Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2009 | Page 77

GARDENING life The four baby plants will have enough room to grow as they expand outwards. Onion sets can also be grown this way. I absolutely love the flavour of fresh broad beans, steamed and tossed in butter and black pepper. They are fairly easy to grow too. Try the variety Express which is incredibly quick to mature and is suitable for spring sowing. Sow outside in rows 2” deep and 6” apart in February, and then again in May for harvests all summer. Pick when pods are 2-3” long, while the beans are nice and tender. For a taste of the Mediterranean, try growing your own tomatoes – of which there are many wondrous varieties to choose from. Gardener’s Delight is a tasty old favourite cordon type, great in sandwiches and fry-ups. Get them started now in seed trays. Chillies, peppers and aubergines are grown in a similar way to tomatoes. This year I’m going to try the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter, which you plant up with your tomato crop and hang upside down. Sounds insane, but apparently successful results can be achieved without having to stake plants, bend down or weed. Turn to page 78 for Sally's "Golden Rules of Veg Growing" And for those who want to try something a little unusual… Watercress Hamburg parsley Okra Contrary to popular thought, you don’t need running water to grow watercress, as long as you never let the soil/compost dry out. Sow outdoors from April to October, at fortnightly intervals. Harvest when 8-10cm high by clipping with scissors, and it will re-grow several times like this. Delicious in salads and stirfrys. This quirky vegetable looks like a small parsnip, but tastes like parsley. The leaves are edible too. The crop matures over 3 to 4 months so get sowing in early spring. The root can be left in the ground all winter and dug up whenever required for your stews and roast dinners. Don’t allow the soil to dry out or the roots will divide. Otherwise known at Lady’s fingers, this exotic vegetable is often used in Indian cooking. Germinate seeds in a heated propagator in March, and grow on in a greenhouse. The plants grow to 60” tall, so you will need to support like tomatoes. Pick pods when about 3” long. Feed weekly with a high potash fertiliser once the first flowers appear. The Island's new funky radio station www.wightFM.com 77