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.
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