GROWING YOUR OWN
Nothing tastes as good as food from your own patch – so let’s get planning now for spring
Now is the time to plan what veg you are going to grow this year. For a number of reasons, it pays dividends to grow some of your own food.
First of all, there’s the simple satisfaction of getting back to nature. Horticultural therapy is a growing area, with healthcare professionals advocating gardening as a way to de-stress, lower anxiety levels and improve mental wellbeing.
Secondly, you can grow varieties that are not always available in the supermarket and, more importantly, you are in control of the growing method so you can be sure there are no pesticides involved. Finally, it tastes better! Food flown across continents and refrigerated cannot compete with freshly dug garden produce.
It’s a bit early for most crops but tomatoes can be sown indoors in a heated propagator towards the end of this month. And the reason for sowing so early is that they will be ready to absorb the long light days and heat as soon as it’s available – they need a long ripening period.
To avoid tomato blight, practise good hygiene such as crop rotation, i.e. not growing them in the same soil each year. Fungus spreads more easily in moist conditions, so good spacing
However, did you know you could harvest rhubarb all year round?
between plants and making sure you water the soil and not the leaves will help. Breeders are busy creating diseaseresistant varieties of tomatoes like ‘Crimson Crush’, a cordon with a sweet, mild flavour (try Suttons.co.uk).
This variety is unique as it has two resistance genes to Phytophthora infestans (late blight), giving it protection against all strains of blight currently found in the UK.
So if blight spores come into contact with the plant, the infection will not spread throughout – just remove any infected leaves and the overall yield and quality of fruit should not be affected.
I bought some seed potatoes last weekend – make sure to get some soon as they quickly sell out by spring. I like to try different varieties and this year I’m plumping for maincrop Maris Piper.
It’s a classic potato, great for roasting or chipping and it stores well. It has good eelworm resistance, but if you want to avoid blight, either go for early varieties such as Duke of York or choose Sarpo varieties such as Mira and Axona. These were bred in Hungary specifically for resistance to blight and are resilient.
Get chitting (popping them on windowsills to encourage sprouting) so you can get them in the ground at the end of March or early April.
Grow what you like to eat is a good mantra. I love rhubarb and enjoyed harvesting Timperley Early last year – this is one of the best and earliest fruiting varieties. However, did you know you could harvest rhubarb all year round?
Poulton’s Pride from Dtbrownseeds. co.uk keeps on cropping because unlike other rhubarb varieties, the summer dormancy has been bred out so you can harvest from February if you force them and continue right through to November.
There’s a new sister variety called Poulton’s Red which DT Brown’s general manager Tim Jeffries says is “the sweetest I’ve ever tasted with less of the characteristic rhubarb sharpness, which means little or no sugar needs to be added during the cooking process”. Sounds delicious!
If you’re an absolute beginner, head to Mr Fothergill’s and check out its new Get Growing range with Sunday Mirror gardener David Domoney, aimed at newcomers.
The collection comprises 56 of the most reliable vegetable varieties in the Mr Fothergill’s range, plus 10 easy-to-use seed mats and tapes for no-effort sowing.
As David says: “Growing seeds is such great fun. The moment a seed germinates is a special experience that everyone should enjoy.”