Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Kitchen Garden

More than ever we all need a quiet place where we can forget our worries for a while and relax. What better place to do that than your garden or allotment, especially now that spring is here? Of course, as well as being a place to chill, the garden is also a productive place to grow healthy, fresh food for the family and, with rising prices in the shops, that is more relevant than ever. It doesn’t have to be a large space either, as KG regular Becky Searle proves from her own small garden in Devon where she grows much of the produce she needs to feed her family. Turn to page 74 to find out more. Still on the topic of getting the most from every inch of…

IN AT THE DEEP END Last February we took on a very overgrown allotment patch. We had never grown anything edible before and jumped right in at the deep end! We wanted a hobby that I, my husband and four young children could do together that would be fun, educational and sustainable. In our first year we had a great success growing a huge variety of different things, the kids ate more vegetables than I had ever witnessed before! It was so brilliant to see them sowing seeds, transplanting their seedlings carefully, nurturing their plants and reaping the benefits at the end! Walking down to the allotment on a warm summer’s evening did wonders for the mind! We are now preparing ready for the spring, choosing what we’d like to…

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…

It’s surprising how quickly a new no-dig garden can start to look productive. Even though I only started the beds here at the beginning of April, they are filling up with lovely veg, including brassicas, peas, radish and parsnips, which are starting to sprout. To make the most of the space I’m interplanting as much as I can, such as lettuces between brassicas and radish between parsnips. In early May, summer crops – including squash, beans, tomatoes and courgettes, started in the greenhouse – are almost ready to plant outside in the middle of the month. I keep fleece on standby as protection against any cold nights. It is cooler here on my Welsh hillside than it was in my Somerset garden and having only been here for a few…

Tomatoes grow well outdoors in a good summer. If you have a bed of rich soil near a sunny wall, then this might make the perfect spot. You can drive bamboo canes into the ground to provide support for each plant. But many gardens have solid paths or patios in the perfect location for growing tomatoes, so different growing techniques come into their own. Growbags are ideal in this situation – they provide a contained nutrient-rich growing medium, but they aren’t deep enough to keep a cane stable and there is no place to drive a support into the ground. If you tie plants against the wall, then there isn’t enough air circulation and plants are more likely to moulder. The solution is to make your own frame to use…

A liquid feed can be thought of as liquid meal replacement for plants. It contains nutrients in a soluble form that they can take up very readily. These feeds are best used on container-grown plants, where the roots are restricted to a very finite supply of nutrients. In the summer, a hungry fast-growing plant such as a tomato in a pot can use up all the nutrients within four weeks so, after that, it will need the extra nutrition from a liquid feed in order to thrive. Plants growing in the soil shouldn’t normally need a liquid feed as they are able to exploit the slow-release nutrients from a much larger volume of soil. Making your own organic liquid feeds is a much more sustainable option than buying one and…

BODY ARMOUR For those cooler mornings and evenings (and even cooler summer days) a body warmer comes in handy. It’s not too heavy but will keep you just warm enough for comfort. You can easily slip it on and off according to the weather. And if you get one with lots of pockets, it’s handy for accommodating all those bits and bobs that come in so useful on the plot. LOVE THE GLOVES Garden gloves are many and vaned in purpose and style. You might want a thin pair that gives you maximum dexterity, or a thicker, padded pair that will offer protection from knocks and scratches. Or you might want a pair that is totally waterproof (some aren’t). Pruning gloves are also a godsend – try pruning a gooseberry…

CLEAR WINTER CROPS Overwintered crops like chard, leeks and hardy salads will want to flower with the increasing day length. Clear away the last of this winter veg to make way for new plantings. HOE WEEDS Make a vow to keep on top of weeds so they don’t get out of hand and overwhelm you. Hoe and hand weed regularly, nipping out weeds while they are still young. EARTH UP POTATOES Potato tubers turn green when exposed to light, so draw up the soil around plants to keep developing potatoes covered. Do this in stages until the foliage above closes over. PROTECT CARROTS It’s peak time for carrot root flies. The low-flying females lay their eggs at the neck of roots at soil level. Erect barriers or cover carrots with…

OUR SERIES FOR YOUNG GROWERS Do you love eating strawberries? I do! I like picking and eating them straight off the plant before the birds get to them. Now is the perfect time to start growing strawberries, so let’s get started! YOU WILL NEED: ■ Strawberry plants ■ Multipurpose compost ■ 35cm pot or bigger, with holes in the bottom. Alternatively, you can plant them straight in the ground or in a hanging basket ■ Water in a watering can ■ Gardening gloves WHAT TO DO: 1. Start by putting your gloves on and filling up your pots with compost. 2. Make a hole in the middle of your compost, deep enough to cover all the roots of your new plants. 3. Place your plants outside in a bright, sunny…

Get in touch by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag EVIL WEEVILS Last year I went to sow some carrot seeds in my very large pots and on turning over the compost noticed lots of grub-like creatures which I am pretty sure are vine weevils. Wendy Harris, Devon ★ STAR ★ QUESTION WINS £25 VOUCHER STEVE SAYS: The grubs could well be vine weevil larvae. To confirm, they will be c-shaped and cream coloured with brown heads if so. Vine weevils are very common and love to lay their eggs on or near the surface of the compost around many garden plants and vegetables, but especially anything with a fleshy root or tuber. Where they have been found I would consider either replacing the compost, or at least…

Growing tomatoes holds so many memories for me because they were one of the first crops I grew as a child, in a small homemade greenhouse. Even now, more than 50 years later, when I walk into a greenhouse of tomatoes and breathe in that distinctive aroma, I’m instantly taken back. As far as I’m concerned, home-grown tomatoes are without doubt much tastier than shop-bought fruits, simply because when you grow your own, you can allow the fruits to ripen and develop their full flavour before picking. Growing your own also means you can choose from hundreds of varieties, all of which are different in flavour, shape and colour. If you have a heated greenhouse, you can extend the cropping season and be picking fresh, tasty tomatoes from July through…

May can be one of the most difficult months for us veg growers, with the beginning still able to produce hard frosts, and the end of the month sometimes giving us temperatures in the 20s; it’s certainly a month of two halves! Many a gardener has been caught out this month thinking that it’s warm enough to plant out tender crops early, only to go and check on them the next day to see that they’ve turned to mush. If in doubt, leave it a week or two; in fact, I don’t plant tender crops out in the garden until the last week in May at the earliest, and even then I have cloches and fleece ready to cover plants. That said, there are plants that are happy to be…

Classic Lodges hotels is a nationwide collection of exclusive hotels that all have their own exceptional and charming character, whether that’s a peaceful country getaway or a city centre stay. Each of the hotels provides a friendly, relaxing atmosphere while maintaining Classic Lodges’ signature style, comfort and luxury. Steeped in history, all of the hotels have equally stunning views to accompany the suites and rooms – whether that’s the picturesque Grinkle Park, located between the North Yorkshire Moors and villages and beaches of the coast or the elegant Old Swan Hotel situated in the very heart of Harrogate. Good food is at the heart of each and every hotel, all of our chefs place a great emphasis on creativity and flair, as well as a core focus on seasonal, locally…

You can keep your cabbages, caulis and sprouts – for me, kale is king and for so many reasons. The main one being that kale can provide many pickings of leaves throughout much of the year and it just keeps on giving, especially in winter. You don’t need a lot of plants to give you a good harvest, often at a time when fresh veg is at a premium. And they are so nutritious. As well as having all the usual antioxidants that green-leaved veggies have, kale exceeds many others in its vitamin C and A content. Kale is hardy and once it is established it is fairly resistant to pest damage, although whitefly can sometimes be a problem. Kale is also extremely tasty and can be used as baby…

(AGM is the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Under RHS garden trials these varieties performed particularly well) SAVE UP TO £23.95 ALSO IN THE KG SHOP THIS MONTH FREE* WITH EVERY ORDER ‘KALE NERO’ DI TOSCANA VEGETABLE PLANTS X20 Kale is incredibly versatile and gaining in popularity all the time. ‘Nero Di Toscana’, also known as ‘Cavolo Nero’, is one of the most flavoursome varieties and adored by many discerning chefs. The dark green, deeply savoyed leaves are perfect for adding a unique texture and flavour to a whole host of dishes and are a real treat when many vegetable sources are scarce. Baby leaves can be eaten raw and make a great addition to the salad bowl, while older leaves are great boiled or steamed. Supplied as 20 young…

PEA & ASPARAGUS PASTA WITH GOAT’S CHEESE A creamy pasta dish with delicious green spring vegetables in a goat’s cheese and white wine sauce. SERVES 6 Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes FOR THE SAUCE ■ 4 tbsp plain flour ■ 60g (2oz) butter ■ 1 shallot, sliced ■ 400ml (14fl oz) milk ■ 75ml (2½fl oz) dry white wine ■ 100g (5oz) goat’s cheese plus extra for serving ■ A small grating of nutmeg FOR THE PASTA ■ 600g (21oz) tagliatelle ■ 150g (5¼oz) peas ■ 200g (5¼oz) asparagus, sliced ■ Salt and pepper to taste ■ Mint leaves to garnish 1. In a small saucepan melt the butter, then fry the shallot in it for three minutes. Next add the flour and whisk in. While whisking,…

BRINGING BACK THE BUZZ The Design Museum is delighted to launch Grow Wild, the winning entry for Design Ventura 2020 from Heckmondwike Grammar School’s team of Year 8 students. Grow Wild is a flower seed launcher which is available to purchase in the Design Museum shop and which retails for £6.50. All proceeds will be donated to the students’ chosen charity Kirkwood Hospice. The student team, featuring Hannah, Emily, Alice and Naomi, designed the product to be both fun and sustainable and aimed to fulfil the mission to ‘help save the bees’. The flower seed canon designed by the students allows users to easily distribute wildflower seeds from a simple, compact, sustainable and playful launcher – helping grow flowers that create a source of pollen for bees. The team impressed…

FOR SUPPLIERS SEE PAGE 95 Whether growing in a greenhouse, outdoors, in pots or hanging baskets, there’s plenty of choice in the seed catalogues and many varieties have very good resistance to tomato diseases. TALL GROWING VARIETIES (INDETERMINATE): These will need support and sideshooting ■ ’SHIRLEY F1’: An established, reliable variety that produces a heavy crop of medium-sized fruits, with good flavour when allowed to fully ripen. ■ ’BIG DADDY F1’: A beefsteak variety that produces large, fleshy fruits with very few seeds and a smooth skin. Excellent flavour with fruits weighing up to 250g (8oz). ■ ’SANTONIO F1’: Strong growing plants with large trusses of red, cherry-sized plum-shaped fruits that have a great flavour. ■ ’TIGERELLA’: Attractive striped fruits of medium size that are produced in large numbers. It’s…

Plugs are ready-grown young plants that have been sown direct into cell trays and nurtured through their early stages by the nursery. This not only means that the nursery does the difficult bit for you, but if you simply don’t have the space or time to sow your own, or have had poor germination or simply forgot, you can still fill your garden and greenhouse with great veggies. There is more choice than ever now from the seed companies and young plant specialists, and a few even offer organically raised plants, peat-free options and heritage types. In the case of tomatoes you can buy grafted plants as plugs or young potted plants and these have the advantage of being supplied on strong, disease-resistant roots. You can even opt for grafted…

When I moved to my old house it was such a thrill. A vegetable patch, at last! 120 square metres, just less than half of an allotment, and it was all mine. I had a young family at the time; a baby and a four-year-old, plus a house to renovate, oh, and a business to run. But I was determined to use this space to its absolute maximum. I wanted to be self-sufficient, with images of Barbara and Tom from the good life, mud on their faces but happy. The garden itself was a rare find: there were a few mature fruit trees, a patch of raspberries and redcurrants, a lovely big wooden greenhouse, a few plastic raised beds and a fully functioning compost system. Most gardeners’ idea of a…

PERFECT FOR PLANTING The Spear & Jackson Traditional Stainless Planting Spade is the ideal tool for cultivating your veg plot or allotment. Compact in size, measuring 910mm (36in), it is also perfect for working in raised beds and garden borders. Designed in a classic style, it has a mirror-polished stainless steel head for resistance to rust and easy cleaning, and a double-riveted weatherproofed hardwood shaft for extra strength and durability. It features a pointed blade for easier penetration of hard ground, and a serrated edge to help cut through roots. This useful tool also has etched depth markings for more accurate planting, and is treaded for comfortable digging. Spear & Jackson has been designing and manufacturing quality garden tools for more than 260 years. Its extensive ranges of cultivating, digging…

DON’T MISS YOUR FREE GIFTS WORTH £4.74* (*Not available in NI or EU) NEXT ISSUE ON SALE APRIL 28 PLUS ORGANIC SLUG CONTROL BEAT THOSE WEEDS WITH MULCHES GROW YOUR OWN BREAD FREE WITH EVERY ORDER* 20 SELF-POLLINATING RUNNER BEAN PLANTS INCLUDING TOP VARIETIES ‘FIRESTORM’ AND ‘MOONLIGHT’. (*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.…