Amateur Gardening – 10 July 2019

6 JULY 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 21

Next week: Holiday tips for your plot, grow red

orache, take semi-ripe herb cuttings, harvest globe

artichokes, sow mustard as a soil fumigant.

THINK you’ve missed the boat for

planting up an edible container? Not

a chance! There are loads of compact

fruit, veg and herbs that are very happy

cropping in the latter part of the growing

season – you can even buy plants in full

growth if instant cropping is your thing.

Compact chilli peppers (‘Cheyenne’,

‘Redskin’), tomatoes (‘Totem’, ‘Losetto’)

and sweet peppers (‘Mohawk’) will

all grow well – just set one plant per

standard-sized basket and fill in any

gaps with smaller crops such as basil

and loose-leaf lettuce.

Perpetual strawberries such as

‘Flamenco’ or ‘Finesse’ will also continue

cropping well into September, the fruit

trusses dangling over the sizes of the

basket at a very tempting eye level.

I CAN never bring myself to harvest true

‘wet’ garlic – it needs to be done some

time in April, just as the individual cloves

within each garlic head begin to form but

before they develop their papery husks.

To me, pulling up the precious plants at

this point, when they’re due to deliver a

much more sizeable harvest in early July,

is sacrilege. So instead, I’ve learnt to pull

a few heads up now, just before the plant

matures ready for drying.

Why bother doing any of this at all? In

one word: flavour. I’m sure that wet garlic

is even milder than my July pullings, but

harvesting garlic now and not drying the

plants at all gives an altogether different

eating experience. Cloves ooze with

juice as you slice them, the aroma is

Pull young garlic

Planting an edible hanging basket

altogether rounder and less harsh,

and the green stems can also be used

for flavouring risottos, barbecues and

gratins. It’s a much tamer beast that’s

well worth trying. YOU might not realise it but you’re

probably growing a delicious flower

in your garden: hemerocallis.

Commonly known as daylilies

due to their short-lived blooms,

these hardy, sun-loving perennials

become adorned with showy,

colourful flowers in summer. Open

flowers are edible – especially the

base, which houses sweet nectaries.

Dried blooms (sold as ‘golden

needles’ in Asian supermarkets) are

frequently used in China to thicken

soups due to the mucilaginous

nature of the rehydrated flowers.

If you can bear to pick a handful

of the blooms while they’re still in

bud, I encourage you to indulge

yourself. Lightly seasoned and

fried in butter, they have a texture

that’s reminiscent of French beans.

Best way to sow bulb fennel

1

Florence fennel

prefers a sunny, open

site. To ensure ample

soil moisture, which

ensures good bulb size,

add good quantities

of compost.

2

Make a 2-3in (5-8cm)

deep drill and water

the base thoroughly. Sow

clusters of seeds at 6in

(15cm) spacings, then

cover over with soil,

firm and water.

3

Once well emerged,

thin out to leave the

strongest seedling per

cluster. Keep the crop

well watered at all times,

harvesting through

autumn and winter.

Step

by step Preferring cool, moist conditions, this hardy vegetable grows well

if it’s sown now, allowing the bulb to swell nicely during autumn:

Strawberries in baskets will

crop well into September

Both Alamy

Daylilies

Opt for a larger basket size, add

water-retaining granules to the compost

and irrigate well in summer heat, then

simply wait for the harvests to roll in.

Planting an edible hanging basket

5 quick

jobs

1

Pull baby carrots every week or so

to ensure they’re finger-sized. Make

extra sowings, remembering to

cover all your plants with insect-

proof mesh.

2

Can you see fluffy cotton wool-like

growth on the stems of your fruit

trees? If so, it’s woolly aphid attack.

Prune out infections with secateurs.

3

Courgettes and summer squashes

can swell at an alarming rate! Check

your plants daily and use a knife or

secateurs to harvest fruits while

they’re still small.

4

Nip out the uppermost growing

points of French and runner beans

once the plants have climbed up

their canes. They’ll soon produce

some more!

5

Plant out leeks, ready for late autumn

and winter harvests. Make a hole

with your dibber and drop one plant

in each, watering it in well afterwards.

You can plant just

lettuces or use them

to fi ll the gaps

The green stems of garlic can be

used to fl avour risottos

Hemerocallis fl owers can

be admired and eaten!

Why

not try..?