Gardeners Tips

After salad crop failures in Spain and shortages of courgettes, broccoli and other ‘long distance’ vegetables gardeners could to worse than focus on traditional and non-traditional root crops.

Chinese artichoke, Stachys affinis was popular in Edwardian times. It is a sprawling plant that produces knobbly roots for baking, mashing, frying or stir frying. Harvest as needed, after a long growing season, as they do not store well

Jicama or Yam bean have crunchy roots similar to dahlia tubers useful for adding to salads.Can only be stored for about a month.

Rampion have a strong taste, knobbly and fiddly roots and would be at the end of our list of experiments.

Hamburg parsley is popular in Germany with edible, evergreen leaves. Roots are upto 8inches long. Roast or use in stew.

Salsify and Scozonera look and taste similar and have been grown in the UK for hundreds of yaers . Salsify or Oyster plant, is biennial Scozonera is a hardy perennial that grows 3ft high.

Mouli or winter Radish cultivars of Raphanus sativus grow to the size of grapefruit. Round black are best for storing and all varieties red and yellow are prone to bolting unless sown after mid-summer.

Sweet potato Beauregard has been cultivated for UK growing and is available from Marshalls, Thompson Morgan and others. Protect from frost. Tubers tend to be smaller Sweet Potato ‘T65’. They have salmon-orange flesh and a sweet  flavour.

Old faithful Root crops

• Potato
• Carrot
• Swede, turnip and rutabaga
• Beet and manglewurzels
• Parsnips
• Jerusalem Artichoke

Root out some Tips

• Root crops are generally heavy feeders.
• Roots will ‘fang’ or fork if the soil has been freshly manured.
• To get the straightest roots avoid stony soil and keep soil light
• Plenty of water and high potash feed will help grow better crops.
• Grow in full sun with adequate space and avoid competition from weeds.
• Look after the leafy tops to get good underground growth

There are as many different vegetable plots as there are gardeners and everyone has its place. My default position is clear, I seek good yield or output from lower effort and less space than in  previous decades.

My allotment days are over and although I expected to be time rich and veg plot area poor I can still be a Gourmet Producer of fresh tasty items. I say still, because retirement isn’t a guarantee of more gardening time.

Essentials Of a Gourmet Producer

1. Grow what you will eat
2. Do not grow food that is better or cheaper in the shops. Main crop potatoes and onions are generally better and cheaper from retailers.
3. Grow what is best picked and eaten fresh. Lettuce, mangetout and beans are potential gourmet foods.
4. Avoid growing gluts, you need only grow for the family table and occasional dinner party – who needs 5 rows of romaine lettuce all ready at the same time.
5. Grow in succession by planting seeds a few weeks apart so they mature at different times.
6. Maximise the length of the growing season by growing endive, raddichio and numerous varieties of brassica.
7. Eat carrots and leaks as micro veg from thinnings with fewer left to maturity.
8. Sow mixed salad leaves in rows and ‘cut and come again.’ You can do this with autumn sown cabbage too.
9. Work to a plan to use your time on the plot rather than standing and pondering rather than gardening.
10. Little and often works better than periodic onslaughts.  Daily visits, even just 30 minutes, lets you feel what is and isn’t working well.

Gourmet Maintenance & Time Management

1. Even gourmet gardeners need to dig and hoe. Remove weeds – you can’t eat them.
2. Split larger jobs in to manageable slots.
3. At the beginning of the year use roundup to clear larger areas.
4. Make compost and use it for mulching and soil improvement. Buy in extra if necessary for autumn.
5. Buy plug plants when you only need a limited number of a type of plant. Masses of seedlings cost and take time.
6. Cover plants with cloches and use slug pellets. You are growing for you to eat not feeding  pigeons and slugs.
7. Water what needs watering eg runner beans and lettuce.
8. Keep an eye on the weather and adjust your gardening accordingly.
9. Do not forget to use the greenhouse. Tomato varieties have never been more numerous and tasty.
10. If you have the conditions and patience then asparagus can be a delight and I wouldn’t be without Rhubarb!

First Steps

• Think through your short term and long term plans. Woodland gardens are likely to last and last.
• Ensure you have the right space, location and environment for a woodland.
• Work with nature not against it.
• Make careful consideration of the type of garden you are aiming for and think in 3 dimensions at the planing stage.
• Keep your first designs and plans basic so you can  make changes after the key plants are in place.

Tips for making a woodland garden

1. Trees are the framework and backbone of your woodland garden.
2. Plant some evergreens to provide structure through winter
3. Lift the canopy of trees regularly to allow light through to the plants below.
4. Introduce brightness to shady spots with golden leaved plants and shade tolerant varieties.
5. Spring will be OK with bulbs and wild flowers but introduce plants for summer interest
6. Provide varying light levels to increase the range of plants grown.
7. Avoid hard landscape and make design features simple and natural.
8. Mulch and consider ferns, Rhododendrons and Cornus if the soil is on the acid side.

On a hot summers day (what is that ? ed.) there is nothing better than a woodland walk with its distinctive scents and surprising colours. Well spaced deciduous trees often provide the best displays as the filtered sun helps develop then highlight the woodland growers.

• Aconites are one of the earliest woodland flowers and do well under trees
• Bluebells are an favourite but can expand rapidly in a garden.
• Anemone nemorosa or Wood anemone grow well under shady trees as long as they can get some moisture.

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