Grow your own
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October/November – The best time to sow Broad Beans!
October and November are the best months to sow your broad beans. I always used to sow mine in early spring, but when we moved here a neighbour told me that he always sowed his in autumn. I was shocked saying, “surely any frost will kill them”, but he assured me that they are really tough little plants and that his had always survived. His reason for doing it was the lack of black-fly because of cropping so early. I had to give it a go! That autumn I did as he said, simply direct sowing the beans where I wanted them to grow. Within a few weeks they had…
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Tomato Bonanza
It’s turning out to be one of those, tomato bonanza years. I think it’s because we had the really hot sun early on which stimulated their growth and ripened fruits early, but then the cooler temperatures slowed them down. Whatever the reason though I’m not complaining, as I now have many portions of delicious tomato sauce in my freezer. Most of you know by now that the first food crop I ever grew were tomatoes and I’ve grown them every year since. If I only had space to grow one crop, tomatoes would be it. The flavour of a homegrown tomato is simply unbeatable, especially if you pick the right…
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Produce coming out of my ears!
It really is hard work trying to keep up with all the harvesting at this time of year, I feel like I have produce coming out of my ears! So as not to waste any I am cooking at least as much as gardening – which doesn’t always make me happy if the sun is shining outside. The freezers (yes two) are filling up fast! Luckily we had an old one of my mum a couple of years ago and honestly I don’t know how we ever managed without it! It’s true though that you don’t miss what you haven’t had, but once you’ve had it you would really miss…
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The Kitchen Garden Produce is Ramping up!
Since early in the year we’ve been eating a few things out of the kitchen garden, but this is when production seriously ramps up. We had some cavolo nero kale back in winter and we’ve managed to keep the purple sprouting broccoli limping along. It’s desperately trying to go to seed now, but I just keep chopping it down. We’ve had salad leaves for quite a while and rhubarb for breakfast for a good few weeks. The asparagus season is now at an end, we have to stop harvesting it this weekend. You should only cut it for six weeks, before letting it go to seed. Broad Beans Those beautiful,…
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Disaster in the Greenhouse
Well I had such a lovely morning planned out. One of my favourite jobs of the year, planting the tomatoes in the greenhouse, when disaster struck! The garden apprentice (otherwise known as husband) was with me, as he has to help me with the heavy bags of compost to replenish last years. He said, ‘what’s that weed?” I started to pull it, then gently started to uncover it’s roots. I said, “it looks like a potato”. More uncovering in sued. The gardening apprentice said, that’s no potato! We dug deeper and finally realised with dread, that it was Ground Elder!!! Or it’s rather unpronounceable Latin name Aegopodium Podagraio. I think…
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How to Grow Potatoes in a Container
Trust me, growing potatoes, particularly in a container, is easier than you think! You should have a plate of delicious potatoes with butter melting all over them, just 2-3 months after planting. There really is nothing like the taste of homegrown potatoes, especially the first potatoes of the season. These are called ‘first earlies’, which simply means the first of the year. Sometimes gardening jargen can be off-putting, making you think that gardening is much more difficult than it really is. Contrary to what you may think, you don’t actually need special equipment to grow your own. You mainly need some compost or soil, some seeds or plants, and if…
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Tomatoes in November!
Well, I’ve never had homegrown tomatoes in November before! Well at least not red ones! They usually start to die back and get a bit mouldy as the weather starts to cool down and the days start to draw in, but not this year. Tomatoes in a Heatwave It’s been a most extraordinary weather year, with heatwaves so hot that it was still too hot at 7pm to sit out and eat dinner. Who’d have ever thought that would be the case in Britain! It meant that the main harvesting season was not as good as usual, it was just too hot. I suppose if heatwaves become the new norm,…
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Brandywine Tomato Salad – It’s too easy to be so delicious!
This tomato salad is so simple, that it’s hard to believe quite how delicious it is. The reason for this is the ingredients! I came across this tomato variety years ago when I read James Wong’s book ‘Grow for flavour’. As the title suggests, it’s all about growing food for flavour above anything else. I’d always liked the idea of a large beefsteak tomato, but they always let me down on the flavour front. Brandywine on the other-hand are absolutely delicious, packed with flavour and very few seeds, making them less wet. They are not always the most attractive looking tomato, and they can grow to quite enormous sizes. The…
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Our Cherry Tree – It’s the cherry on the cake!
It was the garden apprentice that chose this cherry tree. It must be around ten years ago now, and it spent the first few years of its life in a pot. It was one of those spontaneous buys at the garden centre. It was April and as a result it was covered in blossom, making it look magnificent and irresistible! It’s full name is Prunus avium ‘Stella’ and it is a sweet desert cherry. Dark red fruits that can be eaten straight from the tree. Unlike the sour cherry trees which are more commonly grown for their ornamental qualities. I’d always thought that I didn’t like cherries, but it turns…
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Now for something completely different – The Purple Potato Project
My first early purple potatoes are ready! I wasn’t going to grow potatoes this year, as we really don’t eat very many, but when I saw the Purple Potato Project, I couldn’t resist! As I’ve said before, I am drawn to something a bit different, and I already grow so many other purple veg. They don’t actually taste any different, but they are better for you, with antioxidants in. The particular antioxidant they have is anthocyanin – known for its positive health benefits. It is purported to reduce inflammation and protect you from conditions like cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Anthocyanin is also found in red cabbage…
