'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Latest vegetable news & products
BIG Allotment Challenge winner Rob Smith and Dobies have joined forces to launch the Heritage Vegetable Range and Cut Flower Range.
Veg varieties include - with Rob's comments:
Tomato Red Currant (pictured) and Yellow Currant: "It’s a different species from your common garden tomato and its hardly changed since it was found growing wild on a Peruvian beach in 1707. The plants are very disease resistant, and can tolerate cooler temperatures. Each tiny tomato is crisp, and has a really intense, sweet/tart flavour."
Radish Long Scarlet: "It’s not actually a carrot that Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit was eating in the books, it's a radish, and it's reported to be this radish! Long Scarlet is a long, carrot shaped radish with a punchy flavour. Try it shredded in coleslaw or chopped with dips."
Onion Borretana: "Mini sweet onion designed for pickling, Borretana is an old Italian variety of cipollini onion. Grown from the 1400s, this flat little onion is great for pickling in balsamic vinegar, roasted with thyme and rosemary, or added to casseroles. Borettana onions are sweet, easy to grow and store really well throughout winter, so make sure you try them in a warming, winter onion soup!"
Squash Honey Boat: "I first found this squash in the United States, California to be exact, and as far as I know, no-one else in the UK is selling this great old variety. This squash is easier to grow, and sweeter than a butternut squash."
Kale Red Russian (pictured): "This heritage kale forms 60-90cm plants with green/grey leaves in the shape of giant oak leaves. As the colder weather arrives, the leaves begin to take on a red tinge and the flavour sweetens."
Lettuce Crisp Mint Romaine: "This lettuce is one of the prettiest romaine style ones. It forms compact, stately plants which are great for any salad, it's crispy with a frilly edge to the leaves. Crisp Mint, so-called because of the colour of its leaves, can be cut even in hot
weather and won’t wilt or droop before you get it home."
Big Allotment Challenge Rob's ranges with Dobies
Pictures; Dobies
SAVE £3 on RHS The Half-Hour Allotment book
HERE'S your chance to save money on a new edition of a classic time-saving allotment book!
Everyone wants an allotment these days, but the difficulty of fitting it into a busy life is the reason most people give up in their first year.
However, in this new edition of the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) The Half-Hour Allotment, Lia Leedertz shows how it can be done with 30 minutes' work on weekdays - and weekends off!
Presented in a newly-illustrated format with hundreds of new photographs, this tried-and‐tested formula has weekly work plans and time‐efficient solutions for busy gardeners.
To order RHS The Half Hour Allotment at the discounted price of £13.99 including p&p* (RRP: £16.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG378.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
The winner of my The Half-Hour Allotment book competition is Loz, @ferrerorocker, from Leicester - well done and enjoy the book!
BOOK OFFER
Unusual pumpkins to grow for Halloween
IMAGINE these pumpkins in your garden for next Halloween!
Marina di Chioggia is an heirloom sea pumpkin from Chioggia, Italy, with large, deep blue-green fruits.
The rich, sweet flesh is a deep yellow-orange and is delicious baked or in pies.
The fruit weigh about 5kg each and are produced on vigorous vines, 10 seeds for £2.99.
The Kabocha squash (Japanese winter pumpkin) is rich in beta carotene, with a decent amount of vitamin C and iron.
The flesh near the rind is avocado green, giving way to a bright yellow-orange centre.
Roast them before you scoop out the flesh for soup or they are delicious stuffed - a multi purpose sweet and savoury squash.
Three plug plants for £6.99, both from www.suttons.co.uk.
Picture; Suttons
Italian seed supremos and the Eden Project join forces
FRANCHI Seeds 1783, the oldest family-run seed company in the world, has teamed up with the Eden Project to produce a sought-after range.
The Eden Project Mediterranean Biome Seed range has 32 traditional proven favourites comprising eight flowers, four herbs and 20 vegetable and salad varieties.
The Cornish tourist destination attracts over a million visitors a year. It's an educational charity and social enterprise that helps to connect us with each other and the living world.
In its Mediterranean Biome, flowers, herbs and veg grown from Franchi Seeds surround the Med Terrace restaurant.
This regional range has best sellers and gardener’s favourites complemented by some new, unique and hard-to-find traditional varieties.
Last year, the chick pea Principe, pictured, from Tuscany, was one of Franchi's most successful varieties ever. They make attractive plants, with feathery foliage and pretty veined flowers, followed by pods containing two chickpeas. Chick peas dry well for use in winter.
Other examples in the range include: sunflower Alto Giallo; Margherita Gigante (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum); mallow Malva sylvestris; Calendula Doppia Fiesta; blue chicory Di Treviso (Cichorium intybus); wild rocket Foglia d’Ulivo; basil Classico Tigullio; tomato Red Pear Franchi; Romaine lettuce Bionda Colloseo 4; squash Serpente di Sicilia; Artichoke Romanesco; red onion Tropea Rossa Lunga; lentils Lenticchia; borlotto bean Saluggia; and green French bean Ferrari.
Franchi Seeds has seven generations of experience over 231 years. Sold in the UK since 1999, it is the only garden centre packet seed company that locally produces more than 15 per cent of its own seeds for their own packets.
Most of the Franchi Seeds' varieties are unique to Italy or to the company. Don't think these varieties won't grow in the UK, as the firm is based in Bergamo, Northern Italy, which has the same rainfall as Cardiff, and Italy is 74 per cent alpine, so the varieties are used to extremes of weather.
Franchi Seeds are available from independents, Capital Gardens, Frosts, Squires, Wyevale and many more. It is the only seed brand in the UK approved by the Vegetarian Society and Slow Food.
Eden Project Mediterranean Biome Seeds have a RRP of £2.29. For more information, log on to www.italianseeds.co.uk and www.edenproject.com.
Picture; Franchi
Egg & Chips - aubergines and potatoes on 1 plant
FROM the creators of the Tomtato® comes Egg & Chips™ - another 2-in-1 cropping solution for home gardeners.
Thompson & Morgan has grafted aubergines (egg plants) and potatoes on the same plant, following the success of the hand-grafted Tomtato® (tomato and potato) in 2013.
The grafting process makes it easier to grow aubergines in the UK climate. The hardy, vigorous potato plant supports the more delicate aubergine far better than its own root system can in British soil. You won’t need a greenhouse – a sunny, sheltered spot in the garden will do.
Thompson & Morgan new product development manager Michael Perry said: “Egg & Chips™ is a real innovation. Even the smallest patio or balcony can accommodate a pot-grown Egg & Chips™ plant – pair it with a Tomtato® plant and you’ll have three easy to grow crops from just two pots.”
Above ground, you will harvest an average of three to four large aubergines. Below ground, harvest yields of up to 2kg of white potatoes.
There's no genetic modification - it's an all-natural, safe process.
Orders are now being taken for mail order despatch from April. With limited first year stock, Thompson &
Morgan recommends early ordering. 1x 9cm potted plant £14.99 or two for £19.99. Visit www.thompson-morgan.com/eggandchips or call 0844 573 1818.
Picture; Thompson & Morgan
£20 Raised Bed Revolution book - save £4 plus free P&P
JOIN the revolution and create a raised bed garden with inspiration from the ultimate guidebook.
Raised Bed Revolution, by Tara Nolan, shows you the advantages of gardening this way - economy of space, water conservation, portability and accessibility.
The book includes information about size requirements for construction, types of materials you can use, and creative tips for fitting the maximum garden capacity into small spaces - including vertical gardening. There's also advice on growing-medium options, rooftop gardening, planting tips and watering strategies.
Tara is a freelance writer from Toronto, Canada. For over six years, she was the web editor of CanadianGardening.com where she won a Canadian Online Publishing Award for the Seed to Supper newsletter. She is a member of the Garden Writers' Association and a co-founder of Savvy Gardening.
You can order Raised Bed Revolution, published by Cool Springs Press, at the discounted price of £16 including p&p* (RRP: £20), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code QPG436. *UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
The winner of the competition was Karl Peter Borowy, @ukraines, of Manchester.
WINNER
SAVE £3 on The Children's Garden book
THERE are many kids' gardening books around, but Matthew Appleby's The Children's Garden - Loads of Things to Make & Grow is a cut above.
Not only does it involve all the family, it's fun for everyone too - who wouldn't want to make a compost bin look like a REAL Dalek?
There's 52 projects to do right through the year, with activities including nature trails, cooking, crafting and growing plants and vegetables.
Ex-primary teacher Matthew (author of The Allotment Planner, 2013) has two sons and has tapped into his first-hand experience of parenting and teaching to devise projects for every week of the year.
Published by Frances Lincoln and released on March 3, you can also order The Children's Garden at the discounted price of £11.99 including p&p* (RRP: £14.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG413.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
The winner of my competition to win a copy is @GaynorM81 of Leicester - congratulations!
BOOK OFFER
New wool and bracken peat-free vegetable/salad compost
A NEW peat-free compost with power-packed nutrients, to help the UK’s growing flock of kitchen gardeners cultivating their vegetables and salads, has been launched by Dalefoot Composts.
The new Wool Compost for Vegetables & Salads has been blended using sheep’s wool and bracken from the Cumbrian Fells, containing an ideal balance of nutrients to grow veg, salads and fruit.
The range also includes Wool Compost (potting & containers), Wool Compost for Seeds, Double Strength Wool Compost, Wool Compost Ericaceous (for acid-loving plants) and Lakeland Gold (claybuster and mulch). All of the composts are made at Dalefoot Farm in the Lake District.
I absolutely love this compost range - I trialled some last year on greenhouse tomatoes and runner beans - both gave a fantastic crop. The water retention and the extra nutrients provided meant that the odd day you were too busy to water/feed didn't matter (no blossom end rot or splitting) - you can have a life and grow tomatoes!
Dalefoot's Seed Compost is great too - I used that last year on my sweet peas and they grew and flowered very well.
Lakeland Gold, which breaks down clay, has been an absolute boon in my border soil, which you can make pots out of it's so heavy.
Benefits include:
Natural water retention of wool fibres means up to 50 per cent less watering.
Wool provides a steady, slow sustained supply of nitrogen.
High levels of natural potash from the bracken promotes flowering and fruiting, healthy growth and hearty crops - NO need for any additional plant food.
Made from totally renewable resources with great environmental benefits.
Simon Bland from Dalefoot Composts said: “If you’re growing herbs on your windowsill, spuds in a potato sack, beans in your back garden or award-winning produce on an allotment, our new compost will give you the best results.
"We’ve worked hard to create the ideal mix of all-natural, peat free ingredients to grow the finest.
"Just like our other composts, Wool Compost for Vegetables & Salads has a similarly soft texture to peat but is completely carbon neutral, so can help you garden more sustainably. It also has the added bonus of up to 50 per cent less watering and no need for added plant food.”
A number of professional growers are using the range, as well as giant veg growers, including Ian Neale, who last autumn tipped the scales with the UK’s heaviest tomato. Many of the growers helped trial the new Wool Compost for Vegetables & Salad.
The range is available online at www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk from £10.99 per bag down to £7.50 each for orders of 50 bags plus delivery, and also a growing list of stockists.
Wool Compost is made on a 120-acre family farm in the Lake District fells by farmer Simon Bland and environmental scientist Jane Barker, using wool from their own flock and the Herdwick ‘wool-clip’ of neighbouring hill farmers, including National Trust tenants.
As well as helping the growing number of gardeners who want to switch to peat free, the compost finds a novel use for British wool - good news for struggling sheep farmers.
The use of bracken in Wool Compost is also beneficial. The spread of this aggressive, waist-high plant in the Lake District makes grazing difficult and impacts upon native species.