Veg Plotting

I repotted the house chilli - now in its fourth year - recently. There were chillis to harvest and straggly growth to cut back first, and now it's back on the windowsill it struck me it looks a little like bonsai... without the need for daily attention. I think the self watering pot is the key to my plant's longevity in the face of the scant attention I give it. As you can see, there's plenty of promise of more chillis to come. This is just as well as I'm planning to learn more about fermented foods in the new year and it looks like chillis will feature a lot in my future. After that, I expect I may need to start again... still four years is pretty good for a plant which is usually grown as an annual. I think it's earned its keep 😊 Have you kept a chilli plant going? How long did it last?

I have two huge pots either side of the central steps leading down off our patio which I decided a few weeks ago should be graced with Echinacea this year. This is a relatively short lived perennial* which sadly decided to leave my garden a few years ago, and it's lovely to welcome it back along with attendant butterflies, hoverflies and other insects in abundance. What I didn't expect was some rocket plants** to decide to join it to make a quite unusual planting combination. What do you think? I have no idea where the rocket has come from, though I'm pleased to add its leaves to my salads and sandwiches on a regular basis. I especially like how the yellow flowers echo the pollen rings that have appeared on the Echinacea's central cones. Sometimes it's good to go with the garden's flow and enjoy the unexpected items that appear in the gardening area 😊 Which combinations - planned or otherwise - do you enjoy in your garden? * = though Echinacea purpurea such as...

We've been in Lancashire for a few days where I had the opportunity to discover some apple varieties which suit more northern climes. I'm delighted I wasn't that familiar with most of these and there's just enough time left to write this post for today's Apple Day  celebrations. The larger picture shows ' Lemon Pippin ' with its unusual yet giveaway shape. Its site description says (which differs in some details with the one given in the link): An old apple of the 18th or 19th Century, origin either Norman or English. A dessert/cooker with a crisp flesh and slightly tangy in taste. Pick October to December. The other unnamed apples shown are ' Duke of Devonshire ' which resided in the basket of one of the scarecrow trail's figures. Judging by the crop in the orchard and on sale in the courtyard, this looks to be a prolific russet variety. Here are the links to descriptions of the named varieties in the photographs: ' Pott's Se...

Veg Plotting 's Blooms Day would be incomplete without the occasional foray into Grow Your Own flowers, so I'm pleased to bring you my 'Just Add Cream' strawberry plants for this month's floral focus. This is a relatively new variety from Thompson & Morgan 's own breeding programme, who also provided me with a few plants to try in 2017. Naturally I've given them a tough time by forgetting them entirely  deliberately growing them on in the smallest of trays for a year before I finally planted them out. I'm pleased to say they've passed this test with flying colours. I'm growing these at home instead of on the allotment where VP Gardens demands food plants look attractive as well as being productive. Apparently pink flowered strawberries have proved rather bland and unproductive in the past, but this variety is bucking those particular trends. It's an everbearer strawberry which means the crop is spread over many months in the su...

I spent a fascinating study morning at Jekka McVicar's Herb Farm last week, where at last I had the chance to see what's changed since she converted her nursery to a Herbetum in 2013. The presence of herbs with their stories and uses was as strong as ever, with some unexpected additions. It was a showery day, which turned Jekka's attention to our changeable weather. "We no longer have showers, we have deluges", she said as a particularly sharp one forced us to shelter for a little longer (and eat more delicious cake) before going outside. Jekka's husband, Mac cheerfully fetched a bundle of large umbrellas, so we could continue on our way. Once outside, "How many of you sharpen your secateurs every week?", was our first and most unexpected question. We shuffled our feet guiltily, and most of us admitted we didn't. "How many of you sharpen your kitchen knives every week?" Now on a surer footing, most of us admitted that we did. ...

It's not the best photo I know, but I loved how yesterday's sunshine provided a range of contrasts on my overwintered chilli plant. It's time to update you on progress - as you can see I have new chillis forming with a few blooms showing promise of more to come. I was surprised to find buds on January 29th and as the resultant chillis are forming on an indoor, overwintered plant, I now know it's self-fertile. A number of you asked about the perils of aphids when I posted in January ; so far they've been mercifully absent, but instead I've had to be vigilant over mildew. Prompt removal of affected leaves, increased watering and brief airings on sunny days have helped keep this peril at bay. Today marks the wonderful day when my garden - and windowsill - receives 10 hours of light, so it won't be long before repotting duties beckon. This month's walk around my garden for Blooms Day also provides a cautionary tale. Note to self: I must never b...

Just before Christmas last year, I was surprised to find 6 heads of garlic in my vegetable basket from 2013's harvest. The heads were much larger than last year's rust affected crop and so were easy to date. How on earth I missed them in there is a mystery. I was even more surprised to find some of the cloves were good enough for cooking - they had retained a strong flavour and were relatively firm. Chopping them ready for the casserole I was making revealed the beginnings of a green shoot inside... and that got me thinking. That green shoot suggests the cloves are still viable for growing and as they've survived over a year of storage (most garlic either shrivels away or starts to shoot at the start of the next growing season), I could have the potential for a very good strain on my hands. So I've gone through the pictured remaining 3 heads and selected the cloves which are firm. I composted many more, but I was left with 16 fat cloves and 21 slightly thinner ...

My Nepalese allotment neighbour's putting me to shame. Not only is she growing a huge amount of blemish free lettuce, she is cleverly intercropping her onions amongst them. I wonder if the smell of the onions is helping to keep the slugs and snails at bay? Much food for thought here going forward... We also swapped stories of what we use lettuce for in addition to salad. She uses it as a stir fried vegetable, just for a few seconds so the leaves are wilted a bit like we do with spinach sometimes. I countered with using it for soup, especially with older leaves or at the end of summer . I've been cropping my lettuce leaves grown outside my back door since we came home and made a great discovery after some hasty harvesting earlier in the week. I put my leaves straight into a bag then popped them in the salad crisper in the fridge, only to find some rather limp and forlorn looking lettuce the next day. The leaves needed a wash if I was to use them, so I decided to give th...

This is my 'holding area' in the side garden of plants awaiting the right space up at the plot New perennials This year, I've decided to have more perennial salads in the garden/allotment. This is partly inspired by Martin Crawford's book which I reviewed last year and partly though donations I've had from Naomi. I went to stay with her in early February and she kindly let me loose in her polytunnel to come away with some welsh onions (left), mitsuba aka Japanese parsley (the reddish leaves at the top) and Cardamine raphanifolia (the cressy looking plant on the right, which Naomi describes as 'totally bombproof'). She tells me the latter two came from Edulis if you're interested. I see they both like moist, shady areas, so I'll be locating them next to my wasabi * up at the allotment. These were plonked in the pictured 'holding bed' at the side of our house awaiting space in one of the raised beds up at the allotment. Their tran...

Welcome everyone! I'm delighted to be the latest stop on Emma Cooper's tour for her new book, Jade Pearls and Alien Eyeballs . Lots of authors have book tours, so why not Emma? I'm glad she's not allowed the publication of an ebook to get in the way of having a party :) Jade Pearls and Alien Eyeballs is a guide to the world of unusual edible plants. Depending on your experiences some may already be familiar to you like oca or achocha, others will be completely new. If you've read Mark Diacono's A Taste of the Unexpected  or James Wong's Homegrown Revolution , Emma's book makes a superb companion to these volumes. It also stands in its own right as she delves deeper into the history of unusual edibles, the plant hunters who moved them around the world, and today's enthusiasts who are ensuring these crops aren't forgotten. Pray silence for the author reading *tinks spoon against glass* It's traditional at these things for the aut...

Last year, we learnt a little about Incredible Edible Todmorden and the crowdfunded book which Joanna Dobson and her partner are writing to help spread the word. I'm delighted that with your help, the fundraising target was met and work has commenced on the final stages of publishing. Joanna has kindly kept her promise to return to Veg Plotting as my guest to tell us more about the project and how it's grown ('scuse pun) into more than just one town... A few of the "vegetable tourists" who've made their way to Todmorden. Picture credit: Estelle Brown of Incredible Edible Todmorden When the founders of Incredible Edible Todmorden began sneaking vegetable plants into public spaces six years ago, they had no idea that they would attract attention from all over the world. But when word got out that a town in west Yorkshire was growing food for everyone to share, the interest began to snowball. The Incredible Edible pioneers wanted to crea...

I'm delighted Joanna Dobson from Incredible Edible Todmorden is writing a guest post for Veg Plotting . You may remember I've mentioned this amazing project before, especially when I've written about public planting. I've enthused so much about what's happening in Yorkshire, even NAH knows what I'm talking about! * So I'm thrilled Joanna has offered to write a blog post, which will appear here in the New Year; it'll be great to have an injection of inspiration in the post Yuletide slump ;) So why am I telling you this now? I noticed from the links Joanna sent me that she's written a book about the project (along with her partner Julian), called Incredible! Plant Veg, Grow a Revolution  and is seeking funds via Kickstarter in order to get it published. It needs £10,000 for them to do a 'proper job' of the publishing process and to finance the first print run. When I last looked (on December 5th), they'd raised £7,843. The f...

Whenever I've seen a plant droop and its leaves start to go yellow, it's always been because I've either over or under watered it. Wasabi is the first plant I've seen which has reacted to light in the same way. I'd been keeping my plant on our sunny kitchen windowsill whilst deciding on where to plant it out, when I noticed its leaves were drooping alarmingly. A quick move to our much duller bathroom windowsill and you can see most of the leaves are much perkier now, with just the yellowing one showing how the rest of the plant looked previously. That leaf is past saving, but luckily a new one has started to emerge to replace it. I'm glad I've had this early warning because the place I'd earmarked on the allotment won't be suitable. Instead, I've decided that the space underneath the apple trees is just what it needs. This is doubly good as I'll be making use of an area I was regarding as 'dead' space. When we met on Wednes...

Cardamom and kaffir lime enjoying the view from the computer room window When I visited the Edible Garden Show in March, I was inspired by James Wong's talk to bring home a cardamom  (the green one i.e. true cardamom, not the black) and a kaffir lime plant. NAH and I use both of these extensively in our cooking, so it made sense to have a go at growing them for myself. I hadn't set out with the intention of extending my GYO activities to embrace edible houseplants, but reading the cultivation notes, I soon realised I'd inadvertently branched out. They're both relatively tender plants (OK with temperatures down to around -2 to -5 o C), so most places in the UK will have to keep these indoors for the winter at least. I might let them out for a holiday out in the garden sometime, if the weather ever warms up again. My track record with house plants isn't that good, so the fact I still have these a few months further on is encouraging. I've also spotted ...

The silver lining from a bolting salad: oriental mustard and mizuna flowers Since starting the Salad Challenge last year, I've expanded the range of flowers we eat in our salads. Like many people, I started off with peppery nasturtiums and was surprised to find ultra-conservative NAH enjoyed them too. Now he happily munches away at any flowery offerings in our salads, rather than shooting me a look of deep suspicion. Remember, here is a guy who only liked peas when I first met him ;) Marigold alerted me to the virtues of Mizuna flowers last year and it's just as well she did, because my salad mixes this year have been quick to bolt. I've been flinging handfuls of their flowers into our salads over the past few weeks in a desperate attempt to keep leaf production going to give my later sowings a chance to catch up. The above picture shows that mustards and mizuna are close botanical cousins, despite their variety in the leaf department. As well as these and the af...

As you can see the windowsill grown lettuces have come on in leaps and bounds over the past month and I've been harvesting them over the past couple of weeks. It's just as well I've been growing these, as the lettuces outside - whilst under various cloches and cold frames - are still shivering away and haven't put on much growth. The one exception to that is 'Black Seeded Simpson'. Bren said it's a hardy variety and she's right! I'll be starting to harvest those leaves sometime next week, after I've finished with the pictured batch of 'Amaze' for the time being. Just before I started harvesting, I realised I have the ideal conditions for a little experimenting. There are at least 3 different methods of harvesting: whole plant, cut and come again and picking. It wasn't until last year  that I realised cut and come again and picking are different harvesting methods. The above picture shows you the difference: the picked le...

On Friday, I visited The Edible Garden Show for the first time. Previously it's clashed with family celebrations and I'd also wondered whether such an early season gardening show would work. Well, it does work - very well indeed. Here's a taster of what I saw... I spotted this intriguing basket on the way in. Taking edibles to the show? There must be a story regarding those leeks... One of the show's strengths is the extremely full programme of talks. Here James Wong is in full flow in the Experts Theatre, which itself was full to overflowing whenever James appeared (apologies for the quality of the photos, the lighting was awful for taking pics!). I could have just sat down all day listening to talks here... and in the Cookery Theatre... and in The Potting Shed... AND in the smallholders area. The concept of edible was present at the show in its widest sense. As you can see even the snails are moving too quickly for my camera's shutter speed! I ha...

This is a fabulous book. James' easy and infectiously enthusiastic TV style translates well to the written page. Homegrown Revolution is all about more than 80 unusual fruits and vegetables James has trialled extensively in his Croydon garden (alongside 120 others which didn't make it) and knows are viable for growing in the UK. Some of them may already be familiar because you either grow them already (e.g Globe and Jerusalem artichokes), or you've caught one of James' popular talks at the last two Edible Gardening Shows . However, I guarantee you'll be eyeing up your garden differently when you learn garden familiars such as Dahlias and Cannas are also edible and if you're growing the right kind of bamboo, that's exactly what you've been eating in your Chinese takeaway. It could be a novel way of taming the latter's invasive nature in your garden! In the first part of the book James gets down to gardening basics with his Top Ten Commandments...

Luckily this snail was exploring the possibilities of compost digestion before deciding to attack my lettuce 'Amaze'. ...Or was it? As reported previously in August's Salad Days , we've been having an interesting #saladchat on Twitter recently about the seeming aversion slugs and snails have to red lettuces. The majority of you reported this is so with the varieties you've been growing this year. This is a top tip, particularly for any wet year which leads to a population explosion of these pesky pests. Resistant varieties particularly mentioned were Red Salad Bowl and Dazzle. Others said they hadn't noticed any difference, or indeed their slimy populations seemed to prefer red varieties such as Lollo Rosso, so it seems it's not quite as simple as red vs green. @littlesaladco said he'd found sappiness and leaf thickness was important, with the more sappy, thinner leaved varieties being preferred. During this conversation, I vaguely remembered ...

Some of the salad on offer in Seattle last year - we know Arugula (on the right) as rocket I've found the best way to get an insight into real life whilst on holiday is to do what the locals do, especially if it involves visiting the local market. So when we went on the Seattle Fling last year, I was pleased to see a trip to a farmers' market was on the itinerary. It proved to be a great way to spend a Sunday morning and I was struck at the time by the huge amounts of fresh salads on offer, with many of them sporting flowers, as shown in the picture above. In fact, Nasturtiums were picked out on the 'season's best' blackboard at the market's entrance. Would that happen here? Probably not. The pictured leaves were already bagged up for sale, but elsewhere another stall had a huge queue of people waiting to buy salad by weight from enormous bags of pre-mixed leaves. The mixes on offer were very imaginative, often including herbs and flowers and with much...