Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Kitchen Garden

SEE THE VIDEO ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL Who doesn’t love the flavour of home-grown fresh fruit and veg – I know I certainly do, and this being one of the busiest months for harvesting, I am in my element! But there are only so many heads of sweetcorn, courgettes and tomatoes one can consume – even if you have them with every meal – so in this issue we bring you a special feature on harvesting and storage that will help make your rich pickings last well into the winter. We love to champion unusual or lesser grown fruit and veg and this month we take a look at soya beans, globe artichokes and cardoons. The first, while hardly new to our diet, is rarely grown in the UK for eating,…

HARVEST MANGETOUT With fast-growing crops it’s always a good idea to make several sowings through the summer to extend the cropping season. Sugar snap peas and mangetout that were sown back in late June or July should now be producing plenty of tender pods. To get them at their best you need to pick over the plants every few days and eat fresh or freeze any surplus. PICK AUBERGINES The fruits on aubergines growing in containers in a sunny spot should now be fully developed and ripening. The advantage of growing in pots is that you can move the plants around; to help the fruits ripen they need to be stood in a warm position such as against the base of a south- or west-facing wall. Harvest the fruits when…

Social Media TOP TIPS FOR NEWBIES Brighton & HoveF ood Partnership share their experience of starting an over grown allotme nt from scratch. http://bit. ly/2rRJ4Td TWITTER GARDENING WISDOM Garden Media Guild @GdnMediaGuild Little deeds are like little seeds , they grow to flowers or to weeds.” – Daniel “D Palmer FACEBOOK FAVES OH NO! IT’S A MARROW ALREADY! Lorraine Noble to Allotment growers uk Courgettes are those funny veg that are so easy to grow it’s embarrassing, and now by the time you walk to the end of the plot the ones in the front have grown into marrows. DOING A RUNNER Your strawberries will have been producing runners so now is a good time to take advantage of these to produce some new plants for next year. These runners –…

New Varieties on test Seed companies have embraced the fact that people with small gardens would like to grow veg too, by launching some new varieties which are attractive enough to grow in the border, yet tasty on the plate. One such is kale, a naturally attractive brassica, which also happens to be packed with vitamins and health-promoting goodness. We have been trying several interesting new kale varieties and the first, ‘Duo Mixed’, is a combination of two colourful ones, ‘Emerald Ice’ and ‘Midnight Sun’. ‘Emerald Ice’ develops its full colour, a combination of white leaves and frilly green leaf margins, as it matures. Younger plants such as the one in the picture have pale green leaves with pure white leaf veins which are said to be sweeter than other…

10 CHANCES TO WIN! Kitchen Garden has teamed up with Harrogate Flower Shows to offer readers 10 chances to win a pair of tickets to the Autumn Show on September 15-17. More than £350 worth of prizes are up for grabs! To be in with a chance of winning a pair of one-day tickets to the show, simply visit www.kitchengarden. co.uk and enter your details online before Thursday, August 31, 2017. Terms and conditions apply. Please see www.kitchengarden.co.uk for full terms and conditions. There are no cash alternatives available. The winners will be the first 10 names drawn at random. Enter at www.kitchengarden.co.uk/competitions For competition terms and conditions visit kitchengarden.co.uk. The competition closes on 31/08/17…

STEP 1 Remove any traces of previous crops and dig out all weeds, including the roots of perennial weeds such as bindweed. Fork the soil over. If you wish you can also add some compost. STEP 2 Prepare the soil for sowing by raking it to a fine tilth. Larger seeds such as field beans may be sown one by one into closely spaced rows, while smaller seeds can be scattered and raked in. STEP 3 Water if the soil is dry then leave the green manure to grow on and work its magic. Most manures remain small over winter then burst into growth as soon as the weather warms up in spring. STEP 4 Dig in the green manure at least two weeks before sowing or planting the next…

FROM SETS • ‘STURON’ – Very reliable, producing good-sized onions with a fine flavour. Doesn’t tend to bolt and the bulbs store well. • ‘CENTURION’ – A heavy cropper with slightly flattened bulbs and good flavour. Stores very well over winter. • ‘STUTTGARTER’ – An old variety, but still widely grown because it grows and stores well. • ‘RED BARON’ – A popular red onion with a mild flavour that will store well when fully ripe. Can bolt if planted when the soil is cold. This variety is also available from seed. • ‘ELECTRIC’ – A red onion for autumn planting with pink flesh that can be harvested in June. • ‘RADAR’ – A whitefleshed, autumn-planted onion with a mild flavour ready to pull in July. FROM SEED • ‘SANTERO…

1ST PRIZE VALUE £958 ★ £250 Harrod Horticultural products ★ £250 WOLF-Garten tools ★ £150 voucher for The Organic Gardening Catalogue plus The Chase 3-Step Organic Plant Nutrition Programme (1 litre each of SM3, SM4 and SM5). RRP £33.85. ★ £150-Greenhouse Sensation Vitopod propagator ★ £125 Dobies vouchers 2ND PRIZE VALUE £551 ★ £150 Harrod Horticultural products ★ £150 WOLF-Garten tools ★ £100 voucher for The Organic Gardening Catalogue plus The Chase 3-Step Organic Plant Nutrition Programme (1 litre each of SM3, SM4 and SM5). RRP £33.85. ★ £42.90-Greenhouse Sensation Quadgrow ★ £75 Dobies vouchers 3RD PRIZE VALUE £366 ★ £100 Harrod Horticultural products ★ £100 WOLF-Garten tools ★ £50 voucher for The Organic Gardening Catalogue plus The Chase 3-Step Organic Plant Nutrition Programme (1 litre each of SM3, SM4…

HOW TO ENTER We are looking for the UK’s most passionate fruit and veggie grower and now veg plots are starting to fill up with tasty crops 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. SEND US: • One 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 is pictured.) • 6 pictures of your plot (aim for one overall shot and then…

Grey mould (botrytis) can ruin a promising crop. Spores gain a purchase in crowded damp conditions and before you know it the grapes are spoiled. Good air circulation helps and a hot sunny summer will too. Remove any affected bunches as soon as you see them, to reduce the spread of spores. Try spraying with one part milk to nine parts water at weekly intervals and on sunny days. Powdery mildew can be avoided if you keep roots damp so the plant isn’t stressed by drought. Keep greenhouse doors and windows open to lower temperatures. Again, the milk spray can help. Earwigs, woodlice and slugs can climb to take up residence at the heart of a close-packed bunch. Thinning the grapes when small will help, and immersing picked bunches in…

WORTH OVER £1984 PUT FUN INTO FOOTWEAR The renowned US footwear brand Sloggers offers comfortable, colourful waterproof shoes and boots that are perfect for the garden – and they’re now available to buy in the UK. Made in California, the first Sloggers were produced in 1997, and they have been developed over the years to create the best comfort fit. They have medical-grade resin uppers and an ergonomic moulded insole for day-long comfort. Designed to ‘Wear All Weekend’, they are ideal for a long list of outdoor activities, from gardening to camping. Sloggers are available in a wide range of colours and patterns, from a plain black gloss for the classically styled through to a funky bright yellow chicken print. The fun, colourful prints have vivid colour fastness that stays…

WENDY PILLAR Wendy is an environmentalist and organic gardener with a wealth of experience at her fingertips. In this issue she explains how to grow mushrooms the simple way – and no manure in sight! GABY BARTAI Gaby has been on her travels for us again, this time visiting the beautiful region known as The Black Isle on Scotland’s east coast. Here she meets a grower with a passion for hardy herbs. DAVID PATCH Professional nurseryman David spends his working day growing fruit trees and bushes for one of the UK’s foremost nurseries. In his spare time he tends to his fruit trees in his Yorkshire garden. SUSIE KEARLEY Susie, our resident nutritionist, looks at the topical issue of air pollution and how certain foods, many of which can be…

• Pull out the old sweetcorn plants once you have picked the last of the cobs. The base of the plants can be fairly tough, so to help them rot down on the compost heap pass them through a shredder first. • Plant spring cabbages out into prepared ground and give the roots a good watering to help them establish. It’s also a good idea to cover them over with netting to keep hungry pigeons off. • Sow seeds of green manure on empty beds to allow them to germinate and grow before winter. These crops are ideal to prevent soil erosion and to retain nutrients in the soil over winter. • Bend the tops of onions if they haven’t already started to fall naturally to expose the bulbs to…

Charles Dowding, pioneer and long-time advocate of the no-dig gardening method, has teamed up with gardener, writer and chef Stephanie Hafferty to produce No Dig Organic Home&Garden, a comprehensive guide to growing, cooking and harvesting your crops. As you would expect, the book contains lots of practical information on the no-dig method, how to enrich and care for the soil, composting, mulching, sowing, planting, and protecting the crop from pests and diseases. There’s also plenty of specific guidance on growing individual crops, including herbs and edible flowers, plus harvesting, storing and seed saving. Particularly intriguing was the chapter entitled DIY Potions for Your Garden, Home & Body, a miscellany of weird and wonderful concoctions for you to make, including lemon and cucumber shampoo, tansy insect spray and calendula flower tea.…

GET IN TOUCH by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag THIS MONTH’S EXPERT PANEL: EMMA RAWLINGS Deputy editor, Kitchen Garden magazine MIKE THURLOW Advisor to the National Allotment Association DAVID PATCH Professional nurseryman, R V Roger Ltd ANNE SWITHINBANK Contributor to Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time STEVE OTT Editor, Kitchen Garden magazine STAR? QUESTION WINS £25 VOUCHER STRAWBERRY SURPRISE! One of my strawberry plants produced four of these strange-looking fruits. On close inspection I could see that each seed had started to grow leaves while still on the plant. Incidentally the insides tasted delicious. Christine Pratt, Cornwall DAVID SAYS: This is an example of phyllody – where what we think of as the seeds (which are actually the ovaries and are called achenes) start to germinate while still…

Head north out of Inverness, over the bridge across the Moray Firth, and you come to the Black Isle. You’re already 150 miles north of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and as you cross the firth, you are leaving the last of built-up Scotland behind you. The Black Isle is not in fact an island; it’s a low-lying peninsula of farmland and woodland, surrounded on three sides by water. On its northern coast is Poyntzfield, home of biodynamic herb grower Duncan Ross for the past 40 years. Duncan studied horticulture at a Fife college in the 1970s, and while the course itself was in conventional horticulture, the college library provided alternative reading in the form of literature and newsletters from HDRA (now Garden Organic).The organic movement was gaining momentum, and Duncan found…

SEE THE VIDEO ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL One of the most common vegetables, especially in the summer, has to be lettuce. In the supermarket we can buy an array of lettuce products, from fresh ‘cut-and-come-again’ tray lettuce to a cellophane wrapped iceberg, and many more in between. In our health conscious times we are steadily eating kilos more lettuce, year after year. We know lettuce has been around for a while, both the Egyptians and Romans were fans, but not always for the reasons you would think. The original lettuce, or wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) is more of an upright plant, rather than the typical ‘rosette’ shape we think of when we picture a lettuce today. Also known as ‘Opium Lettuce’, wild lettuce has long been used as a sleep…

Gardening is full of sayings about wha to do and at what time of year – star box hedge clipping on Derby Day, the Chelsea chop for herbaceous plants and shallots should be planted on the longest day and harvested on the shortest. One we use constantly here at the nursery is when to summer prune apple and pear trees – the answer is always ‘second Sunday in August’. Giving such a specific date invariably raises a smile and hopefully makes it easier to remember, but the middle of August is the perfect time to summer prune all apples and pears, whether growing as free-standing trees or in trained forms such as cordons, espaliers and fans. We’ll look a little bit at the history of summer pruning and the theories…

If you don’t wish to enter your whole plot why not enter just a container? Send us a picture of a pot or group of containers growing veg, fruit or herbs and you could win a special prize of a Hozelock Sensor Controller and Easy Drip Universal Kit. We will be looking for creative use of containers and planting material plus the quality of the produce. You can send us a picture of one pot of veg, fruit or herbs or several pots together planted up. As long as there is at least one fruit/veg or herb plant visible in the group of containers, flowers could also be included. Send us pictures of quirky containers planted up with fruit and veg too. BEST PATIO CONTAINER PRIZE Wins a Hozelock Sensor…

Fungi are tasty, nutritious and easy to grow year-round indoors. The more exotic ones are also expensive to buy and cheap to grow, so you really get value for the time and effort put into them. The kits you can buy are easy to use but expensive, so the mushrooms harvested can end up costing more than buying them in a shop. However, with a little basic equipment and know-how, it’s easy and cheap to grow them from scratch yourself. It’s necessary to understand a little about how fungi work to grow them successfully because they have different requirements from plants. They are nature’s great recyclers, and the only organisms able to break down the lignin in wood. If it wasn’t for fungi we would be up to our eyes…

Choose grapes that are bred to grow well in our climate. Some varieties are suited to wine making and these can grow well outdoors, especially if on a south-facing southern site. Others produce delicious dessert grapes and these do best if grown under cover. Choose a seedless dessert variety if you want to eat bunches of fresh-picked grapes. And make sure the variety really is seedless: I have known young vines to grow seeded grapes when the label stated otherwise. Make sure you grow a variety you like, even if this means changing an existing plant. Some grapes are super sweet and others are sour. If you know someone with a vine or two, then try the grapes and buy which you know you like. Otherwise, sample shop varieties and…

Make jellies, jams and wines or dry grapes slowly in a very low oven for a tasty treat. Grape juice is perhaps the simplest way to use a bumper crop. This freezes well and can be brought out to incorporate in other recipes when time allows. GRAPE JUICE Strip clean grapes from stems and put in a large pan. Use your hands or a masher to break them up. Slowly bring to the boil so the juices flow. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, mashing more if needed. Strain juice through muslin: start by lining a colander and pouring juice through this into a bowl, then tie the top and lift to drip for a few hours. This gives a cloudy liquid: strain again through clean muslin and…

BEAT THE SUGAR TAX WITH HOME-MADE SMOOTHIES FREE KALE & SPRING ONION SEEDS WORTH £3.50! MAKE A SIMPLE SUPPORT FRAME FOR YOUR CANE FRUIT NEXT ISSUE ONSALE AUGUST31 GROW PUMPKINS GREAT AND SMALL, PLUS RECIPE IDEAS BEAT THE WINTER CHILL: BUILD YOUR OWN CROP COVERS GREAT PRODUCTS TO HELP YOU WITH THE BIG AUTUMN TIDY-UP PLUS SEEDS – WHY GO ORGANIC? DISCOVER EXOTIC ACHOCHA LATE SEASON MONEY-SAVERS FREE FOR EVERY READER* AUTUMN PLANTING ONIONAND GARLIC COLLECTION (* just pay £5.95 p&p) WORTH £12.85 Scan this, and we’ll tell you!…

PRESS TO IMPRESS The Vigo Presses 12-litre Stainless Steel Spindle Press is the only apple press of its kind on the market. Based on the classic spindle design, it uses high-quality stainless steel for the base plate, legs and hoops and sustainable beech for the pressing cage. This attractive press can make up to 10 litres of juice per hour and is simple to use. It can also be used to press other soft-seeded fruit like grapes, pears, raspberries and strawberries. The 12-litre Stainless Steel Spindle Press (stock code 91323) normally costs £175, but KG readers can claim a 10% discount by quoting code ‘KG2017SSP’ at the checkout at www.vigopresses.co.uk Offer valid until September 30, 2017. SAVE 10% COVER MADE EASY Haxnicks’ award-winning Easy Tunnels are the original and best-selling…

Make this scratch MUSHROOM & GOAT’S CHEESE RISOTTO I hadn’t really discovered the joys of growing your own mushrooms until I was gifted a mushroom growing kit. Make your own mushroom risotto from scratch with this recipe! (See p61, too!) SERVES 4 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes ■ 1 tbsp olive oil ■ 50g/2oz butter ■ 200g/7oz mushrooms of your choice, halved or quartered, if large ■ 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary ■ 2 garlic cloves, crushed ■ 1 glass of dry white wine ■ 1 onion, chopped ■ 300g/10oz risotto rice ■ 50g/2oz parsley, chopped ■ 125g/4½oz goat’s cheese ■ 250ml/8fl oz hot vegetable stock 1. Melt the butter and a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the…

10 MINUTE JOBS REMOVE OLD CROPS Pull out old calabrese plants that have finished cropping or when they run to seed and chop them up and add to the compost heap. The ground can then be forked over, fed with a general fertiliser and firmed down ready for planting spring cabbages. HARVEST GARLIC If you haven’t lifted your spring-planted garlic, now is the time to gently ease the bulbs out of the soil with a fork. Although the bulbs might not be as large as autumn-planted specimens, they have a great flavour and can be dried and stored for winter use. REMOVE CHARD FLOWERS As we go into autumn some biennial crops such as chard can prematurely produce flower heads, especially if the weather has been dry and warm. To…

LATE BLIGHT This is a fungal disease of potatoes and outdoor tomatoes; leaves turn brown and the problem spreads to all parts of the crop. Check if blight is about by registering with www.blightwatch.co.uk. Cover crops during what is known as a Hutton period. SLUGS ON POTATOES Don’t leave your potatoes too long in the ground once they are ready – the longer they linger the more they are prone to slug damage. Lift and store as soon as you can. APPLE SCAB This is another airborne fungal disease causing brown scabs on apples and pears, and green-grey spots on the leaves. As it overwinters on fallen leaves make sure you clear these and burn them. Infected shoots also need to be pruned out.…

• ‘WINTER DENSITY’ (1909) – A dwarf, compact lettuce with crisp, succulent, dark green hearts. Very popular for autumn sowing; can also be sown outdoors in spring and early summer. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Available from www.suttons.co.uk • ‘BLONDE DE PARIS’ (the original iceberg) (1750) – ‘There is no handsomer or more solid lettuce in cultivation, it is strikingly beautiful’ – Burpee catalogue 1894. Available from www.thomasetty.co.uk • ‘FAT LAZY BLONDE’ (1856) – A great old French butterhead style lettuce with a peculiar name. Nothing to do with a person, the name is actually describing the traits of the plant. This variety forms ‘fat’ 18-25cm (7-10in) heads which are slow (lazy) to bolt in warm weather. The inner leaves are light green (blonde) in colour and delicious. Has…

This time of year is one of flux for the kitchen gardener, as summer advances and gaps begin to appear where crops once stood. It’s hard to admit it, but the best of the growing season is past us and… whisper it… the cooler months of autumn and winter aren’t far off. But this article isn’t about writing off the summer and resigning yourself to the cold to come, far from it! It’s about hope and sowing the seeds of success – quite literally – for next year. And green manures are how you’re going to do it! WHY GROW ONE? Green manures are any plants grown for the sole purpose of improving the soil to benefit future crops. Some are very short lived – mustards, for example, may be…

Igrow onions purely for the kitchen, not the show bench. However, some of my first experiences of growing onions were with my uncle on his allotment and he always grew ‘Kelsae’ onions for showing. The seed was always sown on Boxing Day – the things people do to get out f washing up! Following in Uncle Arthur’s ootsteps, as a young man I did a little veg xhibiting at village shows and although I say it myself, I always did all right with onions! We eat a lot of onions and I always grow a few different types in the garden each year to get a variety of flavours. Some are mild and others are strong! I grow from seed and sets, and as well as bulb onions I also…

ARE YOU A PASSIONATE PLOTTER? Enter our competition and win some great prizes YOU COULD WIN The WOLF-Garten multi-change® 12cm swoe style hoe features a three-way blade enabling both push and pull action and weeding around and behind plants in tight situations. An ideal weeder when used below soil level cutting through weeds at the root level and easily attaches to all multi-change® handles including the lightweight ZM170W. First place winner will receive a Harrod Metal Raised Bed in Heritage Green or Anthracite Grey (pictured below left). The second place winner will receive two Tall Circular Rust Plant Supports. The third prize winner will receive a Harrod Lichen Green finish Lobster Pot Plant Support (pictured left). This traditional style grow-through plant support is ideal for supporting all types of large…

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. The WOLF-Garten philosophy is to provide gardening tools and machinery of premium quality and performance. Its garden tool range includes the multi-change® system which is lightweight and comfortable to use, so whatever the job you are tackling in the garden, WOLF-Garten can provide the right tool for the job. www.wolfgarten-tools. co.uk tel 01869 363674. THE ORGANIC GARDENINGCATALOGUE Only good things for your garden…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. Choose from an extensive range of more than 500 organic seed varieties, seed potatoes, onion sets and garlic, as…

Aherb bed in the vegetable garden is always handy and can look very attractive for much of the year. But if, like mine, your veg plot is not close to the house it can be a bit of a trek when you want a sprig or a few herb leaves to add to a recipe. To overcome this problem, I now tend to grow most of our herbs in pots on a gravel area by the back door so that when we want some fresh herbs, we only have to pop out of the back door to pick them. Some of the pots are large and they stand on the gravel all year round, but we also grow some in smaller terracotta pots that are changed on a regular basis…

1. Choose varieties with care: the vine will be with you for years and each year shouldn’t be a reminder that you didn’t really want tiny grapes that are more pip than flesh. 2. Choose a sunny site. A south-facing wall can work well for outdoor varieties, but a greenhouse or large conservatory is best for reliable summer heat. 3. Feed the vine and water a lot more than you think you should. 4. Think where you want the vine to go and prune hard to keep it on track. If things get out of control, take a long hard look and chop all unwanted side-shoots back. Pruning is important throughout the growing season, but vines are robust and will bounce back even if you prune hard. 5. Provide good…

PASTA FROM THE SEA Sea Pasta tagliatelle consists of 100% wild organic seaweed, handpicked from Connemara, Ireland and Brittany, France.Each pack contains 100g,sufficient for four servings. PRICE: £5.99 www.planetorgan ic.com GREATGARDEN BUYS TOOLS FOR BUDDING GARDENERS kent & Stowe has released a new range of children’s garden tools suitable for youngsters aged four and above. All tools have rounded edges for safety and are made from stainless steel with ash wood handles. The range consists of five tools – a digging spade, digging fork, hand trowel and fork and a garden rake. PRICES FROM: £4.99 RRP www.kentandstowe.com w NO MESSING! Ecofective Cat and Dog Repellent is garlic free, harmless to pets and will discourage them from making a mess in unwanted places. Available as a ready-to-use spray or as gel…

FREE FOR EVERY READER RASPBERRY ‘RUBY BEAUTY’ worth £15.95 This unusual, compact raspberry has been bred specifically for container and patio growing. ‘Ruby Beauty’ is a thornless variety with a compact and bushy habit producing up to 1.5kg (over 3lb) of fruit from just one plant! Easy to net and no need to support, planting in autumn will allow it to establish over winter to give you a bumper crop on new season growth the following summer, from July. WORTH £15.95 SAVE £29.95 ALSO IN THE KG SHOP THIS MONTH SAVE £14.95 LONG CROPPING BLUEBERRY COLLECTION This blueberry collection is ideal for growing in containers using ericaceous (lime-free) compost. Our all-season collection contains: ‘Draper’– This variety is extremely resistant to disease and bushes are highly productive, producing firm berries that…