Peas

Peas are packed with nutrients, especially when picked straight from the garden when they have a really superior taste. Even better value to grow are the sugar snap and mangetout varieties, which you eat pod and all. Always dig pea roots back into the ground as they contain nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots that benefit the soil.

Varieties

‘Alderman’: A late maincrop variety that grows to about 1.5m/5ft high.

‘Delikett’: A very sweet sugar snap variety growing to about 75cm/30in. An RHS Award of Merit winner.

‘Early Onward’: A very heavy cropping variety that also benefits from early sowings.

‘Feltham First’: A popular dwarf variety that is particularly good for sowing very early or late in the season. Doesn’t need much supporting.

‘Greensage’: Bred from the popular ‘Greenshaft’ variety but said to be even sweeter.

‘Pea Oregon’: An RHS Award of Merit winner, this mangetout plant grows to about 100cm/ 3¼ft high.

Growing tips

Sowing and planting

Peas can be sown directly into the ground from March. Sow seeds about 5cm/2in apart in a single or double row and to a depth of 4cm/1½in. However, the seeds are very attractive to birds and mice, so cover them with netting or sow under cover in pots or trays in a cold frame or greenhouse.

Another method is sowing into a piece of guttering filled with compost. Once the seedlings are through, the compost can be gently pushed out of the guttering straight into a prepared shallow trench.

Growing on

Some pea varieties are short while other, often older, varieties will grow up to 1.5m/5ft or more. All have quite spindly stems so will need support. The dwarf ones can be supported using twigs stuck in the ground among the crop. Taller varieties will require netting. Twine stems around the supports if necessary.

Once the crop starts to flower and the pods form, keep the plants well watered.

A white coating on the leaves indicates mildew. Prune out and destroy affected leaves. Make sure plants are well spaced, mulch the ground and use an all-purpose rather than nitrogen-rich feed.

Container growing

Peas can be grown in containers, especially the shorter varieties. They may still need some sticks to support them. You could also grow the perfect container pea called ‘Half Pint’ which reaches about 30–38cm/12–15 in tall. It is so small you could plant five seeds in a 15cm/6in diameter pot and still get a little harvest, at least a taster! It dates back to the 1800s and is said to be very tolerant of the cold – down to –6°C/20°F. It’s a good variety to grow in a cold frame or even in a pot on the windowsill.

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In the kitchen

Home-grown peas rarely make it as far as the kitchen. They are so delicious eaten straight from the pod and at this point contain the most nutrients. However, if you grow a lot of peas, you will want to harvest some for cooking later. These little green gems add colour and sweetness to an array of dishes.

Preparation and cooking: Podding peas can be a laborious, but worthwhile chore. Have a couple of bowls ready and get everyone involved! Or choose mangetout or sugar snap and avoid the job altogether! Compost the pods. Peas are spoiled by overcooking; eat raw or cook for a few minutes in boiling water or soften in hot butter. Don’t add salt during cooking, it makes the skins tough and taut. They are delicious with lush soft parsley, mint and lashings of butter! Also good cooked with diced shallots, cream and fresh mint and crushed into a vivid green purée, ideal with fish or lamb.

Storage and freezing: Peas are best picked and eaten straight away, they will lose nutrients as they age. The pods will keep for two days in the fridge. Peas are the perfect vegetable for freezing; it is the best way of preserving them as they will retain their goodness if you open-freeze them on trays quickly after harvesting.

Peppers

There are two types of pepper, or capsicum: chilli peppers and sweet peppers. Peppers are not the easiest of crops to grow because they need warmth and sun, but given the right conditions they will produce a good harvest. Ideally grow peppers in a greenhouse or polytunnel, or look out for varieties that will do well in pots on a patio.

Varieties

SWEET PEPPERS

‘Tasty Grill Red F1’: Produces long red fruits up to 25cm/10in in length. They are delicious sliced and grilled or stuffed, or used in salads. Said not to ‘repeat’ on eating which is what puts some people off peppers! There is also a yellow form, ‘Tasty Grill Yellow F1’.

‘Big Banana F1’: Really sweet fruits up to 25cm/10in long. They mature to a bright red.

‘Gypsy F1’: Masses of fruits up to 10cm/4in long and 8cm/3in wide that turn orange to red. Crops earlier than some varieties.

CHILLI PEPPERS

‘Jalapeno Summer Heat F1’: This is the pizza pepper! It has long narrow fruits that can be picked when green or left to mature to red. ‘Numex Twilight’: An attractive small plant to grow in a pot on the patio. The masses of tiny fruits ripen from purple to yellow, orange and red and all these colours can be on the plant at once.

‘Thai Dragon F1’: A truly hot variety that is a prolific cropper of 9cm/3½in red fruits.

Growing tips

Sowing and planting

Peppers need a long growing season, so are usually sown quite early in February or March. Sow several seeds in small pots of multi-purpose compost. Water well and place in a propagator or airing cupboard. They need temperatures of about 15–21°C/60–70°F to germinate.

Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant them, one seedling per small 9cm/3½in pot. Place on a warm sunny windowsill to grow on.

They may need to be moved on to the next pot size before planting out, but by about mid April to early May they can be transferred to the greenhouse and be planted in large 13cm/5in pots or growbags.

Peppers which are going to be grown on a patio will need to be kept indoors for longer. On warm, sunny days they can be placed outside but brought in at night. By the beginning of June, they can be planted into their final pots out on the patio.

Growing on

Some of the dwarf peppers will naturally form more bushy plants. The taller growing ones should be given a cane support and tied in at regular intervals. Keep the plants well watered but be careful not to overwater. It can take some time for the peppers to change colour – anything up to three weeks.

Container growing

A perfect plant to grow in containers. If growing in a greenhouse, they will do very well in large pots or growbags. Plant three peppers per growbag. They would also look spectacular grown in large 30cm/12in diameter pots placed on a sunny patio. Put three plants in this size pot for a really bushy effect. Try using ‘Numex Twylight’, which is very attractive and easy to grow.

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In the kitchen

Use glossy sweet peppers to add summer sweetness and colour to your plate. Green varieties are the sharpest and most acidic, followed by yellow, orange and red, which are deliciously sweet. Chilli peppers are for the tougher tastebuds and need to be used sparingly but they certainly are far superior used fresh than processed in powdered form.

Preparation and cooking: Cut away the stalk, seeds and white membrane of sweet peppers. The skin too is sometimes peeled as it’s tough and does not break down during cooking. Or rub with oil and place under a hot grill until blistered, then peel off the skin under the tap. Rub your hands with oil before preparing chilli and do not touch eyes or lips as the juice will sting.

Peppers have many uses in the kitchen. Sweet peppers add a bit of colour to green salads, sliced into rings. They are wonderful roasted, removing the skins after roasting. These soft, sweet, roasted peppers can be sliced and tossed through pastas, salads and sauces. Their bulbous shape and size makes them ideal for stuffing and baking: any combination of rice, creamy cheeses and fresh herbs, or mince, is perfect.

Storage and freezing: Peppers will store for a couple of weeks in the fridge, but they do not freeze well.

Potatoes

With such a constant supply of cheap potatoes in our supermarkets why should you bother to grow your own? For the pleasure of lifting your own first early spuds, of course! Nothing beats that taste of your first home-grown potatoes boiled with a sprig of mint and served with a knob of butter.

Varieties

There are so many varieties that can be planted throughout the growing season. The following are popular varieties or new ones that have extremely good disease resistance.

FIRST EARLIES

‘Arran Pilot’: A very popular early potato with a fantastic new potato flavour. ‘Epicure’: A good white potato with creamy flesh. Best one to recover if touched by frost.

SECOND EARLIES

‘British Queen’: More than 100 years old, this variety produces good harvests of floury potatoes that have a delicious flavour.

‘Estima’: A heavy cropper. Drought resistant and produces good baking potatoes.

EARLY MAINCROP

‘Desiree’: Probably the most popular red variety. Great all rounder and heavy cropper.

‘Sante’: A good potato for pest and disease resistance.

‘Belle de Fontenay’: A popular variety with chefs because of its wonderful flavour.

‘Smile’: Aptly named as this red potato has white smile shaped markings. Great flavour as bred from red ‘Duke of York’.

LATE MAINCROP

‘Cara’: A good drought and disease resistant variety that makes a great baking potato.

‘Pink Fir Apple’: A red knobbly shaped salad potato renowned for its delicious flavour. The shape makes them trickier to peel but the flavour is worth it.

‘Sarpo Mira’: A new variety that has proven to have really good blight resistance. Not attractive to slugs.

Growing tips

Sowing and planting

Potatoes grow from tubers, which are the storage organs produced by the roots. They are planted in spring and shoots and new roots form from this tuber, producing more tubers. From early summer, depending on the variety, they can be lifted and the new tubers harvested.

Seed potatoes are usually available in garden centres from about January when they should be chitted. This means placing the tubers in a tray with the ‘eyes’ (buds) facing upwards to encourage them to shoot. Put the trays in a light, frost-free spot such as near a window in a shed or garage.

Plant the potatoes about 13cm/5in deep and 30cm/12in apart with the chitted shoots facing upwards. Maincrop potatoes tend to be in the ground longer and produce larger plants, so plant these about 38cm/15in apart. Rows should be about 60cm/2ft apart for earlies and 75cm/30in apart for maincrop varieties.

Growing on

Once the leaves appear above the soil surface, cover them with soil. This has two purposes: it protects the leaves from frost and it also helps elongate the stems which will encourage more roots and tubers to form. This process is called earthing up and is best done two or three times as the plants grow. If potatoes do get frosted they may turn black. Sometimes they will grow through this damage, but it is best to avoid it in the first place.

When the plants start to produce flower buds, it is most important they are given adequate moisture because the tubers will be small and starting to swell. Drought at this time will result in very small potatoes.

During flowering, scrape away a little soil to see if the tubers are large enough to lift. New potatoes should be harvested quite small, about the size of a hen’s egg.

Weeks to harvesting are: first earlies 20, second earlies 13, early maincrops 15, late maincrops 20.

Container growing

Potatoes can be grown in containers and there are special potato barrels and bags available to buy. You can also plant them in a large bag of compost. Simply remove three quarters of the compost and put to one side. Fold back the sides of the bag and make some holes in the base for drainage. Plant three tubers in the few inches of compost at the bottom. This can be done as early as late February if you have a greenhouse or polytunnel.

As the potatoes grow, put back some of the compost to just cover the new shoots. Do this two to three times, gradually unrolling the bag. This will encourage elongated stems and more roots beneath the compost, which will produce more tubers. Keep the compost just moist, never soaking wet, and place outside in April or May but cover the foliage if a late frost is forecast. When the potatoes are flowering feel around in the compost to see if the tubers are big enough to lift. If not leave a little longer and keep well watered.

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In the kitchen

Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are good for you but only as long as they are not coated in fat or covered in butter! They are packed with vitamins and carbohydrates. The skins are very nutritious too, so resist peeling.

Preparation and cooking: New potatoes are the easiest to prepare as they only need washing, although some people like to rub off the skins. These first earlies are best eaten simply boiled with mint and served with butter and fresh chopped parsley. Older potatoes have many uses. Some varieties are better for baking, chips or mash. A good example is ‘Golden Wonder’, well known for its chipping and crisp-making qualities.

For the cook, apart from the flavour, there is just one important distinction to be made between types of potato – whether it is waxy or floury. Waxy potatoes have a higher sugar content and firm texture. They are sweet, moist and will not absorb water and crumble during cooking. Ideal for use in salads or anywhere you wish your spud to keep its shape and bite.

Floury potatoes are usually late season and have a dry crumbly texture due to the sugars converting into starch. They absorb water and break down when boiled. Perfect for mashing, but also frying – the drier the potato, the crisper it will become.

Storage and freezing: Store in a cool, dark and dry place; do not refrigerate. Scrub and peel as required, they will become dry and discoloured if left exposed too long. The first early varieties do not store well and are best eaten as soon as possible. The best storers are the maincrop varieties. These can be lifted when large enough, preferably on a dry, sunny day and left on the surface for an hour or two. Don’t leave any longer or they will be in danger of turning green.

Once dry, store in hessian or paper sacks. Any damaged potatoes must be put to one side and eaten as soon as possible. Only the perfect potatoes will store for several months. Tie up the sack and place in a cool, dark spot in a garage or shed.

Radishes

Fast to mature and easy to grow, radishes can be grown between slower crops, such as leeks or brassicas, making good use of a small plot. There are winter varieties that are usually larger and some are black, which make a useful addition to the garden in the leaner months. They have a very strong flavour that softens when cooked.

Varieties

‘Cherry Belle’: This produces small round all-red roots, milder than some radish.

‘F1 Mantanghong’: Winter variety that has a red flesh and nutty flavour.

‘French Breakfast 3’: A classic variety of long red and white roots, perfect for summer salads.

‘Zlata’: An unusual yellow variety with white flesh and oval roots. Ideal for mixing with red radish for great colour.

Growing tips

Sowing and planting

Radishes will tolerate a little shade and are ideal for planting between larger-leaved vegetables. They are usually sown directly where you want them to grow with about 2.5cm/1in between seeds in rows about 15cm/6in apart. Growing them close together helps to keep the radishes small and tender. Winter radishes are usually given more space, at least 15cm/6in between plants.

The young seedlings are particularly vulnerable to flea beetles, which punch tiny holes in the leaves. Prevent an attack by covering the plants with horticultural fleece.

Growing on

Water the crop well especially in drought conditions to encourage stronger, hardier roots. Harvest when the roots are about the size of a 10 pence piece; long, thin varieties should be left until they are about 13–17cm/5–7in long and winter varieties can be lifted when required.

Container growing

Radishes are perfect for growing in containers as they are small and can be sown close together. If you sow a 38cm/15in pot with plenty of seed, allowing overcrowding of seedlings, it will help restrict the size of the roots and you can harvest some tiny but delicious radishes for sandwiches and salads over a week or two.

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