Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i Kitchen Garden

With the harvest gathered it’s a great time to catch up on some out-of-season jobs and to prepare for the year ahead. Of course, no one would have chosen the strange and difficult year we’ve had, but lockdown has at least given us time to tend to our crops in a way we could usually only dream of. The confinement and concerns regarding food security also encouraged lots of newcomers to take the plunge and interest in growing your own has blossomed once again. So this issue is packed with great features which we hope will inspire experienced plotters and give confidence to beginners. Looking ahead to next year, we have growing guides for globe and Jerusalem artichokes as well as cucumbers and squashes of all kinds, rhubarb, dwarf French…

GARDENING BOOST TO MENTAL HEALTH According to a survey of their social media audience. Greenhouses Direct (www.greenhousesdirect.co.uk) found that during lockdown 48% of people were spending more than five hours per week in their gardens, with 30% of people treating gardening as a distraction from difficult times. Importantly, 70% of people said that their mental health improved as a result of spending time in their garden. A new National Garden Scheme (NGS) report also highlighted the importance of gardens and outdoor spaces during lockdown to physical and mental health. Viewers of the NGS’s unique Virtual Garden Visits that aired throughout lockdown, and an online survey conducted in August, revealed that gardens and outdoor spaces were ‘extremely important’ and that a key benefit was ‘it helped to relieve stress’. A total…

Send us your tips and pictures and if your lett er is published you will get a £10 Dobies voucher. If you are lucky enough to have yours chosen as our Star Letter you will get a £25 voucher. Your voucher will be sent out with a Dobies catalogue and you can choose to spend your winnings on a fabulous range of seeds, young plants and gardening sundries. You can get hold of a copy of the catalogue now by phoning 0844 701 7625 or go online to www.dobies.co.uk You can reach us by letter, email or via our Facebook page: FACEBOOK.COM/KITCHENGARDENMAG Email your letters to tflanagan@mortons.co.uk or post to Letters, Kitchen Garden, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lines LN9 6JR…

Your guide to common pests, diseases and other problems affecting your crops, with Guy Barter, chief horticultural adviser for the RHS Not an uncommon pest in the greenhouse, the glasshouse whitefly is one to look out for if you’re growing under cover WHAT IS IT? Adult glasshouse whitefly, almost all female, are tiny (2mm) white delta shaped moth-like insects whose wings are covered with a white, waxy material. Eggs are laid without the need for fertilisation, and the resultant sap-sucking nymphs, flat and oval in shape, thrive underneath leaves of a very wide range of plants, including aubergines, cucumbers, melons and peppers. Being a tropical insect, it only affects indoor plants. WHAT YOU CAN DO Greenhouse whitefly life cycle takes just three weeks in hot weather, quickly leading to uncontrollable…

KG YOUTUBE CHANNEL WINTER CARE OF SOIL Steve is talking about what you can do to care for your soil over winter. Late autumn/early winter is a good time to give back to the soil what has been taken out during the growing season . Manure and home-made compost are good options for adding nutrients and humus to the soil. This can be dug in or if you follow a no-dig technique then you can spread over the top of the soil and let the worms do their work. Otherwise, you can buy compost in. Lakeland Gold, for example, is made of bracken – completely peat-free, quite fibrous, and will break down nicely, leaving channels for water and air to get in. The worms will love it, too! Visit: www.youtube.com/kitchengardenmagazine…

Fruit and veg gardeners are often nature lovers too and we live alongside our feathered friends well. There are one or two exceptions that cause the veggie gardener some pain but generally we can protect our crops against these marauders. On the whole, the positives of having birds on the plot far outweigh the negatives. Many of the bird visitors to the veg plot will help keep pest numbers down so, on balance, encouraging birds is a great thing to do and will benefit us and them. BIRDS YOU MAY SEE While most birds we see in our gardens and allotments are to be welcomed, we have to be or our guard for a few of them. ROBIN The robin is the gardeners buddy. Once you start turning the soil…

How long have you been growing your own fruit and veg? Did someone inspire you to start? It feels like I was born into home-grown vegetables and fruit! My parents were both passionate about it and half the garden was taken up with growing spaces. I remember as a child freezing trays and trays of raspberries and blackcurrants and always eating homegrown veg with every dinner. Both my grandparents were also keen gardeners so there must be green fingers in my genes! My parents definitely inspired me and I now understand the satisfaction they got from all that hard work. When my husband and I bought our first house in 2007 we immediately put raised beds in the back garden and I caught the gardening bug myself! When did you…

This month we feature two crops which share a name but in fact are the chalk and cheese of the allotment – globe and Jerusalem artichokes. KG editor Steve Ott takes a closer look at these often neglected perennial veggies There are the familiar crops that nearly everyone in the UK grows on their plot, such as carrots, peas and potatoes, and then there are those that sit on the sidelines, perhaps because they are more of an acquired taste, or simply because they are less familiar to gardener and cook. Globe and Jerusalem artichokes are two of those crops, yet they both have lots going for them, not only as tasty edibles, but as pretty ornamentals for the flower border, or in the case of the latter, even as…

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) originate from Sicily, Italy where they grew wild. In 1699 the sweet aroma and simple but beautiful blooms made a big impression on a Sicilian monk, who sent seeds to many different plant collectors and botanical institutes around the world. Because Francisco Cupani sent out those seeds we have had centuries of growing and breeding to make the sweet peas we love so much today . Just imagine if the monk from Sicily had never sent those seeds , would we have the sweet pea many growers cherish so dearly? His favourite variety was ‘Cupani’s Original’ which is still grown today with profuse, powerfully scented pink and burgundy flowers on a bushy plant stretching up to 1.5-1.8m (5-6ft). The sweet pea burst into mainstream cultivation in…

There are few crops that you can grow which take such little effort to succeed as rhubarb. A good clump can keep you in tasty sticks for years. That said, if you are a connoisseur of rhubarb and dream of long, thin pink-red forced stems of sublime sweetness then that takes a bit more work. Rhubarb is classed as a fruit when it comes to eating it but biologically it is, of course, a vegetable. HOW TO GROW This is a plant that originated from Asia and so it prefers a cold, damp climate but does not like waterlogged soil. It needs at least seven to nine weeks (depending on variety) below three degrees and this is just about manageable in UK winters, although the warmer winters of recent times…

I don’t know about you but it feels crazy to think that I’m already talking about Christmas – this weird year has gone way too fast. But I’m going to embrace it especially as I do love the festive period; seeing family, cosy blankets, the log fire burning, yummy treats and mulled wine. I will never forget one very early, foggy morning on my old allotment plot during the festive break a few years ago when we had a bonfire. The combination of the slightly frosted plants and chilly air with the warming fire and crackling sounds made it idyllic. A memory I will never forget! While allotments seem most alive during spring and summer, there really is something special about the quieter times, the resting and planning. Every year…

MULTI-TALENTED TOOLS Fiskars is aiming to take the stress out of winter gardening by giving away a gardener’s perfect present to two lucky KG readers – just in time for Christmas! We have two state-of-the-art tool packages worth more than £200 each to be won, consisting of a QuikFit Tree Cutter (RRP £49.99) combined with a Telescopic Shaft (£49.99), a PowerGear X Bypass Lopper (M) (£69.99) and an Xact Weed Puller (£39.99). The tools in the innovative QuikFit range allow you to tackle more work with fewer tools thanks to the interchangeable selection of heads and various-sized handles. You can change the head of the tool with just one click, so it’s ready in seconds and you can get on with the job. The QuikFit Tree Cutter is especially designed…

ROAST CHICKEN THIGHS WITH REDCURRANTS & MANDARINS This is a beautiful centrepiece for the winter table. And with bitter-sweet redcurrants and mandarins it is bursting with Christmas flavours. SERVES 4 Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes ■ 100ml/3½fl oz ruby port ■ 4 tbsp olive oil ■ 3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice ■ 2 tbsp grain mustard ■ 1½ tbsp light brown sugar ■ 1 tbsp rosemary, plus extra to garnish ■ 2 tsp fennel seeds, slightly crushed ■ 6 shallots, peeled ■ 8-10 small potatoes, cut in half ■ 3 garlic cloves ■ 8 chicken thighs with the skin and on the bone ■ 4 mandarins/clementines unpeeled, cut horizontally into slices ■ 400g/14oz redcurrants, plus a few sprigs to garnish ■ Salt and black pepper 1.…

10 MINUTE JOBS KEEP USING LEEKS Winter varieties of leek are pretty hardy but they can turn to mush if buried under snow or exposed to sub-zero temperatures for several days. Lift and use them as needed so you don’t waste any. WEED GARLIC ROWS Garlic shoots are on hold in cold soil as they wait for temperatures above SC (41 F) to activate growth. Clear weeds from the bed so they don ‘t grow too when temperatures allow. This makes it easier to feed the small garlic plants next month . COVER CAULIFLOWERS Curds soon turn brown in cold wet weather. Cover the head over with a leaf or two, or use a bit of cardboard to make sure the head is protected and stays white. Cauliflowers don’t stand…

◼ From now until spring, water sparingly to keep plants growing but avoid overwatering and creating wet, soggy conditions.◼ Check over leafy brassica crops for whitefly and use yellow sticky traps or an organic plant-based spray to try and control numbers.◼ Keep on top of collecting vine leaves as they fall, especially if they are covering plants beneath.◼ Push a hoe through borders around growing veg to chop off any late-germinating weed seedlings.◼ Check plants growing in the polytunnel regularly and as soon as you spot any damaged or yellow leaves pick them off and add to the compost heap.…

“Have you viewed, us on YouTube yet?” CHRISTMAS CRACKERS This month the Muddies have had the Yuletide season very much in mind. All Steve wants for Christmas is an apple tree. To be precise a late cooking apple called ‘Howgate Wonder’. Says Steve: “only have dessert apples at the moment and have to rely on windfalls from my neighbour’s ‘Bramley’ apple, which do make some lovely apple pies, but I would like something for later in the season in December and January.” Emma has been thinking what she can give to friends and family: “I have a couple of pots of cottager’s kale seedlings. This plant has an interesting history as it was created by crossing a kale with a Brussels sprout but then it was recrossed with purple sprouting…

WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY SWEETCORN? Gabi Butler, West Sussex Guy Barter, chief horticulturist, RHS GUY SAYS: This is sweetcorn smut. The fungal bodies are edible and considered a delicacy in Mexico, so they say. This fungal disease is generally sporadic and if you destroy affected plants and practise crop rotation it should not cause severe losses in future. There are no fungicide treatments. There are many smut diseases which mainly affect grasses including cereals so are a major problem for farmers. They are highly host-specific, in this case to maize, of which sweetcorn is one variant, so this smut won’t attack other garden plants. I doubt other cobs will be affected. WHY IS THIS WASP EATING MY BEANS? Carole Ward, Devon EMMA SAYS: It is a little unusual. At the…

Tongue-tingling salsas are typically served as an ideal counterpoint to crisp and crunchy nachos, yet they have the potential to liven up just about anything: fish, beans, egg dishes and, of course, Mexican favourites like tacos and enchiladas. Originally prepared by the Mayan peoples of Mexico and Central America, salsa has spread far and wide to conquer the hearts, minds and taste buds of food lovers across the globe. Some foods are definitely worth making a fuss over, and a refreshing salsa is one of them. Grow the ingredients in your garden or allotment and the power is in your green fingers to prioritise flavour above all else. Then when you come to use that produce to make a home-made salsa you can expect something truly sensational. Forget mean-sized supermarket…

There’s nothing more exciting than getting a new allotment, garden or veg plot! With all the excitement of what you want to grow and build, plus all the ideas of how you’ll spend your time in your new-found growing space, it’s possible to get carried away and create problems in the long run by rushing into things. My main bit of advice when getting a new plot is to think and plan what you want before you start buying or building! I moved house a couple of years ago because we wanted a large garden to grow fruit and veg in. Due to vandals trashing my shed several times and allotment neighbours stealing my harvests, it had got to a point where I needed a safe space where I could…

I bet you have a treasured fork, spade, gardening knife or pair of secateurs. One that means that bit more to you and you always reach for – even among a shedload of better-looking others. Maybe it’s just a bit more comfortable or balanced, feels right in the hands or seems to make your back ache a bit less. Or perhaps it has sentimental value – so many garden tools are passed down through the generations and even if they no longer quite perform as they did when new, you could never part with them. Good tools like this are well worth giving a little care and attention and may well go on to last you a lifetime. THE BASICS Before exploring ways of keeping your garden tools in tip-top…

Now nature is enjoying its seasonal winter rest, there is more time to explore the delicious flavours growing on the allotment. I adore winter vegetables: parsnips, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, kale, leeks, beetroot, carrots and more inspired seasonal meals filled with warmth and colour. Rosemary, sage and thyme from the garden, along with parsley, chervil and coriander growing under cover, help to create depths of flavour and add extra vitamins and minerals. Home preserved and stored vegetables including squash, onions and garlic which adorn kitchen shelves and even the tops of my book cases expand the December culinary repertoire in my kitchen. December is often thought of as a sparse month at the allotment, but it is really extraordinary how much variety there is on the plot during winter, which enables…

GLOBE ARTICHOKES ■ ‘IMPERIAL STAR’: Large green flower buds of good flavour (T&M) ■ ‘GREEN GLOBE’: Good-sized green heads from July to October (D T Brown, Kings Seeds) ■ ‘PURPLE GLOBE – ROMANESCO’: Attractive red/purple buds. A little smaller than ‘Green Globe’, but with good flavour. (Kings Seeds) JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES ■ ‘FUSEAU’: A popular variety and the only one which is widely available, although a few others do crop up in the catalogues. The smooth skin makes it easier to peel than some. (Victoriana Nursery, Suttons Seeds, D T Brown)…

■ ‘GLASKIN’S PERPETUAL’ A good variety if you want to keep harvesting later in the summer. This is often when the stems get a bit woodier and often higher in oxalic add, making them more bitter. This variety seems to keep these oxalate levels low even later in the season. ■ ‘TIMPERLEY EARLY’ This RHS AGM variety is regarded as one of the earliest maturing and ideal for forcing to provide sticks as early as February. It can be grown naturally as well of course. ■ ‘CHAMPAGNE’ A good variety for forcing to get early pink-red stalks. If left unforced it will form darker red stalks and these are still delicious at this stage. ■ ‘RASPBERRY RED’ Deep red stalks with a lovely sweet flavour. It can be harvested early…

FREE* WITH EVERY ORDER AUTUMN SOWING SEED COLLECTION (I0 PACKETS] Autumn is a key season for sowing a whole host of seed varieties. It’s the perfect time for preparing your plot in readiness for the following spring. The soil is still warm enough for early sowings of broad beans and peas while leafy crops such as pak choi, lettuce and herbs can be overwintered in a cool greenhouse. This bumper 10-packet collection of seeds to sow now includes one packet each of: broad beans ‘Super Aquadulce’ and ‘The Sutton’, pea ‘Douce Provence’, pak choi ‘Blizzard’, lettuces ‘Vailan’ (winter gem) and ‘Winter Density’, cress, basil ‘Mixed’, coriander and oregano and is worth £21.88 *Just pay £4.95 p&p PLUS FREE TRIAL SEED, FREE SEED LABELS & SAVE AN EXTRA 20% ON ALL…

◼ MAKE LIQUID FEED Put a couple of shovels of manure into a bin and fill with water. Cover the top and stir often until you get a deep brown liquid. Add some seaweed and used teabags into the brew and you will have a great feed ready to use next month. ◼ CHECK STRUCTURES AND SUPPORTS Check around the garden before and after any strong wind. Keep an eye out for anything that is loose or flapping. You may need to knock stakes deeper into the ground or weight down a cold frame lid or cloche cover. ◼ LOOK BACK THROUGH YOUR GARDEN DIARY This is a good time to read back through your diary of the garden year. Make a note of what did well and what you…

◼ From now on we are likely to start getting heavier frosts, so if you haven’t already done it, make sure that outside taps and water pipes are properly insulated to protect them . In periods of severe frost, ideally turn the supply off at the mains. ◼ Although it will still freeze in a cold greenhouse or polytunnel, the structure still offers some protection to plants, especially from wet conditions . Use any spare room to bring in containers of borderline-hardy plants or potted herbs that will benefit from drier conditions . ◼ If you are considering heating a greenhouse to maintain frost-free conditions , think about partitioning a small area off with bubble polythene to keep running costs down. ◼ To maintain a fresh, dry atmosphere in a…

ONION SEED SUCCESS Earlier this year I received some free ‘Ailsa Craig’ onion seeds, courtesy of Kings Seeds in your excellent magazine. I have never grown onions from seeds before, only using sets, but thought I would give it a try what with lockdown and being marooned in the garden due to shielding. I started the seeds off in a seed tray in the greenhouse, carefully nurturing them as they sprouted and grew to a pencil size. I transplanted 110 onions to the veg patch which was a good return from 150 seeds, I thought. I watered them through the hot April and May and fed them with my own seaweed feed from seaweed I collected from my local beach. At the end of August I harvested them and dried…

Hi! I’m Belle and I’m now here every month to share lots of fun activities for you to do at home, on your own or with your family It’s time for some festive fun and of course I want to get vegetables involved, so it’s time to make your own festive platters for you and your family to chomp on while celebrating. All you need co make your festive displays is: ◼ Vegetables – your choice ◼ Chopping board ◼ Tray or plate ◼ Knife – ask an adult for permission first STEP 1: Start by getting some inspiration for your designs – have a look at some of my example designs which I had a lot of fun making. STEP 2: Think about what vegetables you have at…

Our Star Question winner will receive vouchers worth £25; the writers of all other questions printed will receive a £10 voucher. They 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, including seeds and garden equipment. To receive a free catalogue, call 08453 710518 or visit www.mr-fothergills.co.uk Email questions to tflanagan@mortons.co.uk or post to Question Time, Kitchen Garden, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR. Please include your full address on letters and emails. We do not publish full addresses.…

This plant family is vast with 95 genera (genus) and within these are 965 species. This family includes a fascinating mix of plants, many of which are annual vines – but the family is so diverse there are woody plants in the mix too. As far as veggie growers are concerned there really is only a tiny number that are important and so as much as the botany is interesting it is only necessary to get a rough understanding of how they are related. Cucurbits produce fruits but we tend to use them more as vegetables, with the exception of the melon. Some are also known as gourds in the strict classification of the family but we tend to generalise and often call the inedible ones gourds and the edible…

To check where buildings or trees will shade is pretty easy as long as you have a long bamboo cane and a tennis ball! Make sure the cane is as tall as the shed/tree you want to put in a certain place, then cut a hole in the ball and slide it on the top of the cane. Next, put the cane in the ground where you want the shed/tree and you will see it causes a shadow with the ball on the top; this lets you see what parts of the plot the potential shadow will cover. Do this early in the morning and every one to two hours go and put a brick or other type of marker on top of where the ball’s shadow is. By the…

Beans are a plot essential and dwarf French beans are one crop I try to make several sowings of during the season. When the lockdown came in March this year however, I found myself running out of seeds. Luckily my local garden centre was quick to set up an online shop and I was able to order various crops that were missing from my seed box including a packet of ‘Hilton dwarf French beans, a variety I hadn’t grown before. ‘Hilton (Johnsons Seeds) is described as a straight and stringless bean with dark green pods up to 15cm (6in) long, borne on compact plants. They sounded like just the thing to follow on from my previous crop of ‘Red Swan’ sown earlier in the season. SOWING My seeds were sown…

■ 200g/7oz grated parsnip ■ 200g/7oz grated celeriac (or carrot, apple, yellow beetroot) ■ Juice and zest of 1 lemon (or lime) ■ 12 tbsp olive oil ■ 2 tbsp cider vinegar ■ 1 tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard ■ Freshly chopped seasonal herbs 1. Place the grated vegetables in a bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the vegetables. Add 2 tbsp of chopped herbs and stir to mix. 2. Sprinkle some more herbs on the top. 3. For added crunch, add some roasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or peanuts to the mix.…

Sweet peas are a main part of my garden. As I write this I can just imagine walking through my archway at the allotment and getting the smell of heaven. For me sweet peas have become a real statement piece that I couldn’t be without and they’re so easy to grow. Perfect for an abundance of cut flowers, fragrant sweet peas come in a wide range of exquisite colours that make anyone passing by stop for a look and, of course, a cheeky sniff. You can grow them in pots or in the ground, training them up an arch, frame or bamboos for a beautiful display that won’t disappoint. Plant sweet peas near a seating area so you can smell them as you sit and relax in the garden, taking…

Oh dear. No doubt you saw the title was about pruning and your heart sank just a little. Yet another article with neat pictures of trees saying cut ‘here, here and here’, with the only problem being that your tree looks nothing like the pictures. And I mean, why bother? You’ve almost certainly driven past a crab apple tree on a motorway slip road and noticed how it was laden with fruit, despite years of neglect. Or huge overgrown trees in an old orchard that haven’t seen a pruning saw in years but which still produce crops year after year. Despite your misgivings, however, annual pruning is actually one of the most important jobs for the home orchardist, and for several reasons: ■ It helps form a sturdy tree. Formative…

BUILD HOPE FOR SPRING Among a host of lovely ideas for greener Christmas gifting from the National Trust, the Build Your Own Nest Box Kit is a perfect present for this lockdown winter, combining an inspiring project for dark winter nights with the prospect of new life in spring. In the children’s range, there’s the Make Your Own Insect House kit. You’ll also find gifts for the garden, the kitchen, clothing, jewellery and more, all inspired by the natural world. Prices: Nest Box Kit – £14; Insect House – £12 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/shop Tel: 0300 123 2025 PEAT-FREE POTTING For Peat’s Sake is a new alternative to peat developed by environmental geography student George Davies. Made from 100% coconut coir, it is supplied as a dehydrated block; once water is added, the…