Kitchen Garden November 2013

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No. 194 November 2013

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Down-to-earth aDvice for growing fruit & veg | kitchengarDen.co.uk | noveMBer 2013

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EDITOR’S LETTER

WELCOME As I write, the KG team has just returned from a weekend at the Harrogate Flower Show and once again I was bowled over by the sheer enthusiasm and determination there was among the audience to grow their own fruit and veg. Emma and I were just two of the speakers at the event over the three days and spent our time explaining just how much can be done in the garden right now to keep the crops coming. As you might expect, fruit is always a popular aspect of any autumn event since cropping is in full swing and the coming weeks and months are so important for planting and pruning.

We reflect this in the magazine too this month with some great features on fruit growing. Starting on page 46 our own Emma Rawlings explains, thanks to modern varieties and techniques, how you can pick trugfuls of delicious produce from the smallest patio, while on page 51 Gaby Bartai brings us a fascinating insight into how new fruit varieties are ‘born’ and what innovations are in the pipeline for your plot in the coming seasons.

Steve Ott, editor

Follow us at facebook. com/KitchenGardenMag

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

Hello from the KG team...

PiPPa greenwOOD

JOe maiDen

gabY barTai

naOmi slaDe

anDrew TOKelY

emma rawlings

A familiar face in KG Pippa has also appeared regularly on BBC TV Gardeners’ World and as a pannellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. This month she turns her attention to plot planning on page 60.

Joe has been BBC Radio Leeds’ gardening expert for more than 40 years.

Once responsible for many of the lovely parks in Leeds Joe now enjoys his ‘retirement’ – as a full time nurseryman and gardening writer.

Gaby is a gardening writer and keen cook.

She contributes to KG on a wide range of topics and in this issue looks at the science behind soft fruit as well as bringing us some delicious recipes.

Naomi is a prolific gardening writer and blogger and also a keen allotment gardener.

Starting on page 66 she takes us on a tour of a newly restored kitchen garden, that of Grey’s Court in Oxfordshire.

Andrew has been growing veg for 30 years and contributing to KG for 14 of those. Every month he brings you his top tips on growing a crop from scratch. This month starting on page 15 he focuses on garlic.

KG deputy editor Emma has been busier than ever this month. As well as bringing you a roundup of highlights from the Harrogate Flower Show she writes on compost making and fruit on the patio.

SAVE ££s: FOR MONEY-SAVING OFFERS & GIVEAWAYS – SEE PAGES 50, 92 & 94 www.kitchengarden.co.uk

NOVEMBER 2013 | 3

CONTENTS

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU GROW GREAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

46 ✪ ON THE COVER fOllOW US AT facebook. com/kitchenGardenMag FOR OUR CONTACT DETAILS TURN TO Pg 21

SUBSCRIBERS’ CORNER

10 YOU

&

58

YOUR PLOT

JObS THIS MONTH: 6 ON THE VEG PATCH

20 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS

This month plant fruit, rhubarb and garlic, continue winter digging, have a winter clean-up

Learn what other KG readers have been up to and pick up some great first-hand advice

10 IN THE GREENHOUSE

22 HARROGATE AUTUMN FLOWER SHOW REPORT

12 HOT TOPICS

32 ON MY PATCH

Maintain greenhouses, clean polytunnels, plant herbs, make late harvests, sow gap-fillers

The latest news and comment from the world of kitchen gardening

THIS MONTH NEW SUBSCRIBERS CAN RECEIVE THREE ISSUES fOR JUST £3, plUS 10 pACkETS Of SEEdS! SEE pAGE 36 fOR dETAIlS

Hot from the Yorkshire show the KG team reports on fruit and veg growing highlights

We visit more keen KG plotters. Plus send us your pictures and win great prizes from Garden-mall.co.uk

34 QUESTION TIME

Regular Gardeners’ Question Time panellist Bob Flowerdew answers your fruit and veg growing conundrums

15

96 DIARY DATES

Plus full details of seed and young plant suppliers

102 NEXT MONTH

What’s in store for your December issue plus details of your next gift of free seeds hAvINg TROUbLE FINDINg A COPy OF ThIS mAgAzINE? Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month

4 | NOVEMBER 2013

106 LAST WORD

This month gardening entrepreneur Craig Sams explains how using biochar has transformed his plot www.kitchengarden.co.uk

YOU

&

YOUR PLOT

JOBS THIS MONTH...

JOBS TO CARRY OUT ON YOUR PATCH AND UNDER COVER IN NOVEMBER

10 MINUTE JOBS FOR NOVEMBER FIRM IN BRASSICAS

Tall crops such as Brussels sprouts and sprouting broccoli become top heavy towards harvest time, just as winter winds arrive.

Prevent root damage due to wind rock by firming in the roots with your foot or staking vulnerable plants on exposed sites. Consider wind breaks to protect younger crops.

OPEN A BEAN TRENCH

Runner beans love a deep, rich, moisture-retentive soil in which to grow. Prepare for a bumper 2014 crop by opening up a trench on the soil where you intend to grow your beans. Line it with several sheets of newspaper and begin to fill it with vegetable kitchen and garden waste.

EMPTY YOUR COMPOST BINS

With winter digging and soil preparation in full swing, this is the time to empty your compost bins and to spread all that lovely nutrient and humus-rich organic matter over the soil. When they are empty consider any repairs and of course this is the time to move your bin if you so wish.

MAKE USE OF CLOCHES

Air temperatures may be falling all the time, but the soil takes a little longer to cool and this can be slowed still further using cloches or fleece to protect new sowings of broad beans etc. The covering also protects young plants from snow, wind and pests such as birds and rodents.

6 | NOVEMBER 2013

PLOT TASKS

QUICK JOBS Things start to slow down a little on the plot this month, but there is still a surprising amount to harvest, plant and sow to ensure that there are plenty of early harvests to be had next spring and summer.

■ Plant garlic. Garlic can be planted in the autumn or spring, but is often more productive from an autumn planting.

This is because a period of cold weather encourages the development of the cloves and strong, healthy roots. You will find lots more advice on planting your crop starting on page 15 this month.

■ Check produce in store for any Start harvesting your Brussels signs of decay and remove sprouts this month, picking from any individual roots or the base of the plant (where the tubers to prevent the rest largest buds will have formed from becoming infected. first), working your way towards Check too for any activity the top. The first early broccoli shoots may also be ready by rodents and take measures for cutting. to control them if they are a problem.

TOP TIP

...ON THE VEG PATCH SOW NOW

Salad leaves, broad beans, sweet peas, early peas.

PLANT NOW

Garlic, winter lettuce, rhubarb, fruit trees and bushes, onion sets (early in the month), spring cabbages (early in the month).

HARVEST NOW

Carrots, potatoes, beetroot, onions, garlic, celery, celeriac, parsnips, Swiss chard, lettuce salsify, scorzonera, spinach, swedes, apples, pears, cauliflowers, oriental cabbages, savoy and winter cabbages, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, turnips winter squashes.

www.kitchengarden.co.uk

CONTINUE DIGGING

Winter digging can be a delight, but do it slowly and limit yourself to manageable chunks at each session. Always warm up your back muscles slowly before you start to avoid straining – a few stretching exercises can help to reduce sprains, especially if you are not used to the work.

Single digging is generally all that is required to incorporate organic matter and remove deep-rooted weeds. This involves taking out a trench along the length of the strip you wish to dig, placing the displaced soil in a barrow and moving it to the opposite end of the plot. Add a layer of organic matter such as well rotted manure or garden compost, leaf mould etc. Turn the next trench into the first and so on until the entire plot has been dug.

A short cut to the above is simply to cover the ground in a layer of organic matter and turn it in – fine if your soil is free from hard layers below the surface. Finally no-dig methods rely on earthworms to pull the organic matter into the soil over winter, saving you the effort of the annual dig.

■ Have an early winter clean up. Most debris on the plot can be composted or recycled in some way, but there is always some rubbish, such as rotting wood, woody prunings and so on which are difficult to dispose of and which may harbour pests overwinter if left hanging around. So assuming it is permitted in your area or on your site and there is no other way of disposing of it, this is a good time to have a bonfire. Check first that there are no hedgehogs or other wildlife using the rubbish as a winter home. Once cool, wood ashes can be used to spread over the soil to add useful amounts of potash.

NOVEMBER 2013 | 7

GET GROWING XXXXX

Did you know?

Garlic is as easy to grow as onion sets and is a virtually trouble free crop making it ideal for beginners Dry garlic bulbs thoroughly and experienced prior to storing. gardeners alike.

W

hile looking around my own allotment site recently I noticed that most of my neighbours now grow a row or two of garlic, this certainly wasn’t the case years ago. It would be lovely to think the increase in popularity was down to Peter Kay with his ‘garlic bread’ catch phrase, but I think it has mainly come about due to the increased number of cookery programmes on the television. Plus more people go out to eat at restaurants than before and garlic is used within many of those dishes that we might wish to recreate in our own kitchens.

HARdneCk oR softneCk?

Back to basics

GARLIC

This month professional horticulturist and keen veg grower Andrew Tokely takes us back to basics with garlic and shares his top tips for success with this pungent crop www.kitchengarden.co.uk

Hardneck garlic is selected from Allium sativum var. ophioscorodon originating from climates with colder winters. These types often produce flower stalks and the bulbs will have fewer larger cloves that have a stronger and more interesting flavour. Best harvested as the foliage turns yellow it will store until mid winter.

Softneck garlics are Allium sativum and generally provide smaller, more tightly-packet cloves from bulbs that do not produce flower stalks unless stressed. Best harvested as the foliage falls over, these will often store better than hard necks and if planted in autumn will keep until mid to late winter (if planted in spring they will store until mid spring).

Elephant garlic is Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum and is not a true garlic, but actually a variant of the species to which the garden ➤ NOVEMBER 2013 | 15

GET GROWING

Plant cloves in pots if the weather is unsuitable.

Outdooors plant 7cm-15cm (3-6in) apart.

Grow in a sunny spot in fertile, well drained soil.

leek belongs. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk and broad, flat leaves much like those of the leek, but forms a bulb consisting of very large, garlic-like cloves. The flavour of these is milder than garlic, and much more palatable to some gardeners than garlic when eaten raw in a salad.

or cell trays and grown on in a cold frame over winter and planted out as soon as the weather and soil conditions improve.

Spring plantings are made in March or April direct into the soil or again into cell trays and then transplanted out.

Most mail order companies supply garlic as a complete bulb, the only exception is elephant garlic which is normally sold as individual cloves as the bulbs are so large.

When normal garlic bulbs arrive they can be carefully split open revealing the individual segments (cloves).

From an average size bulb you should get approximately 20 cloves to plant. When splitting, it is important to remember which end was connected to the root plate as this needs to go into the soil this way up?

When planting direct in the plot simply draw out a drill with a swan neck hoe approximately 7cm (3in) deep similar to when planting onion sets. Each clove is then spaced along each drill. Small cloves can be spaced 7cm (3in) apart while larger cloves can be spaced 15cm (6in) apart in rows spaced 30-45cm (12-15in) apart between each row. Once planted the soil is then pulled back over the drill with a rake and lightly firmed.

When planting in cell tray modules or small pots these are filled with multi-purpose compost then a single clove is pushed into each cell or pot. These are then watered and stood in a cold frame or on the shelf within the cold glasshouse. These are not watered again until the garlic begins to shoot. These are grown on and

gradually hardened off before planting out on the plot in April as soon as soil and weather conditions allow.

How and wHen to plant

There are two main planting times - autumn or spring. Autumn plantings can be made anytime from October to the end of November direct into prepared soil on the vegetable plot.

If however the weather is too wet for planting to be carried out they can also be planted in pots

16 | NOVEMBER 2013

GrowinG on

Garlic likes to be planted in a sunny, but sheltered position on ground that has not recently carried a crop of onions or shallots.

The ground should be fertile and in early autumn before planting time this area is dug over adding plenty of well rotted organic matter. Before planting in the autumn or spring the ground is given a dressing of Growmore fertiliser at 60g per sq metre (2oz per sq yard) and raked into the soil surface.

If planted in the autumn, once the garlic cloves are shooting well in March give an additional feed of chicken manure pellets to replace any nutrients washed out over winter.

Spring planted cloves or modular cells can also have an extra feed about 5-6 weeks after planting once the green shoots are growing well.

During the rest of the growing season water if the soil is dry and keep the plot weeded taking care not to damage any of the developing bulbs.

Once the foliage starts to yellow or fall over this is a clear indication the bulbs are ready to harvest.

“From an average size bulb you should get approximately 20 cloves.�

GrowinG in pots

If short of space, plant a few cloves into large pots filled with John Innes No 3 compost. In a 30cm (12in) diameter pot you can easily plant four cloves. Stand these on a sunny patio and water as required and these will www.kitchengarden.co.uk

Show report

Bumper harvest

displayed at Harrogate Despite a mixed bag of weather over the three days of the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show the crowds kept coming and were treated to some of the best vegetable displays seen in recent years.

T

he September show played host to a plethora of championships including the World Onion Championships, National Vegetable Society Northern Championships, Giant Vegetable Competition among others. Kitchen Garden was there in force as sponsor of the National Vegetable, Potato and Giant Onion Championships.

PeTer wins Big again

The defending giant veg champion, Peter Glazebrook of Newark in Nottinghamshire, proved that he is still the man to beat. He walked away with many of the awards including for the third year running the

22 | NOVEMBER 2013

title of heaviest onion with his 15lb 1½oz (6.85kg) monster. His other accolades included the prize for heaviest potato, beetroot, cabbage and stick of rhubarb. He also took the prize for the longest runner bean at an incredible 29½in! Despite being a leviathan of a bulb this year’s onion did not come close to beating the record he set at the show last year of 18lb 1oz.

Second prize this year went to veteran veg exhibitor Vin Throup with a 13lb 4½oz monster and third to Mr S Griffin with an onion weighing 12lb 15oz. Peter also took the prize for his set of three onions weighing a total of over 42lb. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

HARROGATE AUTUMN FLOWER SHOW Produce in itS Prime

It is not just giants that win prizes at the show however. KG was once again honoured to sponsor the National Vegetable Society (hosted by the Northern Group) National Vegetable Championships in which the produce is grown to still highly impressive – if less mighty – proportions. The standard was excellent as were the number of entries with the show tables groaning under the weight of pristine produce.

ChillieS were hot at the Show

New at the show this year was Chillifest. Around the show were various displays of chilli plants plus talks and demonstration on cooking chillies and themed floral art using hot peppers. The Charnwood Chilli Company sells chilli jams, curd, chutneys and also plants and had many on display including ‘Salsa’, a dwarf compact plant producing masses of small red chillies. Also ‘Purple Jalapeno’ which is said to have a sweet yet hot taste at the same time. Information: www.charwoodchillies.co.uk Below: Ady and Adam Dayman and Naomi Dunmore from the Charnwood Chilli Company.

‘Salsa’

fruity delightS

It has been a good year for fruit of all kinds this year (with the possible exception of pears in some areas) and this too was reflected in the wonderful entries on the benches and also on the stands of several exhibitors including The Northern Fruit Group. The baskets of fruit were particularly impressive and one staged by D Barker of Middlethorpe Hall had caught the eyes of the judges who awarded it first prize.

heritage aPPleS from centenary firm

R V Roger put on a lovely display of apples with a vintage backdrop to celebrate its centenary year. The family-run business was started in 1913 on half an acre of land and grew into the large nursery it is today. Many of the apples shown were old varieties that R V Roger propagate and sell from its Pickering nursery. Some of the apples have a fascinating history. www.rvroger.co.uk

‘Scotch Bridget’

This one was widely grown in Scotland and Lancashire in the 1900s. It is a great cooking apple for northern gardens. It is very hardy and produces heavy crops of yellowgreen fruit which are slightly ribbed. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

‘Bloody Ploughman’

This Scottish variety came into being in 1883.

The story goes it got its name from a ploughman who was caught stealing apples on the Megginch Estate and was shot by the gamekeeper. His wife got the bag of apples and threw them on the compost heap where a seedling then grew and was given its name.

winter proof your crops with sue stickland’s must-read guide

100 years and growing we tour some famous nottingham plots

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