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Lunchie Munchies!

If you think that my latest culinary efforts don’t look very yummy then that’s because you’re not in the target audience. It’s been very cold here for a few days, and the birds in the garden are hungry and need calorie-rich food to keep them going. We’ve been feeding them ad hoc as and when we have leftovers – Christmas cake and grated cheese, with the occasional bread crust. The day before yesterday I put out some fresh water – it had frozen solid in a matter of hours.

(I covered feeding leftovers to birds in episode 80 of the Alternative Kitchen Garden show; if you want to read the edited highlights, have a look at this article instead.)

This piece in the Guardian reminded me to get my act together and turn the lard in the fridge into a birdcake. It’s a simple matter of mixing melted fat with other foods and leaving it to cool. This one is a bread crust, an apple and some dried mealworms and poultry corn donated by the chickens from their stash. Once it has firmed up, I will put it out on the bird table. The water dish is currently defrosting, and I will put out fresh water at the same time.

Top Tip: If you have problems turning your finished bird cake out of its container, pop it in the freezer for an hour or so and it will slide out without any trouble :)

Broad Bean Booster Experiment 2009

I’ve never had a great deal of success with broad beans – possibly because I usually grow them in containers and they haven’t had a chance to find the right bacteria with which to form a symbiotic relationship. No bacteria = no root nodules = no nitrogen fixed from the air.

I wrote about bean boosters this time last year, and this year I’m going to do an experiment to see whether they work. I’m going to grow two batches of broad beans, in 2 containers, and apply the bean booster to one set to see what difference it makes. The second set will be the control – treated identically in every way, except without the booster.

Will the plants grow faster? Will they be bigger and stronger? Will the harvests be bigger? Will they have root nodules when I dig them up at the end of their life?

For this experiment I will need:

• A packet of bean booster. Ordered this morning from Mr. Fothergill’s for the princely sum of £2.83, including P&P.


• Broad bean seeds. I have two opened packets, one of Stereo and the other The Sutton (both from The Organic Gardening Catalogue). Most likely I will sow a mixture of both; they can both be sown from February onwards.


• Compost. I’ll have to get some fresh potting compost, so that they both get the same treatment and there’s no stray garden bacteria floating around in it.


• Modules. I usually sow in modules, and I have two sets of Rootrainers I can use. They will need a good wash first.


• Two identical containers for planting out. Also well washed.


• Space for two containers side-by-side so that they get the same growing conditions.

Watch this space for experiment updates.

New life

Outside it is very cold. I have to defrost the chicken’s water every morning, and one of my leaky water butts is creating its own icicle.

Indoors on the windowsill, things are warmer and there are signs of new life.

The Sweet Lipstick pepper (sown last September) lost all its leaves in the autumn, but is now growing fresh shoots and… flowers!

And although this may look like a strange abstract shot, if you look closely (click through for a larger picture) you can see a new shoot growing on the pineapple crown I planted in July.

Landshare Update

You may have come across Hugh F-W’s new Landshare scheme last year – he’s aiming to unite people with excess land with people who need land to grow food. I mentioned it in episode 76 of the AKG show when it first started, and signed up to be a facilitator/ mentor (as I have enough land for me, but not to share).

I received my first email update a couple of days before Christmas, and thought it would be worth sharing here:

“Hello from the Landshare team

Thanks for registering your interest with Landshare.

We‘ve had a fantastic response with over 20,000 individuals and groups registering, including some major landowners, right across the UK. And the registrations keep on coming every day!

There are so far over 15,000 would-be growers registered all around the country, and here’s a summary of the landowner registrations:

• London: over 150


• South West: almost 400


• South East: over 400


• East: almost 300


• West Midlands: over 150


• East Midlands: over 150


• Yorkshire and Humber: over 150


• North West: almost 250


• North East: almost 100


• Wales: over 100


• Scotland: almost 200


• Northern Ireland: almost 50

Our ratio of would-be growers to landowners is approximately 7 to 1 which sounds a bit lop-sided, but since many of those landowners have land that can accommodate several growers, we reckon it’s looking good.

We’re busy behind the scenes building the full website which we plan to launch in early 2009 so that matches can be made in time for Spring planting.

We’ll be in touch again before the launch to give you more information about how to get involved. In the meantime, for more updates and a place to comment , give feedback and discuss Landshare-related stuff, join our group on Facebook

If you have had this passed on by a friend, you can register your interest at www.landshare.net

The Landshare Team“

Gardening New Year's Resolutions

I’m not one for personal New Year resolutions, preferring the continuous improvement approach. But winter is a time of reflection for the garden, and the start of the new season brings forth the desire to do things better this year, or just differently.

And so here are my gardening resolutions for 2009:

• Compost more cardboard. It cuts down on waste and means more lovely compost for me. There will be more from the cardboard composter – and it will probably gain a sibling, as I have another large box.


• Fix up the water butts. It was on the list for last year, and didn’t get done – but I need to sort out the rainwater situation in the garden.


• Save more seeds. I intend to do an audit of the plants I’m growing this year to see which I could conceivably save seeds from – and then plan on doing so.


• Make potting compost. I have year-old leaf mould; I have comfrey. Together they will make a kick-ass potting compost.

2009 is going to be a busy year for me. I’ve got my book (The A to Z of the Alternative Kitchen Garden) coming out in the spring – we’re going to be finalizing the design in January. Before that, I will be featured in Growing Stuff, and I’m about to put pen to paper to start a second year of the Eco Garden series for Country Gardener.

Don’t forget to get in touch if you’re interested in the garden bloggers book project!

Coming Up: An evening with Jekka

This time last year I was contemplating a forthcoming event in my life – going to see Ken Thompson’s contribution to the Oxford Botanic Garden Winter Lecture Series.

This morning my tickets have arrived for next year’s event – I’m going to see Jekka McVicar (of Jekka’s Herb Farm) giving a lecture entitled ‘Herbs for Senses and Scents’. If last year is anything to go by, I will be the only person scribbling madly into a notebook.

I ordered my tickets just before Christmas, so there are obviously still places left if you want to go too. Check out the details of public education events for 2009 for more details.

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Did you know you can get free entry to Kew Gardens on Thursday? it’s the first day of their 250th year….

Dirty Taro

I haven’t been out in the garden much lately, but last week I noticed that the taro plants in the Grow Dome were suffering from aphids and sooty mould – some of the leaves looked pretty dirty.

On Christmas Eve the weather was lovely – bright and mild – and while the chickens got to work in their giant dust bath I cleaned up the taro. I wiped the leaves down with a cloth and a solution of eco-friendly bug spray, the idea being that wiping would remove the sooty mould and the liquid would kill off the aphids.

How well it will work, and whether a second application will be necessary, remains to be seen – but for the moment the taro leaves certainly look much cleaner.

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According to Amazon, ‘Growing Stuff’ will be published on 20th February 2009. There’s a little bit more information about the book on the Black Dog Publishing website.

Food Growing Bloggers e-Book

At the end of October I wrote about a collaborative book project. Work on ‘Growing Stuff’ is ongoing; I don’t have a publication date yet, but I will let you know as soon as I do.

This morning I have been thinking that it might be good to have a Food Growing Bloggers (kitchen gardeners!) project along the same lines, with the aim of producing an e-book that will be of interest to kitchen gardeners everywhere. We could then distribute it freely, or use sales to support one of the gardening charities. We might also be able to offer a hard copy for sale via Lulu.com or another print-on-demand site.

Contributions could be on anything relevant – green gardening, composting, detailed cultivation notes on a particular plant, a report of a visit to a kitchen garden that’s open to the public, notes on how to deal with a pest or a disease, or just a collection of handy hints. It doesn’t have to be high brow, tales of gardening disasters could work too. We’ll also need photos or illustrations, and if you’re a gardening cook then perhaps you could share a recipe. Maybe you once wrote a blog post that you think deserves a more lasting audience. Each contribution would be attributed to the author, you can plug your blog/ website/ other projects/ favourite charity along the way.

Timescales tbc when I see how much (or how little) support there is for the idea. If you’re interested in contributing or helping with the behind-the-scenes work (editing, design, etc) then send me an email.

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If you’re a publisher and would be interested in taking on this rather unique project – which comes complete with an inbuilt online promotional network – then let me know.

Forest Garden Plants: Acca sellowiana

I’m going to compile a list of plants that would be at home in a temperate forest garden. I’ll start off with plants that I have, and move on to ones that I would have if I had the space ;). These posts are intended as a jumping off point, rather than a detailed cultivation guide, as I am not a Forest Garden expert. If you have extra information, or links to good site about these plants then please leave a comment.

My Acca sellowiana has only just arrived.

Known as the Pineapple Guava, or Fruit Salad Tree, this is a fully hardy South American shrub that appreciates a sunny position. You will be rewarded with stunning flowers (see the picture on the BBC Gardening site) and edible fruit – although the fruit may only ripen in a long, hot summer or under cover.

According to PFAF, the flowers are edible as well.

The pineapple guava is easy to buy here in the UK. Mine came from Victoriana Nursery Gardens. They’re also available from the Agroforestry Research Trust (who stock several named varieties) and GardenBargains – who have some lovely pictures on their site, but I have never ordered from them.

Dora Stoppard

There’s a tendency among pet owners to immortalise their animals by filling their home with ornaments. Pete and I for the most part have avoided chicken memorabilia, but an impromptu visit to one of our local independent bookstores yesterday brought Dora Stoppard into our lives.

Dora is a doorstop chicken, a very docile breed that sits where it’s put and makes almost no noise. She doesn’t require much in the way of food or cleaning out, either, but the breed is not useful for egg laying or the table.

Doorstop chickens are a very variable breed. You can buy them direct from the breeder, Lucy Tom. Some even have leather-style plummage. And Lucy Tom breed some more exotic doorstop animals, too – including hippos, penguins and elephants!

According to the website, there’s a Lucy Tom owners club on Facebook, but there’s no link and I can’t find it.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Heritage Seed Library Catalogue 2009

Last week the Heritage Seed Library catalogue for 2009 arrived. As a member of the HSL I am allowed to make 6 choices from this list of non-commercial vegetable varieties, and can choose whether to receive a 7th ‘Lucky Dip’ packet as well.

If you’re a member and have had your catalogue – did you see Rebsie on page 9? :D

As I have far too many seeds and not enough space in the garden, I always struggle to choose my varieties. I really should just be a ‘silent’ member, paying my dues to support their work and not choosing any seeds. Maybe next year.

This year I have chosen:

• Chard ‘Samara’, actually a leaf beet. Leaf beet is easy to grow, and both we and the chickens eat it.


• Cress ‘Grandpa’s Cress’ – one of the new and more unusual varieties offered this year.


• Onion ‘Rousham Park Hero’, a variety local to Oxfordshire.


• Pea ‘Moldova’, which is a short variety good for windowboxes, according to the description.


• Pea ‘Victorian Purple Podded’, a very tall heritage pea with purple pods which should mean I remember to pick them!


• and Runner Bean ‘Inchley’s White’, which has white flowers.

I did tick the box for ‘lucky dip’ – every year so far it has been a packet of tomato seeds and if the same is true this year then I’ll have to find a home for them elsewhere.

In theory I should have chosen 18 varieties – so I have second and third choices if they run out of my first choice. In practice I get my request in early and that has never happened, but I have ticked the ‘happy to receive substitutes’ box, so in case of emergency they can choose for me!

If you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift for a kitchen gardener then an HSL membership might fit the bill. You can buy online (or by phone), and although the membership pack won’t know arrive until after Christmas, it will make a great start to the New Year. For armchair gardeners you could consider adopting a vegetable.

Oca Harvest

Pure White Oca Tubers

Scarlet Oca Tubers

My oca harvest this year was limited (you can listen to the whole story in the latest edition of the Alternative Kitchen Garden Show, but not bad for a first attempt. I’m going to keep them all for planting next year, since none of them really look large enough to eat.

As far as the scarlet variety is concerned, it seems that you can use the colour of the tubers to determine how ready they are – the earlier the tubers were dug up, the smaller and paler they were.

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You can now sign up to take part in Earth Hour 2009, which is being held at 8:30pm on Saturday March 28 2009.

Book Review: Asian Vegetables

As you know, I’m a sucker for all things edible, weird and wonderful, which is why I was particularly thrilled when I opened the January edition of GYO magazine and discovered that a new book was about to be published. ‘Asian Vegetables’ by Sally Cunningham is a book about growing fruit, vegetables and spices from the Indian Subcontinent. According to the blurb on the back, it has “a wealth of information on over 40 varieties of fruit, vegetables and spices that can be grown in this country.”

Currently it can only be ordered direct from Eco-Logic Books, but (for the time being) they’re offering it post free, so it’s £14.99 all in.

Mine arrived a few days ago and I have been dipping in and out. There’s some general information at the beginning about the author and how she got involved in growing Asian vegetables, plus some handy hints about growing unusual things outside of their normal climate.

The book is then divided into 4 sections – leaves, beans, roots, spices and ornamentals. Each plant has two or three pages devoted to it, with details about culinary uses, nutritional value, other uses and cultivation in the UK. There are photographs of each plant – usually in growth and the harvested vegetable and sometimes flowers or seeds/ seedlings. Most of the pictures don’t have captions, and in one or two cases you’ll have to read through the text to work out what you’re looking at.

At the end of the book there’s a couple of interesting appendices – one with alternative names for the plants and one about different banana varieties. There’s also an index of suppliers.

Overall, it’s a nice book – easy to read, pleasantly laid out and nicely illustrated. The text is chatty rather than dry, informative and clearly the result of long experimentation and experience. There’s occasional anecdotes about plants surviving in the UK despite unlikely circumstances.

I have three issues with the book, all of which are down to the publisher rather than the author. Firstly, there are a couple of proofing errors that should have been spotted. There’s a sentence that tails off into nothing, and a capital letter that appears where it really shouldn’t.

Secondly, the title bugs me. I would expect a book about ‘Asian Vegetables’ to be far more wide reaching (compare it to Joy Larkcom’s ‘Oriental Vegetables’ – it’s much more comprehensive). The subtitle ‘A guide to growing fruit, vegetables and spices from the Indian subcontinent’ more accurately describes what you’re getting.

And thirdly, that quote from the blurb above is a bit misleading. Although the book does indeed have information about more than 40 species of plant that can be grown in the UK, it doesn’t have information about 40 fruits and vegetables that can be grown in the UK because a considerable number of the plants are in the ‘Ornamentals’ section and will never be productive in our climate.

As for the rest, the vast majority of them are plants that will not thrive outdoors and require a lifetime of protection (and for some of them, heat) to survive, and will give very small yields in return. All of the plants that are easily grown in the UK will already be familiar to all but the least adventurous kitchen gardeners.

Which is not to say that I am disappointed by the book, or that I would suggest you avoid it. It’s clearly a book (like their other title, Growing Unusual Vegetables) for people like me – gardeners who like to push the boundaries and experiment with growing unusual edibles. Sometimes you strike lucky and find something that you love and which grows well in your garden. Sometimes you get an attractive houseplant that’s too delicate to live outside. We grow these plants because we can, and whatever happens, it’s always interesting.

Long Haul

Yesterday I received (via a seed swap) a packet of Medlar Mespilus germanica seeds. According to PFAF they need a considerable period of time to germinate – I’ve sown mine in pots and put them outside in the cold frame, but it could be 2 years before there are signs of life.

In contrast, the Siberian Peas Caragana arborescens should only take a couple of weeks. They’re sitting in a pot on a sunny windowsill, soaking up the warmth.

Most years, when I get to the end of my Christmas shopping I add on an extra gift – for charity. In the past I’ve ordered an extra goat from Oxfam Unwrapped or adopted an extra vegetable with Garden Organic. This year I have chosen to support Plants for a Future because I use their wonderful website all the time (even though I have a copy of the PFAF book).

Soggy Cardboard Composter

The lid of the cardboard composter has, unsurprisingly, suffered in the recent rain. It can still be classed as a lid, but just barely. The rest of the composter is standing up quite well at the moment, and there’s certainly no shortage of cardboard to keep it fed.

While I remember, this is what last year’s leaf mould looks like under the surface – fairly rotted. I’m planning on layering it with comfrey leaves in the spring, and letting it rot down into potting compost.

January 6th 2009
9:21 PM GMT

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