The taste of Spring
Now’s the time to plan a bumper crop of lovely fruit and vegetables
NOTHING you can buy from the supermarket comes close to the flavour of fresh, homegrown produce. Plus, it can save money at a time when food prices are soaring.
While it’s still cold and grey outside, why not plan what fruit and vegetables to grow for the year ahead?
Many seeds can be sown under cover in early spring to be planted out in May or June after the risk of frost has passed. Hardier crops such as carrots can be sown directly from April.
All you need is a pencil and paper to sketch out what to grow and where, plus make a list of the seeds you want to buy. You don’t need a huge amount of space — you can even use a balcony or windowsill.
On my allotment, I plan to grow potatoes, onions, climbing beans, purple sprouting broccoli, kale, chard, and squash.
I inherited a pear tree and fruit bushes including raspberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and blackberries from the previous tenant.
RARITY VALUE
YOU can choose unusual varieties you would hardly ever find in the shops, from globe artichokes to purple carrots.
This year I’m going to try pink and white Chioggia beetroot, Good King Henry which is a bit like spinach with arrow-shaped leaves, and Rouge Vif d’Etampes pumpkin, said to be the model for Cinderella’s carriage.
If you have the space, it’s good to use a crop rotation system, alternating three beds between different plant families each year to keep the soil fertile and reduce pests and diseases.
The first group is brassicas —any member of the cabbage family plus radishes, swedes, and turnips. Second, root vegetables such as beetroots, carrots, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes.
And third, pulses including peas and beans as well as celery, onion, leek, sweetcorn, and marrows.
LOOKING AHEAD
THINK about succession planting. Our climate is so unpredictable that a cold, wet spring can be followed by months of drought.
Sowing seeds of the same variety a few weeks apart means if your first crop fails, you have a second chance.
The ‘No Dig’ method of growing is well worth a try. It is based on the theory that soil has invisible networks of beneficial fungi which should stay undisturbed. Cover beds with old cardboard to suppress weeds, then top with a thick layer of mulch. Once the cardboard has broken down, simply plant into this, rather than digging the earth below.
If you have a small garden or balcony, use containers. Tomatoes can be planted in a sunny spot in a Gro-bag, plugging the gaps in between with types of lettuce.
Take a series of pots decreasing in size, fill with compost and place on top of each other for a fountain of strawberries.
On windowsills, sow trays of microgreens such as rocket, mustard and watercress.
And encourage children to get growing. My eight-yearold loves to join me on the allotment. Start them off with something simple like radishes, which are easy to sow outdoors in the spot where they will grow, producing a crop in just weeks.
Another of our favourites is ‘bog roll beans’. Save toilet roll tubes and turn them into biodegradable pots to sow broad beans in late winter.
These can be planted out in spring to produce beans by early summer.