FREE SEEDS, COMPETITIONS -·. AND ISSUE~,, SAVINGS INTHIS
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No. 274
July 2020
£5.99
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Potatoes for Christmas! Order by 15 Ju\y for a \ate Ju\y delivery. that orders for p\ease nOte t \y potatoes are sent separa e from other goods.
Late cropping seed potatoes (sometimes known as Christmas potatoes). Impress the family over the Christmas period with your freshly dug salad potatoes which can be served hot or cold to go with the traditional cold turkey and pickles. Sorry, we are unable to send potatoes outside the UK.
Postage and Packing £3 50 f, . or mmg potatoes
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Maris Peer Maris Peer produces small, well flavoured potatoes that do not disintegrate when cooked. This second early variety is good for boiling & salads and has a fair resistance to blight and scabbing.
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Charlotte Maris Peer
Reliable, high yielding, waxy salad variety with good flavour. Easyto grow. Good for boiling and salad.
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Nicola Long, yellow, waxy, well flavoured potato. Ideal for salads.
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I enclose my cheque for £_________ and with my name and address written on the back
made payable to EWKing & Co Ltd
OR please debit my Visa/ Mastercard / Maestro Card for.._ ________
£3.50
Card Number ..................................... __________________
35089
£3.50 £3.50
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35174 35092
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Potato PlanterSet - NicolaOffer
35093
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Potato Planters PotatoSacks- 5 Sacks
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£13.60
Postcod.,_ _______
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code..........____
last 3 digits on back of card
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Email-----------------------Your details will be processed by Kings Seeds in full accordance with the data protection legislation. All entries will be become the property of Kings Seeds Ltd and sister companies may wish to contact you with
Pleaseadd £3.50 for potatoes+ £ 1.60 for SundriesP&P
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information of other servicesand products we provide. Pleasetick if you DO NOTwish to receivesuch information by Post □ Phone □ Email □ SMS□
If in the event of unprecedented demand this offer is oversubscribed, EWKing & Co Ltd reserve the right to send suitable substitute varieties. Please note that your contract for the supply of goods is with EWKing & Co Ltd, Monks Farm, Coggeshall Road, Kelvedon, Essex COS9PG. All offers are subject to availability. _________
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EDITOR'S LETTER
e come As I write this we are still well and truly locked down and I don't mind admitting that despite having more time than usual to keep my garden in order, I'm really missing being able to get out and about. There is nothing like visiting lovely veg gardens and allotments and shooting the breeze with fellow gardeners. I miss comparing notes on what we are growing, how various crops are doing and complaining about the weather! That's where our monthly features from other readers' plots can help. They keep us in touch with like-minded people and remind us that we are part of the bigger gardening community and sharing the same highs and lows . Thankfully the internet age does allow us to have occasional chinwags over Skype, Zoom and the like and situations like this are surely what social media was made for. Kitchen Garden too is here for those of you who might be feeling a little disconnected at the moment (see panel, left) and we hope you are enjoying the bonus of regular free seeds; so many of you have told us that you wouldn't have known what to do without them this year. Lots of you reading this may be starting out on a veg growing adventure for the first time, encouraged by erratic supplies and concerns about social distancing in the shops. So we have lots for those taking the first tentative steps. On page 46 KG's staff writer Tony Flanagan offers his advice to novices and of course our jobs pages in the front of the issue are a great prompt for those tasks that need to be done now. We have growing guides for pak choi, swedes and pumpkins and some great advice from gardening expert Rob Smith on keeping your crops pest free the organic way.
01Ar f e1At1Are of the moll\th ■ If you are having
difficulty getting to the shops to pick up your copy of KG, don't forget that we have some great subscription offers for you. Just turn to page 24 for details, call us on 01507 529529 or go to www.classicmagazines.co.uk
Steve Ott, editor
Make a splash! Growing edible flowers. Turn to pages p56-59 www.youtube.com/kitchengardenmagazine
Contact me at: sott@mortons.co.uk I 01507 529396 Find us at www.kitchengarden.co.uk Contact subscriptions: 01507 529529
CHECK OUT OUR GREAT GIVEAWAYS AT WWW.KITCHENGARDEN.CO.UK www.kitchengarden.co.uk
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EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU GROW GREAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
0
ON THE COVER
~ GREAT FOR BEGINNERS
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YOU()YOUR
PLOT
6 ON THE VEG PATCH ~ Out on the plot this month practical gardener Joyce Russell is sowing parsley, picking fruit and tending to peppers and herbs
10 IN THE GREENHOUSE ~ Greenhouse and polytunnel gardener Martin Fish is caring for vines, peppers and aubergines, and sowing dwarf beans
12 WHAT'S NEW? The latest news, comment and advice from the world of kitchen gardening
14 YOUR LETTERSAND TIPS Learn what other KG readers have been up to and pick up some great first-hand advice
18 CONNECT WITH YOUR KG SUBSCRIBERS'CLUB
Suhcrik ltJilar ON PAGE 24
I ill
HAVING TROUBLE FINDING A COPY OF THIS MAGAZINE?
Just ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month
41www.kitchengarden.co.uk
This month KG subscribers can save up to 50% on top products and services plus win a trimmer and edger from Stiga, RRP £119!
22 GROWING ONLINE Our roundup of the best websites, biogs, vlogs and gardening socials
94 NEXT MONTH Some of the highlights to be found in your August issue plus news of more great free gifts
20 KG PROBLEM SOLVER Our top experts help solve your gardening problems, this month including tayberries, purple sprouting broccoli and cabbage white butterflies
98 LAST WORD KG reader Wesley Paxton explains why, in his view, single-use plastics should have a place on our plots
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JULY 2020
Scan this, and we'll tell you!
RECIPES Chef Anna Cairns Pettigrew creates mouth-watering recipes using your summer harvests 0
Pg 90
GET GROWING
(I
16 ON THE PLOT WITH THE THREE MUDKETEERS This month the KG team are tending to strawberries, sowing beans and weeding
26 TRY PEST CONTROL, THE NATURAL WAY ~ Keen allotment gardener Rob Smith explains how to kill pests without chemicals
30 SMASHING PUMPKINS! ~ Gardening expert Ben Vanheems offers his top tips for growing plumptious pumpkins
35 ONE TO TRY... ARS GARDEN SHEARS Staff writer Tony Flanagan puts some new telescopic shears to the test
36 KAREN'S ONLINE ESCAPADES0 We take a virtual trip to Lancashire to meet a blogger who loves to grow and cook unusual veg
40 A TASTE OF THE EAST0 KG editor Steve Ott loves pak choi and has some advice for would-be growers
/
52 IT'S ALL GO! What is Stephanie Hafferty up to on her organic plot?
56 MAKE A SPLASH!0 Edible flowers - a useful addition to our diets or just a pretty garnish?
60 GARDENING FOR MIND & BODY
WHAT TO BUYG
Garden writer Annabelle Padwick with ways to beat the lockdown blues
78 PRODUCT REVIEW TROWELS0
63 TAKE A CHANCE ON SWEDES0
The KG team put a range of these essential hand tools through their paces
A KG growing guide to this winter classic
66 NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!0 Fruit expert David Patch has some top tips for growing delicious kiwi fruit
70 PREVENTING ACCIDENTS IN THE GARDEN 0 ~ Deputy editor Emma Rawlings shows you how to avoid bumps and bruises in the garden
82 GREAT GIVEAWAYS WORTH OVER £299 0 Your chance to win one of six Super Dome polytunnels from Bio Green (RRP £49.99)
86 GREAT READER OFFERS - SAVE OVER £31! 0 Claim your free* brassica collection worth £22.25 when you order any of our bargain collections (*just pay p&p)
46 GET GOING WITH FIRST-TIME GROWING 0 ~
74 A PASSION FOR PLOTTING
Staff writer Tony Flanagan has four pages of great tips for fruit and veg growing novices
We meet keen allotment gardener Donna Martin from Cambridgeshire
50 HERB OF THE MONTH ... CORIANDER
83 GARDENING FACT OR FICTION
News of some great new products and services and a chance for KG subscribers to save up to 50% on big-name products!
Dr Fay Edwards looks at seven common gardening theories. Are they a hit ... or a myth?
95 GIVEAWAYS ENTRY FORM
Our pocket guide to growing this useful herb www.youtube.com/kitchengardenmagazine
88 GARDEN STORE PLUS SUBSCRIBERSAVERS
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10
FORTHEMONTH
MINUTE JOBS
TASKS FOR YOUR VEGETABLE PATCH IN JULY BY JOYCE RUSSELL
RELAX AND ENJOY Take time out to relax and enjoy your garden. You have created a beautiful and productive space so don't rush; enjoy a cuppa, soak up some sun, and feel proud of all you have done.
LIFT GARLIC Keep garlic beds watered until the tops start to yellow and flop. Lift one bulb first to be sure that the cloves are a good size to use before lifting the rest of the crop. Use a fork to ease roots out.
CHECK FOR MOULDS AND MILDEWS Remove affected leaves and fruit before the problem spreads. You may keep the rest of the plant healthy by early intervention. Try to keep soil damp and leaves dry to help combat mildew problems.
USE A HOE A hoe makes short work of weeds if the top layer of soil is dry. Use this tool between rows of large and deep-rooted plants. Shallow-rooting and small plants are best hand-weeded; these can be damaged if the hoe slices where it shouldn't.
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JOBS FOR THE MONTH
HOW TO GROW PLENTY OF PARSLEY FOR THE WINTER
STEP 1 : Sow seed thinly on the surface of the compost in an 8cm (3in) pot. Cover with a thin scatter of more compost and water lightly. Put the pot in a polythene bag, out of bright sunlight, until the seeds germinate - this can take from 10 days to three weeks.
STEP 2: Prick seedlings out into individual pots when they have two true leaves. They are small at this point, but keep them watered and in a light place and they will grow steadily. Plants can remain in 8cm (3in) pots for up to eight weeks. Leaves will discolour if plants are root-bound.
STEP 3: Plants do well in individual containers. Position these against a house wall so parsley is easy to pick in the colder months. Put six or eight plants at 30cm (12in) apart in a bed and you will have a thicket of parsley by the time spring comes around.
ONTHE VEGPATCH
SOW NOW
LOTS OF FRUIT
PEPPERS Plants can do very well if grown near a wall in a sheltered sunny garden and flowers may have set to produce a few small fruitlets this month. Flowers are self-fertile and fruit should set without intervention, but sometimes things don't work out that way. Give plants a gentle shake, so the pollen can fall where it is needed within the flower and this should improve fruit set. It's worth providing some support at this stage. Stems can break under the weight of large fruits - use sticks and strings to support the limbs and spread the support. Feed plants every 10 days or so, if you want plenty of healthy fruits per plant.
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July is a month of bounty in the fruit garden. This is when currants and berries are at their best. Cherries are also ready to pick, along with some early plums and peaches perhaps. These are all special treats, so be sure to harvest regularly and don't waste any of the delectable fruits. Pick individual currants if necessary - ripe ones may burst and fall in wet weather while you wait for the whole bunch to ripen. Eat some raw and make some into delicious desserts. The rest will freeze so you can bring them out for use in later months, or to use in jams and preserves.
Early carrot varieties, dwarf French beans, beetroot, cauliflower, parsley, pak choi, Swiss chard, turnips, radish, spinach, lettuce, rocket, mizuna, lamb's lettuce, land cress, mustard greens etc.
PLANT NOW Second cropping potatoes, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, Swiss chard, beetroot
HARVEST Currants, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, cherries, plums, peaches, early apples, peas, broad beans, French beans, beetroot, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, courgettes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers and more ....
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I7
FLOWERING HERBS
DOIT
NOW ■
DIG SOME POTATOES
Plants should have produced plenty of delicious roots by July. Leave maincrop varieties to grow larger roots that are good for storing and baking. Dig salad and early varieties first - these taste best when freshly dug and some don't store well. ■ CLEAR EARLY PEAS AND BEANS
When plants stop producing new pods, and there are only one or two large starchy offerings left, then it is time to clear the row to make room for new plantings. Hoe off any weeds and plant brassicas. ■
Herb beds can be a lovely burst of colour this month and it may be hard to find useful leaves among the flowers. Try cutting down flowering chive stems in order to let new ones grow. This will give plenty of fresh young spears in a week or two. If you have a large clump, you can cut half back and leave the other half to look pretty and to provide you with edible blooms. Herb leaves do tend to taste best before plants flower, but most still taste pretty good after that and many people don't notice much difference. It is worth plucking off the flowering tips of basil - leaves tend to turn bitter if plants form long flower spikes. It's a bit fiddly and probably less productive to nip flowers from oregano, thyme, rosemary and so on. Flowering herbs are attractive to many pollinating insects - this is a tremendous bonus for any fruit and vegetable garden.
TACKLEA PLANT PROBLEM:BLIGHT! Keep an eye on potato and tomato plants for the first signs of blight. This disease can make its presence felt in a warm, damp July. Greyish splotches on leaves are an early sign; leaves and stems will blacken and rot if left unchecked and potato tubers turn putrid. Pick off any affected leaves if there are only a few. If the whole top is affected then pull the stems and leave roots in the ground for three weeks before lifting and sorting.
WATER FRUIT TREES
Keep fruit trees watered in times of drought. Reuse water from a bath, or left after washing up, provided it doesn't contain harsh cleaning products. ■
STOP HARVESTING RHUBARB
Do this in early July and plants will have time to build up resources to produce good crops next year. ■
BE KIND TO NEIGHBOURS
Maybe an older gardener needs a hand digging their potato crop and in return they might water your seedlings while you are away. What goes around comes around. 8 I www.kitchengarden.co.uk
SUMMER PRUNING PEARTREES If you grow pear trees as cordons, or trained to a particular shape, then the middle of July is a good time to start pruning (trained apples are pruned in mid-August). Removing some leaf allows light to reach fruit and helps with ripening. It also helps to maintain the shape. Cut long new laterals back to two or three leaves and remove any long shoots completely if they push up beyond the shape of the tree. Read in more depth as needed before you start pruning.
KEEP UP THE SUPPLY! There are lots of delicious things to harvest this month and the bounty keeps coming for many weeks. Keep picking and using everything that you grow and if you can't use it yourself then give some of the glut away. There's a lot to be said for freezing and filling jars with what you can - the surplus will slow down at some point and you will be happy to have a good store when things are less prolific in the garden. Beds may seem full this month but it isn't the time to slow down. This is an important month to keep sowing crops if you want fresh vegetables for autumn, winter and spring use. Cabbage and cauliflower can be sown at almost any time of the year provided you choose the right variety. You can sow lettuce and salad crops too - make regular sowings from now until the end of September and you will have plenty of different leaves to eat through the colder months. Sow direct in the soil or start seed in pots to plant out as space clears. Use early varieties to give fastest results if you want to try carrots, peas or beans for autumn crops.
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JULY2020 I 9
WHAT TO DOINJULY ■
Harvest early planted veg such as potatoes, French beans and salads while they are tender and fresh. And keep sowing more. ■
Keep plants well-watered in warm weather and give a weekly liquid feed to maintain healthy and fast growth. ■
Sow coriander in pots of compost little and often to keep a steady supply of fresh leaves through the summer. ■
Mist cucumber foliage in the mornings with water to create warm, humid conditions and to help repel red spider mites. ■ Make sure tomato plants are securely tied to their supports so that they will carry the weight of the fruit.
10 I www.kitchengarden.co.uk
INTHE
GREENHOUSE WITH MARTIN FISH
SUMMER VINE CARE If you've got a grape vine in a greenhouse or polytunnel, it will be in full growth now and should be carrying bunches of developing grapes. Vines are vigorous plants and if left to their own devices they will grow large and completely fill your greenhouse! To maintain their shape and to direct the plant's energy into the grapes, it's important to carry out summer pruning, which is quite simple to do. On stems that are carrying bunches of grapes you cut two leaves after the bunch and non-fruiting new stems are pruned back to a couple ofleaves from the main woody stem. You may need to repeat this in a few weeks as they soon make new growth. www.youtube.com/kitchengardenmagazine
JOBS FOR THE MONTH
SOW DWARF FRENCH BEANS FOR AUTUMN Early sown dwarf French beans are being harvested now from the polytunnel, but it's also time to sow more seeds to provide you with a crop of tender pods from September into autumn. You can sow directly into the soil border but if space is tight at the moment, start the seeds off in cell trays of compost and keep them in a shady part of the greenhouse or tunnel to prevent them from overheating. Once the seedlings start to emerge, bring them into good light and grow them on until large enough to plant out. If growing space is still not available in the border, plant the young beans up into large pots or troughs to grow on and crop.
JULY TIPS ■
Early sown carrots in the polytunnel should be ready to pull now but if you don't want to lift them all in one go, you can leave them in the ground for several more weeks. Simply cut off the floppy foliage to a couple of inches above soil level and keep the ground moist to keep the roots fresh until you want them.
KEEP PLANTING SALADS
WATER AND FEED AUBERGINES AND PEPPERS All plants growing under cover need to be watered on a regular basis, especially if growing in containers, and a couple that need plenty of water while they are in full growth are peppers and aubergines. By now they should be making plenty of healthy foliage and starting to produce flowers and fruit. To maintain strong growth and to help the fruits develop and ripen over the next few months, the roots must never be allowed to dry out. Water regularly to keep the compost constantly moist and feed once a week with a high-potash liquid feed. If growing in self-watering pots, they can be given a quarter-strength feed all the time to supply a steady flow of nutrients.
POWDERY MILDEW ON VINES Vines normally grow without too many problems, but one disease that can sometimes be troublesome is powdery mildew. Mildews affect lots of plants, but they are usually plant specific, meaning for example mildew that attacks spinach won't attack vines and vice versa! It's a fungal disease and tends to be a problem when ventilation is poor, if the plants are under stress or the roots dry. It shows as a white powder on the foliage and grapes and as it develops the grapes often dry out and mummify. No fungicide sprays are available, although plant invigorator can help to prevent it. Increasing ventilation, watering the roots and pruning off excess stems and foliage all help to prevent it establishing and spreading.
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At this time of the year we eat lots of salads with our meals and with just a little planning it's not that difficult to have a regular supply of fresh lettuce and other salad leaves for much of the year. The secret to this is to sow little and often all through the growing season so that you have plants at several stages of growth at any one time, from tiny seedlings to salads ready to eat. Ideally, you need to be sowing seeds every two or three weeks and the amount you sow and grow of course depends on how much you eat, but considering an average packet of lettuce contains 1000 seeds, you shouldn't run out! ■ At this time of the year you can normally keep vents and windows open all the time to prevent over-heating and to keep the air moving around your plants. If, however, the wind picks up, you might want to lower the vents for a while to prevent structural damage.
■ Trim off any damaged foliage on tomatoes, cucumbers and other plants that are caused by fungal moulds to prevent them from spreading. Dispose of the leaves in the dustbin or by burning, not in the compost heap. ■ Protect newly planted seedlings from the hot sun by shading them with a layer of garden fleece until they are established and growing. ■
On hot days, damp down paths in your greenhouse or polytunnel. This helps to cool down the atmosphere and raise the humidity slightly, which in turn helps flowers on fruiting plants set.
www.kitchengarden.co.uk I 11
YOU()YOUR
PLOT
WHAT' EW? • ALL THE LATEST NEWS, PRODUCTS & FACTS FROM THE WORLD OF KITCHEN GARDENING
LOST ALLOTMENTS A study by the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield has revealed that allotment land area in Britain has declined by 65% since its peak in the mid-20th century and that "the most deprived urban areas have experienced eight times the level of allotment land loss than the least deprived areas". However, the study also declared that 25% of former sites could be converted to be used again as allotments.
The study analysed the Ordnance Survey maps of 10 UK urban areas, including Bristol, Glasgow, Leicester and Swansea among others, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. The study's lead author, Miriam Dobson, commented: "With waiting lists growing ever longer, this trend of declining allotment land is worrying - but our research has shown that one way councils could meet demand is simply
SOUTHPORT FLOWER SHOW CANCELLED As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic it is with regret that the organisers have announced the cancellation of the 2020 Southport Flower Show which was due to be held from August 20-23. The cancellation will cause severe financial implications not just for the show itself, but all those connected with it. The Southport Flower Show is a charity and any profit is reinvested into the show itself. The organisers are asking whether those who have already purchased tickets would consider supporting the show by not requesting a refund or by rolling over their tickets to next year's show (August 19-22,
2021 ), to supporting the show through this extremely difficult period. Further details can be found at www.southportflowershow.co.uk
by restoring former sites. Growing our own fruit and veg has huge benefits for people's health and well-being, and can contribute to local food security and improve our environment. "Our findings strengthen the case for preserving existing plots and boosting growing space, particularly in deprived areas, to share those benefits more fairly across our cities."
BOOK TIME! Looking for something great to read? Then take a look at new books from Mortons, which publishes KG and a wide range of other magazines. The catalogue covers all manner of subjects, including rail, aviation, military, motorcycles, scooters, crime and general consumer issues and includes all the upcoming tides for 2020. To get your free catalogue go to: www. mortonsbooks.co. uk/ newsletter
DO YOU HAVE SOME HOT STORIES FOR OUR NEWS PAGES?SEND THEM TO TFLANAGAN@MORTONS.CO.UK 12 I www.kitchengarden.co.uk
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