Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Kitchen Garden

March is the month when many of us dare to think about starting to sow seeds outside in the open garden, but if you live in northerly parts, then you can at least start to sow in the greenhouse or on a warm windowsill to get an early start. In this issue hands-on gardener Joyce Russell offers her tips for success with seed sowing, whether in the ground or inside in a heated propagator. Gardening expert Martin Fish reveals his favourite potato varieties in time for buying and chitting those tubers and Sheffield-based Rob Smith takes you through the month on his beautiful veg plot. It is prime time for planting new asparagus beds and KG deputy editor Emma Rawlings offers her advice on starting and caring for this delicious…

OUR SERIES FOR YOUNG GROWERS Get ready to start sowing your favourite seeds by making plant pots! With just a little bit of folding, we can make pots out of a variety of waste materials. YOU WILL NEED ■ Newspaper ■ Toilet roll or kitchen roll liner ■ Scissors ■ Rolling pin or jar WHAT TO DO Toilet or kitchen roll liner: 1. Lay the tube down on a surface, press down to flatten it. 2. Squeeze the two created folds together to flatten it again. 3. Open it up and you should now have a square instead of a cylinder. 4. At one end of the tube, cut 1cm slits into the folds of each corner to create four tabs, one on each side. Ask an adult to help…

Get in touch by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag LEEK RUST I have found the last two seasons my leeks have been badly affected with rust, even after choosing varieties that are supposed to be tolerant. I think the problem started when I grew garlic. The leeks are still edible but not very good in size. Jessica Umpleby, North Yorkshire TONY SAYS: Unfortunately, leek rust is very common on leeks and garlic and impossible to prevent completely. It is rarely fatal to the plants and is usually confined to the surface of the outer leaves, but as you have found serious attacks can reduce vigour and affect the quality of the crop. Apart from selecting resistant varieties you can avoid giving the plants too much nitrogen, both…

Potatoes have been cultivated for thousands of years in South America, but it wasn’t until the late 1500s they had found their way to the British Isles via Sir Walter Raleigh. By the late 1700s potatoes were widely grown as a staple food and are now the fourth largest food crop grown in the world. Although potatoes are readily available to buy in supermarkets all year round, we are limited to around 15 types, whereas by growing your own you can choose from more than 500 varieties, all with their own characteristics and flavour. By growing a selection of different types it’s easy to have tasty home-grown potatoes all year round. GROWING POTATOES As vegetables go, potatoes are relatively easy to grow as long as you remember that they are…

NEW SERIES The estate agent asked: “What kind of house are you looking for? How many bedrooms?” I said: “What I need is about half an acre of garden, with enough space for a polytunnel and vegetable beds.” So I’m moving home, leaving Somerset where I have grown in my garden and allotment for 20 years, and raised my family, for a new adventure in Wales. Of course, the house needs to have enough bedrooms, be secure and warm, and within my budget, but as many gardeners will agree, the most important consideration is the garden! The cottage stands in about half an acre on a hillside overlooking the Teifi valley, high enough for far reaching views to distant mountain ranges, but not too elevated. There’s a back garden with…

There are many varieties available and it pays to just check which might be more suitable for your plot as some may be more suitable than others. Here we have an exclusive offer to KG readers of some popular, easy to grow varieties. Asparagus is expensive to buy in the shops but easy to grow and tastes delicious freshly harvested from the garden. There is no other vegetable that beats home-grown asparagus, simply steamed and served with melting butter – the best way to enjoy full-flavoured, deliciously sweet and tender spears! Once established 12 plants will produce an average crop of 10kg (22lb) annually for 12 years or more. We supply large one year old crowns which will establish quickly so that you can harvest your first crop (we recommend…

New vegetable gardeners often buy in trays of plants to get them started. This is a quick and simple way to get growing, but no one should be afraid to try sowing some seeds and raising their own plants. Propagation from seeds isn’t difficult and there are some real benefits: some plants only do well if sown directly where they will grow; you have more choice of variety in packets of seed; and you get a lot of seeds in a packet for very little cost. Best of all, is the sense of satisfaction from pushing a seed into some compost then watching it day by day. First some seed leaves appear and these are soon followed by true-shaped ones. The stem stretches up and the plant needs a bigger…

Plastic is everywhere we look. For many years we gardeners haven’t been able to avoid it as we need a strong material to house our precious plants. Now, there’s no excuse. There are so many plastic-free alternatives available, all from sustainable and independent companies. I’ve been putting some sustainable pots to the test, so you can make your garden plastic free! I also suggest some ways to repurpose plastic found in your home. SILI-SEEDLINGS TRAYS Flexible, durable and reusable, these trays are a must-have for seed sowing. They are made out of silicone, so it’s easy to transfer and repot seedlings. They can be cleaned easily after every use and stacked. Sili-Seedlings trays seal each other, so don’t worry about pesky bugs making homes between them. Thick walls regulate soil…

SAVE UP TO £44.90 (AGM is the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Under RHS garden trials these varieties performed particularly well) PICK AND MIX – BUY ANY FOUR 2LTR POTTED SOFT FRUIT AND GET THE CHEAPEST FREE! SAVE UP TO £28.95! If ordering 4 plants please highlight which varieties you would like and exclude the price of the cheapest from the total value on the order coupon. *offer excludes Blackberry ‘TinyBlack’. FREE WITH EVERY ORDER BLACKBERRY ‘TINYBLACK’ 2LTR FRUIT PLANT Summer wouldn’t be the same without a home-grown crop of blackberries. Eaten straight from the bush, used in a fruity jam or frozen to be used another day, the sweet and tangy flavour is wonderful! This recent introduction is a compact blackberry that is early fruiting and completely thornless. Growing…

DT BROWN & CO tel 0845 371 0532 www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk DOBIES SEEDS tel 0844 701 7625 www.dobies.co.uk MR FOTHERGILL’S SEEDS tel 0845 371 0518 www.mr-fothergills.co.uk JUNGLE SEEDS tel 01491 614765 www.jungleseeds.co.uk KINGS SEEDS tel 01376 570000 www.kingsseeds.com MARSHALLS SEEDS tel 0844 557 6700 www.marshallsgarden.com MEDWYN’S SEEDS tel 01248 714851 www.medwynsofanglesey.co.uk MOREVEG tel 01823 681302 www.moreveg.co.uk THE ORGANIC GARDENING CATALOGUE tel 01932 878570 www.organiccatalogue.com PLANTS OF DISTINCTION tel 01449 721720 www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk THE REAL SEED CATALOGUE tel 01239 821107 www.realseeds.co.uk W ROBINSON & SON LTD tel 01524 791210 www.mammothonion.co.uk SARAH RAVEN tel 0845 092 0283 www.sarahraven.com SEEDS OF ITALY tel 0208 427 5020 www.seedsofitaly.com SHELLEY SEEDS tel 01244 317165 www.shelleyseeds.co.uk SIMPSON’S SEEDS tel 01985 845004 simpsonsseeds.co.uk SUFFOLK HERBS tel 01376 572456 www.suffolkherbs.com SUTTONS tel 0844 922 0606 www.suttons.co.uk THOMPSON & MORGAN tel 0844…

PLANT STRAWBERRIES The first strawberry plants of the season should be available from about now. Plant these cold-stored bare-root runners into prepared soil as soon as you get them. FINISH SEEDBED PREP If your soil isn’t too wet, break up any remaining clods and remove stones. Rake the soil to a fine, crumbly tilth (texture) ready for sowing. PRUNE SOFT FRUIT Get on and finish winter pruning of soft fruits such as blackcurrants and gooseberries before they break bud later this month or next. BEGIN WEEDING With soil warming up, weed growth resumes and the annual battle commences! Keep on top of weeds by regularly hoeing and hand weeding so they never gain the upper hand. TIDY UP HERBS Herbs are a must in the vegetable garden and if you…

TIM AND DANA BROOKS FROM BURTON-ON-TRENT Running three allotments and being secretary and treasurer of the allotment association certainly keeps Tim busy but he and his wife Dana love their plots and say they are their outdoor supermarket. Do you have an allotment or veg patch in your garden? We have three allotments at a local site nearby. How long have you been growing veg? Since I was five years old. I’m almost 60 now. I had a few allotments over the years, but the current ones are the best we’ve had. In the last 12 years, far more since my wife Dana and I went vegan, it has become part of our lifestyle and we have three full-size allotments growing a whole variety of things. I’m also secretary and…

FIRST EARLIES Planting to harvesting 12-13 weeks ■ ‘LADY CHRISTL’: Produces high yields of smooth-skinned white tubers with a firm yellow flesh. Excellent flavour and a good resistance to diseases. ■ ‘CASABLANCA’: White-skinned, oval tubers with creamy coloured flesh. Produces a high number of good-sized tubers. Good all-round disease resistance. ■ ‘RED DUKE OF YORK’: Large red-skinned tubers with yellow flesh and good flavour. A strong growing plant that has good resistance to diseases. SECOND EARLIES Planting to cropping around 15-17 weeks ■ ‘ACOUSTIC’: A relatively new potato that is a good all-rounder. Produces roundish tubers of uniform size with good flavour. Very good resistance to diseases. ■ ‘KESTREL’: A reliable potato producing oval tubers with white skin and violet eyes. Excellent flavour and also used on the show bench.…

With the sun beginning to get stronger and the daylight hours getting longer in March, it really does feel like the growing season has started; however, Mother Nature can still show her icy grip, so get ready to sow, but be prepared to protect! If you haven’t got round to planting out bare-root fruit or you’ve taken advantage of last-minute plant sales and bagged yourself a bare-root bargain, don’t worry, you have time to plant them out if you’re quick at the beginning of the month. I’m planting a standard gooseberry which I plan on training like a pleached tree. Hopefully, this will produce a good-looking and productive plant at the end of one of my raised beds. First, I dig a hole which will comfortably fit the roots of…

When starting at a garden scale, what you plant can rather depend on what you have to begin with. You might be fitting a few trees into an already established garden or designing a garden from a blank canvas. On a domestic scale, almost all gardens can incorporate one or more fruit trees; it really is a case of the right tree for the right space. While the field orchard may have taller trees (what we might think of as those traditional fruit trees), in the garden and especially small gardens and yards, we can look at trained and dwarfing forms of fruit trees. I have often heard the lament: “I don’t have room for a fruit tree” when in truth, through good design, a range of fruit trees can…

How long have you been growing your own fruit and veg? I started growing fruit and veg on my plot in June 2020. I have previously dabbled in growing salad and tomatoes at home in my garden and have always been interested in gardening. Unfortunately, work and family commitments have always taken priority so I have never had the time to take on an allotment. You recently took on an allotment. How have you found the experience, and would you recommend it to others? I took over my allotment by chance when a friend in the village suggested it to me during lockdown. When my daughter Ruby and I went to view the plot we couldn’t believe how large it was and how much work needed to be done. I…

BEAU BELLS The word ‘cloche’ is a French loan word meaning ‘bell’ or ‘bell glass’, entering the English language at the end of the 19th century. At that time French market gardens would cover out-of-season crops with large bell cloches and Victorian bell cloches were a feature of many kitchen gardens in the UK. Made of glass, these were relatively heavy and have now been largely superseded by plastic alternatives with built-in air vents which the originals lacked. AIR FLOW With inbuilt vents in many cloches, sufficient air flow can be managed to avoid excessive humidity. Some cloches are open-ended while others come with zips to allow for ventilation and access. For some crops like strawberries openings are necessary to allow pollinators in. TUNNEL VISION Throughout Europe in the 19th…

WILD GARLIC PESTO PASTA This is a rainbow on a plate, and this simple dish tastes as good as it looks. SERVES 4 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes FOR THE PESTO: ■ 150g (5½oz) wild garlic leaves ■ 60g (2oz) Parmesan or vegan alternative ■ ½ lemon, zested and juice of ■ 60g (2oz) pine nuts, lightly toasted ■ 150ml (5fl oz) sunflower oil FOR THE PASTA: ■ 400g (14oz) fusilli rigati ■ 1 sweet potato, diced ■ 1 red onion, chopped ■ 5 kale leaves, chopped (stems removed) ■ 1 tbsp olive oil 1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. 2. In a food processor add the cheese and whizz for 30 seconds, then add the pine nuts, lemon zest and juice, pulse a…

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE FEB 24 DON’T MISS YOUR FREE GIFTS WORTH £5.50* (*Not available in NI or EU) PLUS ESSENTIAL JOBS FOR THE MONTH BUYER’S GUIDE TO GREENHOUSES GREAT MONEY-SAVERS AND GIVEAWAYS FREE WITH EVERY ORDER * 10 STRAWBERRY ‘CHRISTINE’ PLANTS (*Free only with orders from reader offer pages) When can I get my next hit of Kitchen Garden? Scan this, and we’ll tell you! To order your next issue of Kitchen Garden, head to classicmagazines.co.uk/pre-order-kg We will send it directly to you! No need to nip out to the shops.…

WORTH £315 HOZELOCK SELECT CONTROLLER This Hozelock battery-powered water timer is simple to use and helps you to automatically water your garden — saving water, time and effort. The controller has 16 pre-set programmes to supply water from once a week up to four times a day — simply select your desired programme. Plus, it can conveniently be used with a water butt. https://www.hozelock.com/product/select-controller/ NEMASYS NEMASLUG CONTROL The winners will each receive a season-long programme of slug control called Nemaslug, a biological control using natural nematodes. The prize is for six Nemaslug Slug Killer 100sq m packs which will arrive at intervals from spring through to early autumn to give good control of slugs for the whole growing season. The product is pest specific and so won’t harm other wildlife…

ONLY £4* PER PACK! Buy Thompson & Morgan seed potatoes and take advantage of horticultural experience in the UK since 1855. Our huge range of potatoes have traditional favourites as well as many unusual varieties. ONLY £4* PER PACK – more than 40 varieties available online! Featuring many of Martin Fish’s favourite varieties mentioned on the previous page, these 1kg bags offer KG readers a 99p saving per pack. ‘CHARLOTTE’: A very popular second early salad variety producing pear shaped, yellowskinned, waxy tubers and creamy yellow flesh of first class flavour, eaten either hot or cold. ‘CARA’: Oval-round, pinkish, red-eyed tubers with soft moist flesh that is excellent for baking and chipping. Maincrop potato ‘Cara’ has excellent disease resistance, including golden eelworm and blight, and withstands drought well. ‘RED DUKE…

DID YOU KNOW? ■ Asparagus is a member of the lily family ■ Sprue is the name given to the slender and tender shoots of asparagus ■ The Dutch and Spanish like white asparagus. This is cut beneath the soil before it has chance to emerge, so it is blanched and not exposed to light, which turns it green ■ Asparagus is very low in calories Asparagus is one of those crops you can buy in the supermarket for much of the year, but it has a short harvest season here in the UK and is best appreciated and enjoyed for its sublime fresh flavour from April to mid-June. Asparagus is a long-term perennial crop so will take up space on the plot for many years but that is the…