Buy British and celebrate British Tomato Week or why not grow your own?

This week it is British Tomato Week 20^th-26^th May which is launched by the British Tomato Growers Association to promote our own locally grown tomatoes.

British grown tomatoes are available in shops now, picked when they are perfect for eating and with only a short distance to travel to the shops they are super fresh, tasty, healthy and environmentally friendly.

Although many British growers produce tomatoes on a large scale they care about the environment, millions of bumblebees are used each year to pollinate plants, insects are used as a natural pest control and millions of gallons of water are stored from glasshouse roofs for irrigation.

Tomatoes are delicious fresh or cooked, they are very healthy containing Vitamins A, C and E, and Potassium and Calcium, they are low in calories and contain virtually no fat or cholesterol.

Store your Tomatoes at room temperature, keeping them in the fridge impairs their flavour.

Did you know?

1. Tomatoes are fruits not vegetables.
2. In Britain we each eat on average two tomatoes every week. 
3. Tomatoes originate from the Andes in South America, where they grow wild. They were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas as early as 700 AD. 
4. Tomato Seeds have been grown in space.
5. The largest UK tomato glasshouse covers 26.5 acres, but is currently being extended to 44.5 acres, or 18 hectares. That’s the size of 25 international football pitches. 

For more information, recipes, and facts have a look at the British Tomato Growers website and the Kid’s Tomato Zone for fun activities.

So support our growers by buying British and local Tomatoes or why not have a go at growing your own it is a lot easier than you think and now is the perfect time to plant them, click here for a Guide to Growing your own Tomatoes.

Gill

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Could Cucumbers be the next superfood – why not grow your own?

Cucumbers are often only thought of as an ingredient in a salad but there is a lot more to cucumbers than you think.

A Cucumber is classed as a fruit not a vegetable and consists of 95% water, it also contains potassium and vitamins K, C and B5 which help to restore water to your body whilst removing toxins. Cucumbers are beneficial to your eyes and skin and can help fight against different types of cancer, cucumbers contain 15 calories and no saturated fat or cholesterol making them very healthy indeed.

So why not celebrate National Cucumber Day on 12^th May 2013 by sowing some seeds and growing your own:

Sow seeds individually on their edge in small pots 1cm deep in seed compost, place in a propagator and once they have germinated grow them on somewhere cool and light (not in direct sunlight).

When the plants are well established plant into good vegetable compost in large pots or grow bags in the greenhouse or outdoors (check the seed packet) and provide canes, wires or strings to train the plants up. Outdoor Cucumbers ideally need a sunny and sheltered position; these plants will need hardening off before planting out after all danger of frost has passed. Keep plants well watered and feed regularly.

I planted my seeds at the end of April and will be planting them in large pots in my greenhouse towards the end of May.

Gill

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Enjoy your Bank Holiday in the garden, or the kitchen

It’s Bank Holiday weekend, giving me an extra day to get busy in the garden, go out for a walk or if the weather is not great I usually find myself in the kitchen baking. The walk is planned for tomorrow, I was in the garden yesterday and so today with a light drizzle falling I have dug out a recipe.

I usually have a jar of honey in the cupboard and honey and lemon is such a lovely combination – we can take these on our walk tomorrow.

Honey and Lemon Fairy Cakes

Ingredients

• 150g Butter/Margarine
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 150g Self-Raising Flour
• 2 Medium Eggs
• 50g Clear Runny Honey
• Finely grated zest of a Lemon
• 3 tbsp Lemon Juice

For the icing

• 100g Icing Sugar
• 4 tsp Lemon Juice or Water
• Sprinkles, Small Sweets or Sugar Flowers to decorate.

How to make your cakes

1. Line a bun tray with 12 paper bun cases.
2. Preheat oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5.
3. Mix together the Butter/Margarine, Sugar and Honey in a bowl until pale and creamy.
4. Beat the eggs and add gradually, mixing well.
5. Stir in the lemon juice and zest.
6. Sift the flour and add gradually, mixing well until light and fluffy.
7. Divide the mixture between the 12 bun cases.
8. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing

1. Place the icing sugar in a bowl, add the Lemon Juice/Water gradually and mix until it is smooth and runny.
2. Spread or drizzle the icing on the fairy cakes, add your decorations whilst wet then leave to set.

If the weather is fine there are lots of things to do in the garden click here for some ideas.

Have a lovely weekend

Gill

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Why not grow your own Strawberries this year?

This year I decided to treat myself to some new Strawberry plants, the ones on my allotment are over 3 years old and their stems have become old, woody and they will now produce less fruits, it is recommended that you replace your Strawberry plants after 3 years each time replanting in a new position or new compost if they are grown in containers.

Strawberry plants are available now in garden centres, supermarkets, on the high street and via mail order. There are so many different varieties to choose from, cropping at different times in various shapes and sizes but all of them equally delicious, why not plant a few different varieties to give a continuous crop over the Summer months and into Autumn.

Bare root runners

Yesterday a white padded envelope came through the front door, it was from one of the large seed companies, inside there were growing instructions and a small white bag containing my new Strawberry runners they didn’t look very inspiring but with a little care and attention they should produce some delicious Strawberries this Summer.

Strawberry Table

The variety I chose is ‘Buddy’ it is new this year and is ‘ever bearing’ or ‘perpetual’ which means that it will produce Strawberries over a long growing period from Spring into Autumn. After their arrival I put my bare root runners in water straightaway and then planted them individually in pots in the greenhouse in good compost to become established before planting outside. Strawberries can be grown practically anywhere – in the ground, raised beds, strawberry tables, pots, hanging baskets, troughs, window boxes and in Strawberry bags/tubs and are ideal for children to grow.

Strawberry Planter Bag

Click here for a full guide to growing your own Strawberries.

Gill

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Celebrate National Gardening Week next week 15th – 21st April

National Gardening Week was launched by the RHS to get the Nation Growing.

The benefits of gardening are felt by people of all ages and abilities and from all backgrounds, gardens promote a sense of purpose, and an escape from daily routine as well as providing valuable habitat and food for our wildlife and insects and of course good, home-grown, healthy fruit and vegetables for our table.

Throughout next week there are lots of Gardening events across the country organised by communities and groups as well as the RHS have a look at the RHS website for events near where you live.

It has been said that Britain is a nation of gardeners and I couldn’t agree more so what better way to celebrate gardening by getting involved with community groups, young peoples organisations e.g. Cubs, Brownies and with Schools and share your passion, experience and knowledge of this truly amazing pastime.

Dust off your trowel, put on your warm wellies and a good pair of gardening gloves and get gardening.

Gill

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When do you plant seed potatoes?

I have had an ‘Ask the expert enquiry ‘from Ceri Sawyer in Cumbria and one of the questions that she has asked is

What time of the year should you plant a seed potato?

I thought that I would share my reply with you -

There are three types of seed potatoes

First Earlies

Plant in late March to early April – you can expect to harvest these approx. 10 weeks after planting.

Second Earlies

Plant early to mid April – you can expect to harvest these approx. 13 weeks after planting.  

Maincrop

Plant in mid to late April – you can expect to harvest these approx. 15-20 weeks after planting.

These planting dates are a guide, if you live in the south you may be able to plant a week or two earlier or if you live in the north a couple of weeks later it also depends on our unpredictable weather which at the moment is predictably very cold, even if the ground is not frozen it is still very cold and crops simply will not grow.

Seed potatoes can be planted now in potato growing bags filled with vegetable compost and placed in a greenhouse or polytunnel where they will be protected from the weather otherwise cover your vegetable beds with black plastic or cloches to warm the soil up until there is an improvement in the weather.

When you get your ‘seed’ potatoes put them into egg boxes/seed trays with the ‘rose’ end upwards this is where you might see tiny shoots or the ‘belly button’ end facing downwards and place them in a cool, frost-free and light (not sunny) position. This is called chitting and helps the potato to produce strong buds which speeds up growing once they are planted, all seed potatoes especially first and second earlies benefit from chitting. When the shoots are about 2-3cm they are ready to plant, don’t leave it too late to buy your seed potatoes, once the weather warms up the demand will be high and your choice may be limited.

My seed potatoes are sat patiently in their egg boxes.

Gill

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Get organised for a busy gardening Easter Weekend

Before the growing season gets into full swing get organised, make plans and prepare for a busy Easter Weekend and a productive year ahead in your garden.  

Tools   Check, clean, oil and replace any that are damaged or worn, make sure that you have the right tools for all your jobs this year.

Propagators   These will soon be in full use, test yours early to check it is working properly and give it a good clean, hygiene is very important when sowing seeds. Now is an ideal time to buy one, it will be invaluable throughout the year and in years to come.

Pots, Trays and Compost   Organise your Greenhouse/Potting Shed sort through your pots and trays throw away any broken ones, give the rest a good clean as well as your potting tray, order new Seed Compost and Vegetable Compost, last year’s opened bags may not be suitable for starting off your new seeds and plants.

Watering Cans & Water Butts   Drain and clean out, check the rose on your watering can and replace if necessary, don’t be caught out by the weather invest in a Water Butt, remember the drought we had in Spring 2012.

Store your seeds in a Seed Tin

Seeds   Take stock of your seeds, discard any that are opened and out of date and order more while stocks are still available, store in a suitable Seed Tin to protect them from Mice, Pests and moisture.

Plan   Sit down with a nice cup of tea and draw a plan of your garden/vegetable patch make notes on crops that did/did not do well and where your crops where grown last year, make a new planting plan for this year rotating your crops to get the best results and to avoid problems.

 

Read   Gardening books are invaluable for reference, ideals, hints and tips for your garden/vegetable plots.

Order Early   If you need any gardening products order early whilst products are available to make sure that you have everything you need.

Make your plans and preparations now, Easter is early and it’s the busiest gardening weekend of the year, let’s hope it’s warm and dry.

Gill

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Spring jobs on the allotment – Prune Autumn Raspberries and plant Onion Sets

The weather is a very popular subject with the British people and who can blame them, one minute it’s sunny the next its cloudy, it can be warm one day and freezing the next or blowing a gale, foggy, raining, sleeting or snowing and if we are very unlucky a combination of all of these.

Just over a week ago I thought Spring had arrived, on my plot I began digging in earnest, the sun was shining, it was warm, I weeded the beds, dug one of them over and forked in some Chicken Poo ready for my Onion Sets which I planted 4” apart in rows, leaving 9” between each row, this year I am growing Setton and Sturon. Onions Sets are very easy to grow and only need occasional weeding, feeding and watering if the weather is dry during the growing season.

Autumn Rasberries

The next job was to prune my Autumn Raspberry Canes down to the ground, I forked in some Chicken Poo, applied a mulch from my Compost Bin and placed the old canes across my onion bed to deter the birds from pulling the sets out of the ground as it is said they think they are worms. Autumn Raspberries fruit on this years new canes, which may need to be thinned out in Summer if they are overcrowded, I prefer them to Summer Raspberries as they flower later, avoiding the frosts, and fruit later, extending the fruiting season, you can pick delicious Raspberries well into late Autumn, it is still not too late to plant some Raspberry Canes.

Since that lovely sunny day we have had biting easterly winds, freezing temperatures and snow, the frogs in the garden pond have been waiting patiently at the bottom for over a month, this weekend they are very active, we did a head count on Friday evening with a torch and counted 30+, we have 8 blobs of frog spawn so far.

Spring surely must be just around the corner

Gill

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Why not have a go at growing your own Chillies – sow your seeds now.

If you like a bit of heat in your cooking then why not have a go at growing your own pot of Chillies on your windowsill.

Windowsill Chilli Pot

Chillies make attractive plants, there are lots of different varieties to choose from which will produce chillies in varying shapes, sizes, colours and degrees of heat from mild through to hot, some are even described as ‘inferno’ these definitely are not for the faint hearted.

Chilli seeds need heat to germinate, the plants prefer a warm and sunny position to grow on and ripen their fruits, as they are slow to germinate they need to be sown early to crop in late summer.

Fill your seed trays or pots with seed compost and sow the seeds thinly on the surface, lightly cover with compost or vermiculite and water carefully with a fine rose.

Place in a propagator or on a warm windowsill at a temperature of 18-21C (65-70F), do not exclude light as this helps germination, which can take 7-14 days.

Once the seedling are large enough to handle pot on into small pots of good quality compost, and then when they have outgrown their pots transplant into larger pots, hanging baskets, containers, or into grow bags where they are to crop. If you want to grow them outside harden them off and plant out in a sunny sheltered position after all risk of frost has passed,

Feed the plants weekly after the first fruits begin to form and water when the compost feels dry, you may need to stake the plants to support the fruit bearing stems.

Chilli Starter Kit

Give them a try; why not treat yourself or someone special on Mothers Day (10^th March) to a Chilli Growing Kit .

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Growing your own Mushrooms is Fun, Educational and Magic!

This half term holiday I’ve treated myself and Thomas and bought a Brown Button Mushroom Growing Kit.

Brown Button Mushroom Growing Kit

 Every term Thomas has a school project to do at home and next term’s is titled ‘Growing Food’, so I thought we would get organised and get started on it early by growing our own Mushrooms and taking photographs to show the different stages of growth, as well as having some delicious mushrooms to eat in a few weeks.

Each kit contains everything you will need:

• A black plastic bag which you use to line the box
• A clear bag containing the ‘Mushroom Compost’.
• A black bag containing the ‘Casing Layer’.

1. Empty the mushroom compost in the bottom of your lined box and lightly firm. Spread over the ‘Casing Layer’ (which has been moistened with half a litre of water) and lightly mix the two layers together leaving the surface rough.
2. Rest the lid on top of the box at an angle and put in a warm place for about a week and a white fluffy mycelium should appear on the surface.
3. Remove the lid and place in a cooler dark location, use a mist spray to keep the surface damp.
4. Mushroom should begin to appear after about a week, pick them as small or as large as you like.

Growing Mushrooms from a kit couldn’t be easier and is a fun and fascinating thing to do, especially with children.

These Mushroom Kits are available now (while stocks last) for only £3.99 with any other purchase from The Recycleworks website.

Gill

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