Kitchen Garden Update

Early April 2005

The arrival of spring has coincided with a sea change in the Kitchen Garden. As buds burst open excitedly, blossom garnishes hedgerows and birdsong fills the air (but not in the vicinity of our plants), the construction phase of the garden has taken a back seat as planting out has begun.

Confidence in our rabbit fencing was well placed (we never had any doubts) and with the garden safe from mammal attack, we set to work on creating a final planting plan. Of course, we had a vague idea of where the crops we are intending to grow would spend their summer when ordering the seeds, but finalising this plan would surely be, on the face of it, a simple task? Err, no. We discovered just how fussy plants can be   and when you throw in various other factors such as light, water, time in the soil, not liking the potential neighbours and the all important aspect of crop rotation, it becomes practically impossible! However, after destroying many pencils and wasting reams of paper, we arrived at our destination. Hopefully, after the agony of creating this plan in the first instance, the next 4 years (crop rotation again) will be a breeze! Please, if you have any ideas for, or have devised a simple method of planning your garden, contact us to share this information. We can assure you we will be most grateful!

Armed with the precious plan, we evicted the garlic from the greenhouse and, selecting the best specimens, began planting out in the bed earmarked for members of the onion family and root crops. The garlic was soon joined by 4 drills of potatoes as we successfully cracked the process of chitting, more of which later. The tubers planted in the half of each drill nearest the greenhouse have been embellished with an organic potato fertilizer, and we will compare the growth and yields with the untreated tubers as the plants progress.

Also pleading to be removed from the greenhouse were the broad beans, and they have been housed in the legume bed, shortly to be joined by the peas which are doing superbly in their guttering. Runner beans will also be meeting up with their legumous bedfellows in the next month or so. To help support these climbing plants, we have erected a Runner Bean Frame and also a Pea and Bean Support System but the broad beans, not being natural climbers, have a simple support system of aluminium tubes and expandable flexi-tie to help keep them upright. It appears that the peas in particular will come under attack from the air and we are proposing to cover them with some anti-bird netting to prevent any damage, and would appreciate any information on this subject e.g. is it necessary and if so, what protection do you use?

Finally, our planting frenzy was completed by the introduction of broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower to the first of our brassica beds – these seedlings were covered with fleece to protect from the hungry birds and a forecasted frost, and will eventually be covered with a vegetable cage to prevent future pilfering. And, thankfully, we have also appeared to have discovered (stumbled upon!) the secret of   perfect potato chitting– a short period of darkness initially to form the chits, followed by exposure to light in a cool environment, when the pale chits turn into darker, stronger, firmer shoots. So, to finally conclude this saga, those who advocate light are partially right, as are those who follow the darkness road. Therefore, we were all correct, and we would like to thank all those who took the time to contact us with information on this subject. All that is required is a Garden Shed, or similar!