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| Go greener |
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| With a growing number of gardeners eschewing chemicals in favour of natural alternatives, we can suggest some effective products from our organic gardening selection |
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| Relax and refresh |
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| Good food freshly prepared daily, aromatic coffee, chilled wine and a grassy play area for the children. What more could you need? |
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| Food heaven |
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| Our Farm Shop is heaven for food lovers! Delicious handmade food, top quality groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and stylish cookware and gifts. |
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| The Discovery Walk |
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| As thousands of daffodils herald the spring, stroll or stride around our Walk while the youngsters enjoy the Nature Trail |
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The zing and tang of green salads
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| Thursday, 1st May 2008 |
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IN THE GARDEN WITH PETA MARSHALL
What do you like in your salads? There are the colourful types of salad veg such as tomatoes, sweet corn, chopped carrot, sliced beetroot and radish, red and yellow peppers…and even strawberries (Yes, I’ve seen them served in a salad, and was told that they were quite delicious – but I’m not going to say any more as they are my subject for next week).
Then, of course, the mainstay of most British salads is good old lettuce.
Where would we be without it?
However, some people (including me) reckon that lettuce is a little on the boring side. To my mind it’s much better in a sandwich than a salad. I prefer the zing and the tang of rocket, or chicory, or what seems like a hundred different leaves, shoots and sprouts (no, not Brussels sprouts but beansprouts – see below).
But seed (and young vegetable plants) of lettuce outsells all other salad veg (with the exception of tomatoes), so it has to be popular.
Let’s look then at some of the popular ‘green’ salad veg of today…and just to get it out the way, we’ll start with the most common:
Lettuce: This is the perfect container vegetable, being suitable for everything from growing bags to patio tubs, urns and even windowboxes.
If you have an acre of vegetable garden, or just a large pot, get some lettuce in now. The seed needs to be sown very thinly 1cm (1/2 in) deep or so, and the best growing medium is a mix of John Innes and multipurpose compost.
If you have a bright kitchen windowsill or conservatory, you might like to try sowing seeds onto a seed tray of compost. The seedlings will germinate within a week or so, and as soon as they are big enough to handle you should prick them out into larger pots, for eventual planting out into their final positions.
When at the seedling or young plant stage, avoid overcrowding lettuce at all costs. When they are eventually planted out they should be around 30cm (1ft) apart; or 15cm (6in) apart if you are growing ‘Salad Bowl’ (see below).
Slugs can be a problem with lettuce, so choose your preferred control measure (bait, beer-pubs, or the newer biological nematode controls).
As for varieties, the best known variety is ‘Webbs Wonderful’, but you could also try ‘Buttercrunch’: compact, dark green head; ‘Little Gem’, a quick maturing semi-cos lettuce with crisp leaves and a sweet flavour; ‘Salad Bowl’: popular and decorative loose-leaf variety (available in green or red-leaf forms), and ‘Tom Thumb’, a fast-growing dwarf variety.
Summer lettuce (the type you sow now) will thrive in sun or light shade.
Beansprouts: Sprouting seeds, which are easy to grow without soil, pots or even a garden, add zest to salads. The most frequently used is the mung bean; white sprouts are produced and are best harvested when 3-4cm (1½”-1¾”) long.
Adzuki beans are small red or sometimes black slightly nutty-tasting beans. Very frequent rinsing is needed with these. They taste best when 1-2.5cm (½”-1”) long. Fenugreek has a mild curry flavour; harvest when 2-3cm (¾-2¼”) long.
The important thing is to keep the sprouting seeds moist, without becoming stale, so it is crucial to have a good air supply around them.
There are special tiered bean sprouting kits – known as ‘sprouters’ – available. These clever kits comprise two or three sprouting trays, plus a bottom tray for collecting excess water.
But if you have an old jam jar you can still produce a worthwhile crop.
Put a 2.5cm (1”) deep layer of beans or seeds in the bottom of a jar. Fill the jar with water and then drain it off. Seal the jar with a strip of muslin held in place with a rubber band, then store the jar on a warm kitchen windowsill, or even in an airing cupboard. Rinse the beans daily for about six days, by which time the sprouts should be 2.5-5cm (1-2”) long, and ready for harvesting.
Spring (or salad) onions: These easy-to-grow onions are offered up in every salad in our house. They’re also great for stir-fries, omelettes, and even cheese sandwiches. They were the first vegetable I ever grew, and I would never be without them.
Salad onions, such as ‘Ramrod’ and ‘White Lisbon Winter Hardy’ can be sown now.
Either sow directly into a seedbed outdoors, or into modular trays, to be planted out three weeks later. Sow them as late as July, and plants will make good growth before winter sets in, and they should be ready for harvesting from late winter.
Chives: These are the mild-mannered members of the onion family. They have so many uses, from adding to salads (especially potato salad), as well as to soups, sauces, cream cheese and omelettes. Everyone should grow them, and you can make a sowing now.
In our part of the country they can usually be left in the ground throughout winter, which makes them an all-year-round crop.
Although you can grow chives in drills in the vegetable plot, I always feel that they are just as useful growing in a pot on the patio, where you can get to them quickly from the kitchen.
Cucumbers: These can all be sown this month for planting out in June. Sow the large, flat seeds in 8cm (3in) pots, or large modules. Sow the seeds on edge rather than upright, as this reduces soil resistance for the emerging seedlings. Plant them out into growing bags in early June.
There are dozens of others to try as well. Pop along to the seed racks in the Plant Centre for inspiration…and see which vegetable plants are available, too. Happy gardening!
This week in your garden
In the greenhouse, heating will not be required now during the day. However, night frosts are still a possibility, so don’t switch off just yet!
Pot-grown camellias can be moved on to larger pots, in ericaceous compost, once their flowering has finished. If not, just topdress them with fresh compost or fine bark chippings.
If you have a pond, the water may now be getting green with algae. Pull out swathes of blanketweed, duckweed or algae – or consider buying a UV clarifying filter to stop future greening-up.
Peta Marshall is the plant centre manager at Priory Farm in Nutfield. Website: www.prioryfarm.co.uk
NEXT WEEK: Strawberries
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