Herb 2013

Coriander
Sow indoors all year
outdoors mar-jun

Lemon Basil
Sow indoors ayr
outdoors may-jun

Dill
sow indoors and out mar-jun

Chives
sow indoors ayr
outdoors mar-may

Basil - Sweet Genovese
sow in ayr
sow out may-jul

Basil - sweet green

Parsley - plain leaved
sow in ayr
sow out mar-jul

Parsley - Italian giant

Thyme - old english

Chervil

Cumin

Marjoram - sweet
sow indoors ayr
out mar-may

Oregano - greek
sow indoors feb-may

Sage
sow indoors mar-may

stuff to plant 2013

Peas

Peas - Meteor
plant Oct-Nov or Jan-Mar
Harvest May-Sept

peas - felton first

peas - kelvedon wonder

Peas - petit pois waverex

peas - hurst greenshaft

Beans

beans - pams

runner bean - painted lady

Lettuce and salad leaves

Lettuce - mixed baby leaf

Lettuce - little gem
sow indoors mar-jul
harvest may-oct

Lettuce - all year round
sow indoors mar-aug
harvest apr-oct

Lettuce - lollo rosso
sow indoors mar-aug
harvest may-oct

Lettuce - lobjoits green cos
sow indoors mar-jul andsept-oct
harvest - apr-oct

Lettuce - salad bowl

Mizuna

Mixed salad leaves

Rocket
Sow outdoors apr-aug
harvest - may-oct

Spinach - F1 amazon

Cress - american land

Watercress - Nasturtium officinale

Salad leaves - oriental mix

Pak Choi - colour and crunch F1
Sow outdoors may-aug
harvest - jun-oct

Tomatoes

Tomato - Garden Pearl
sow indoors - Mar-Apr
plant out - may-june
Harvest - Aug-Oct

Tomato - black cherry

Tomato - ailsa craig

Tomato - Sungold F1

Tomato - Cherry cerise

Tomato - gardeners delight

Chillies

Chilli - birds eye

Chilli - Cayenne

Chilli - Jalapeno

Chilli - demon red

Peppers 

Pepper - sweet pepper paprika/Karmin

Pepper - sweet frigitello

Pepper - sweet banana

Pepper - gold bell

Brassicas

Cabbage - Pixie
sow outdoors - Jan-sept
Harvest - April-nov

Broccoli - Purple Sprouting

Broccoli - early purple sprouting

Broccoli - white early sprouting

Brussels Sprout - Roodnerf

brussels sprout - evesham special

Cabbage - Golden Acre

Calabrese - Ramoso

Kale - Westland Winter

Kale - dwarf green curled
sow indoors - mar-may
sow outdoors - mar-may
plant out - jul-aug
harvest - sept-mar

Leeks 

Leek - Musselburgh
Sow indoors - Jan-feb
Sow outdoors - mar-apr
plant out - may-july
harvest - oct - mar

Leek - Lyon 2

Sow indoors - Jan-feb
Sow outdoors - mar-apr
plant out - may-july
harvest - oct - dec

Roots

parsnips - tender and true

carrot - little finger

Carrot - Autumn King 2
sow outdoors - mar-jul
harvest - jun-nov

Courgettes and Squashes

Courgette - Atena Polka F1

Courgette - Black Beauty Dark Fog

Courgette - Zucchini
Sow indoors - mar-may
Sow outdoors - apr-may
Plant out - June
Harvest - july-oct

Courgette - All green bush
sow - apr-june
harvest - jul-oct

Squash - butternut
sow - apr-jun
harvest - oct-nov

Squash - Sweet Dumpling
sow indoors - mar-may
sow outdoors - may
plant out - june
harvest - sept-oct

Fennel, chard, sweetcorn, watermelons

Fennel - Di Firenze
sow outdoors - may-july
harvest - jul-oct

Chard - White Silver 2
sow outdoors - apr-jul
harvest - jul-nov

chard - rainbow mix

Watermelon - crimson sweet

sweetcorn - earlibird F1

Sweetcorn - Incredible Sugar Enhanced F1

Cold frame

These pictures are the before and after of the coldframe retrieved from my friends garden, it was a bit bust up and covered in crap and spiderswebs, its now all fixed and glass replaced, me, i'm really chuffed with myself lol... now wot to put in it!!

greenhouse before we dismantled it and brought it home

pictures from 2011

Water Melons - this one was so ripe it had split 

Fruit Chutney - a more fruit version of mango chutney, lovely if you like a bit of sweetness with your crackers, I use it in homemade stuffing balls

600g apples, peeled and chunked
900g pears, peeled and chunked
1 large mango, peeled and chunked
150g dried apricots, chunked
150g sultanas (optional i dont use)
350g demerara sugar
4cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
250 ml cider vinegar
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (optional)
1 tsp cinammon

place everything into a pan
heat stirring gently until sugar dissolves
heat gently for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally until you have a thick syrupy texture and it retains shape for a while when dragging a spoon through it
put in sterilised warmed jars
store in dark place for at least a week before eating

principe borghese

principe borghese

san marzano

tigerella

greenhouse 22-9

melon 22-9

Chillies 22-9

woohoo actually got a birds eye

roasted vegetable chutney

1lb tomatoes, skinned and halved
2 medium courgettes, diced
2 white onions, diced
6-8 peppers, whatever sort you fancy, sliced
2-4 chillies, whatever you have depending on how hot you want, sliced
olive oil, for coating
smoke paprika,
125 mls white wine vinegar
125g caster sugar

Remove skins from tomatoes with boiling water
place all veg in roasting dishes and coat and rub in olive oil, sprinkle with smoke paprika roast for 20-25 mins til softened.
remove skins from peppers if you wish (i leave mine on)
chop as small as you want the pieces and place all veg in saucepan/jam pan.
add sugar and ww vinegar, bring to boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours.
once you can pull the spoon through the mixture and it takes a while to return to the same point its ready to put in sterilised jars, this amount made 6 small jars

Plum & strawberry jam

900g plums, halved and stoned
100g strawberries, tops removed and halved
3/4 pint water
1tsp of mixed spice
1kg of jam sugar (pectin contained)
knob of butter

Put a couple of ceramic plates in fridge.
Put fruit,water and spice in pan over a low heat until softened and reduced.
Add sugar, mixing all time, stir until sugar has dissolved.
Once dissolved, add knob of butter, turn heat up and bring to a rolling boil.
Boil for 10mins, remove from heat and test on a plate, if you can push your finger thru and it doesn't move straight back into place it's done.
If not ready, return to heat and boil for another 5 mins, it was ready after 10 for me.
before putting into sterilised jars, remove scum from top with slotted spoon.
this made 5 medium sized jars full

growing peas

How to grow peas

Fresh peas picked straight from the garden are a revelation! Once you’ve tasted how sweet they really taste, you’ll never want to eat frozen peas again. Better still, growing pea plants is incredibly easy and you can achieve a good yield in a small space. In fact, you can even grow them in containers on the patio for a really space-saving crop. Follow our guide on how to grow garden peas to enjoy the taste of your own home grown crop.

Different types of peas

Don’t be fooled into thinking that all peas are the same. There are shelling peas, edible-podded peas and even purple-podded peas.

Shelling Peas - As the name suggests, shelling peas are grown for the peas inside the pods. Once shelled, the pods are discarded. These fall into two main types, early and maincrop. Early varieties such as Pea ‘Misty’ and the ever popular Pea ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ can be harvested just 12 weeks from sowing. Maincrops such as Pea ‘Oasis’ take 15 weeks to crop. Shelling peas are often divided into ‘wrinkle seeded’, which tend to be sweeter, and ‘smooth-seeded’ types which are often hardier varieties.

Edible-Podded Peas - Mange Tout and Sugar Snap Peas are both edible-podded types that are harvested at different stages of maturity. Flat-podded Mange Tout is harvested while young, whereas round-podded Sugar Snap Peas are harvested when they are semi-mature. There are plenty of varieties to choose from including the very pretty Pea ‘Shiraz’ - the first purple-podded Mange Tout!

Where to grow peas

Choose an open, weed-free site in full sun. Grow peas in a moist, fertile, well drained soil. Try to dig plenty of well rotted compost into the soil several weeks before sowing to improve soil fertility and help retain moisture. It’s best to avoid sowing peas on cold, wet soils as they tend to rot away. If space is at a premium then try growing peas in containers or patio bags. Choose a compact, bushy variety like Pea ‘Bingo’.

When to grow peas

Peas are a cool season crop, enjoying temperatures of 13 -18C (55-64F) so they are well suited to the UK climate. Peas can be direct sown outdoors from March to June once the soil has warmed to about 10C (50F). Using cloches will help the earliest crops to germinate.

In mild areas, some hardy, early maturing cultivars can be sown in late autumn for overwintering and producing particularly early crops. However, mice are quite partial to overwintered pea seeds so keep an eye out for hungry rodents. For a continuous crop of home grown peas it’s a good idea to sow a new batch of peas every 10-14 days. Alternatively, try growing different early and maincrop varieties that will mature at different times throughout the growing season.

How to sow peas

• • Create a wide flat bottomed trench at a depth of 4cm (1½") deep and 15cm (6") wide - a draw hoe is useful to for this job.
• • Water the length of the trench before sowing as this helps the seed to germinate, particularly in drier soils.
• • Direct sow pea seed into the trench at a distance of 5cm (2") apart. You can sow two parallel rows into each 15cm (6") wide trench. If you want to sow more peas then allow a distance of 75cm (30") between each trench.
• • Cover the seed with soil.
• • Alternatively, you can start your peas off in modules in a cold frame and transplant them out to their final positions later on. Take care when transplanting peas as they resent root disturbance.

Hints and Tips for growing peas

• • Protect seed - Birds love to steal pea seed so cover trenches with chicken wire or netting after sowing. This can removed once the seeds have germinated.
• • Provide supports - Peas produce tendrils to help them climb upwards. Erect wire netting, or push upright twiggy sticks into the ground along the length of each trench to provide your peas with supports to cling to.
• • Water regularly - Once pea plants start to flower it’s best to water thoroughly once a week to encourage good pod development. You can reduce water loss by applying a thick mulch of well rotted manure or compost to lock moisture into the soil.
• • Don't over-feed - Don't feed peas with nitrogen rich fertilisers as can cause lots of leafy growth instead of producing pea pods. In most cases peas won't require any extra feed, especially if you added plenty of organic matter to the soil before sowing.

Harvesting peas

• • Peas should be harvested regularly to encourage more pods to be produced. The pods at the bottom of each plant will mature first so begin harvesting from low down and work your way up as the pods mature. All peas can be frozen but they are sweetest and tastiest when eaten freshly picked from the garden.
• • Early varieties can be harvested 11-12 weeks from sowing while maincrop varieties need 13 -15 weeks to mature.
• • Mange Tout is best harvested young while the pods are still flat, and before the peas inside begin to swell.
• • Sugar Snap peas are best harvested when semi-mature, as the peas inside each pod begin to swell.

Fix Nitrogen for next years crops.

Peas are legumes, which take in nitrogen from the air and ‘fix’ (store) it in small nodules along their roots. When growing garden peas, don’t be tempted to pull the plants up from the roots at the end of the season. The leaves and stems can be cut off at ground level and added to the compost heap, before digging the roots into the ground. As the roots break down, they release nitrogen into the soil. The nitrogen is then free to be taken up by next year’s crop in a normal rotation system - try growing brassicas in this spot next year!

Beans & Peas

Common Name: Runner bean

Genus: Phaseolus
Species: coccineus
Cultivar: 'Painted Lady'
Skill Level: Beginner
Exposure: Full sun
Hardiness: Tender
Soil type: Well-drained/light, Moist
Height: 200cm
Time to plant seeds: April to May

Runner Bean 'White Lady'

Phaseolus coccineus

A premier variety in every way! Vigorous, high yielding plants produce the most tender, thick, succulent pods you have ever tasted. The delicious long, mid green beans ofRunner Bean ‘White Lady’ are stringless with a wonderful smooth texture. These white flowered plants are less prone to bird attack than their red flowered cousins, and set well, even in high temperatures, guaranteeing a plentiful crop. Height: 3m (10’). Spread: 30cm (12”).

Pea 'Kelvedon Wonder' (Early)

Pisum sativum

Extremely popular and reliable variety for successional sowings throughout spring, and a particular favourite for June sowings, Pea Kelvedon Wonder produces huge crops of narrow pointed pods in pairs, averaging 7 or 8 succulent peas per pod. RHS AGM winner. Pea Kelvedon Wonder is resistant to Pea Wilt, tolerant to Downy Mildew. 

Flowering Period:

June, July, August

Sowing Months:

March, April, May, June

Position:

full sun

Pea - Felton First 

Very early variety. Hardy and can be sown in the autumn to overwinter. Ht 45cm.

Make a drill about 12-15cm wide and 4-5cm deep, sow seeds 5cm apart throughout the drill, water and then fill in. Support as seedlings appear, height 45cm. Regular watering is essential once the plants are in flower and pod.

Popular choice for autumn sowing

garden changing comparison

may 2011

may 2012

13-9-2012