seed catalogue and a voucher too, to start the sowing year off. 74 | DECEMBER 2013
MATERIALS
■ 12mm x 125mm planed softwood, such as pine, cedar or spruce, cut to the following lengths: ❯ 2 at 284mm (sides of box) ❯ 2 at 125mm (ends of box) ■ 6mm x 6mm softwood cut to the following lengths: ❯ 14 at 120mm (runners) ■ 6mm plywood cut to the following sizes: ❯ 4 at 175mm x 123mm (dividers) ❯ 1 at 284mm x 149mm (base of box) ■ Panel pins: 12 at 40mm, 40 at 15mm ■ Note on panel pins: longer pins can be nipped to a shorter length with pliers if you can’t find 15mm ones. ■ Glue (optional)
TOOLS
■ Jigsaw, tape measure, pencil, square, hammer, sandpaper, drill, 1mm drill bit, 12mm drill bit. ■ Pyrography (wood burning) tool, or labeller, or felt tip pen to label the box.
www.kitchengarden.co.uk
WEEKEND PROJECT
Step by step
Step 1
MAKe A SeeD StORe
Having marked the timber as instructed use the electric-powered jigsaw (or you could use a hand saw) to cut softwood to lengths, and plywood to sizes, indicated in the materials list.
TOP TIP You can reduce the amount of waste by cutting two dividers from one length of wood, as in the photograph
Step 3
Measure and use the square to mark where the runners will go on each of the side pieces. These can be evenly spaced, but I prefer to have a larger section for spring seed packets and a smaller section for winter ones.
Step 2
Use the drill and 12mm drill bit to make a hole 50mm from the top, and halfway across the width, of each of the dividers. Use the jigsaw to cut out the tab shape at the top of each divider: the drill hole will create the corner of the curve. Sand all rough edges.
Step 4
Hold a divider against each single runner in order to determine where its pair will be placed. Allow a bit of slack so the divider slides freely in the groove between the paired runners. Fix the runners in place by driving home the pins. You could apply some wood glue if you wish.
TOP TIP If the wood is soft enough you may be able to hammer in the 15mm pins without drilling, otherwise use the 1mm drill to make holes where the pins will go
Step 5
Use the 1mm drill bit, if necessary, to make holes for the 40mm panel pins. Hammer the pins 6mm in from the ends of the side pieces, and 6mm in around the edge of the base, before assembling. You can add strength to the box by running glue along the edges before nailing. www.kitchengarden.co.uk
Step 6
Assemble the sides and fix the base to the frame of the box. Use a nail to knock the ends of the pins below the surface of the plywood: any protruding pins can scratch surfaces and might cause injury if you inadvertently catch your fingernail on one. ➤ DECEMBER 2013 | 75
KG guIDE to groWINg PEPPErs + frEE sEEDs for EVErY rEaDEr
MINI cucuMBErs trIED & tEstED JoE MaIDEN rEVEals thE BEst VarIEtIEs
H T N O M NEXT EED IN G R E A D y o u N N E D R A G ly N o DEN – THE IN K IT C H E N G A R
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Garden Favourites ColleCtion inCludinG: 1kg Blue potato ‘arran victory’, plus one packet each of: tomato ‘Gardeners’ delight’, radish ‘French Breakfast’, lettuce ‘all Year round’, carrot ‘nantes 5’, beetroot ‘Bolthardy’.
(*just pay £4.95 p&p)
■ Best veg to grow and top tips for beginners from Pippa Greenwood
■ soil testing equipment put through its paces by Joyce russell ■ read part two of our roundup of new fruit and veg varieties for 2014 ■ emma rawlings continues her history of st anns allotments in nottingham and we visit Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire
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