Kitchen Garden September 2014

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Down-to-earth aDvice for growing fruit & veg | kitchengarDen.co.uk | SePteMBer 2014

Passionate

about your Plot?

EntEr our £1300 prize compEtition today

exclusive

A TASTE OF ThE EXOTIc WITh

jAMES WONG

s-t-r-e-t-c-h yourtomatoseason with charles dowding

GROW ONIONS FROM SETS ★ SEED SAVING EXPLAINED

CONTENTS

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU GROW GREAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

12

20 YOU

✪ oN tHE CoVER

&

YOUR PLOT

FOR OUR CONTACT DETAILS TURN TO Pg 17

SUBSCRIBERS’ CORNER See page 28 for details

20 BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO PEAS ✪

10 IN THE GREENHOUSE

KG veg expert Joe Maiden brings us the results of his trials on autumn onion sets.

sow salad leaves, plant out fennel, swiss chard and spinach.

12 CONTAINER CROPS

4 | SEPTEMBER 2014

24 TRIED AND TASTED ✪

30 GO CLASSIC WITH TOMATOES Colin Randel reports on the RHs trials of our ‘classic round’ tomatoes against some newer varieties.

13 HOT TOPICS

32 ONION PROBLEM SOLVER

the latest news and comment from the world of kitchen gardening.

16 YOUR LETTERS AND TIPS

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

18 QUESTION TIME

Regular Gardeners’ Question time panellists Bob Flowerdew and Anne swithinbank answer your fruit and veg growing conundrums.

what are the highlights in your october issue plus details of your free gifts.

Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month

Andrew tokely has some good advice on growing this tasty crop.

Control red spider mite and tend to potted fruit.

102 NEXT MONTH

hAvINg TROUbLE FINDINg A COPy OF ThIS mAgAzINE?

GET GROWING

JOBS THIS MONTH: 6 ON THE VEG PATCH

Digging over the potatoes, sowing oriental greens, spring onions and lettuce.

Follow us At facebook. com/KitchenGardenMag

24

106 LAST WORD

this month KG reader lorraine lawrence on having hens and raised beds.

Plant pathologist Pippa Greenwood takes a look at onion problems and how to tackle them.

36 ARE YOU OUR MOST PASSIONATE PLOTTER? ✪

Enter our competition and win some great prizes worth £1300.

40 THE RESOURCEFUL GARDENER

sharon louise Allen visits a pretty little front garden in wales that is packed with veg.

46 KEEP YOUR TOMATOES HEALTHY TO THE END ✪

Charles Dowding has some good advice to keep tomato plants productive and healthy late in the season. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

SEPTEMBER 2014

recipes Gaby Bartai offers some innovative recipes to help you deal with gluts of courgettes, marrows and beans.

98

Pg 98

52 49

40 49 GROWING IS ALWAYS A WINNER WITH THE NATIONAL LOTTERY

Allotment campaigner Steve Neal suggests allotment committees take advantage of available funding.

52 ANNE’S TOP 10 ✪

This month it’s Anne Swithinbank’s top 10 plums and gages.

54 LIFE IN THE OLD BAG YET

Reuse your old growing bags. Ben Vanheems shows you how.

58 STRESS BUSTING VEG

Too much stress in our lives is a common problem but nutritionist Susie Kearley has some ideas on how gardening and homegrown produce can help.

60 IN CONVERSATION WITH JAMES WONG ✪

James explains his love of exotic crops.

62 A SPOONFUL OF MEDICINAL HERBS

Many of our common weeds were once cultivated for medicinal use as Julie Moore explains.

66 THE LOWDOWN ON MEDLARS

Lucy Halliday has some great tips on growing this tree fruit. www.kitchengarden.co.uk

WHAT TO BUY

68 WIN SHOW TICKETS ✪

84 PRODUCT REVIEWS

69 HAVE YOU TRIED …SEED SAVING ✪

88 GROWING GUIDES

Harrogate Flower Show tickets worth £900 up for grabs.

This month gardening expert Lucy Halliday offers some top tips on saving your own seed.

74 A LIVING BOOK OF HERBS

Herb expert Jekka McVicar has a superb nursery near Bristol. Sue Stickland paid a visit.

80 MAKE A COMPOST RIDDLE

Andy Cawthray gives a step by step guide to this simple money-saving project.

62

£

KG regular Joyce Russell puts a range of plant supports through their paces.

Helen Gazeley reviews the very best gardening blogs and websites.

89 BOOK REVIEWS

We look at the latest gardening books to be launched.

90 GIVEAWAYS WORTH £1846 ✪

This month you could win an Eglu Go UP hen house, Homebuilding Show tickets, L’Equip FilterPro food dryer, Harrod Horticultural vouchers and Moulton spades and forks.

92 GARDEN STORE

News of the best new products and services reach the KG offices this month including a Seed Organiser and organic slug control.

94 READER SAVERS ✪

Claim your three free* raspberry canes worth £6.95 (*just pay p&p), plus save up to £21 on brassica and lettuce plants, strawberries and summer and autumn raspberries.

96 DIARY DATES

Plus full details of seed and young plant suppliers and your September giveaways entry form.

SEPTEMBER 2014 | 5

YOU

&

YOUR PLOT

QUESTION TIME Got a fruit or veG problem? ask kG for help

staR

Replacement foR old apples

letteR WIns £25 VoUcHeR

I have recently lost two apple trees; they were probably 80 years old so not very surprising, but I am a little worried as they were next to each other and the roots were rotten. There was no sign of honey fungus but I am now wondering what would be safe to put in their place, also what is the best way of cleaning the soil prior to planting.

Mrs C Grant, Sway, Hants

with BoBfloWeRdeW& annesWItHInBanK

WRITERS & CONTRIBUTORS TO RADIO 4’S GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME

BoB sAys: I would not plant directly on their sites if possible, try to be at least a few feet to one side or the other.

Next I would dig out all dead roots as thoroughly as possible and incorporate a load of well-rotted manure or compost into the holes. Ideally sow a green manure and leave for a year or so. I would plant any trees other than apples. Pears, plums, gages, cherries or quinces are all possible; I would suggest apricots simply because the newer varieties are more reliable and when you get a crop it is so valuable and delicious!

Fruitless Fruit trees

Heavy crops may cause apples to take a year off in the following season.

I have three apple trees, ‘Howgate Wonder’, ‘Pixie’ and ‘Fiesta’. ‘Fiesta’ is a step over the other two small trees. ‘Pixie’ and ‘Fiesta’ are both suffering from leaf curl caused by aphids, also the two small trees have not flowered or set any fruit. Both had a good crop last year. Why and what should I do? I have also had a greengage for about four years which has never had fruit either yet my ‘Victoria Plum’ crops well every year.

All are on an exposed allotment, although the plum and greengage are sheltered by a polytunnel. I have never seen any flowers on the gage. Also it seems to be getting bigger than it should.

June Sheldrick, via email

Apricots would make a super replacement for old apples.

Anne sAys: By the time you read this, the aphid attack should be over. From the trained ‘Fiesta’ step over, you would have pruned the offending shoots away in July or August. Otherwise nipping out shoot tips to get rid of them is an effective method of removing them.

Last year trees were almost too prolific and some (specifically those that had not been thinned) seem to be taking a rest. Carry out a little branch thinning and stem shortening this winter and thin the fruits next summer. Your apple flowering times should overlap for good pollination.

Greengages often take a few years to fruit but it might need a pollinator (and a mild early spring) but the ‘Victoria’ should be able to oblige. Even on dwarfing stock, plums can reach 3.6m (12ft) on good soil so may require some pruning in summer.

WRIte InandWIn – eVeRy letteRWInsa pRIze! The winner of our Star Letter will receive vouchers to the value of £25; the writers of all other letters printed will receive a £10 voucher.

Vouchers can be redeemed against any products in the latest Mr Fothergill’s catalogue which will be sent out with the vouchers so you can choose from the massive range of quality products

18 | SEPTEMBER 2014

including seeds and garden equipment.

Get in touch by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag Alternatively, to receive a free copy simply call 08453 710518 or visit www.mr-fothergills.co.uk Don’t forget to include your full address on letters and emails. We do not publish full addresses.

Email your questions to erawlings@mortons.co.uk or post to Question Time, Kitchen Garden, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR

www.kitchengarden.co.uk

PROBLEM SOLVER

IdentIfy mystery leaf eater My cabbages, sprouts, cauliflowers and broccoli have all been stripped bare, so I replanted and they got stripped again. There were slug pellets down and they were sprayed with insecticide. All other plants are growing fine: peas, broad beans, lettuce, carrots and turnip. There are no signs of anything on or under the leaves. Can you tell me what might be eating them? There is one of my plants.

George Maclean, via email BoB says: Some of the missing leaves have V shaped damage which indicates bird damage, probably wood pigeons, but some look more like slug, caterpillar or cutworms have been at work. The first and last would probably have had the other vegetables as well so I strongly suspect a very early caterpillar attack in combination with pigeons. To be safe, grow brassicas under fine fleece, but if they still get damaged then bait for slugs and cutworms, too.

help with carrots I’d appreciate advice concerning carrots. A recent KG article gave plenty of detail re growing them but little about their germination which I am finding nearly impossible. I planted this year in a raised bed of sand and fine soil, mid April and again end of May. Seed was ‘Nantes 2 Early’ and ‘Autumn King 2’. I have checked both for viability on damp paper where seed germinated in five days. The April planting I covered in fleece as living in Shropshire, spring comes late. The May planting I left open and looked most days for germination in case plants germinated and were grazed off by slugs – this did not appear to be the problem.

Sue Pinsent, via email BoB says: Carrots can be tricky; sowed correctly, thinly, they may find difficulty pushing up through a soil that caps (makes a thin crust when wetted and dried) or if sown thickly, push through but then need drastic thinning. I suggest you draw out shallow drills, not too deep, water the drills well then wait till soaked in and sow thinly and cover the seed with sieved sowing compost and firm down. If it rains before the seedlings emerge, capping might still occur so it may be worth stretching a plastic sheet above held on sticks until the seedlings are established. Cutworms and similar ground dwelling larvae will eat off seedlings at night so you may wish to check with a torch about a week after sowing.

poor results from raIsed Beds Last year I installed two raised beds each 3.6 x 0.9m (12 x 3ft) as deep as a scaffold board and lined with membrane. They were filled with topsoil and although it was a bit late in the season, I immediately started to grow carrots, beetroot, salad, borlotti beans, purple sprouting broccoli etc. I sowed successively and the results were amazing all summer.

At the beginning of this spring I began to sow the beds again. I thought at first I’d begun too early since the carrots and beetroot came through but soon stopped dead. I have resown repeatedly all spring and have had success with just one row of salad leaves, borlotti beans and peas. I’ve given up now with carrots and beetroot.

Any suggestions?

Susie Anderson, via email

anne says: You definitely need to renourish the soil between crops or every year. In my greenhouse, I have two beds only 15cm (6in) deep set straight on to concrete and these have been cropping well for five years. Every so often I dig out half the soil and replace this with a 50:50 mix of well-rotted garden compost and good garden soil. Sometimes I’ll tip a load of compost on top of this when I want greater nourishment and depth of soil for a butternut squash.

I don’t find additional fertiliser necessary but if I were you, I would add some a couple of weeks before sowing or planting or even tickle it in around crops.

You can also use liquid feeding as a pickme-up and if the beds are ever empty, consider sowing with a green manure; and between the two beds I also carry out a rough rotation by avoiding the same crop in the same soil two years running.

SEPTEMBER 2014 | 19

GET GROWING

Are you our most Passionate Plotter?

Enter our competition and win great prizes

W

e are looking for the UK’s most passionate plot holder and we are not talking ‘lurve’ for the ladies or gents here but passion for fruit and veg growing. And now veg plots are brimming with early crops and the promise of some great harvests to come, it is the perfect time to take some photographs and enter our competition. So if you love your plot, then share it with us and other KG readers.

Simply send us a few photos of your plot and you could win some great prizes and your plot will also be featured in a future issue of Kitchen Garden.

Previouswinners…

Howto enter

send us:

■ 1 photograph of yourself (preferably taken on your plot. Others who help you on your plot can also be in the picture, but please state who they are).

■ 6 pictures of your plot (Aim for one overall shot and then some pictures of smaller sections of the plot or even just one crop).

■ The questionnaire (page 38) filled in. email or post your pictures and questionnaire to us. the competition will also be online at www.kitchengarden.co.uk. We regret entry is open to uK mainland only.

Pictures should either be supplied as digital jpegs (need to be fine quality eg. set your digital camera to take the biggest pictures possible) or you can post photographs on photographic paper, (not on normal printing paper please). We regret these cannot be returned.

If sending digital pictures you can choose to attach them separately as jpegs to an email or alternatively put them on a disc. We have difficulty using pictures that are pasted direct on to a document.

Also remember to include a document containing your answers to the questionnaire on page 38.

Your answers can be written direct on to an email if you prefer and please feel free to include as much information as you wish.

Our winners of the 2012 competition were:-

1st

YOUCOULDWIN:

1st prize WOrtH

£595 1st – Ernie Whitfield of Leeds

2nd

2nd – Laura Netti of London

3rd

3rd – Irving Robinson of E Yorkshire

36 | SEPTEMBER 2014

www.kitchengarden.co.uk

take some snaps of your plot

WHaT THe juDges are lOOkiNg fOr

prizes WOrTH OVer £1300

Simply a passion for growing so don’t worry if your plot is not perfect or pristine; but we are looking for a plot well loved with effort to grow a good variety of crops and good use of the space.

WHere TO seND

YOUR PLOT COMPETITION

Thesponsors We are grateful to the sponsors of our competition this year.

HaygrOVe

As a commercial fruit grower it was a natural progression for Haygrove to move into designing and producing a range of commercial polytunnels to aid fruit growing in our inclement weather. It then took the quality design of its commercial tunnels and adapted them to smaller competitively priced tunnels for gardeners. More information tel: 0845 269 6395; www.gardentunnels.co.uk

HarrOD HOrTiculTural

This company has been producing top quality garden products for 60 years and is innovative in bringing new designs on to the market. It offers an excellent mail order service and as well as being renowned for its sturdy fruit and vegetable cages, arches and structures, it also sells a huge range of other gardening sundries.

More information tel 0845 402 5300 www.harrodhorticultural.com

garDeN-mall

Garden-Mall.co.uk is one of the UK’s fastest growing online garden supplies stores, offering over 2000 garden products from garden furniture to propagation products.

email TO: erawlings@mortons.co.uk pOsT TO: Kitchen Garden Passionate Plotter Competition, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR

The closing date for the competition is September 26, 2014. Judging will commence after this date and the winners will be announced in the December issue.

1sT HaygrOVe sTarTer TuNNel This is a 2m wide by 4m wide (6ft 7in x 13ft 1in) long Haygrove Garden Tunnel.

It comes with a potting table and widthways trellis cable that offers support for crops such as tomatoes.

Delivered to the winner at a mainland UK address.

2ND prize

2ND HarrOD Walk iN fruiT/Veg cage ➤

Harrod Horticultural, which sells exceptional high quality fruit/veg cages, is offering a heavy duty steel or aluminium walk-in cage to be chosen by the winner. The cages comes with heavy duty side and roof netting and a door unit. A height of 2m (6ft 7in) gives you ample room to work and harvest fruit or vegetables.

3rD garDeN-mall paraseNe HigH TOp elecTric prOpagaTOr ➤

This Parasene electric propagator has a strong aluminium framed top with safety glazing. The 60 Watt propagator is thermostatically controlled so will cut off when the correct temperature has been reached. Ideal for starting off young tender veg plants.

www.kitchengarden.co.uk

WOrTH

£500 3rD prize WOrTH

£150

TOp THree WiNNers alsO receiVe a free 12 mONTH subscripTiON TO KG – yOur faVOuriTe garDeNiNg reaD.

TOMATOES

Keep your

tomatoes healthy to the end Tomatoes will be producing a lot of fruit yet it can be a difficult time for ripening and plant health. Charles Dowding has some good advice to get the best from this crop now

A

fter all the time and effort involved in growing tomatoes through spring and summer, this early autumn period is their most temperamental and difficult: How to keep plants blight-free and encourage green fruits to ripen? For tomatoes undercover there are some easy methods for achieving better harvests.

Avoiding lAte blight

To avoid blight on tomato plants undercover, you need to keep their leaves dry. The essential point is that blight cannot develop on dry surfaces, even when its spores are all around in the air. Therefore: ■ ■ ■

Outdoor plants of ‘Gardener’s Delight’ showing early symptoms of blight... www.kitchengarden.co.uk

Always water on soil and compost only, being careful not to wet leaves Close the overhead vents of a greenhouse if they are allowing rain to fall on to tomato leaves Remove any tomato leaves which are being wetted by rain blowing into polytunnels near the doors.

Many tomato leaves at this time of year have discolourations, resulting from nutrient imbalance and age, shown by small spots on leaves or general browning and yellowing. Blight on the other hand establishes quickly and makes leaves turn brown, wilting and translucent, so keep a close eye on leaf health in damp weather.

Blighted leaves look limp and translucent, with an unpleasant smell of rotting. Should you notice any of this, immediately cut and remove the damaged leaves to slow the spread of disease into the rest of the plant.

If blight has established to the point that you see dark brown patches on stems, and on some fruits too, the chances are slim of keeping plants healthy, but it is worth trying. The best hope is for sunshine to keep conditions drier and to speed ripening of fruit which is still healthy. ➤

...one week later and blight has really taken hold.

SEPTEMBER 2014 | 47