Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Kitchen Garden

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…

WHAT TO DO IN MARCH • 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 • 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…

VINE WEEVIL A pest which can be troublesome in light soils, especially where plastic weed control sheets are used, vine weevils relish potted plants. Their comma-shaped grubs devour roots, killing plants. SOLUTION: Drenching with nematodes that attack insects is cost effective and is done in autumn and again in spring if necessary. Use the recommended volume of water and carefully soak the whole crown. BIRDS & SQUIRRELS Although we love to see them around the garden, both also love strawberries and can decimate crops very quickly – even before they are ready to pick. SOLUTION: Make a bird netting frame to stop birds getting to your plants; or buy a ready made one. Seek specialist advice about controlling squirrels where significant damage occurs. BOTRYTIS OR GREY MOULD Wet summer weather…

When chatting to people on my allotment site, or gardeners in general, it seems that broad beans are a Marmite vegetable – you either love them or you hate them! I’ve never known why, as I really like them, especially when combined with other legumes such as peas and beans and dressed with sweet chilli, to make a summer salad. They are delicious. I suppose we all have memories of little, grey, overcooked broad beans from school dinners. That memory doesn’t always inspire you to grow or cook with broad beans and I guess dinner ladies up and down the country have a lot to answer for! If, like me, you are a broad bean fan, you’ll probably already have sown a few rows in the autumn, resulting in stocky…

SOW: Feb-July PLANT: May HARVEST: June-Oct You’ll find this outlandish veg in every seed catalogue, which means that someone must be buying the seeds and yet I know of very few people that have tried kohl rabi (or kohlrabi) to eat. I have a feeling that lots of people buy them on a whim just to give it a try, but wonder how many make it to the kitchen. This is a shame as they are very versatile, fast to crop and relatively easy to grow. Gardening friends on the continent have no such qualms where these Sputnik-like veggies are much more widely appreciated. The name literally translates as cabbage turnip and offers a clue as to its heritage as a fully paid-up member of the brassica (cabbage) family. Both…

“Most seed companies now do seed mixtures of different lettuce varieties in one packet” It only takes one balmy spring day for a fresh lunchtime salad to suddenly become more appealing than a warming soup. And even in March, you should be able to pick some of the ingredients from the garden. Lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes might have been the salad staples 30 years ago, but gardeners now have dozens of plants to choose from. Vivid chicories, crisp and spicy oriental leaves, tiny currant tomatoes, multi-coloured roots, green onions... they can give you a vibrant mix of taste, texture and colour from just a few square yards of space. Such a choice never appears on the supermarket shelves, but this doesn’t mean the plants are difficult to grow – often…

It may seem strange to be writing an article about a fruit which is the epitome of the British summer at a time when the days are still short and cold – but a little bit of forward planning now will help ensure that by the time Wimbledon comes round, you too will be able to enjoy bumper crops of sweet strawberries. Strawberries have been cultivated throughout Europe for centuries. They were used in Roman times for their medicinal properties, and were particularly popular in France. Charles V of France reportedly had more than 1200 plants in the royal gardens in the mid 1300s. These were all wild strawberries – three native species had been identified by this time. The first modern strawberry arrived in the 1750s, as a result…

It’s around this time of year when I start to feel the creeping urge to check for spiders in my wellies, chuck off the winter woollies and get out into the garden again. Last autumn I put my vegetable plot to sleep, largely tucked up in black plastic, but now spring is peeping around the corner. Soon the longer, warmer days will be arriving and there is a delicious anticipation of the gardening season to come. In spring, when I uncover my plot it seems to come to life again. There is new growth and regeneration, and this is reflected in my mood. Mental health workers have long been aware that people feel better in the spring and summer months, clients who suffer with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) are well…

ALSO IN THE KG SHOP THIS MONTH OUTDOOR/INDOOR TOMATO COLLECTION BUY 2 PACKS AND SAVE £2! Our love affair with tomatoes has never been stronger, yet it is only recently that their health-enhancing properties are being fully understood and this collection will provide you with plenty of fruit. Our collection consists of five indeterminate (cordon) types, one plant each of: • ‘FAVOURITA F1’ (Mini Cherry) – Gives long trusses of sweetly flavoured, juicy little tomatoes. • ‘SAKURA F1’ (Cherry) – High yields on long trusses of superbly flavoured sweet fruits. • ‘SUNGOLD F1’ (Cherry) – A unique, sweet flavour. Some of our customers will grow no other! • ‘BIG DADDY’ (Beefsteak) – Impressive tomatoes weighing up to 250g each! Sweet and tangy flavour. • ‘FERLINE F1’…

YEAR ROUND VEG MARCH 9 OR 26. Perch Hill Farm, Brightling, Burwash, Kent. Concentrating on crops that are productive, long-season and tasty; day course with Sarah Raven. 10.30am-3.30pm. www.sarahraven.com RHS SHOW CARDIFF APRIL 13-15 Bute Park, Cardiff Castle. Celebrate the best of spring. 10am-5.30pm (4.30pm Sunday). www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events ORCHARD DESIGN MARCH 10. Brogdale Farm, Faversham, Kent. Site, rootstocks, layout, varieties, orchard tour. 10am-4pm. Book on 01795 536250 www.brogdalecollections.org HOW TO GROW CUT FLOWERS MARCH 13. RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, Yorkshire. Focusing on flowers best propagated in spring. 10am-4pm. Book on 020 317 65830 www.rhs.org.uk/harlow-carr For a full list of shows, festivals, events and courses this month please visit our website www.kitchengarden.co.uk  and choose the Diary Dates category. PLEASE NOTE We have made every effort to ensure these details…

10 MINUTE JOBS 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,…

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…

THE ORGANIC GARDENING CATALOGUE The Organic Gardening Catalogue brings you an exciting collection of seeds and supplies, all assured suitable for organic gardening and delivered direct to your home. www.organiccatalogue.com Tel 01932 253666 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. www.harrodhorticultural.com Tel 0845 402 5300 WOLF-GARTEN The WOLF-Garten gardening tool collection offers the total solution for soil and cultivation, lawn care, tree and shrub care and general garden maintenance. www.wolfgarten-tools.co.uk Tel 0845 894 1599 GREENHOUSE SENSATION This company sells a range of high-quality products that produce bumper harvests far greater than that from plants grown in pots or growing bags. The three prizes offered, Vitopod, Quadgrow and Duogrow, are just some of the…

Most gardeners want a greenhouse – it extends the season and provides extra warmth and shelter to tender plants. This far north, though, they have limitations. In winter the temperature inside is barely higher than that outside, and heating a greenhouse is hard to justify in these climate-aware times. There is a type of greenhouse that overcomes this problem, however, and although it is popular in North America, it is almost unheard of in the UK. This is the passive solar greenhouse, or just solar greenhouse. These structures combine glass walls with a high level of insulation, so that very little of the captured warmth escapes. This makes them amazingly effective in winter, and they can be used to grow veg year-round, even in Canada, where it is regularly -20C…

If you were, as I was, a country child in the 1970s who foraged for anything edible in the endless hours between dinner and teatime, you may remember pignuts. If not, you’re in for a new eating experience that’s British to the core – or in this case, the nut. The long, white, wiry stems can be traced down carefully with diligent scraping using an old knife, sometimes to a depth of over 30cm/1ft, to reveal a small, rounded, rough-skinned, brown lump, about the size of a hazelnut, creamy white within. Well-rubbed with the fingers to clean the mud off, (my adult self thinks they’re probably better washed) these are crisp, almost nut-sweet and delicious. The nearest comparison is a cross between a hazelnut and sweet chestnut. A NATIVE PLANT…

If you want to be really adventurous, here are six salad plants that you are unlikely to find on the supermarket shelves and are rarely seen in farmers’ markets. LEAF AMARANTH (CALALOO) A mild-flavoured summer leaf, valuable in salads for its colour – the deep red and red blotched varieties are particularly eye-catching. Sow seed direct or in modules in late spring and summer, and space plants closely for baby leaves or 15cm (6in) apart for larger plants from which you can keep harvesting young shoots. CHINESE VIOLET CRESS (FEBRUARY ORCHID) A useful cold-tolerant autumn and early spring salad leaf, and plants which are overwintered (usually given some protection) produce beautiful and edible lilac flowers in early spring. Sow early spring to late summer direct or in modules and space…

Pomona Fruits’ hand-graded strawberry plants are guaranteed to be free from pests and diseases and will produce fruit the first summer followed by bumper crops for the next two to three years. ‘CUPID’ (LATE) This outstanding new late summer variety performs well on a wide range of soils. It produces heavy crops of berries with a lovely sweet, aromatic flavour and is disease resistant. STR029 12 plants £13.15 inc p&p (usually £15.50) ‘FLAMENCO’ (PERPETUAL) This new perpetual fruiting strawberry combines exceptional fruit quality with heavy yields. Very sweet with an excellent flavour. Resistant to verticillium wilt and powdery mildew. STR001 12 plants £13.55 inc p&p (usually £15.95) ‘MALLING CENTENARY’ (MID) Bred in the UK by East Malling Research, this new variety was chosen to mark the 100th anniversary of the…

THERAPEUTIC GARDENING Trellis is a Scottish charity that supports physical, emotional and social wellbeing through therapeutic gardening initiatives. Currently, it supports a network of more than 300 projects throughout Scotland, sharing skills and best practice. The charity also supports research and development in therapeutic gardening and provides training workshops and an information service. A wide range of groups are involved in these projects, including people with dementia, those recovering from accident, illness or strokes, ex-offenders, asylum seekers and children with complex and additional needs. Adults with special educational needs and those with mental health problems form the largest groups who receive support. The site contains more than 20 helpful fact sheets with topics ranging from ‘What is Therapeutic Gardening’ to ‘Planning Year-Round Gardening Activities’. To find out more and how…

“You don’t have to be an expert at DIY or make something perfect enough to sell” Have you ever wanted to measure between three rows of peas with a metre between each row? Or have you considered just how deep a seed might fall down in a hole? There can be all sorts of little niggles when it comes to sowing seeds and planting things out. Maybe these lessen over time as you become adept at pacing out rows and eyeballing depths, but even the experienced gardener can enjoy the benefits of a little bit of help. It can be a real pleasure to make a few simple tools. You don’t have to be an expert at DIY or make something perfect enough to sell. The aim is to make…

8 INDOOR PEPPER & CHILLI PLANTS Whether you enjoy sweet peppers or hot chillies we have created a collection with some of the best varieties available. This delicious collection consists of eight plants, two of each variety: • ‘BASKET OF FIRE’ (chilli) – Perfect for growing in containers and hanging baskets producing a wealth of 5-7cm (2-3in) fruits which mature from cream through to red. They pack a powerful punch and can be used fresh or dried. – DTB 3 out of 4 chillies rating • ‘LONGHORN’ (chilli) – One of the outstanding chillies in our trial, ‘Longhorn’ is a cayenne type producing attractive, long, curled fruits with a sweet and pungent flavour. Early to fruit and reasonably compact, making it ideal for pots. – DTB 2 out of 4…

CELERIAC & MUSHROOM TART WITH RED ONION MARMALADE & GOAT'S CHEESE A delicious savoury and sweet tart, and it’s so easy to prepare, thanks to ready-rolled puff pastry. Serve as either an appetiser or main with a salad or roast veg. SERVES 6 AS A MAIN (OR 10 AS AN APPETISER) Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes 400g14ozceleriacunprepared weight) 1 red onion, chopped 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme, plus extra sprigs for garnish 400g/14oz chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced 1 x 375g sheet ready-rolled puff pastry 100g/3½ oz Cheddar cheese, grated 200ml/6¾fl oz crème fraîche 1 egg, beaten 100g/3½oz goat’s cheese Salt and pepper to taste 2-3 tbsp red onion marmalade or chutney 1.…

STEP BY STEP 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’…

PASTEURISED APPLE JUICE Answering your question about how to keep apple juice in the fridge for more than a couple of days (Mudketeers, December 2017 issue), it needs to be pasteurised. We pulp the apples using a hopper, which is very quick and easy, then press them. We get five gallons of juice, then we put it into sterilised bottles. These go into our urn, which we fill to the top of the necks of the bottles. Then we heat it up to 75C and keep it at this for 30 minutes with the bottle tops not fully tight. After the 30 minutes we remove the bottles, tighten the tops and lay them on their side so as to form a vacuum as they cool. We print our own labels…

SWEETCORN SMUT! I had a problem with my sweetcorn last year and I have spoken to others on the allotments that have had a similar problem. I’ve been growing sweetcorn for more than 20 years and never encountered this before. The kernels were deformed and looked as if they had exploded into a grey, mouldy mess. What was the problem and do you have any remedy for this year? Mick Benner, via email Emma Rawlings, deputy editor, Kitchen Garden magazine EMMA SAYS: Your sweetcorn was suffering from sweetcorn smut, quite a serious disease of this crop. The spores of the disease are carried in the air and it is particularly common in dry weather. The spores, once released, will fall to the soil where they can…

“The owners wanted a garden which would reference its 200-year history but which would be contemporary in feel” In 1803, Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon picked the optimum site for his new walled garden. Gordon Castle, midway between Inverness and Aberdeen, had recently been rebuilt as a magnificent baronial mansion, and its original walled garden, closer to the castle, was now too small. His chosen site had the vestiges of a village on it, but that was a mere inconvenience; ducal needs came first, and his tenants were already being moved to a new village half a mile to the south. The new garden took two years and a million bricks to build. At over eight acres, it was one of the biggest in the country, and once restored will…

Blight is more than just bothersome – it’s downright infuriating! We’ve all been there: you’ve patiently chitted your seed potatoes, dutifully planted them on a fine April morning, then nurtured them to full leafy splendour… only for the foliage to collapse, seemingly overnight. Potato blight has a long history of ravaging our favourite vegetable. In Ireland a series of crop failures caused by blight led to the Great Famine of the 1840s, when an estimated one million people died and a further million emigrated. Perhaps the reason behind its ruthless efficiency is the ease with which the spores of this fungal disease spread – carried on the wind from field to field. There’s no mistaking those tell-tale first signs of blight. Small dark spots or lesions appear on the leaves,…

“I live by this simple rule: food must stimulate the senses, looking and tasting fantastic” Just because you’ve made a choice to omit or decrease meat or fish from your diet doesn’t mean you necessarily have inactive taste buds! I feel vegetarians are often treated with contempt. For instance, as much as I love a mushroom risotto or a mozzarella, tomato and basil salad, I am always amused to see how many restaurants only offer these dishes as their vegetarian choice. As a chef, I’ve always ensured that there are enticing vegetarian dishes on my menus. Many of them appear in my book, with not a nut loaf in sight. It will appeal to vegetarians, carnivores and pescatarians alike. In fact, I hope you are inspired – whether you’re a…

There is no doubt that seed sown direct in the ground often results in stronger, sturdier plants that go on to crop well. However, if you only have a small plot where every plant counts, it can often make sense to start seeds in containers first. This gives them a better chance of survival and, where necessary, allows the use of a warm propagator to get them to germinate. “The area you choose should be a sunny spot with well dug and raked soil to create a really light, crumbly surface” THE NURSERY SEED BED This is special area of ground you devote to sowing specific crops. Once they are large enough you can lift them and plant somewhere else on the plot where they are to grow. Good examples…

NEMATODES MADE EASY With Neudorff’s new nematodes now available straight from the shelf without the need for refrigeration, this natural form of pest control has never been more accessible. Neudorff is offering three nematode products: LawnGrubFree, to target chafer grubs in lawns, VineWeevilFree and LeatherjacketFree. They come in the form of soluble sachets in which the nematodes are packaged, so no handling is necessary. These can be applied using a watering can or Neudorff’s new NemaSprayer. The only dedicated nematode sprayer available in the UK, this is pre-calibrated for the easy application of Neudorff nematode products. Simply fill it with water to the appropriate line, add the nematode sachet and shake until dissolved. Attach a garden hose (it is compatible with all major hose brand fittings) and start spraying. For…