Amateur Gardening – 10 August 2019

10 AUGUST 2019 AMATEURGARDENING 21

Mustard‘GiantRed’

Addsomespicetoearlysaladswiththis

mustard’sgreenleavesthatareflushed

redandpurple.Pickasbabyleavesor

allow to mature and use in stir-fries.

BroadBean‘TheSutton’

Thisdwarfvarietyonlygrowstoaround

12in(30cm),makingit perfectforsmaller

gardensandpots.Each5in(12cm)-long

pod contains five or six delicious beans.

Kale‘HungryGap’

Growingupto3ft(90cm),thiskale’s

leavesturnbluewithredandpurplehues

astheweatherturnscolder.Itsleaves are

full of vitamins and antioxidants.

SwissChard‘BrightLights’

A vibrantmixtureofdifferentvarieties,

producingplantswithred,white,yellow,

orangeandpinkstems,toppedwith

huge green, bronze or burgundy leaves.

SpringCabbage‘Duncan’AGM

Popyoungplantsofthispointedvariety

in thegroundin Septemberandyou’ll

havespringgreensin March,orleaveto

develop into full-size cabbages in June.

SpringOnion‘WhiteLisbon’

Thisis oneofthemostpopularspring

onionsaround,grownforitslong,slender

whitestemsandgreentops.Thecrisp,

succulent stems have a fairly mild flavour.

6 veg to fill the hungry gap

supplycollectionsof young,hardy

vegetableplantsdirectto yourdoor.

Allof theseediblesareperfectfor

growingin theground,buteventhose

whoarestrappedforspacecanget

involvedbysettingsuitableplantsin

raisedbeds,growingbags,planters,

windowboxesandothercontainers.

Ordinarypots,12in(30cm)wideorlarger,

areideal.Fillwitha 50/50mixof multi-

purposeandloam-basedcompost.

Despitebeingmorerobustthancrops

sownearlierin theyear,thesehungry-

gap-defyingvegetablesstillneeda bit

of pampering.Keepa closeeyeonthe

weatherandprotectthemfromthe

elementsif a coldsnapis forecast– use

cloches and low polythene tunnels to

coverplantsin theground,andshield

crops in pots with horticultural fleece.

Howtosowwintersaladsin pots

Winterhardysaladsareidealin 12in

(30cm)potsof multi-purposecompost.

Filltothetop,tapgentlytosettleand

firmwiththebaseof anotherpotto

leavea levelfinish.Scatterseeds

thinlyacrossthesurfaceandcover

witha ½in(1cm)layerof finelysieved

compost,thenlabelandwater.

Placethepotsin a sheltered,sunny

orslightlyshadedspotoutdoors.The

seedsshouldgerminatewithina few

days.Thinoutseedlingswhenthey’re

about1in(2½cm)tallsotheyarenottoo

crowded – the distance depends on the

variety,sochecktheinformationon

thebackof eachseedpacket.

Don’tworryif yoursaladsseemtobe

a littlesluggishtogetgoing.Theywon’t

growasfastorasvigorouslyasthose

sownin summer,butwilleventually

reachfullsize.Toensurea non-stop

supplyoverwinterandtheall-important

hungrygap,sowa freshbatch of seeds

everyfourweeksorso.

Theonlythingyouneedtodoto

ensurehandfulsof tastyleavesis to

waterpotsoccasionally.Avoidoverhead

wateringaswetleavestendtogo

mouldyquicklyduringthecold,dark,

shortdaysof winter.Instead,waterfrom

belowbystandingpotsondriptrays or

water the compost directly.