Innehållsförteckning för December 2024 från Kitchen Garden

WISE WORDS “A garden is not a place, it's a journey.” (Author unknown) “Have you viewed us on YouTube yet?” CHICORY, NASTURTIUMS AND LEEKS Steve has been busy filling the polytunnel with veg for the winter –some purple sprouting broccoli, spring cabbage and chicory. These will be joined by some broad beans as soon as the plants are big enough. The idea is to have the tunnel in full use over winter, get some early pickings and keep the soil in good heart rather than lying barren and dry until the spring. Tony has been harvesting a few leeks from his plot, a little surprised that they have done so well considering he really did leave his seedlings far too long in the seed tray. But now they have turned…

A TIME FOR GIVING At the point in the harvest season where gardeners may wonder what to do with the excess produce they have lovingly tended, last year I contacted our local food bank to see if they wanted some vegetables. After mentioning this to a few other plot holders, several were keen to join in, so I organised a weekly donation to the local food bank. The food bank is very happy to have the veg as they said their clients would not be able to pay the extra costs to have such fresh organic produce when in the local supermarket. I was a bit worried about the odd bug or slug, but they seem very happy with any donations we can make. We usually drop it off on…

SUPERSIZED HARVESTS One thing's for sure, as keen gardeners we never quite have enough space to do all we'd like. Who's with me on this one? Just another raised bed… a few more metres of allotment… a slightly bigger greenhouse. We're not asking much, are we? But, alas, we can't grow more space! The answer, of course, is to get clever; to think outside the box (sometimes literally!), and work with what you have, to achieve more. HIGHER YIELDS The obvious way to start is by selecting higher-yielding vegetables and varieties. Classic heavy croppers are vegetables that, once they hit their stride, will produce harvests over many weeks – months even. These include the likes of runner beans, courgettes, cucumbers and most herbs, especially perennial herbs, as well as leafy…

MALVERN SHOW Wow, what a venue! The rolling Malvern Hills are the backdrop to a marvellous show which has just about everything – hundreds of stalls, fantastic displays of fruit and veg, talks and demonstrations from the experts, plus live music, food, drink and plenty for the kids… and there's more: vintage dancing, animal displays, even pole climbing and wood carving demonstrations (not at the same time, I hasten to add!). Spread over three days – Friday to Sunday, September 27-29 – Malvern Autumn Show is one of the UK's biggest annual harvest season celebrations. Despite all the rain preceding the opening of the festival, the Saturday I attended it was wall-to-wall sunshine, so much so that I was ‘forced' to buy a hat… another one! WORLD RECORDS! If you…

A PRUNING OF A PEAR TREE It's a good time of year to do a bit of pruning of your apple and pear trees. There is a great deal of information online, including diagrams to help you learn how to do this. Pruning techniques depend a lot on whether your tree is young or mature and overgrown, or whether it is a shaped tree such as an espalier. TWO TURTLE DOVES FED Well, not just turtle doves but all birds on your plot. If you don't already feed the birds why not start with a fat ball or peanut holder. Place so it is visible from a window where you can sit and watch the birds. It is really enjoyable watching garden birds at feeders and you are helping wildlife…

FLORA AND FAUNA KNEELO KNEELER This kneeler is designed to give your knees a little comfort when gardening tasks require you to get down low. The outer layer – with flora and fauna artwork from the RHS Lindley Collections – is made from waterproof, durable neoprene with a nylon coating for wiping clean. Within, there is a layer of memory foam cushioning with a core of shock-absorbing EVA foam. Dimensions: 52 × 30.5 × 5cm (about 21 × 12 × 2in). BURGON & BALL www.burgonandball.com TEL: 0114 233 8262 PRODUCT CODE: N/A PRICE GUIDE: £21.49 * Prices correct at time of publication KG VERDICT This is not only a beautiful kneeler, it is eminently practical too, providing a comfortable cushioning for the knees when kneeling. It means that tasks such…

GET GROWING On a bright September day, after a month's worth of rain the previous day, my father, Martyn Wastie, and I headed to Great Milton in Oxfordshire to meet up with Paula Fleming, orchard manager at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. My father has been preserving the famous ‘Wastie apples' but little did I know that many of greatgreat-grandfather's (Fred Wastie's) heritage apple varieties would be included in the Lost Orchard collection. Having been sent the list of heritage varieties of apple trees present in the collection, we were particularly interested to see the ‘Wastie apples', which included: ‘Old Fred', ‘Eynsham Dumpling', ‘Oxford Yeoman', ‘Oxford Beauty', ‘Oxford Conquest' and ‘Oxford Sunrise'. In the 1920s Frederick William Wastie managed a renowned apple orchard on the northern edge of Eynsham village. He…

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Being part of the KG team means that we sometimes have plants or seeds sent to us to trial. Of course, we are also constantly trying varieties that may not be new, but are new to us, so that we can talk about them in the magazine with the experience of having tried them for ourselves. Here is a selection of crops which we tried for the first time in 2024 and our thoughts on how they performed and tasted. AUBERGINE ‘VIOLET KNIGHT F1' This variety produced plenty of fruit off each of the four plants we grew. They were sown in late February in a heated propagator with lights and then moved into pots on the windowsill once they…

GET GROWING Jane Steward is on a mission, working tirelessly to revive the fortunes of the medlar. Once the favourite of royalty (King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I loved them) and grown in the grandest English gardens, medlars slowly fell from favour as fashions changed and a wider range of fruits became available. Medlars are thought to have been cultivated for at least 3000 years and they originated in Asia minor, the Caucasus, Northern Iran, Bulgaria and Turkey. The fruit offers some great benefits; it is a rich source of vitamin B and C as well as many other essential minerals and it stores and freezes well. In fact storage and the natural softening (bletting) process the fruit goes through is usually essential to make the hard, astringent medlar…

COMMUNITY GARDENING How and when did you get involved in the community garden, which we understand is part of the Landport Community Hub in Lewes? I was initially involved in the garden as a volunteer in 2013, when it was being coordinated by its founder, David Gray. I then had to move from Lewes and on my return became re-involved in quite a peripheral way from 2014-2019, but due to increasing work commitments became less and less involved. For various reasons, the garden closed around 2020 and, partly because of Covid, was essentially abandoned until the Landport Community Hub, a local charity, stepped in to take on its oversight in 2021/2. It took further time for them to renegotiate the lease with the district council which owns the land, and…

GET GROWING ONION ‘RIJNSBURGER' ‘Rijnsburger' is a Dutch variety which can be sown February to April, planted out April-May and harvested August-September. The resultant bulbs are large, globular in shape, and golden skinned with a white flesh. For an early start sow seeds under cover in February-March, scattering them over a seed tray filled with seed compost. Then cover with a fine sprinkling of vermiculite or compost. When the seedlings are large enough to handle you can prick them out and transfer them to single cell trays or pots to grow on, hardening them off before planting out. Leave 15cm (6in) between each plant and about 25cm (10in) between rows. Alternatively, sow seeds directly into a prepared bed and thin out to 15cm (6in) apart. Onions will thrive in a…

LAST WORD To a passing observer an allotment might appear as an oasis of calm and contentment. We potter slowly and carefully. There's the hum of bees in pollinating mode, the ‘chug-chug' of an ancient mower, birds singing, the sound of spade on soil and banter as friends gather for a short tea break. All is happy and harmonious. Not a bit of it! Dig below the surface (pun; apologies) and you couldn't be further from the truth. There's a war going on. Actually, there are several wars going on. For a start, there's weather; one of the most perverse elements around. Whatever conditions you require, the climate will do its best to ensure it won't happen. Too wet, too dry, too cold, too warm. It's a battle in which…

JOBS FOR THE MONTH CLEAN AND MAINTAIN TOOLS Keeping your tools sharp, clean and well maintained helps them to last a lifetime, reduces the risk of harming plants with blunt tools and also means that they will be ready for action when the winter days are drawing to an end. I keep all of my tool cleaning and repair kit in a box in the shed. It includes linseed oil, tool oil, sandpaper, old toothbrushes and rags, blade sharpeners and Crean Mate. Crean Mate is a Japanese scouring block that removes rust and gunk from metal tools. It is especially good for rescuing secateurs and other tools that have accidentally been composted. Find it online. An old bucket filled with sharp sand is ideal for keeping spades, trowels and forks…

POOR PUMPKIN HARVESTS The National Trust is reporting that slugs have had a significant impact on pumpkin harvests this year due to a cold, wet growing season. Arlington Court, Devon, lost more than 150 pumpkin and squash plants to slugs and ‘abysmal' conditions. One of the worst National Trust properties affected was Kingston Lacy in Dorset, where pumpkins and squashes had to be harvested a month earlier than usual, marking the earliest ever harvest for the property. Only half of the garden's normal crop was saved. Andrew Hunt, head gardener at Kingston Lacy, said: “Pumpkins need a long, hot growing season to do well. Unfortunately, we had a cold and prolonged spring, which meant that germination took place later than normal and then the cooler and wetter conditions over the…

WORTH OVER £14 GIFTS THAT BRING A BURST OF SUNSHINE ‘Asteraceae' is the latest design collection in Burgon & Ball's RHS Gifts for Gardeners series. The illustrations showcase cheerful blooms from the daisy family, and have been specially selected from the RHS Lindley Collections of historic botanical art. All the Asteraceae gifts make perfect presents for the gardener in your life – or a lovely treat for yourself! 3 PRIZE BUNDLES TO GIVE AWAY Our prize bundles include a gift-boxed trowel and fork set. Both tools are RHS-endorsed, with a lifetime guarantee, Then there's a gift-boxed secateur, again RHS-endorsed, and with a 10-year guarantee. The handles of the secateur and the stainless steel hand tools are a classic aubergine shade. To keep things comfortable, there's a Kneelo memory foam garden…

TOOLS TO TREASURE Haxnicks' extensive range of garden tools and accessories includes a host of lovely gift options for the gardeners in your life. The Vintage Ash Hand Tool Gift Set contains a trowel and a hand fork, packed in a lovely wooden presentation box. Robust and durable, both tools have rust-resistant stainless steel heads and FSC-certified ash handles with a varnished finish. Price: £24.99 plus £4.99 p&p www.haxnicks.co.uk Tel: 0117 934 1795 SUBSCRIBER SAVING: 10% off all Haxnicks products until December 31, 2024 SEED STORE The Unwins Gardeners' Seed Box is a beautifully made, high-quality wooden box that comes complete with five packets of seeds, five wooden labels, a pencil and 6m (20ft) of gardening twine. The box is a generous 21.5cm by 16.2cm by 17.3cm (8½in by 6½in by…