Kitchen Gardener Rob Smith is maximising his summer crops
Enjoy more harvests by being more clever with your planting choices
As summer progresses there are lots of different veg to start harvesting, yet it’s the end of the line for one of my favourites (which we actually eat as a fruit), rhubarb! At this time of year it’s best to stop harvesting rhubarb plants, allowing them to grow and increase their energy reserves; by doing this it allows the plants to survive through the winter and it’ll help them to produce thicker stalks next year. Once you’ve harvested your final haul (never take more than a third of the stalks from one plant) mulch with well-rotted manure and leave them to grow to their heart’s content.
However, this only applies to the older varieties of rhubarb
like ‘Victoria’ and ‘Timperley Early’, which need a period without being harvested to increase their energy reserves. If you want to harvest rhubarb throughout summer and autumn, you need to grow one of the modern ‘day-neutral’ varieties like ‘Livingstone’ and ‘Poulton's Red’, which keep on cropping for up to 10 months of the year and can be harvested right through to October and November! I give them a mulch with well-rotted manure at the same time as the traditional varieties, though, as this gives them a boost to keep producing all the way through to autumn.
As rhubarb winds down, globe artichokes (Cynara scolymus) are starting to crop. These large plants are best grown in the flower border where space isn’t so much of an issue. I harvest the first three to four flower buds from each plant to make a tasty lunch when steamed and added to salads; then I allow the rest of the flowers to be enjoyed by the bees as they open. There are several varieties available, with the purple ones being the most striking in the flower border. They seem less susceptible to aphids, too. If you spot colonies of aphids on flower stalks of your artichokes it’s best to either spray them with a soapy solution or simply wipe them off with a piece of kitchen paper, otherwise they can encourage sooty moulds that slow the plant’s vigour. Again, it’s best to either feed or mulch plants with manure when you start harvesting; this makes sure the plants have enough energy to keep cropping and fight off pests.
If you’re growing corn this year it’s time to start thinking about what you can grow with it to maximise
your growing space. I’m growing a short blue cob corn called ‘Blue Jade’, so to make sure I don’t shade the plants I’m growing a dwarf French bean between plants. This allows me to get two crops from one space and also means the corn gets a free feed from the roots of the legume, which fix nitrogen into the soil. If you’re growing standard sweetcorn you can grow courgettes between your plants. This covers the soil and reduces how many weeds grow
around your corn so you spend less time weeding!