Green light for veggie planting
My crops are going out at last, from courgettes to sweetcorn and beans
It’s all about planting veggies this week, with several types ready to finally go into the ground outside. Courgettes are first to go out and I’ve gone for a duo of varieties this year; ‘Defender’ as a green-fruited variety and ‘Butterstick’ to produce yellow courgettes.
One of the main problems I have when growing courgette plants is that the fruit touches the soil and sometimes the blossom end starts to rot on the fruit. With this in mind I’ve decided to use a couple of spare dahlia supports to put around the courgettes, keeping the fruit off the soil and improving the quality. I may have to push the leaves through the support as they grow, but that’s a small sacrifice.
My cucumber plants have been doing well in the unheated greenhouse in their 2-litre pots, however, as they’re starting to climb, it’s time to get them out into a raised bed. I’ve already erected an obelisk-type frame for them to grow up and have transplanted two plants, one on each side. I’m growing a smaller-fruited variety that I’ve grown for the last two years (‘Ayda’ F1) as it really did perform outside last year. After carefully tying the plant to the support, I’m hoping it will begin to support itself soon. I like this variety for outdoor growing, not just because of all the fruit it produces, but also because the leaves are smaller than traditional cucumber varieties, so bad weather or torrential rain doesn’t damage the plant as much.
My runner beans ‘Black Knight’ are getting planted around their tower, then once they’re starting to climb I’ll add a trailing pumpkin to the same bed, allowing it to scramble around without shading the beans as they climb.
If you ever need to give beans a helping hand to climb around their supports, remember that they always coil anti-clockwise as they climb, so don’t try and do it the
wind like some of the taller varieties do.
As the corn plants get a little taller, you can underplant them with a pumpkin or squash, or even dwarf French beans, but don’t be too keen as small corn plants can be swamped and shaded easily.
This method of growing is called the ‘Three Sisters’ and traditionally uses climbing beans in the USA, but here in the UK the beans are a little too fast for the corn. Finally, I’m making a late sowing of calendula flowers.
These will provide some late colour in the beds and are also great for pollinators and drying for use in the kitchen.