Innehållsförteckning för April 2023 från Kitchen Garden

It's spring and there is lots to do now to ensure your patch bursts with tasty produce come the summer. This issue is packed with all the ideas and advice you need to help you get the essentials done, but also make sure you have plenty of fun, plus time for a cuppa or two, while you're doing it. As I write this the news is full of stories about shortages of some fresh foods, but of course if you grow your own you'll have far less dependency on the shops. So don't miss our great growing guides in this issue, covering tomatoes, cucumbers, beetroot, peas and currants. There is advice on looking after your precious seedlings and on growing cut flowers to brighten your garden and home. Rob Smith…

PLOTTER OF THE MONTH GET GROWING JO HUNT FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE Jo started with one allotment and was then offered a neighbouring plot. A year later she got the opportunity to rent a field so is in the process of starting again. Why did you start growing your own produce? I've always been interested in growing veg. My dad had an allotment while I was growing up and raced pigeons. Then when I hit the teenage years I was too busy. It wasn't until I had my own children that I got back into gardening and then fell into growing my own veg. A few years ago, I bought one of the little pots that have everything you need to grow veg. One for basil and one for tomatoes. They were…

SUCCESS WITH SEEDS GET GROWING Days are longer, daffodils are in bloom and spring is in full swing. Many of us will be sowing seeds and caring for little seedings, some of which will be just poking through the soil. Spring seed sowing is a busy and exciting time for gardeners – months spent preparing, drawing up plans, narrowing down varieties (a few times!) and culminating in hours spent sowing seeds. Over the space of a few years, I have built up quite a collection of seeds. I will openly admit I am a seed addict! I have quite a collection; some I have bought, some are from seed swaps and some I've saved myself from my own plants. I do try to use up the seeds I have, but I…

CUCUMBERS AND GHERKINS GET GROWING My very first container-grown cucumber plant had a challenging life. Tucked away in a shady corner of the back garden, it was protected by netting from the children's flying footballs. Even so, it produced a crop of fruit. Taking on the allotment, I then moved on to gherkins – smaller versions of the cucumber and from the same family – because I wanted to create brines and make my own pickled gherkins, or pickled anything for that matter. Shop-bought pickles have never cut the mustard for me. Both fruits are harvested in summer and when I'm eating freshly picked cucumbers in salads, I'm also thinking about different pickling spices for the gherkins. You can keep your shelves of designer shoes and handbags; what floats my boat…

PLANNING FOR BIODIVERSITY GET GROWING In 2018 I took on a new garden. It was a tangle of weeds and a mess of paved pathways, decking, gravel and rubble. But it had great potential, too – an old pond, several fruit trees and a beautiful but slightly rickety wooden greenhouse. Half of the garden was a vegetable patch, and the other half was ornamental. But the garden had been abandoned, and nature had begun to take it back. Ivy twisted around the greenhouse like a snake ensnaring its next victim. Brambles hung lazy and foreboding, and bindweed trumpeted innocently from the hedgerow. And everywhere, nature staked its claim with tall seed spikes, drifting like flags in the breeze. It took several days to excavate far enough into the garden to find…

WORTH OVER £1679 GET SET TO GROW! Two lucky readers will be set for the season with a bumper bundle of top products from Westland gardening brands. The striking leaf-shaped Gro-Sure Visiroot 12 Tray Growhouse (£69.99) is a robust mini greenhouse. Its durable UVresistant cover provides easy access and flexible ventilation. The 7.5-litre Flopro CanCan (£16.99) has a unique quick hose connection point for no-spills filling. The flip-top quick-change spray head lets you switch from the rose to Fast Flo pour without removing the spout. Kent & Stowe Eversharp Garden Snips (£29.99) have carbon steel blades with Eversharp technology to guarantee the sharpest, longest-lasting blade on the market, teamed with a lightweight aluminium body and comfort-grip handles. Westland Boost All Purpose Liquid Plant Food incorporates PlantSense Technology, which produces four…

GET COOKING RADISH & BEETROOT SALAD WITH HARDBOILED EGGS A twist on a Polish favourite, this beetroot and radish salad recipe has a good vinegary tang and is perfect for feeding a hungry crowd. SERVES 4 Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes 1kg (2¼lb) new potatoes, cooked 6 medium free-range eggs 200g (7oz) radishes, quartered 75g (2½oz) pickled gherkins, finely sliced 600g (1⅓lb) cooked beetroot, roughly chopped 1 small cucumber, cut into ribbons with a veg peeler FOR THE DRESSING 10Og (3½oz) good-quality mayonnaise A bunch fresh dill, finely chopped 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced 1. Cut the cooked potatoes into halves (or quarters if large). Pop in a large mixing bowl together with the chopped beetroot, gherkins and radishes. Set aside. 2. Lower…

PLANT SETS AND SPUDS Finish planting onions and potatoes. Plant sets about 10cm (4in) apart within rows 25cm (10in) distant. Second earlies spuds should be in by mid-month and maincrops by early May. START ASPARAGUS It's a busy month for asparagus lovers. Plant new crowns into prepared, well-drained soil, setting the roots about 10cm (4in) deep. Established plants will start cropping about now. NOURISH FRUIT Prime your fruits for an abundant harvest. Sprinkle slow-release general-purpose fertiliser around trees, bushes and canes then mulch with organic matter like compost. PLANT BROAD BEANS Plant broad beans started off in the greenhouse or cold frame after hardening them off. Protect seedlings with fleece if it's cold. Support plants once they reach knee height. GET PLANTING Sowing and planting reach full tilt this month…

OUR SERIES FOR YOUNG GROWERS Growing mini greens and tasty shoots on your windowsill is easy and really quick. Whether it's sunny, or still super chilly outside, by growing these inside you could be eating your own home-grown goodness within a week. You can grow sprouting shoots at any time of the year and there is a variety of different sprouting seeds to choose from, including beetroot, radish, pea, kale, broccoli and lentil. YOU WILL NEED: A germinator like the one pictured or a clean glass jar, a piece of muslin cloth and an elastic band Sprouting seeds – you can buy these from garden centres Water WHAT TO DO: WELL DONE!…

YOU & YOUR PLOT Get in touch by post, email or via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/kitchengardenmag TWO'S COMPANY I have one honeyberry but I understand I need two. Can I propagate one from my existing plant and how long will it take to be useful? Elizabeth Allen, Glasgow STAR QUESTION WINS £25 VOUCHER STEVE SAYS: It is usually recommended that you grow two honeyberry plants in close proximity for a good crop, although they are self-fertile and will produce some fruit when planted alone. Pollination can be boosted by gently hand pollinating with a soft brush as there are few pollinating insects around when they flower in late winter/early spring. The easiest way to propagate them may be from seeds taken from ripe fruit, cleaned and dried and sown in…

HERBS GET GROWING When it comes to growing plants which pack the most flavour and biggest punch, it has to be herbs! These multi-use plants are used as an ingredient or flavouring with meats or vegetables as they can be too powerful on their own; and because you don't always use that much of a herb in any one dish, we have learnt to preserve our herbs to use later in the year. From mild-mannered parsley to pungent mountain pepper, there are an untold number of herbs to grow at home no matter the space you have. Many herb plants require free-draining soil in a sunny position, especially those originating in the Mediterranean. Therefore, they make excellent candidates to be grown in containers and pots where you can control the substrate.…

PEAT-FREE COMPOST With a promised phase out of compost containing peat in the retail market in 2024, we'll all need to get used to peat-free growing. Just over a year ago, it was still a challenge to source peat-free compost, but now it can be found easily. It even dominates the piles of bags outside supermarkets. As extracting peat makes a significant contribution to CO2 emissions and wrecks wildlife habitats, it's good news that we'll be leaving peat in the ground where it belongs. DOES PEAT-FREE BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY? One reason that peat has been so popular is that it behaves quite consistently. Peat-free composts, by contrast, are made up of a mix of natural materials, predominantly composted wood fibre, bark, green waste compost or coir, which means that there will…

Kitchen Garden magazine BEST BUY 2023 PEA AND BEAN DOMED FRAME Available in three lengths, this selfassembly pea and bean frame comes with aluminium tubing, connectors, pegs, clips and jute netting. Dimensions: H 1.7 × W 0.75m (5½ × 2½ft). GARDENING NATURALLY www.gardening-naturally.com TEL: 01285 760505 PRODUCT CODE: DOMEDPEA PRICE: FROM £84.99 * Prices correct at time of publication KG VERDICT This kit provides a strong framework for runner beans, French climbing beans, sweet peas and taller varieties of pea. You could also use it for growing some squashes such as ‘Tromboncino’ and even smaller varieties of pumpkin (see page 66). It is relatively easy to put together using plastic connectors but you will need to use a mallet to tap them home. The netting is made of jute which…

RAISING THE PULSE A team of researchers and chefs at the University of Reading are working on a three-year project suitably titled Raising the Pulse. The aim of the project is to encourage British consumers and food producers to switch to bread containing faba beans (broad beans). These beans are high in protein, fibre and iron. Leader of the project, Professor Julie Lovegrove, said: “We had to think laterally: what do most people eat and how can we improve their nutrition without them having to change their diets? The obvious answer is bread!” She went on to say: “We've already performed some experiments and found that faba bean flour can directly replace imported soya flour and some of the wheat flour, which is low in nutrients. We can not only…

GET GROWING CUT FLOWERS There is such a joy in growing cut flowers that is really quite indescribable. Watching tiny seeds and brown-hued tubers turn into the most magnificent flowers is a magical and incredibly rewarding process. The blooms can differ even on the same plant, showing the true unpredictability of nature, and excitement soars as each bud colours and gets ready to pop. These flowers look beautiful in the garden but also offer the opportunity to play around with them, creating beautiful arrangements at home, or creating posies and jam jars filled with awe-inspiring blooms as gifts. If you're interested in growing a cut flower patch this year, here are a few pointers to get you started. SHANNON'S TOP 10 FOR 2023 SOWING AND GROWING It's good to make a…

(AGM is the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Under RHS garden trials these varieties performed particularly well) SAVE UP TO £25.95 FREE* WITH EVERY ORDER SAVOY CABBAGE AND PURPLE SPROUTING BROCCOLI ‘BEST OF BOTH’ COLLECTION Crinkly-leafed Savoy cabbage pairs beautifully with broccoli… why not make a lovely summer creamy cabbage and broccoli slaw, perfect with salads! Also use in soups, stir-fries or in a traditional meat and veg hearty weekday dinner or with your roast on a Sunday. Savoy cabbage ‘Cordoba F1’ has great-tasting leaves, forming large, heavy heads in September – August if you are lucky – and is great for garden or allotment growing due to its resistance to dubroot. Broccoli ‘Burgundy F1’ is our favourite, new, high-quality, sprouting type with tasty, tender spears. A reliable cropper producing…