Indoor Gardening ...January

With spring still a few weeks away, and the bulbs only just pushing through the cold, wet earth - it is always a pleasing thought that way back in the autumn you had the foresight to plant some bulbs in pots indoors to bring spring just a little closer.  As you can see the Tete a Tete Narcissus are coming along nicely; the Hyacinth are just beginning to flower as is the Amaryllis.  Crocus aren't far behind, but there will be quite a wait for the Bridal Crown Narcissus which have only just broken through.

Then, hopefully, when these pots are just about finished the bulbs in the ground should be well on their way and we can begin to look forward to the spring display in our gardens once more.  I don't know about you but I am ready for a bit of colour in the garden to brighten things up a bit.

Now is the time for a bit of armchair gardening too - going through your seed box,  thinking about which seeds to buy - which did well last year, which you won't bother with again etc.  I went looking for seed potatoes today but couldn't find the variety I wanted; also wondering whether it is too early to start sowing tomato seed on the windowsill.  Perhaps I am being a little too forward  but I just can't wait for the new gardening season to begin - OK take a deep breath and relax, it will all fall into place when the time is right.

Pots of Potatoes

I have eight florists buckets in the cold frame planted with Vivaldi earlies.  It means they are protected against the cold wind and frosts.    I am using home made compost to cover them as they push through.  I haven't bothered to sieve it and as you can see there are bits of stems that haven't quite rotted down in the mix, but I don't really think it matters.  One thing I look forward to is the first harvest of potatoes some time in late May/early June.  They grow pretty well in containers as long as they are well watered.  I have been growing them this way for the last four or five years very successfully.  Just enough for a couple of meals per pot.  I usually grow Charlotte but couldn't get hold of any at my local garden centre so bought Vivaldi instead - a similar tasting potato and hopefully just as versatile.  Fresh from plot to pan to plate - totally delicious.  To my mind this is what growing your own veg is all about.

"The flowers of the potato, delicate petals whose stamens bunch together to form a point, are amongst the most charming in the vegetable garden.  Marie Antoinette wore them in her hair. The flowers of the Salad Blue are perhaps the most beautiful of all, an ethereal lavender and white, with deep orange-gold stamens often heavy with pollen.  Charlotte, a soft candy pink; Kestrel, a piercing lilac and white.  Summer rain and even cloud makes their flowers close and droop like a swan in repose.  As dusk falls, they gently close."~ Nigel Slater

Chard / Leaf Beet ... Cut and Come Again

On Saturday I sowed some ruby chard seeds.  Today I noticed that they had germinated.  Now that was quick!  Four days. Proof that the weather has definitely warmed up and a good time for seed sowing.  A welcome addition to the kitchen garden if only for its colourful stems.  I rarely use this as a vegetable on its own but use it more like spinach added to the dishes I cook.

Chard grows well in containers, and overwinters in all but the coldest areas.  A very decorative vegetable, choose ruby red or rainbow coloured varieties for maximum interest in containers.
Germination period: 10-20 days
Sowing to harvest time:  8-12 weeks
Soil requirements:  Virtually any humus-laden soil
Climate:  Chard thrives in cool northern climates, but can bolt if it gets too dry
Cultivation:  Sow in autumn or spring, thinning plants when they are about 4in. tall.  Plants crop almost all year round, pull outer leaves of and more will grow.  you can even cut back to the crown in winter for an early crop in spring.
Watch out for:  Slugs
In the Kitchen:  Salads, steamed vegetable, stir fries, pasta dishes.
Varieties:  Swiss chard, Rainbow chard and Ruby chard
(Taken from The Edible Container Garden by Michael Guerra)

"Swiss, ruby and rainbow chard are one of the few vegetables that remain in this plot in deepest winter, while I let the soil take a rest.  The earthy, mineral notes of chard are detectable even in the youngest sprouting seed but get stronger as the leaves age.  I have eaten the jewel-coloured stems at every stage of their maturity, from when they are as young and fragile as mustard-and-cress right through to the point at which the stems are so old and thick that they need to be cooked separately from their leaves, less the latter fall apart. " ~ Nigel Slater

Try a chard gratin or a soup of lentils, bacon and chard; chard with olive oil and lemon; potato cakes  with chard and Taleggio; chard and cheese tart or chard with black pepper and cream.  My favourite way of using it is shredded in fish pie or with smoked haddock and mashed potato with a poached egg on top - delicious!

Purple Sprouting Broccoli ... Simply the Best

No kitchen garden should be without it.  One of my favourite vegetables.  So expensive to buy at the supermarket - £2.00 for five spears.  Pictured above is a colander full, that is about £10.00's worth by supermarket prices. And yet it is a wonderful brassica that keeps on giving and giving and so easy to grow.  Admittedly it stays in the ground for nine months or so before you can actually pick anything - but when it starts producing stems it just goes on and on.  We have had countless meals from just three plants - that can't be bad, and still there are more to come - what's not to like!  I did say in my last post that I wouldn't be planting any brassicas this year - but maybe I could find space for one or two of these somewhere - it would be a shame not to - they are still going strong when everything else has finished and fill in that hungry gap in the garden.  So if you are wondering what veg to grow this year I would definitely recommend putting purple sprouting broc on your list - it's a no-brainer.

"The whole lightly trimmed stems can be dropped into boiling water, steamed, or pampered like asparagus with the tips slightly out of the water, so that the buds steam whilst the stems boil.  Whichever way you go, the stems are ready when a knifepoint inserted into their thickest part goes in without pressure. [...] I must put in a word for the leaves.  I never discard them.  Slender, quietly flavoured, elegantly fringed, they cook in seconds.  It would break my heart to see them sent to the compost." ~ Nigel Slater

The Beginning of Another Growing Year

After the planning, now comes the sowing.  Tomatoes are making progress in the greenhouse.  Parsnips, beetroot, carrots and chard seeds are in the ground.  It's a start.  I'm going to grow as much as I can in the raised beds and less in containers this year.  A decision that I have made due to the poor quality of potting composts and the cost of lots of containers needing to be filled.  With careful planning and successional sowing I should be able to grow the food we enjoy and have a plentiful supply.  There won't be room  for brassicas, unfortunately, because of the limited space - but I will just have to live with that and because you need a lot of pea plants for a decent harvest I won't be growing them either - maybe just a few for pea shoots.  The blog is now just a record for me and because of time restraints I will be closing the comments.  Sorry about that but needs must - I have a lot of other things to cope with right now, if you read my other blog you will know what I am talking about.  Let's hope this is a productive growing year for us all.

A Kitchen Garden Miscellany ...

This is what the kitchen garden looks like at the moment - full of flowers, but yes, there are vegetables in there somewhere!

I thought I had better do a post over here as I have been included in a list of Top 20 Gardening Blogs to follow (see here) - listed as a seasoned veteran - HA!  Unfortunately one or two of the facts aren't quite right - apparently I tailor my blog to all things associated with Italian cooking - not sure where that came from! 

Anyway, here are a few pics of how the kitchen garden is progressing in July - the month when everything starts coming to fruition - signs that all the hard work is paying off.

Charlotte potatoes

Purple TeePee French Beans

Hurst Greenshaft Peas

Sungold Tomatoes

various Lettuce

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

runner beans

Courgettes

 

 

So there you have it - proof, if proof were needed, that a tiny garden can produce plenty of veg - well, enough to keep two people fed throughout the summer anyway.

State of Play in the Kitchen Garden …

It has been a busy week in the veg garden.  Because it has been so cold outside most plants are still-in-waiting in the greenhouse but because they are putting on rapid growth I have had to do a lot of potting on.

The runner beans, for instance, are growing like crazy – so I have potted them on till it gets a little warmer – I have been caught out before with strong, cold winds that caused leaf burn – it just isn’t worth the risk and I would hate to lose them at this stage in the game.

The purple sprouting broccoli has been outside hardening off and have now been planted out into their final positions, sprinkled liberally with slug pellets and covered with netting.

Cucumbers have been planted out into large pots but they will be staying in the greenhouse and the courgettes will be staying where they are for a couple of weeks – I still have the ground to prepare for them adding manure to the planting holes to ensure a bountiful harvest – hopefully!

The peas are coming along nicely in the open ground and the ‘twiggy peasticks’ (old fuschia prunings) have been inserted for support.

The indoor toms are making good progress and I have planted out the Sungold outdoors with a polythene grow house over them for protection – the Gardeners Delight which are also going outdoors have been potted on until the risk of frost has passed.

Chard is growing in containers which have been covered with a frame and fleece till they got themselves established – seem to be doing ok and look pretty healthy.

This is the salad bar – these lettuce and salad leaf are growing in washing-up bowls which have been covered for protection at night, the first lot of Little Gem suffered with stem rot (over vigorous watering I think) so I bought some plug replacements to keep me going.

Growing rapidly in the containers, potato Charlotte – the bell jars have offered overnight protection – just one more covering with compost and we have reached the top.  The potatoes in the ground have been given their first earthing up to keep them covered – I was caught out with a frost when they first appeared and one or two leaves were scorched but it doesn’t seem to have done them any harm.

So there you have it the Rosebank kitchen garden in full swing.

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb…

Yes, it’s that time of year again.

I don’t know about you but I always look forward to the first rhubarb  of the season.  Seeing the leaves grow bigger and bigger, pushing them aside to find the juiciest sticks and giving them a gentle tug is one of life’s simple pleasures.

I pulled a dozen sticks – which in supermarket terms is £4.50’s worth – surely it must be one of the most worthwhile crops to grow.  It just keeps coming and coming – the more you pull the more you get.  I know some of you have more than one type planted  but I personally think one crown is enough.

I soon get fed up with the constant supply – even though I have tried many ways of eating it; rhubarb and strawberry compote; rhubarb pie; rhubarb gingerbread puddings; rhubarb and banana fool; rhubarb and ginger jam; rhubarb chutney there are plenty of different ways to use it up – you only have to take a look at Pinterest under the heading of Rhubarb to see just how many recipes there are.

I personally don’t bother forcing mine but I do try to pull the stalks before they get too big and stringy.  I don’t bother freezing much either as it takes too much room up in the freezer but I do have a daily bowlful during the season – which for me is up until July – then I leave it alone, generally, to give the plant a chance to recover.  I once read an article on some long-lived gentleman who said that his secret to a long life was rhubarb – so you never know – it may work for me too!

“The first ‘forced’ rhubarb, those gently tart stalks that appear in the market around Christmas time, came to prominence in the 1800’s, thanks to an ‘accident’ at Chelsea Physic Garden.  The story goes that it was here in the winter of 1815, when the garden’s rhubarb patch was accidentally covered with builder’s rubble, that this particularly fine-tasting form was first discovered.  The pale pink stalks that were unearthed by the gardeners in early spring were found to be extraordinarily mild and sweet, and a new kitchen ingredient was born.” ~ Nigel Slater

I’m just away now to make a rhubarb crumble for Sunday lunch – happy days!

Elaine

A Busy Time of Year for Veg Growers …

 

Well, it’s been almost six months since I posted – I guess you could say that I am a fair weather blogger as far as the kitchen garden is concerned.  But I haven’t been idle – oh no – there has been lots going on in the background.  Plans have been made and carried out, the raised beds have been cleared and are ready for planting and it’s all systems GO.

One bed has been planted with potatoes - Charlotte earlies and another sown with Hurst Greenshaft and Kelvedon Wonder peas.  I decided to direct sow this year, trying to keep the work load down and simplify the gardening tasks.  The third bed is reserved for two Courgette plants and the fourth for PSB.  Anything else I want to grow will be in containers – Runner Beans, French Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Lettuce, Leeks and Chard.  Have you noticed that I have reduced the variety of veg that I shall be growing this year – I am only growing veg that is obviously better tasting than shop bought or more expensive to buy.

These are a few pictures of what is happening so far. 

PSB, Greenhouse Toms, Sweet Peppers, Cucumbers, Courgettes, Leeks, Lettuce and French Beans.

Most of these will be potted on before they are planted out – waiting for the last frosts.

It’s good to be back in the swing of things again isn’t it and I hope we all have a successful veg growing season.

To see what is happening in the flower garden pop over to the latest post on Rosebank Ramblings

New Life …

Parsley seeds – saved from my own plants – sown a couple of weeks ago – have sprung into life.

Elsewhere – everything vulnerable has been cloched as the weathermen predicted frost – it never happened.

The weather is still incredible for the time of year – encouraging growth.  Even the stump of a tomato plant has started re-growing.

The First of Next Year’s Crops Maybe …

 

Thinking ahead to next year and an early crop – I sowed broad beans – which have now mostly germinated.  I will soon plant out and cloche them to help protect against the worst of winter – who knows, they may even survive.  Ever looking forward.

Multiple-root Parsnips …

Last Sunday I dug my first Parsnip.  It was pretty much perfect.  I had high hopes for the rest of the row.  This Sunday – my hopes were dashed.  Parsnip after parsnip was stunted and multi-rooted.  After several pullings I finally came upon normality.

Did you apply manure to the bed – I hear you ask – NO – is the answer.  The soil was friable – no hard pan to make the roots divide – so what went wrong – and why?

I have no idea – have you?