Kitchen Gardener Rob Smith has a brand new apple tree and checks stored crops
Its predecessor suffered from canker so I hope this ones fares better
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my espalier apple trees seems to be suffering from canker quite badly so I’ve had to remove it and destroy the plant to prevent the problem from reoccurring; I decided to burn it as it was the safest method of disposal. I was originally going to replace the plant with another species, but after talking to the helpful people at Frank P Matthews trees, I’ve decided to replace it with another tree after preparing the site a little more.
Firstly I’ve removed all the soil from the raised bed and dug down around a spade’s depth below ground level to mix in some extra grit to improve drainage; apparently canker can spread if the site is wet and the soil’s acidic. With this in mind, after improving the drainage I added 100g of garden lime to the bottom of the hole and mixed it through with the soil. I then added a thin layer of soil before positioning the tree and back-filling the hole, then adding another 100g of garden lime to the surface and working it gently in. I’m hoping this should keep my new tree canker free; I’ll keep you posted!
I’ve started to dig my Jerusalem artichokes and they’ve done really well so far, producing decent-sized red tubers. This year I grew a short variety called ‘Dwarf’, which has amazingly only grown to 60cm (2ft) tall; it doesn’t grow as upright as the usual, taller varieties so I added a few short canes to keep it upright in the bed. The tubers seem to all be attached to the main stem, so I shouldn’t have the problem of new plants popping up all over the place like I used to. I lay the foliage over the bed where the tubers are situated, this not only reminds me they’re there, but it also helps keep the worst of the frost from damaging any tubers near the surface. After selecting the largest tubers for the kitchen, the smaller ones are potted on into small pots and left in the unheated greenhouse or cold frame for the winter. I’ll then plant these out in spring as they’re just such a great little crop that
I much prefer to the regular large varieties, and there’s nothing better than a warm bowl of artichoke soup.
My ‘Douce Provence’ autumnsown peas seem to have romped away in the root trainers in the unheated greenhouse and have become a little tall for my liking, so I’m pinching the growing tip off the plants before planting them out in a well-manured bed. Hopefully this will encourage the plants to become a little more stocky and produce more peas.
I’ve sandwiched the plants
between two pea gates for them to climb up, but also to protect them from hungry pigeons, who can strip the plants in a matter of minutes if they find them. You could always make yourself a birdproof cover from chicken wire, then the plants can grow through it and use it for support, but the feathered foes can’t eat the plants!