CHAPTER ONE
•
The Kitchen Garden
LIFE IS FULL OF EXPERIENCES, from that ‘oh wow’ first kiss to the time you laughed so hard you forgot how to breathe. But if you haven’t picked a tomato directly from the plant and popped it into your mouth, or plucked a single spinach leaf and just let it dawdle on your tongue, feeling the iron seep from it into your body, have you even lived?
As experiences go, spending time in the vegetable garden is something we could all benefit from. It’s great for mental health and stress relief, all with a whopping side order of healthy, nutritious veggies to share with the family.
Growing vegetables is that simple. Well, almost. The clever bits are in the details. And the details contained in this chapter are intended to support the gardener without intruding on that simplicity: there are tips to make tasks easier and less time-consuming; advice on how to increase your chances of success or to enrich the successes you may already have had; enough background information to help broaden your knowledge without it becoming tiresome; and some inventive ideas on self-sufficiency to spark your imagination.
Nobody, no matter where or how they live, should miss out on growing something to eat. That’s important. Really important. And it does raise an issue or two, especially if you haven’t got a garden or even an outdoor space. Okay, you’re not going to be able to grow a year’s worth of spuds if all you’ve got is a kitchen windowsill, but you will be able to grow some herbs. If you do have a space, even if it’s just a balcony or a yard, you would be staggered by how much you can produce with a few innovative tips, tricks and cheats. Even better, if you do have a garden, no matter how small, knowing how to maximize your productivity is part of the game, and part of the fun. This chapter is a kindly arm around your shoulder, gently leading you towards more profitable, tasty and fun gardening.
PLANNING YOUR GARDEN
There is a tremendous sense of excitement and anticipation involved in planning your kitchen garden. Among the first considerations are your friends and family and each person’s likes and dislikes – from the vegetables and salads they enjoy to the everyday meals, the dinners and barbecues as well as the special occasions you will share with them. Think not only about what your family eats but also how much of it is actually consumed. If only one of you likes spinach, then don’t plan an entire row as it will inevitably end up being wasted. The choice of which plants to grow is, of course, enormous. But whether you opt for exotic, rare and expensive varieties or everyday vegetables, such as carrots and peas, or even a combination of all of these, one thing is certain: your home-grown versions will taste so much fresher and crisper than their often bland and wilting shop-bought counterparts. Whatever your final decisions, planning your vegetable patch – whether it is in an allotment, a small plot in the garden or even a simple window box – is one of the most enriching experiences. And part of the pleasure lies in the knowledge that your garden will be unique.
When weighing up your options, another consideration, especially if your vegetable plot is close to the house, is to try and make your garden attractive. A serviceable plot might be good for the palate, but it’s unlikely to be good for the soul. Think about including some climbers – runner beans and cucumbers, for example – and growing them into a backdrop of uneven shapes around supports such as wigwams, trellises and arches (see page 17). Try and avoid planting in dead straight rows and break it up with different compositions here and there. Add colour and texture by mixing fruit, herbs, flowers and vegetables in the same area. But, above all, be inventive. The more you put into your garden, the more fun it is to create and the happier you will be with the result. However, if the plot is not near your house (if it’s an allotment some distance away, for example) and aesthetics is not a consideration, then obviously a more practical approach may be preferable, planting in straight lines to maximize the available space and get the most out of your land.
Every locality has its quirks. In some areas one plant will flourish while another will fall dismally short of expectation. Such peculiarities may be due to location, altitude, the amount of sunlight, the soil, any number of things. So it’s always advisable to walk through your neighbourhood to see what other gardeners are favouring – it’s no different from sitting in a restaurant and watching what the waiter brings out to the other diners before you pick from the menu yourself.
EQUIPMENT
If you have a garden, the chances are you will already have the basic gardening equipment, but there may be some additional hardware and software that you’ll want to consider acquiring. Some suggestions follow.
At least one spade
A four-tined garden fork to dig over the earth
A rake to level the soil
String to mark your lines
A trowel to plant
A hoe to keep the weeds at bay
A watering can or hosepipe to keep the plants moist
A sharp knife to cut and harvest
A basket to load with produce
Lengths of bamboo or long sticks for the climbers
Seeds from your favourite varieties of herbs and vegetables
Pre-germinated plants ready to go outside
Fruit canes
Using your own resources
Finally, a major planning consideration for any self-sufficient gardener lies in deciding what you can make or build yourself. Not only is it far cheaper to do this but watching your plants thrive in something you have created with your own hands is deeply satisfying. Also think about how you can reassign and recycle bits and pieces that might otherwise not find a home – anything from plastic bottles, containers and barrels to old car tyres, shower doors and discarded pieces of furniture can be put to good use in the kitchen garden. Old pallets are particularly useful and can be made into anything from cold frames and raised beds to doors.
When using wood to build for the garden, buy water-based paint or preservative to protect the wood, as anything else may leach chemicals into your soil and could contaminate your vegetables. It always pays to read the label, which should state whether the product is appropriate for use around the vegetable plot.
SITING YOUR PLOT
You cannot place too much importance on choosing the right spot in your garden or allotment for planting. Plants need plenty of sunlight but they also need protection from the wind, which can be a problem as you’ll need an area that’s both sheltered and exposed at the same time! This conundrum is worth spending some time thinking through as research shows that vegetables that are grown in a sunny, sheltered spot will increase in yield by nearly 30 per cent. Hedges and banks are good for protection as long as they are not too tall and cast shadows. Avoid planting at the bottom of a sharp slope as cold air will drop down it and could turn the area into a frost trap. If you are planning a window box, place it in a south-facing window or as close to one as possible. An alternative is to have moveable pots outside so that you can position them to follow the sun and hug a fence or bush for protection, without the worry of your plants spending half their lives draped in shadow.
PREPARING THE GROUND
The secret to growing healthy plants lies in the soil, which is composed of varying amounts of minerals and organic matter. When soil is good, only half of it is solid. The rest is made up of the air and water that moves through a honeycomb of chambers, known as soil pores, which allow the ground to effectively breathe in and out. If there is too much moisture or excessive compacting in the soil and these pores clog up, the air is unable to get through and the plant roots suffocate; if it is too lose and airy, water drains away without stopping around long enough to be used productively.
Most of the solid part of the soil is made up of minerals. These minerals fall into three main groups: sand, silt and clay. The texture of the soil will depend on the minerals that are dominant in your area. Soil is the most tactile substance in the world. Whether you’re planning a vegetable patch in the garden, in an allotment, in a window box or a tub on the front doorstep, get some of the earth and run it through your fingers. How does it feel? To get an idea what you are looking for, imagine the soil in your fingers is made up from small, medium and large grains. The larger the grain, the looser the earth will feel. A sandy soil with large grains will crumble and feel gritty and light whereas a clay soil full of tiny grains all clumped together feels cloying, heavy and almost certainly damp. Becoming familiar with your soil in this way by touching it and rubbing it will help you to understand what needs to be done to it in order to transform your garden into a fertile, thriving plot that will produce delicious fruit and vegetables all year round.
What you’re looking for in a good growing soil is a well-balanced mix, composed predominantly of sand to let the air in and out, but with a rich organic matter, such as compost, running through it that will be full of lovely nutrients and will help hold the moisture without clogging the pores. This type of soil is known as a loam. Remember that in order to develop and thrive, plants need the following six essential ingredients: good soil, sunlight, air, water, warmth and nutrients.
Nutrients
Although a good soil structure is essential, without the right nutrients for the plant to feed, growth will be poor and the yield disappointing. Fertilizers, compost and manure are all amendments to the soil that are rich in the three primary nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium) and the three sub-primary nutrients (calcium, sulphur and magnesium). Mixing in a good compost or manure will feed and enliven the soil into a rich, nutritious, fertile ground in which your plants will flourish.
If you have access to farmyard manure (from cows, pigs, chickens or horses, for example), allow it to rot down for at least 6 months before spreading it over the cleared bed as mulch (see page 29). This should be done in late winter, or you can dig it through in early spring. (Poultry manure is highly acidic and should not be used unless it is at least a year old, and even then only on soil with an alkaline pH.) Discarded straw bedding is highly prized by gardeners because it contains nitrogen-rich urine. If you are able to sort through the muck-heap yourself, always go for urine-soaked bedding – the more of this in your manure mix the better.
The alternative to farmyard manure is compost. This is a favourite topic of conversation for gardeners, and opinion on the best materials and production methods will differ almost as widely as on the subject of what plants to grow and how best to cook them. Compost is essentially a homemade mix of vegetable waste, garden waste (avoid using anything that may contain seeds) and paper that has been left to rot. Over the course of about a year the heap will produce bacteria and decompose naturally until it becomes crumbly and dark in colour and is a far cry from its original state.
Materials for use in compost (partial list)
Coffee grounds and tea leaves
Feathers
Grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, any trailing or climbing plant
Hay and straw
Leaves, pine needles, weeds and seaweed, peat and moss
Newspapers
Sawdust and wood ash
Vegetarian kitchen scraps and peelings
Materials to avoid in compost (partial list)
Cat and dog droppings and the contents of animal ‘litter trays’
Coal ash, charcoal and barbecue waste
Diseased or treated plants
Potato plants
Rhubarb leaves
Scraps of meat
Seeds and pips
Much of the nutrition for your plants will come from farmyard fertilizer or homemade compost – so be generous!
RAISED BEDS
Raised beds are purpose-built growing areas that are elevated from the ground. Neat, tidy, easy to maintain and attractive, this system has a lot to offer. It is perfect for gardens with poor soil or bad drainage because by creating a new growing area you can more readily add anything you like to it in order to overcome any shortcomings in the soil. Although it is possible to do this on ground level, the big advantage of raised beds is that they are confined, so everything you do to improve the soil is contained within its walls. They also intensify your efforts and make the garden, and you, more productive. If you have the space to set up three or four raised beds, crop rotation (see page 24) will be easier to introduce.
Building a raised bed
Raised beds need not be huge – anything between 15–45cm/6–18in high is fine (this height makes them easy to work). Railway sleepers, stout planks of wood or scaffold boards set two high in a square make excellent beds. To secure them together, either screw or nail a baton to the end of the plank, railway sleeper or scaffold board (whatever you are using) to form the inner corner – in other words, attach the planks to batons rather than to each other. If necessary, these types of raised beds can easily be dismantled at the end of the growing season. But if you are able to lavish more care and attention on the project, then a beautifully constructed square or circular permanent raised bed made from bricks and cement certainly takes some beating and will look really attractive in the garden.
If either of the options described above is too expensive or too much work, then to make a moveable raised bed, pick up a 205-litre/ 45-gallon plastic drum (recycling centres often have a stack of them to give away) and cut it in half around its middle with an electric jigsaw. Cut both ends off so that you are left with two stumpy, open tubes. Sink the drums a little way into the ground and fill them with composted soil. You can decorate them, paint them dark green or black, or site them in the flower garden where they’ll be surrounded by colour and hidden. Another option is to grow bushy plants around them, but be sure to allow for an access area.
CHEATS FOR SMALL-SPACE GROWING
When the growing gets tough, the tough get creative. All you need is to shift your eye. That 2-litre plastic milk container that normally goes straight into recycling, how about you cut it in such a way that when you lay it on its back, handle up, and take out a window where the front of the label would be, and then fill it with growing compost and plants? You’d be amazed what you can produce. Be sure to put some drainage holes in the bottom and sit as many of them as will fit on a tray on a nice, sunny windowsill. Plants that will grow well in this type of environment include ginger, spring onions, garlic, beetroot, kale, bell peppers, radishes, microgreens and herbs.
As soon as you realize that all you need to grow something is a pocket, suddenly a whole new world opens up. Got a sunny outside wall? String a washing line against it and tie old socks filled with potting compost along it, each with a hole strategically cut for the plant to pop its head out. This ‘growing against a wall’ has a million options, from the carefully trimmed milk containers mentioned above – only this time a line of them held up by stringing them together on an old broom handle and being suspended – to cloth shoe stores pinned up. Once you get the hang of it – I thank you – there’s no end to what you can repurpose and use.
If you have outdoor space for a pot or two, oh boy, you could have a bumper crop of tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes (zucchini), peas, carrots, even potatoes. One really cool idea is to grow loofah to use as a sponge, and it’s perfectly possible to grow enough that you’ll never need to buy a washing-up sponge or washcloth again. To grow loofah, simply treat them as you would a cucumber, so start off the seeds inside and transfer them out into your pot when the risk of frost has gone, and then grow them with supports. Harvest late in the season, core the fruits and hang them to dry.
On the subject of cool, a quick word on turmeric. Turmeric is incredibly good for you with so many health benefits, but you’re more likely to know it as the yellowy-golden colour in curries, rice and many other dishes. Well, it can now be ticked off on the self-sufficient list as it’s easy to grow. The trick is to use really good organic soil and plant a single turmeric stem, from which the plant will grow up top, though that’s of little interest as it’s down under the surface where all the fun happens. Turmeric is a rhizome, which means it has a complicated root structure made up of lots of nodes, which after about a year you can harvest – and you’ll be amazed how much turmeric you can gather from a single plant.
VEGETABLES, HERBS AND SALAD
Looking at vegetables in their botanical groups will assist you in the organization and planning of your garden. In particular it will help you to decide what to include in your annual vegetable plot and your crop rotation for the following year. The table below divides some of the most common and popular vegetables into their family groups.
Like every family, the vegetables within each group have similarities and there are therefore often standard procedures or rules to follow for planting and care. But for every rule there is usually an exception. Because each group is so diverse, it may well be that the varieties within each family have very different needs. For example, the cauliflower and radish are both members of the brassica family, but cauliflowers like to be started under cover around January to March whereas radishes should be sown direct (i.e. directly into the soil) any time between March and September. The golden rule is, therefore, always seek additional information for planting and care: read the seed packet, ask at a garden centre or, better still, join an online gardening forum.
| VEGETABLE FAMILIES | |
| Family | Vegetables |
| Alliums | Chives, garlic, leeks, onions, spring onions (scallions) |
| Brassicas | Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, radishes, swedes (rutabaga), turnips |
| Cucurbits | Cucumbers, melons, squashes |
| Leaves and greens | Chard, lettuces, spinach, swiss chard |
| Legumes | Broad beans, French beans, peas, runner beans |
| Roots | Beetroots, carrots, parsnips |
| Solanaceae | Aubergine (eggplant), chillies, (bell) peppers, potatoes, tomatoes |
Alliums
The onion family includes some 250 edible varieties worldwide. They are fairly robust plants and generally quite resistant to disease, which makes them strong candidates for any plot. Onions can be grown from seeds, transplants or sets (small bulbs pre-started into growth). They like cool temperatures, so you can start planting around the time of the last frosts (this will vary according to the region in which you live). However, the growth of onions is most influenced by the amount of sunlight the plants receive and they are therefore divided into three categories: long-day (14 hours of sunlight), intermediate (12 hours) and short-day (10–11 hours). It is therefore advisable to select the appropriate variety for your area, otherwise the crop may be disappointing.
Spring onions (scallions) should be sown direct. If you plant a handful of them every week or so throughout the spring they will give you constant summer and autumn crops. Also in this group is garlic. Can anyone ever have too much of this wonderful vegetable in their garden? Garlic should be planted in late autumn or early spring for a summer harvest. The more sun they get, the better the harvest will be. But beware the flowers – if too much of the garlic’s energy is concentrated on producing the flower, the size of the bulb is disappointing. The trick is to simply nip the flower off.
Leeks should be treated like a younger brother: be gentle, caring and understanding with them. Start them inside and transplant them out around June or July. When the white part of the leek shows about 5cm/2in above the ground, earth them up by giving them a little extra soil around the base – this will block out the light and produce a longer white shank.
Brassicas
The wonderful brassica family is diverse, colourful, unexpected and slightly quirky, with some very odd likes and dislikes. According to recent studies they are also incredibly good for you, with high levels of vitamins A and C as well as some very important cancer-preventing properties. But because brassicas are such a diverse group it is difficult to generalize about them, so always seek reputable advice if in any doubt about the planting or care of specific vegetables in the family.
Although they are biannual plants, brassicas are often cultivated as annuals as this gives them a certain amount of resilience during any cold snaps and also means they will grow quickly. They like to be outside and are quite comfortable in cool conditions, but they need to be started under cover. Brassicas enjoy plenty of water but prefer a well-drained soil. The soil should be neutral – that is, neither acid nor alkaline (around pH7). If your soil is acidic, sprinkle some lime or wood ash on the surface to reduce the acidity. These plants dislike unexpected company, so weeds have to be kept down by hoeing once a week. Although they look tough, pests upset them and disease can wipe them out. Clubroot is a particular enemy and mainly infests beds that have not been rotated (avoid planting brassicas in the same spot for at least two years). If your ground suffers from clubroot, start the brassicas off in a large pot until they are well established with strong, healthy leaves, before transplanting them out. Slugs, snails, cabbage fly and flea beetle are among the bugs to look out for. If possible, check them once a day when you water them to make sure they are not under attack, and pick off any freeloaders.
Cucurbits
Compared with the brassicas, cucurbits (also known as gourds) are normal, well-adjusted and easy to grow. Their likes are simply met with lots of sunshine and plenty of water and for this they will reward you with a crop that can, if they’re really happy, go beyond bountiful and verge ludicrously close to plot domination. The trick is to harvest them while they are young and sweet in summer.
Leaves and greens
From winter greens to summer salads, this family is the chief supplier of low-calorie, quick-growing, healthy, edible leaves. But best of all, your home-grown plants won’t be washed in chlorine, like most of the leaves on supermarket shelves. Wait until the weather is warm, sow the seeds direct, keep them well watered and they will love you for it. Harvest young and carefully and they will love you all over again with a second crop. Kale is great to grow – not only is it near-indestructible but it’s also high in iron, which means it’s incredibly good for you.
Vegetable lasagne
This Italian favourite made with your home-grown vegetables is ideal served with a fruity or wild leaf salad (see the Forager’s wild leaf salad on page 305 for inspiration). Adding eggs to the cheese sauce means that the sauce will rise and set slightly, allowing for easy cutting and serving.
1 recipe-quantity Ratatouille (see page 21)
450g/1lb spinach, blanched, drained and chopped
9 no-pre-cook lasagne sheets
FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE
50g/2oz/3½ tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
570ml/1 pint/2½ cups milk
50g/2oz mature hard cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp Dijon mustard
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat, then stir in the flour and mix to a paste. Cook for 1–2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually pour in the milk, stirring continually to prevent lumps forming. Once all the milk has been incorporated, return the pan to the heat and bring slowly to the boil, still stirring, until the sauce is smooth and has thickened, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season. Finally, beat in the cheese, eggs and mustard. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Lightly oil an ovenproof dish measuring 25 × 16 × 7.5cm/10 × 6½ × 3in and spread one-third of the ratatouille in the bottom. Top this with one-third of the spinach, then three of the lasagne sheets. Repeat the layers twice, ending with the remaining lasagne sheets. Pour the cheese sauce over the top and bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes until bubbling and brown.
Legumes
Legumes, which include peas, beans and pulses, are packed with protein. For thousands of years before meat became a staple in our diet, they were an essential alternative means of supplying protein. After grains, beans were, and probably still are, the most important food source in the world. Perhaps surprisingly, even the humble pea pod is packed with nutrients and makes a great addition to the diet (it can also be used to feed livestock). The benefits of legumes for the self-sufficient gardener do not stop short at their nutritional value and outstanding flavour (there is nothing quite like the taste of fresh runner beans – if they’re not a favourite of yours, the recipe for runner-bean chutney on page 268 may help you change your mind). They are also nitrogen fixers and are therefore good to include in your rotation plan to follow heavy feeders, such as potatoes, to breathe a little life back into the soil.
Any climbing plant can and should be grown against a support (runner beans, borlotti beans and some types of climbing tomatoes are obvious examples). For best results, start your beans in root-training containers (rather than buying them you can use the inside of a toilet roll) and plant them out when four leaves have formed. Set each plant close to a support – it should naturally curl itself around the support as it grows, although you may need to give it a helping hand by simply leaning the tendril against the support (see illustrations opposite).
Supports for climbing plants
Wigwam support
Arch support
Long row support
From-the-garden houmous
Fresh, vibrant and aromatic, who wouldn’t kill for a bowl of homemade, home-grown houmous served with some still warm-from-the-oven pitta bread for lunch? Traditionally houmous is made from a base of chickpeas, however in the self-sufficient world, that’s far from our only option, and these alternatives taste divine and work just as well, if not better. Broad beans, beetroot and borlotti beans all make fab houmous.
Broad bean and pea houmous
200g/7oz broad (fava) beans, podded
200g/7oz peas, podded
1 lemon, juiced
1 garlic clove
40ml/1½fl oz/2½ tbsp water
1 tbsp olive oil
sprigs fresh parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch the beans for 2–3 minutes until tender, add the peas for the last minute of cooking time. Drain and refresh in ice cold water. Remove the tough outer skin from each bean. Blend the shucked beans, peas, lemon juice, garlic, water and parsley together until smooth, adding more water if needed. Test for seasoning. Serve in a nice bowl, drizzling over the olive oil and finely grated zest of the lemon.
Beetroot, mint and feta houmous
500g/17½oz beetroot, roasted
150g/5½oz feta cheese
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
12 mint leaves
40ml/1½fl oz water
1 tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Slit the skins from the roasted beetroot, dice the flesh and blend along with the feta, yoghurt, mint and half the water until smooth, adding the rest of the water if necessary. Serve garnished with olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
Borlotti (or similar) bean and courgette houmous
250g/9oz shelled borlotti beans
1 tbsp olive oil
250g/9oz courgettes (zucchini)
2 garlic cloves
juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp smoked oil (see pages 282–3)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cook the beans in plenty of water for 10–15 minutes, until tender – do not add salt to the cooking water as this will make the beans tough. Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, add the olive oil (non-smoked), the chopped courgettes and garlic, cooking for 5–10 minutes until tender and just starting to colour. Drain the beans and let cool. Blend the beans along with the courgette mix and the lemon juice until smooth, adding a little water if necessary. Season and serve, garnished with the smoked oil.
Roots
The humble root vegetable will not only feed you and your family but also your livestock. Sheep, cattle and pigs will thrive on any of the roots, especially swedes (rutabaga) and turnips (always cook potatoes before feeding to pigs as they cannot absorb the nutrition from raw potatoes). Horses adore carrots and chickens will browse away happily at any of the leaves, though avoid potato leaves as they are poisonous. If you have livestock, it’s well worth setting aside a corner (or more) of a field and filling it edge to edge with root vegetables. Even if you haven’t any livestock, roots are the kitchen gardener’s friend because they are quick to grow, durable (carrots will live happily in the frost) and can be eaten whole or made into a root purée to add a deliciously different texture on the side of a roast dinner. (Radishes are good substitutes for turnips; they cook faster and can be harvested three weeks after planting.) Dig a little wood ash (to help guard against root maggot) into good draining soil and sow direct. For the smaller vegetables, clump them fairly close together in irregular intervals about your plot. Larger vegetables require a little bit more room to stretch. Water well and try not to let them dry out.
Carrot cookies for pooches
115g/4oz carrots
2 garlic cloves
1 egg
225g/8oz/1¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
115g/4oz/heaped 1 cup rolled oats
25g/1oz wheatgerm
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and grease two baking sheets. Put the carrots in a saucepan with some water and boil until tender. Tip the carrots into a blender, add the garlic, and blend to a purée. Tip the purée into a bowl, add the egg, flour, rolled oats and wheat germ and mix together. Shape the mixture into biscuits and place half of them on the baking sheets. (The rest will be cooked as a second batch.) Bake in the preheated oven for 30–40 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool while you cook the next batch.
Solanaceae
With the exception of potato and sweet potato, this is an indoor family. Solanaceae like to be on a warm windowsill looking out – if you grow them outside, they’re likely to disappoint you. Because this group tends to grow quite tall and produce large, heavy fruit (such as the tomato and the pepper), it needs lots of water and a good strong cane for support. The odd one out in the family (there’s always one) is the potato. Chit potatoes undercover by gathering egg boxes, or egg trays if you can get them, and put a single potato in each segment where the egg would normally sit. After a few weeks they should begin to germinate and shoots will appear. Plant them in a trench with the shoot up, cover over and lay a line of compost or manure over the top. If you live in an area where sacks of potatoes can be bought cheaply at the market or garden centre, concentrate on growing an unusual variety, such as pink fur apple potatoes.
Ratatouille
This is a great way to get a meal from the garden. Serve immediately in a bowl with crusty bread to dip into the juices, or pour it over cooked pasta (ideally homemade – see page 87). This recipe can be varied by using mushrooms in place of the aubergine, courgettes and peppers.
900g/2lb mixed red and yellow tomatoes (a mix of cherry and large tomatoes is fine)
2 plump garlic cloves, chopped
2–3 tbsp olive oil
1 aubergine (eggplant), chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 courgettes (zucchini), chopped
1 red and 1 yellow (bell) pepper, halved, deseeded and cut into strips
handful of basil leaves, torn
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Put the tomatoes and garlic in a shallow ovenproof dish, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt. Roast in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and are starting to shrivel slightly. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat another tablespoon of the oil and sauté the aubergine over a moderate heat until softened and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large saucepan. Repeat with the remaining vegetables, cooking one type at a time and adding more oil as necessary, until all the vegetables are in the saucepan. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and add to the saucepan, then cook the mixture over a high heat, stirring, to reduce slightly. Remove from the heat, season to taste and add the basil before serving.
Seeds
Most vegetables are grown from seed and the varieties available are outstanding, although you may find supermarkets and garden centres limit their stock to the most popular few. For a wider variety try mail-order seed catalogues or, even better, though possibly not for a beginner, think about joining an online seed exchange at one of the many online gardening forums. Gardeners who intend to gather their own seeds need to ensure that the plants are not F1 hybrid variety, as the seeds gathered from these are infertile. (An F1 hybrid is the off-spring that is produced by crossing two different varieties of the same plant species; the hybrid is bred to eliminate the bad characteristics and enhance the good characteristics of the parent plants.)
When planting a seed it is important to establish where your plant would like to be started. There are three choices: in situ, in a nursery seedbed or under cover. In situ is when the seed is planted straight into the plot, where it will remain undisturbed until harvesting. Roots should be planted in situ as they don’t take kindly to transplanting. A nursery seedbed is a safe, well-protected area where seeds can germinate into seedlings. Many of the brassicas benefit from starting in a seedbed. The downside to the seedbed lies in the temptation to pack it too tight in the knowledge that the seedlings will be transplanted as soon as they are strong enough, and so it can be quite high-maintenance, with lots of fiddling to ensure overcrowding does not become a problem.
The other option is to start the seeds under cover in a greenhouse, polytunnel, conservatory or on the kitchen windowsill. By starting them inside, you’re essentially extending the growing season for the more tender and delicate plants, giving them a chance to germinate in a controlled environment without the risk of a cold snap killing them off. If you own a wine-making kit, a good tip for the self-sufficient gardener is to borrow the heat-pad from your kit and use it to keep a constant temperature going under a seed propagator. A heated seed propagator is a container (sometimes self-watering) that is heated from underneath and enables you to control humidity and thereby encourage germination.
CROP ROTATION AND GOOD GARDEN MANAGEMENT
Crop rotation involves planting vegetables in their botanical families and moving them around to different parts of the plot every year in an organized sequence. This system enhances soil fertility and soil structure, prevents soil depletion and disease, reduces soil erosion and pest build-up, and controls pests and weeds.
Put a plant in the ground, allow it to grow and it will inevitably attract insects and probably some sort of soil disease. With luck, the infestation will take a while to become large enough to be a problem, by which time the plant will already have been harvested. With good management and a keen eye, the nasties won’t even have their feet under the table. However, once they’ve arrived they won’t leave – they hibernate, hide and wait for next year. Plant the same plant in the same place the following spring and the insect or disease is sitting pretty, with last year’s head-start giving it ample opportunity to really get a grip and ruin your crop. The solution to this problem, and one that has been practised for centuries, is to rotate the different vegetable families around the plot, never planting the same crop in the same place two years on the trot, and thus cutting the pest’s lifecycle. This will also help to keep the ground fertile and the weeds down.
A standard four-year rotation plan is displayed in the table below.
Although this plan is ideal because it gives a good, four-year gap between each family, it is only effective in a fair-sized plot (around 15m/50ft). If you have a small plot, a four-year plan may be impractical and ineffectual – the pests you have confused by planting runner beans in the spot where potatoes used to be will only be bewildered long enough to figure out that all they need to do is trundle a short distance to where the spuds are now. But if you do have a small plot and it’s not possible to rotate, then don’t stress about it: be as flexible as you can, try not to follow one vegetable with another of the same family and keep an extra-wary eye out for trouble. If a problem flairs up with one particular family then consider not growing it for a couple of years – check back to the rotation plan to see what would be good to grow in its place.
COMPANION PLANTING
Companion planting involves growing different crops close together so that they help each other in pollination, the absorption of essential nutrients and pest control. So companions are plants that grow well together and offer some form of protection, either by attracting the good bug or deterring the bad bug. Examples include growing garlic among carrots to deter root fly, or dill and sweetpeas among climbers – dill to encourage aphid-eating hoverflies and sweetpeas to enhance pollination (their strong scent attracts bees).
Alliums: The onion family has a wonderfully deterring scent and should be planted with brassicas or potatoes. Favourite companions are carrots and cabbage – the combined scent of these plants grown together confuses the pests that are common to each (the carrot fly, cabbage fly and onion fly). Alliums do not like legumes.
Brassicas: This motley crew is aided enormously by alliums, nasturtiums, geraniums, rosemary and by other strong-smelling herbs and flowers, which help to deter the cabbage-white butterfly. Favourite companions are nasturtiums and cabbages. Brassicas do not like Solanaceae.
Cucurbits: This group is friendly with legumes and many of the salads, such as radish and lettuce. Avoid planting with alliums and strong-scented herbs as they can take on the smell. Cucurbits love nasturtiums as they attract bees, which help enormously with pollination and therefore with crop yield.
Leaves and greens: This group gets on well with most, but in particular they like legumes and many of the same companions as brassicas. Favourite companions are spinach with cauliflower.
Legumes: Known collectively as green manure for their nitrogen-giving properties, these are great companions for most, but can overpower many of the Solanaceae. Sweetpeas among the climbers will attract higher pollination. Avoid growing legumes with alliums.
Roots: Living underground, roots are reasonably happy on their own, although carrots seem to thrive in the company of sage. Avoid planting too close to alliums – even though alliums will deter carrot-root fly, they will contaminate the flavour. When harvesting, sprinkle chopped chives or onion skins on the ground to deter carrot-root fly as the blighters can smell a freshly dug carrot from miles away.
Solanaceae: Always start with a positive … they get on well with alliums! Other than that, Solanaceae are pretty moody and with a few exceptions, it’s best to grow them (in the UK at least) on their own, inside or in containers or grow bags. Among the exceptions are potatoes, which, once chitted, should be planted outside into slightly acidic soil (never attempt to reduce the acidity in the ground for potatoes). Chitting is a method used to start off a potato by exposing it to daylight and allowing the little nodules, which will later become the shoots, to develop on the outer skin. If you keep your crop of potatoes together in one spot, they don’t seem to mind company they can see, as long as they don’t have to touch.
GROWING IN A SMALL SPACE
Lack of space has to be the biggest complaint among gardeners. If you have a salad box on the windowsill, you’ll need two. If you have a vegetable plot 3m/10ft wide in the garden, it could do with being twice the size. And allotments – who can possibly struggle by with just one? Yet when you put your mind to it, you’ll be amazed what you can grow, where you can grow it and just how much you can produce.
First of all, think about what’s local. If a lot of people in your area are growing potatoes, then don’t grow them yourself – utilize your precious space for something more interesting that your family loves and is not so easy to get fresh. Salad is the prime example. Freshly picked salad tastes unlike anything you empty out of a bag from the shops, so grow a micro salad in a window box. The ‘cut and come again’ varieties are perfect and are ready to be picked again in a little over three weeks. If properly cared for they should give three crops. If you have two boxes and sow them in succession you will never be without salad. To jazz up a dull salad box, add peas (and pick them as shoots), beet, perpetual spinach and rocket (arugula) to the boxes. Among the other plants that thrive and look colourful and pretty on a windowsill are herbs and chillies (which also dry and preserve well).
Children love the patio garden because so much of what they plant is ready to see and pick so quickly. It’s a great way to spark their interest and teach them the first steps in self-sufficiency and grow-your-own. If you have a courtyard or patio, no matter how small (as long as it gets some sun), fit a couple of hanging baskets, which are ideal for strawberries and tumbling cherry tomatoes. An apple tree can be trained to grow against a wall and will look stunning. Blueberries grow well in patio containers, as do runner or climbing beans when planted up canes in a wigwam arrangement (see page 17). Carrots also thrive in deep patio containers, which is the method used by most prize-winning carrot growers. Each champion grower will have his or her own favourite mediums to produce the best carrots, but a sandy soil that has not been recently fertilized seems to be particularly good.
Tyres are good for growing potatoes and provide a microclimate in which the plants can thrive. Not only are they wonderfully space-saving, they are also easily available and generally free (and therefore ideal for the self-sufficient gardener). Sit a couple of car tyres one on top of the other and fill them with a good, rich composted soil. Press four chitted potato plants about 10cm/4in or so into the soil and water after planting. When the green shoots reach 10–13cm/4–5in, add another tyre and fill it with soil. You can continue this process with as many as four or five tyres, adding more soil each time. With more than five or six tyres, however, it is a struggle to keep the plants well watered. When you want to harvest the potatoes, take off the tyres one by one and you should be rewarded with a bountiful crop in each section. An alternative to this procedure is to buy organic potato grow bags.
THE ONE-HOUR-A-WEEK GARDENER
The concepts of ‘do-nothing farming’ and the ‘no-work garden’ were introduced by a Japanese farmer, Masanobu Fukuoka, in the late 1930s. His methods were based, among other things, on the belief that plants take 95 per cent of their nutrition from the air and only 5 per cent from the ground. According to him it therefore seemed pointless cultivating the ground prior to planting. Fukuoka’s argument was compelling and many people have championed his cause over the years, kicking back in an armchair to watch telly and do absolutely nothing in the garden (although of course we now have a far greater understanding of what a plant requires for healthy growth – nutrients, correct soil pH, and so on). The downside to this back-to-nature approach is that your plot ends up looking incredibly ugly. So if a ‘no-work garden’ isn’t really practical, you could opt to become a ‘one-hour-a-week’ gardener, which requires no fuss and minimum effort.
Preventing weeds
One obvious way to avoid the task of constant weeding is to tend towards planting crops such as carrots and onions that don’t like excessive weeding and prefer to be left undisturbed. But as most of the work in the garden involves weeding, the more you can do to prevent weeds growing in the first place, the less you will need to do to keep them down – and the most effective way to do this is by mulching.
Mulching
Mulch is a thick layer of compost, well-rotted manure, bark, grass clippings, straw or gravel (for a path) that is spread across the surface of weeded soil (mulch may prevent weeds, but it won’t kill them off if they’re already established). This layer (which should be between 5–15cm/2–6in deep) forms a barrier that stops weeds from accessing sunlight and oxygen and therefore prevents their growth, which does somewhat shore up Mr Fukuoka’s claim that 95 per cent of nutrients are taken from the air. You can cover the whole of a plot in mulch at the end of the growing season. Use an organic mulch: the worms will work it into the soil and it will be perfect come next spring, when all you will need to do is re-mulch around your plants to prevent further weeds.
Wooden boards
Another labour-saving idea to prevent weed growth is to lay wooden boards between your rows of plants – scaffold boards work particularly well. Avoid using treated wood as this could cause soil contamination.
Homemade irrigation systems
One of the great time wasters in the garden is the nightly marathon of watering the plants. You can minimize labour and save water by setting up your own simple hosepipe irrigation system. Before planting your crops, drill some small holes in a hosepipe and bury it beneath the ground (not too deep – the water from the pipe needs to target the roots of your plants. The hosepipe should snake back and forth below your plot. Plug one end of the pipe and fix the other end to your rainwater butt. Set the tap to a slow drip so that the plants will receive a gentle yet steady supply of water. (A more temporary measure is simply to lay the hosepipe on the surface of the soil.) You can take this idea a step further by filling a hessian sack with manure and suspending it in your water butt so that the garden is watered and fertilized at the same time.
PROTECTING YOUR PLANTS
We’ve all been there – peering through the living-room window out into the garden and watching the rain hammer down on to our vulnerable seedlings or, worse still, seeing a white blanket of frost creeping across the garden as though someone is laying out a freshly laundered sheet. And while you stand by and witness all your hard work slowly dying before your eyes, your one and only thought is that nobody had predicted this weather! Well, if it’s the weather’s job to be unpredictable, then it’s the gardener’s job to be prepared. So what follows is all about protection and creating an artificial climate for your plants.
Greenhouses
Greenhouses are an absolute delight in the garden, not least because they iron out a lot of the wrinkles in a beginner’s knowledge and allow anyone to grow for the table virtually year-round. They offer plants light and warmth and can also be heated. The best greenhouses are anchored on to a concrete floor, which eliminates the temptation to grow directly in the floor (which is essentially the earth in your garden). Growing plants in the same place on the floor of your greenhouse for a couple of years running will cause the ground to become ‘sick’ – that is, infested with pests and disease, over-worked and no longer productive. A concrete floor avoids this danger and forces you to plant in pots or grow bags.
Seeds in a greenhouse come on a treat as early as February or March, which means that your growing season is extended and your plants are ready to go outside when it starts to warm up. However, there is a caveat in moving plants from a nice warm greenhouse out into the elements, and you will need to acclimatize them over a period of a week to 10 days (see step 4, overleaf).
Steps to growing seeds in a greenhouse
1. Germinating: Plant seeds in a seed tray or seed propagator – be sure to read the label on the seed packet to determine the best potting medium for the type of seed. Keep them warm, well-watered and in as much sunlight as possible (never site your greenhouse in the shade).
2. Pricking out: Once the seedlings have pushed up through the surface and developed some nice green leaves, then it’s time to move them into larger growing quarters. The usual route is from the propagator or seed tray to a 10cm/4in pot, then to a 20cm/8in pot and from there to a grow bag or garden plot.
3. Potting: When it comes to potting, the gardener’s maxim is ‘large plant, small pot’. Growing a large plant in a small pot encourages the development of a good root ball because the roots are more contained, which then makes it easier to pot on. When transferring your plants, take care never to move a dry plant. Always water well, leave for an hour or so and then move the plant.
4. Hardening off : This term relates to acclimatization. Imagine you’ve just returned from a holiday in the sun: you step off the plane, walk through customs and into arrivals with your T-shirt barely covering your tan. Almost immediately every hair follicle on your body stands to attention screaming, ‘It’s freezing!’ Whip a plant out from the warmth of the greenhouse and the shock is much the same, only it doesn’t fumble through the suitcase for a fleece, it shrivels up and dies. The trick is to let it get used to the new environment over a period of a week to 10 days by moving it to a halfway house, such as a cloche or cold frame (see pages 36, 38). Some plants can be taken out during the day and brought back into the greenhouse at night for a week to 10 days to harden off.
Once the seeds are out, your greenhouse becomes home to all the delicate vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, salad, chillies, strawberries and aubergines (eggplants). When these are done, it’s the turn of the winter crops, such as winter salad plants and cut-and-come-again seedlings to be started off in the greenhouse. Although something of a luxury, if your goal is to become self-sufficient in salad and vegetables through most of the year (preserving the excess for the inevitable months when nothing is ready), then a greenhouse is ideal.
Polytunnels
A cheaper alternative to a greenhouse is a portable polytunnel. One of its advantages is that it’s moveable, so you can plant straight into the soil – in other words, the soil won’t become ‘sick’ as it can be rested and left open to the elements. Half the battle with polytunnels lies in siting them correctly. In the summer they can become like bake-houses, with stifling humidity; unlike greenhouses, they do not have the luxury of windows for ventilation. If you can buy or build a poly-tunnel with a door at either end, so much the better (see below). If so, site the tunnel so that the air will flow right through the structure, in one door and out the other – although make sure it is well secured to the ground as a gentle airflow can soon turn into a vicious wind and pluck up your tunnel like a kite. Also bear in mind that if the length of the tunnel is placed east to west, direct sunlight will beat down on the south-facing side throughout the day. In the height of summer this can be a problem, so think about positioning it north to south.
In winter a polytunnel can be transformed into a poultry house and is therefore a tremendous asset to the self-sufficient gardener. This can be achieved quite simply by edging the inside with straw bales. However, the structure is not fox proof, so be sure to construct a compound around it. The polytunnel should be moved to a different place the following spring as poultry manure is highly acidic and should not be used to fertilize the ground unless it’s at least a year, preferably 18 months old.
Building a fixed polytunnel
Building your own polytunnel takes a little time and effort, but the investment will allow you to reap rewards in years to come. Before erecting any permanent or semi-permanent structure, always check with your local council whether planning permission is required.
1. Decide how large you would like your structure to be. The smallest effective polytunnel is 2.5m/8ft feet long by 1.8m/6ft wide, but they can be as large as 12m/40ft, or even 18m/60ft in length.
2. Clear and level the ground.
3. Using string and wooden stakes, mark out the length and width of your polytunnel (in other words, determine its ‘footprint’). Use the ‘Pythagoras 3:4:5’ rule to create a 90° angle for the corners of your structure (this is the standard rule for ensuring neat, right-angled corners – references to it can be sourced online). To do this, start from one of the corners, measure 1m/3ft along the width and mark it. Return to the same corner and measure 1.2m/4ft along the length and mark it. You now need to create a diagonal measurement of 1.5m/5ft between these two marked points in order to achieve an angle of exactly 90°. You may need to adjust your two markers several times (moving them slightly in or out) before achieving the diagonal. When you’ve done this, measure along the length of your tunnel in multiples of 1.2m or 1.5m/4ft or 5ft, marking each interval. These divisions will create the spacing for the frame. Now measure your desired width. As long as the corner you have measured is exactly 90° and both lengths and both widths have been measured accurately, then you will have achieved a perfect oblong for your polytunnel.
4. Then take a length of scaffold tubing, begged from a local building site or scaffolding company. It’s fine to use bent or damaged tubing and companies are often glad to be rid of it. Cut the tubing into 60cm/24in lengths. Using a heavy hammer and a wood block to protect the top of the tubes, drive the tubes about 45cm/18in into the ground (with about 15cm/6in protruding) at the marked intervals of 1.2m or 1.5m/4ft or 5ft along each of the long sides. Ensure that the tubes are sticking up as straight as possible out of the ground.
5. Next fit the hoops. Metal hoops tend to heat up excessively on hot summer days causing the plastic covering around them to sag and melt. Another disadvantage is that metal is expensive. An alternative is to use plastic mains water piping, which won’t melt the covering and is cheaper and easier to work with. Cut it into identical lengths so that when it’s bent around the centre to form the arc of the tunnel, the highest point is approximately 2m/7ft above ground level. The number of hoops you need will correspond to the length of the tunnel and to the number of scaffold tubes at your marked points along one of the lengths. Fit the piping over the scaffold tubes in the ground (see 4, above) to form arches from one side of the tunnel to the other. Drill a hole through both the water pipe and the scaffold tube and run a screw through them to ensure that they are fastened firmly together. Secure all the hoops to the pipes in the same way.
6. Now for a spot of carpentry. To construct the doorframe: at either end of the tunnel, fit two wooden uprights, roughly the length and width of a standard door, from the ground to the top of the tunnel. Secure a wooden strut across the top of the uprights (attach with nails, wire or string – whatever works best). Then take two lengths of wood underneath the hoops from one end of the tunnel to the other and fix them with nails or screws to the top of each of your door uprights. Starting at the bottom of the door uprights, run skirting boards all the way around either the inside or the outside of the polytunnel (either way is fine).
7. The polythene for the cover comes in huge rolls (approximately 6m/20ft wide) and can be sourced online or from stockists such as building suppliers. (Cheaper sources include building sites and anyone building an extension – builders use it to keep structures watertight before the walls and roof are in place, and later discard it on a skip. Don’t worry about any small tears or rips in the polythene as these can be taped up.) Cover the entire frame of the tunnel with polythene. Fix the polythene to the frame (the skirting, the sides and the top of the tunnel) using flat-top nails, pins or even drawing pins. Ensure that the tunnel is well secured to the floor so that it won’t get lifted up by a strong wind.
The completed frame of a polytunnel (without polythene cover)
8. To make the door: design a simple door with two panels – the bottom panel should be made with polythene and the top panel with gauze, to provide ventilation. Attach the panels to the doorframe with whatever fasteners seem to work best with the materials you are using. The polythene at either side of the doors at each end of the tunnel should be folded around the supporting structure and then pinned securely in place.
Cloches
Also known as a hot cap, a cloche (from the French for ‘bell’) is a small cover or house for individual plants that have been bedded out in the plot. Designed to protect the plant and give it a head start, it can be used for any young seedlings that you feel may be vulnerable. In particular, it is excellent for spring-planted brassicas and salad leaves through most seasons of the year. By using a cloche on a newly transplanted plant that has been brought outside after having been started inside, you give the plant time to adjust to its new home and surroundings. A cloche is therefore a bit like a halfway house, but one that you can remove once the plant is happy and stable.
When deciding at what stage to move your plants outside, bear in mind that if you wait until after blossoming (when the plant is older, hardier and the growing season is likely to have moved on and it will therefore be warmer) the chances are that the yield may be quite small; if you are able to move your plant outside prior to blossoming and give it an environment in which it can acclimatize, the crop is likely to be more substantial. The benefits of cloches are that they offer good ventilation (always leave the top open), protection from many bugs and nasties, insulation from harsh weather conditions, such as frost wind and rain, and you can buy them cheaply or make your own.
Cloches can be used to protect different plants throughout the year, for example:
Winter: Oriental greens such as pak choi and leaf radish, cut-and-come-again winter salad and, towards the end of winter, peas.
Spring: Seedbed sowings such as beans and most of the brassicas.
Summer: Peppers, tomatoes, Mediterranean salad leaves and sweetcorn.
Autumn: Hardy salads, beets and lettuce.
Making a cloche
There are several simple ways to make a cloche by re-using old bottles and containers. One option is to remove the lid from, then cut the base off a large plastic drinking bottle and lower it, base first, over the plant, making sure all the leaves are tucked safely inside. But in my experience the best method is to cut the bottom off an old glass demi-john. Glass cloches not only look better but offer far more protection than plastic ones.
To remove the bottom from a glass demijohn, fill the sink with approximately 5cm/2in of very cold water and sit the demijohn in the middle of it. Allow it to stand in the cold water for a while so that the glass will cool. Then pour boiling water direct from the kettle into the demijohn all the way up to the line of cold water. When the hot water from the inside meets the line of cold water on the outside, a neat seam will split all the way around the glass and the bottom should drop out. If it doesn’t work for any reason (atmospheric conditions, the thickness of the glass or perhaps the temperature of the water), allow the demijohn to cool naturally back to room temperature and try again. You can ‘cut’ a demijohn at any height simply by adjusting the amount of cold water in the sink and filling the demijohn with boiling water to the same level.
Cold frames
Cold frames are small, sloping enclosures made from wood but with a glass lid. They make ingenious use of the sun’s solar energy: the frames are positioned to face the south, the sun warms the air and the soil within the frame, and the glass prevents the heat from escaping. Because cold frames can get quite hot, it is a good idea to invest in a thermometer so that you can regulate the temperature by sometimes propping up the lid to allow a little cool air in. The cold frame is somewhere between a greenhouse and a cloche and is used for hardening off plants coming out of the greenhouse, bringing on seedlings in seed trays for later transplanting, helping hardy salads through the winter, bringing on early spring seedlings, keeping a winter supply of fresh herbs and even for even planting in situ. Although cold frames can be purchased, many gardeners opt to build their own.
Building a cold frame
If you have a fence or wall against which you can affix your cold frame this is ideal as it will provide a rigid back for stability and will also mean you have only three sides to build. However, the frame must face the south in order to receive the best of the sun. Salvaged window frames or shower doors make excellent lids or you can use polythene on top of chicken wire (the wire prevents the polythene from sagging in the rain). It is always best to build the frame to match the size of your lid. If you don’t have a south-facing wall or fence and are building a frame with four sides, the frame should be three planks of wood high at the back but only two planks high at the front so that it will slope forwards. First, measure your lid and cut the planks of wood to match the size of the lid (the following instructions assume an oblong shape). When assembled, the frame should be very slightly smaller than the lid so that the lid overlaps the frame. Cut five planks for the sides and five planks for the front and back sections. Then assemble the frame in three stages:
1. Bottom section: Take four planks, position them into an oblong and screw them together using corner posts or batons. (The corner posts, like the frame itself, should be two planks high at the front and three planks high at the back.) This will give you your base.
2. Middle section: Take four more planks and screw them into the corner posts (as 1, above) so that your cold frame is now an oblong of four planks high.
3. Top section: Now take a side plank and cut it in half diagonally so that you are left with two angled planks that will slope down from the back to the front of the frame. Screw them to the front and back planks via the corner posts. Fit the back length and screw it in place, along with the ‘T’-hinges for the lid. Finally, secure two wooden pivots to the inside of the side panels towards the front of the frame so that the lid can be propped open to let air in and regulate the temperature. The pivots should be able to swing up and down so that the lid can be closed (see illustration).
A basic cold frame design
PERMACULTURE
Originating in 1970s Australia, permaculture looked to shift our approach in agriculture away from the harsh battle of us against nature – and the attempt to somehow tame her into doing our bidding and produce what we wanted the land to produce regardless of the consequences – to one of working with nature, and doing so by observing the rhythms and systems of the planet and finding ways of fitting in with that. Harmony, not discord. Permaculture promised sympathy with the planet, and with that it promised sustainability.
This original concept, this permanent agriculture, has over the years expanded to mean so many more things, and there are now many definitions, from small- to whole-life thinking. But in a nutshell, permaculture is the method by which we can grow our food and live our lives in line with natural, sustainable ecosystems, with emphasis on earth care, people care and fair share.
There are some really interesting sites in the resource section of this book that I urge you to check out. But for this chapter, we just need to look at permaculture from a home garden point of view and what that means, why it’s important and how it can help us and the environment.
Now of course if you have a large open space, then creating your own compost, germinating your own seedlings and growing your own food in sympathy with the natural environment is obvious. But not everyone is that lucky. However, anything you can do takes a little away from mass production and is a benefit, so even if you can produce your own food for one day a week, or even one day a month, that’s something special. It tastes so much better, and it’s helping the planet.
PICKING AND EATING THROUGH THE SEASONS
Although you can preserve salad, fruit and vegetables in many wonderful ways (see pages 260, 276, 284, 287), there is nothing quite like picking and eating fresh produce. Part of the skill involved in self-sufficiency lies in finding ways to do this through as many months of the year as possible. Greenhouses, polytunnels, cloches and cold frames are all aids for the kitchen gardener, but so is the kitchen itself with its warm windowsill. In fact, with a little planning and forethought, it is quite possible to have something fresh on your family’s plate every single week of the year.
Storing fruit and vegetables
With proper storage some fruits and vegetables can be kept fresh for quite long periods. Some examples follow.
Apples: Wrap them individually in brown paper and store in the dark – it is important that they do not touch each other.
Onions and garlic: Lift them and allow them to dry until their skins go papery. Then plait or string them together in the traditional manner and hang up. (Information on plaiting and stringing can be obtained online or from a garden centre.)
Potatoes: Lift them and allow to dry for a day or two before storing. On no account should they be washed. Any potatoes that are free from blemish can be stored in a paper sack and kept in a cool place throughout the winter. However, they must be protected from frost as this will ruin their texture – an old blanket or garden fleece tucked round the filled sacks will suffice.
Swedes (rutabaga): Brush them clean and, when dry, store in a net.
NATURAL PEST CONTROL
Attempting to keep pests and unwanted animals away from your prized vegetables long enough for them to grow can sometimes feel like you’re fighting a losing battle. Slugs and snails slither their filmy trails of destruction across your leaves and seedlings, leaving nothing but sad-looking lines of empty stalks sticking out of the ground. Cabbage-white caterpillars will lay their eggs and decimate your brassicas as fast as look at them. Foxes, moles and squirrels can cause devastation by digging, using the garden as a toilet and eating the vegetables and seedlings. But effective pest control can be achieved by introducing a combination of companion gardening (see page 25), nightly slug patrols and organic and other deterrents.
Beer and citrus traps
Slugs and snails adore beer (though not lager; it’s the smell of the yeast that lures them) and the thought of a drink will entice them anywhere. Simply dig a hole in the soil near your plants, fill a small container with beer and place it into the ground so that the lip of the container is level with the ground. If all goes according to plan, the slug will be attracted by the beer, fall in and drown! Proprietary traps are also available online or from garden centres. Traps should be checked and replenished every day. If the thought of giving away good beer fills you with horror, an alternative is to use upturned citrus shells from halved and squeezed grapefruits or oranges. For some reason the slugs crawl under the shell and you can then pick them up and dispose of them (although I have never found this as effective as the beer trap).
Brassica collars
Brassica collars are disks placed around the neck of vulnerable plants to stop cabbage-root fly. They resemble the pleated collars that were worn around the necks of well-to-do ladies and gentlemen in the 16th and 17th centuries. Collars for plants can either be purchased or made quite easily by cutting circles in old carpet or lino of about 10cm/4in in diameter, with one radius snip from edge to centre so that it will fit on the plant. Slip the collar around the base of the plant and press firmly into the soil. They are more effective than you might think.
Broken eggshells
Back to the dear old slugs. These molluscs are responsible for more wholesale destruction in the vegetable plot than just about all the other blighters put together, so the more you can do to halt their progress the better. Next time you make an omelette or anything with eggs in it, put the shells aside to dry. When you have a dozen or so, crush them in a pestle and mortar until they’re in bits (but not powdery). Sprinkle the crushed shells around the base of tender plants to deter the slugs from slithering across them.
Male urine
Male urine is a great deterrent for foxes. (The hormones in female urine prevent it from being effective, which is probably good news for the girls.) Use this method sparingly and avoid making the outside of your chicken house or vegetable garden smell like a public urinal!
Mole traps and repellers
Mole traps typically take the form of tunnels that are placed into the mole’s burrow – they either flip closed when the mole runs through them or have a scissor mechanism that grabs hold of the animal’s body. Traps should be checked daily. Moles have a very canny sense of smell, so a newly bought trap or one that has been excessively handled should be buried in the ground for a couple of weeks before use. Mole repellers are a humane way of preventing the burrowing beasties from tearing up your garden – they emit sound waves that the moles find discomforting.
Rhubarb leaves
The vibrant pink to green stalks of the rhubarb may be delicious in jams and desserts (see page 290) but the wide leaves that fan out at the top of the stalks are poisonous. Normally discarded (never on to the compost heap), the leaves are of no use to man or beast – or, as it turns out, to aphids. Take a couple of the leaves and tear them into a bucket of water. Let the mixture stand for a day or two, then strain and spray it directly on to the affected leaves. The leaves of the stinging nettle are also effective if used in the same way. When harvesting leaves that have been treated in this way, take extra care to wash them thoroughly before eating.
Squirrel traps
You can trap squirrels in cages set with bait or you can shoot them with an air rifle. In Britain, if you decide on either of these options, you should target only the grey squirrel, never the native red, which is a protected species. If you do kill a grey squirrel, then use it. Cure the tail and the skin (see page 170) and eat the meat by dry frying – it tastes a little like a gamey rabbit.
Tin foil
The danger when planting out your peas is that you turn your back for two minutes and every bird from a mile around has descended for dinner. If this happens, run a line of string (or bailer twine) from end to end above your row of peas and tie on to it semi-scrunched tin foil that twinkles in the sunlight and flaps in the breeze to scare the birds away. Old CDs also work well. But if you feel this might upset the natural look of your garden and transform it into something resembling a seventies glam-rock disco, then consider using hazel sticks stuck into the ground so that they tower over your tender seedlings like sentinels.