Innehållsförteckning för June 2021 från Kitchen Garden

As weather conditions improve and summer draws near we can at last start thinking about sowing those tender crops that make growing your own so special. You may already have tomatoes, peppers and aubergines growing apace and many will have first batches of runner and dwarf French beans on the go inside to fill the freezer come the summer. The time to sow squashes, pumpkins and sweetcorn is also here and we have features on both in this issue packed with top growing tips and ideas to help you get the best from yours this season. Out on the veg patch space will soon be at a premium as early spring sowings start to make their presence felt. To help you get the most from the growing space you have,…

KEEPING CLUB ROOT AT BAY I read your article on club root in the March edition of Kitchen Garden with interest. I’m chairman of Fishguard Allotments Association, we started in 2010. First and second and possibly the third year we had no problem with club root. Over the next few years most of us had loads of manure delivered and lo and behold, club root became visible. Last year I did a small experiment. I got the tallest pots I could find with at least a 6in circumference, filled my pots with fresh compost, planted my cabbage etc., grew them on until big enough to be planted, dug a hole big enough and planted the pot, with the cabbage in. The result was very encouraging. While club root is still…

PEANUTS PLEASE I was surprised to discover recently that it is possible to grow peanuts in our climate here. Do you have any tips on how best to approach it? Iryna Pona, Essex EMMA SAYS: Peanuts can be grown in the UK, but outdoors they need warmth and a well-drained, preferably sandy soil. If you are in the north you would be best to try growing some in large pots instead. If you do plant outside, don’t plant until late spring/early summer when the soil temperature is around 18C (65F). You’ll need to buy them as raw unshelled nuts and they can either be planted as they are in their shells or (more usually) carefully removed without damaging the pink or red outer coating. Choose your sunniest spot and plant…

Mushrooms are a key ingredient to many pasta sauces, and growing fungi is fun and fast – you could be picking them as soon as a fortnight from starting them off. Mushroom growing kits make the whole process a lot easier. This one recycles old paperback books. STEP BY STEP STEP 1: Soak your books in water until they are completely saturated then squeeze out any excess water. Spread the spawn (in this case mushroom grain spawn) evenly throughout the books. STEP 2: Hold the books tightly shut with rubber bands. Place the books into a plastic bag then seal closed. This maintains a humid environment, encouraging the spawn to colonise the books with their white mycelium. STEP 3: Once they are colonised, refrigerate the books for two days to…

Originating in the southern states of North America and Central America, sunflowers belong to the daisy family (Aristaceae). Their large flowerheads are nothing short of spectacular and wherever you have them in the garden or on the veg plot, they are something big, bright and colourful to feast your eyes on. Bees love them and the dried-out flowerheads at the end of the summer provide welcome food for finches and other birds. DID YOU KNOW? The botanical name for the sunflower is helianthus, combining the Greek word‘helios’ (sun)and ‘anthus’ (flower). Although there are some perennial varieties, the sunflower we usually grow in our gardens is an annual (Helianthus annus). It’s a popular one with children as the seeds are easy to sow and the plants grow quite quickly and, of…

I think I love everything there is about sweetcorn: its golden-yellow nuggets of seed, its luscious leaves, its cheery tassels above and mop-head silks below… but most of all, of course, I love their sweet and juicy cobs, picked fresh and cooked straight away. Having its origins in Mexico as far back as 7000BC, sweetcorn became an important crop in North America and was cultivated by the Native Americans. It arrived in Europe in the 16th century and was grown throughout Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. Over the years, sweetcorn has become an increasingly popular veg to grow in UK gardens and allotments, from heritage varieties, such as ‘Golden Bantam’ and ‘Stowell’s Evergreen’, to the many hybrid ‘F1’ varieties that are now available. SOWING Sweetcorn will do well in a…

GET UP AND GROW The work of SheGrowsVeg Instagrammer Lucy Hutchings, Get Up and Grow provides 19 vegetable and fruit growing projects for indoors and outside, particularly for those who don’t have a lot of space. The first part of the book deals with the basics for growing plants successfully – choosing the pot, potting up, the importance of getting light, feeding and watering right, and dealing with common pests and diseases. There’s also a very useful plant directory of fruit, herbs, spices, vegetables, edible flowers and edible houseplants, from the everyday to the exotic. The projects themselves, however, are what catch the eye most of all. These range from cloning store-bought herbs to creating an edible living wall to growing edible houseplants. Each project has detailed How To Do…

Some plants that have a strong odour can make your home less attractive to creepy crawlies! ■ A pot of lavender is said to deter spiders, while creating a wonderful fragrance. ■ The aroma of mint or rosemary is off-putting to our eight-legged friends! ■ Lemon balm is particularly detested by fruit flies. ■ Spiders hate the smell of citronella, best grown in summer climes. ■ Eucalyptus leaves smell very strong and keep bugs and insects at bay. A dwarf variety may suit modern gardens. ■ Basil deters spiders, and makes great pesto! ■ The smell of marigolds deters spiders on the vegetable patch and keeps pests at bay. ■ Essential oils can be effective insect repellents indoors. Use them in oil burners or on dried flowers. Try peppermint, lavender,…

It is good timing to talk about how gardening is good for health, as National Growing for Wellbeing Week (June 7–13) takes place this month! The week is all about celebrating how wonderful growing our own fruit and vegetables can be for our physical and mental health. Staying calm, positive and feeling in control can seem very tricky at times, but growing your own food can definitely help. The simple motions of sowing seeds, raking soil and pulling weeds get us moving, slow down our mind and encourage us to look to the future. So, I thought we could celebrate by sharing a few of our favourite plants and activities that help us de-stress or lift our spirits. I reached out to some great friends and wonderful people across social…

SAVE UP TO £20.95 FREE WITH EVERY ORDER SELF POLLINATING RUNNER BEAN COLLECTION X20 VEGETABLE PLANTS Runner beans have always been a plot staple. They are easy to grow, very rewarding and can make an attractive feature in your growing space. This collection contains 20 plants, 10 each of ‘Firestorm’ and ‘Moonlight’, some of the best self-pollinating varieties around. ‘Firestorm’ was the first red-flowered, self-pollinating runner bean, producing masses of stringless, tender beans. ‘Moonlight’ was the first (and we think the best!) self-pollinating runner bean. This vigorous climber produces masses of attractive white flowers that set well to give a bumper harvest. These self-pollinating runner beans are sure to give a great yield this summer as both varieties are reliable performers, setting even in unpredictable weather conditions with no help…

BALSAMIC-GLAZED ENDIVE KEBABS These colourful charred kebabs are perfect for eating outside on a sunny day with some fresh dips, salad and flatbread. Kids love to help ’thread’ the veg on to the sticks too! MAKES 12 KEBABS Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes ■ ½ loaf of ciabatta ■ 150g/5¼oz halloumi cheese, cut into chunks ■ 1 courgette, thinly sliced ■ 2 red onions, cut into wedges ■ 1 lemon ■ 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ■ 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar ■ 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary ■ 200g/7oz cherry tomatoes ■ 4 heads of endive, cut into chunks 1. Place 12 wooden skewers into a large roasting tray of cold water to soak – this will stop them from burning. 2. Place all the…

PRUNE CHERRY TREES Early June is a good time to prune cherry trees. This reduces the risk of silver leaf, but it also means that the flowers and small fruitlets have had some extra protection up to this point and it is clear to see where fruit clusters are. GET PLANTS INTO THE GROUND Large plants, raised in pots, should be put into their final growing positions. Root restriction will halt growth and lack of nutrients causes stunting. Get runner beans, brassicas etc. into the ground as soon as you can. MOW AND STRIM Keep cutting grass around beds and on paths in between. Long grass makes a good hiding place for pests and you can use the clippings as a mulch to keep moisture in the soil around larger…

■ Continue to plant first early potatoes until early July to provide a crop of baby new potatoes in early autumn. A simple way to start the seed potatoes into growth is to pot the tubers in 10cm (4in) pots of compost. When they have made several inches of new growth, pot them into bucket-sized pots to grow on as normal. ■ When planting out any new veg or salad plants into the polytunnel borders, always water the ground in advance and then again after planting to get the roots off to a good start. ■ If you have some spare growing space under cover, it’s a good idea to bring in blueberries growing in pots. The extra warmth helps the berries develop and it also means the birds can’t…

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 0333 777 3936 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.…

Basil features heavily in so many pasta recipes. I wouldn’t be without it. Sow pots of basil every couple of weeks from spring to summer to keep their beautifully aromatic leaves coming, and so you can load your sauces up with generous handfuls instead of mean sprigs. Head over to page 56 for more on growing basil from seed, or split supermarket-bought pots of basil into three or four separate clusters then replant into their own pots. This works because supermarket herbs are not one plant but numerous seedlings. Keep them as they are, all overcrowded and cheek by jowl, and they won’t last much longer than a week, perhaps two. Separate them out and you give them the space they need to stretch out and grow. Oregano and thyme…

For details of suppliers see page 106. ■ ‘CROWN PRINCE’: Striking steel-blue skins with orange flesh. The large smooth fruit can reach 4kg (8½lb) in weight and has a lovely nutty flavour. (Kings, T&M). ■ ‘ZOMBIE F1’: Large orange fruit of a similar weight to ‘Crown Prince’, but the skin is covered in wart-like bumps, which make it perfect for Halloween. (T&M) ■ ‘JACK O’LANTERN’: The smooth, round orange fruit is the perfect size for carving some great lanterns; a lovely flavour. (Kings Seeds) ■ ‘SWEET DUMPLING’: Lovely small ribbed white fruits with green stripes and a sweet orange flesh. A good size for smaller families and great for baking. (Dobies Seeds) ■ ‘HUNDREDWEIGHT’: This is a super variety for producing that giant fruit for the show. If that’s your…

POSH SHED BIG PLANTER This brand new planter from The Posh Shed Company comes in nine sizes. It has fully pressurised treated timber walls and a base that will not rot, made from recycled plastic board. www.theposhshedcompany.co.uk EMPATHY GROW YOUR OWN PACK This pack contains everything needed to grow delicious crops naturally. The pack contains Rootgrow, two packs of Tomato Starter, After Plant Tomato Feed, After Plant Grow Your Own and complimentary RHS bird feed. www.rootgrow.co.uk HARROD HORTICULTURAL TRUMPET PEONY PLANT SUPPORT This will make a focal point in your garden. Traditionally used to support peonies, it can be used for a range of plants. Different sizes are available. Tel 0845 402 5300 www.harrodhorticultural.com 5KG BAG OF FINE BIOCHAR (SOILFIXER) Biochar, when added to the soil and compost, boosts water…

Being of a thrifty disposition and always looking for ways to save time in the garden, I like to make my plants last as long as possible, maximising the productivity of every seed and space in my plot. These suggestions are beneficial for wildlife as well as the pocket and also help to encourage a healthy soil, because root systems left in the soil benefit a wide range of soil flora and fauna. One of the ways I do this is by ‘perennialising’ edible plants which we mostly think of as annuals. Some of my favourites are cavolo nero, also known as Tuscan kale, cabbages, celery and Florence fennel. The two main ways of doing this are by cutting and picking. Kale will last for two years or more if…

If you have a yearning to live more simply and want to reduce all the plastic bottles of cleaning products in your cupboard, then making your own from simpler ingredients is one way to do it. Two of the main ingredients which have great cleaning power are vinegar and lemon. White vinegar has long been known to make a good cleaner, deodoriser and pest repellent. Lemon with its acidic nature is good for cleaning and has disinfecting properties. These two powerful products combined with one or two other ingredients including home-grown herbs can provide a complete home cleaning kit. LAUNDRY PRODUCTS One natural solution to washing your clothes is using soap nuts. These are nature’s alternative to chemical laundry liquids and are readily available to buy from specialist suppliers. Soap…

■ Lemon juice applied to doors and window entry points can deter insects. And ants hate vinegar – so if you have a problem with ants coming into your home, you can pour vinegar at their crossing point to eliminate the problem. ■ Keep weeds under control on your pavements and patios by pouring white vinegar on them instead of proprietary weed killers. Sprinkle vinegar on your garden paths to deter unwanted cats! ■ Vinegar can also be used to ripen melons and prevent mould – just rub a teaspoon on to the skin every few days. And if you add 275ml (10fl oz) of vinegar to 4.5l (1 gall) of tap water, it creates the perfect tonic for acid-loving plants. ■ Vinegar’s remarkable qualities include paint remover. To remove…

SMART WATER CONTROL This Smart Water Control kit just requires to you to connect the Gardena hub to your home hub, download the Gardena app to your smartphone or iPad and follow the instructions. This will enable you to pair up the controller, which you can then fit to the outside tap. GARDENA www.gardena.com TEL: 0344 844 4558 PRODUCT CODE: 19031-28 PRICE GUIDE: £149.99 * Prices correct at time of publication KG VERDICT This Smart Water Control kit will provide automatic watering according to your requirements. Set the watering schedule through the app or else opt to water instantly for anywhere between one and 90 minutes’ duration. You can also press the button on the control unit for instant watering if you don’t want to go through the app. Connected…

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■ SAWFLY Gooseberry sawfly can produce several generations in a year. Larvae look like small looping caterpillars and will soon strip leaves completely. They also attack currant bushes and can decimate blueberry leaves. Be vigilant and squash, squirt with a jet of water or spray the pests with soapy water. ■ WHITEFLY These bright white flies feed on the underside of plant leaves. They particularly like strawberry and tomato leaves. Squash them if you are fast enough, or spray with soapy water. ■ RUST This fungal disease shows as an orange/brown layer on leek leaves. It can also affect garlic and onions but usually hits leeks first. Remove and destroy any affected plants as soon as you see them. Feed and water remaining plants to keep them stress free and…

Hi! I’m Belle and I’m here every month to share lots of fun activities for you to do at home, on your own or with your family I love growing cut-and-come-again salad leaves at this time of year in containers because they are super easy to grow, tasty, and new leaves keep growing. Many leaves will regrow after taking the first pick as long as you leave the base of the plant and inner leaves still growing. But my favourites are rainbow chard, land cress, spinach, wild rocket, red mustard and pak choi. I usually look out for the mixed seed packets which contain some or many of these in one packet, instead of buying individual packets. I recommend that you do the same as you then can try a…

Pasta is always a mealtime winner, but it’s what you put on it that really counts. Sauces can comfort or exhilarate, titillate the taste buds or create that sense of luxuriant decadence. Pasta aficionados insist it’s the provenance of your pasta that makes all the difference, but a sauce will make or break it. Fresh is always going to be best, and you can’t get any fresher than produce pulled, picked or plucked moments before cooking. It figures, therefore, that for the very finest pasta sauces it’s worth going back to the source – and growing it yourself. There are a zillion different pasta recipes, so let’s concentrate on a few of the staples behind many of them. Start now and you’ll be harvesting fresh, nutrient-dense ingredients of unrivalled taste…

Pumpkins and squashes never fail to impress with their colourful fruit in all shapes and sizes and in an array of colours. Say the word ‘pumpkin’ and you’ll probably picture the orange globes sold in the supermarkets for Halloween carving – yet winter squashes, of which the pumpkins are just one, are so much more than that. What they all have in common is their ability to store for many months through the winter and few veggies are more versatile in the kitchen for everything from hearty winter stews and soups to curries and even delicious sweet dishes. They are a tender crop long popular in warmer climes such as the Med where over the centuries many regions have bred their own distinctive varieties. As a result there are hundreds…

Many of us grow flowering plants in containers and pots, from geraniums to petunias, but what about growing your veg in containers and raised beds? There are a multitude of reasons why people grow in raised beds in their garden or allotment and I must admit that the majority of my veg garden is a combination of large pots and raised beds, with the flower borders being some of the few plants which are planted straight into the garden soil. I used to grow everything in the ground on my allotment, but when we created our kitchen garden we had to terrace the sloping garden and it resulted in the surface soil not being good enough for me to grow in, as it had stones and solid patches of clay.…

If you have only a small veg garden then you may have to be a bit more creative in getting the most from the space. Here are some ideas which may help. INTERCROPPING AND CATCH CROPPING Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops together, usually within the same rows or very close and often they are grown to maturity together. Catch cropping is similar but you are sowing or planting a very fast-maturing crop among a slower growing, longer-term crop. The catch crop is harvested long before the main crop is ready. KOHL RABI MIX Here is an example of intercropping with kohl rabi and spinach planted together. The kohl rabi is quick to mature but so is the spinach and they mature side by side. You can…

WHAT’S THAT? You want flavour and you want it cranked up to full volume? Well, prepare to taser your taste buds, because basil’s about to blow the lid off herbs as you know them! Basil is one of the few herbs with a smell every bit as intense as its taste. Run a hand over its leaves, close your eyes, and inhale its unmistakably warming aroma with gusto -and an ear-to-ear grin. This is what growing your own herbs is all about, and in this project we’re going to grow the best of the best. Paltry packets of store-bought basil cost a pretty penny, so if you have a penchant for pesto like I do, you’ll want to sow lots of it. Basil positively loathes the cold. That’s the bad…

The past year has thrown up plenty of challenges: working from home, getting to grips with the mute button on Zoom, remembering to pack masks and sanitising gel before going to the shops, as well as the much more serious issues of health and economic hardship. However, it seems that one of the huge side-effects is that people are valuing their outdoor spaces, and turning to their gardens for fresh air and a connection to nature which has been otherwise denied during lockdown. So, this month we are going to look at probably the easiest fruit to grow in pots in any outside space you have, whether that’s an allotment, garden or the tiniest of balconies – blueberries. And if you are already a convert, we’ll look at how to…

■ Use a 50:50 vinegar and vegetable oil solution, buffed with a gentle cloth to clean laminated furniture. ■ Use lemon juice to clean the bathroom. It leaves a refreshing fragrance, as well as sparkling taps! ■ Get rid of discolouration on grout by spraying the grout with lemon juice. Its natural acidity will restore your grout to its original colour. Leave for 10 minutes before wiping off. ■ Add two tablespoons of vinegar to one litre of warm water to create a window cleaning solution. Use newspaper to dry the windows – this helps prevent smearing. A diluted lemon juice solution works too. ■ Soak badly stained stainless steel pots and pans in white vinegar for half an hour, then rinse in hot soapy water. ■ Tupperware and ceramics…

Sandy is inspired by nature and gardening allows her to connect with that ethos. Her website and blog are very much about growing her own but integrated with the natural world and ideas on how to embrace and protect it. Have you always loved gardening and growing your own veg? I only really started gardening when I moved into a house in my mid-20s. That was bigger than the gardens I’d previously had and it became very clear that it would need some maintenance. But quite quickly I realised that just maintaining it was not enough and I became interested in growing my own vegetables. It really all started on a window ledge with coriander seeds and I was hooked. Now I grow as much as I possibly can, vegetables,…

You might be perfectly happy with your hands-on gardening. After all, it’s good exercise and that physical contact with the garden is great for one’s mental health too. Despite that, smart gardening does have its plus points, providing you are happy about apps! As well as saving on labour and time, smart gardening is away of managing your garden differently, and the apps that you can simply download on to your smartphone or iPad can be a useful resource and away of connecting with like-minded, green-fingered folk! ROBOT MOWING There are many of these on the market now and though on the expensive side for many, no doubt, they do offer an alternative to conventional mowing – definitely an option for those for whom mobility is a problem for whatever…