yardz

SALAD DAYS WITH HUMAX BAGS

 

Yardz discovered Humax growing bags last spring. They are small grow bags that contain an organic compost that is suitable for specific vegetables. There are a selection of bags including potato, tomato and pepper, strawberry, leek and onion, cucumber and salads.

Each bag is designed to grow one crop up to harvest. You simply open the bag, plant your veg and water. Nothing else to do until harvest except water as required. Nothing could be simpler.

Perfect for the smaller garden, balcony or roof garden they are well worth searching out. About £4.99 a bag.

www.humax.co.uk

MANUAL FOR A GREEN YARD

 

Plot, Pots or Growbags by Steve Ott, Emma rawlings & Roxanne Warwick is a great manual for growing your own fruit and veg.

 Although it includes a lot of information relating to growing fruit and veg in traditional beds the main wow factor is that it gives clear information on how to grow a full range of veg in pots and growbags and also veg that aren't suitable.

The layout is excellentwith suggested best varieties, which composts to use, but best of all, it gives an indication of the size of container required to grow your veg and get a reasonable crop.

The book is published by Foulsham at £9.99 and is available in bookshops and some garden centres. It is also available at a reduced price direct from www.growveggies.net

MICROGREENS

 

Microgreens are all the rage with celebrity chefs as a decorative topping for their creations.

They have more flavour than mature greens, are packed with nutrients and are ready to harvest in days.

'Microgreens or micro leaves are vegetable seedlings harvested between 6 and 21 days old for their intense taste.  Microgreens can be grown all year round, all you need is a windowsill. Obviously during the winter months when there is not as much light as in the summer months, growing times may be little longer, but not much longer.'

Microgreens can be grown is the same manner as growing leafgreens but the are harvested at a much younger stage. You can buy seeds for this but the easiest way is to buy a prepared kit from sites such as www.themasterherbalist.co.uk.

   

Varieties include amaranth, red basil, celery, tatsoi, mizuma and purple broccoli and are all £2.92 a pot. 

 

POTATOES IN CONTAINERS JUST HAVING FUN 2

 

The seed potatoes have finally been put to bed in their bags, having been 'chitted' (allowed to sprout from the 'eyes') on a convenient bedroom windowsill.

I have planted them in Westland Organic Vegetable Compost (www.gardenhealth.com)  which I've not used before but this year has been selling well in garden centres due to the massive interest in growing vegetables in containers. The potatoes have been set in 4"/10cm of compost, more will be added as the potatoes grow until the bags are full.

The potato varieties I am growing this year are:

Charlotte - A very popular salad variety producing pear shaped yellow skinned waxy tubers Great flavour hot or cold.

Red Duke of York - A great general purpose potato with moist yellow flesh and a great flavour.

Vivaldi - No. 1 for taste. Great all rounder that produces high yields of baby potatoes as an early crop.

   

CHINESE ARTICHOKES - SOMETHING DIFFERENT

 

Having grwon Jerusalem Atichokes for the last few years, I thought for this year I would have a go at growing the smaller Chinese Artichoke (Stachys affinis). They are very invasive so I'm going to container grow them.

These small artichokes are delicious with a nutty flavour. Plant any time now and then harvest from late october. The tubers can be eaten raw, stir fried or steamed.

The tubers are available now from specialist veg suppliers and seed suppliers.

www.thompson-morgan.com    £7.99 for 20

www.organiccatalog.com   £6.35 for 20

www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk  £7.95 for 25

WINTER GREENS

 

Despite temperatures down to -8 my salad leaves have survived unscathed with only the protection of a basic polythene grow house.

Seed was sown in early winter with the hope that I could start cropping by Christmas but the low temperatures have delayed this. I sowed a mixture of salad greens in a basic multipurpose compost in extra large seed trays. The grow house is positioned handy for the back door so it is quick and easy to just cut when required.

I will be sowing another tray this week which should be ready for cropping when the present one has finished. It is simple and very cost effective when you consider the price of supermarket pre-packed salad.

AUTOMATIC SPROUTING

 

Seed sprouting can be very tedious using the old fashions jar method. Regular water flushing is required and with todays busy lifestyle that is not always possible.

The Freshlife Sprouter from www.ukjuicers.com solves that problem.

'The Freshlife sprouter is easy to use and very economical to run. It features an automatic, timed sprinkling system to produce fresh, nutritious and tender living-foods. This delivers a continuous supply of fresh water, ensuring the sprouts are periodically rinsed even if you are out through the day. '

£79.00

http://www.ukjuicers.com/freshlife-automatic-sprouter

 

SUMMER FLOWERS YIELDS WINTER SOUPS

 

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE

Jerusalem artichokes make a great decorative screen or just an architectural feature in the smaller garden. Planted in spring, the tubers that look like knobbly potatoes soon grow into tall stems of fresh green foliage. In late summer and autumn these stems produce bright yellow daisy like flowers, a welcome bonus at that time of year. Mine this reached almost eight feet high and survived the winds of North Devon.

The bonus of all this growth is what has been going on underground! The plants produce large quantities of new tubers in the same way that potatoes do. Dig them up at the end of autumn and dry the tubers out and store in a cool dark place.

'Jerusalem artichokes are very rich in inulin, a carbohydrate linked with good intestinal health due to its prebiotic (bacteria promoting) properties. These health benefits come at a price; the food can have a potent wind-producing effect.

Jerusalem artichokes also contain vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium and are a very good source of iron.

Cook as you would potatoes - roast, sauté, bake, boil or steam. If peeling or cutting, drop pieces into water with a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent discolouration. Unlike potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke can also be used raw (e.g. in salads) or lightly stir-fried.'

One of the best ways to use artichokes is combining them in soups with other things.

Carrot And Artichoke Soup

Serves 6 - 8 people

• 700 g (1&1/2 lb) Jerusalem artichokes
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 450 g (1 lb) carrots
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 75 g (3 oz) butter
• 1.5 L (3 pints) light stock
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Peel and slice artichokes then put them into a bowl of cold water to prevent them from discolouring. Peel and slice the carrots. Melt the butter in a cooking pot and soften the onion and celery for 5 minutes, then stir in the carrots and artichokes. Add some salt and put the lid on and let the vegetables sweat for 10 minutes on a low heat. Then pour in the stock, stir well, put the lid back on and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Then liquidise the soup. Taste to check the seasoning, re-heat and serve.

Recipe from www.abelandcole.co.uk

DRUMSTICKS AND TULIPS

 

Still time to plant up containers for spring. A stunning mix that will be a real wow factor in any small area is using Primula denticulata, the 'drumstick primrose' under-planted with the bright red tulip Apeldorn.

The primulas will give a long flowering period in spring giving a cover ofround mauve drumstick shaped flowers at a height of around 15cm/6". The tulips will flower mid-spring giving a levell red sheet over the mauve primroses - very effective.

FRUIT OR FLOWER

Courgette Black Forest F1

With the trend for own grown food taking over as the main use of our gardens, due to the desire to grow food with a knowledge of how its been grown and also the price of food due to the so called 'credit crunch', where does that leave us yard tenderers?

A small area dedicated to vegetables can look superb, just look at some of the potagers that can be found in older gardens, but it needs a lot of upkeep and knowledge of rotation and successional sowing of crops. But do all these crops give us a return in the form of decoration? Is it wrong under the present conditions of world food shortages to want to concentrate on only growing ornamental plants?

On the other hand we can compromise by growing plants that are decorative, what could be more stunning than the courgette flowers above, and yet provide us with a useful and cost effective crop.