{"id":18086,"date":"2017-02-14T13:54:16","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=18086"},"modified":"2017-02-12T14:46:13","modified_gmt":"2017-02-12T14:46:13","slug":"gourmet-vegetable-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/flowers\/gourmet-vegetable-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Gourmet Vegetable Production"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00c2\u00a0 previous decades.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Essentials Of a Gourmet Producer<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Grow what you will eat<\/li>\n
  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.<\/li>\n
  3. Grow what is best picked and eaten fresh. Lettuce, mangetout and beans are potential gourmet foods.<\/li>\n
  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.<\/li>\n
  5. Grow in succession by planting seeds a few weeks apart so they mature at different times.<\/li>\n
  6. Maximise the length of the growing season by growing endive, raddichio and numerous varieties of brassica.<\/li>\n
  7. Eat carrots and leaks as micro veg from thinnings with fewer left to maturity.<\/li>\n
  8. Sow mixed salad leaves in rows and ‘cut and come again.’ You can do this with autumn sown cabbage too.<\/li>\n
  9. Work to a plan to use your time on the plot rather than standing and pondering rather than gardening.<\/li>\n
  10. Little and often works better than periodic onslaughts.\u00c2\u00a0 Daily visits, even just 30 minutes, lets you feel what is and isn’t working well.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Gourmet Maintenance & Time Management<\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Even gourmet gardeners need to dig and hoe. Remove weeds – you can’t eat them.<\/li>\n
    2. Split larger jobs in to manageable slots.<\/li>\n
    3. At the beginning of the year use roundup to clear larger areas.<\/li>\n
    4. Make compost and use it for mulching and soil improvement. Buy in extra if necessary for autumn.<\/li>\n
    5. Buy plug plants when you only need a limited number of a type of plant. Masses of seedlings cost and take time.<\/li>\n
    6. Cover plants with cloches and use slug pellets. You are growing for you to eat not feeding\u00c2\u00a0 pigeons and slugs.<\/li>\n
    7. Water what needs watering eg runner beans and lettuce.<\/li>\n
    8. Keep an eye on the weather and adjust your gardening accordingly.<\/li>\n
    9. Do not forget to use the greenhouse. Tomato varieties have never been more numerous and tasty.<\/li>\n
    10. If you have the conditions and patience then asparagus can be a delight and I wouldn’t be without Rhubarb!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      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\u00c2\u00a0 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…<\/p>\n

      Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flowers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}