Amateur Gardening – 10 August 2019

20 AMATEURGARDENING 10 AUGUST 2019

Fora six-weekperiodfrommid-Aprilmostvegetablegardensfailtodeliver,butwitha

bitof planningyoucanfillthe‘hungrygap’fora continuoussupply,saysMartynCox

I

CANclearlyremembertakingon

myfirstallotmentplot.It wasin the

late1990sandI waslivingin a flat

in WoodGreen,NorthLondon,

whenI decidedthatI neededsome

spacetogrowmyown.Astherewasa

bigsitewithinwalkingdistance,I applied

tothecouncilandwassoonin

possessionof a keytothemaingate.

Thepatchof groundI firstlaideyes

onthatwinterhadbeenleftin great

conditionbytheprevioustenant.

I wasdelightedthatI wouldn’thave

todedicatecountlesshourstothe

mind-numbinglyboringchoreof trying

totamea thicketof weedsbeforeI

couldgetdowntotheserious business

of growingthings.

Asa result,thatspringandsummer

I wasabletosowandplantloadsof my

favouriteedibles,withtheintentionof

makingthemostof everyavailableinch

of land.Myrewardforthisenthusiastic

starttovegetablegardeningwasa

bumperharvestof roots,tubers,leaves,

stemsandpodsthatlastedintowinter.

Alas,myzealwasdealta blowthe

followingspring,whentherewas

nothing left to pick and crops squirreled

awayhadbeeneaten.I’mnotthefirst

toexperiencethisslump;ourancestors

describedit asthe‘hungrygap’,a time

whenthere’snothingleftin storeand

plantssownin earlyspring are a long

wayfrombeingready.

Today,thehungrygapdoesnotreally

impactonourlivesaswehave24-hour

supermarketssupplyingallkindsof

ediblesfromaroundtheworld.However,

in thepast,manycountryfolksuffered

fromstarvationorgreathardshipduring

thisbarrenstretch,whichgenerally lasts

for six weeks from mid-April.

Alittleplanning

Eventhoughit’sconvenienttobuystuff

fromtheshopsduringthehungrygap,

thosewithallotments,vegpatchesor

evensomepotscangrowsomeof their

ownproduce.Allit requiresis a little

planningtobridgethisperiodby

plantingplugs,youngplantsand

sowingseedsof suitablevarieties

in AugustandearlySeptember.

Thekeytosuccessis tochoose

varietiesthataretoughenoughtocope

withbeingin thegroundoverwinter.That

rules out most of the tender things that

thriveoutdoorsin springandsummer,

butspinach,leeks,springcabbage,

broadbeans,kaleandflashySwiss

chard,withitsbrightly coloured stems,

areallperfect.

Evensomesaladswilldowell.Not

lily-liveredmixedsaladleavesand

cucumbers,butthelikesof mustards

andsuper-toughlamb’slettuce,which

candealwithtemperaturesdownto

-15ºC(5ºF).Winterpurslane,orminer’s

lettuce,is equallyhardyandboasts

heart-shapedsucculentleaves with

a mild,sweetflavour.

If youfancysomethinga little

different,tryorientaledibles.There

areplentyof hardycropsfromChina,

Japanandotherpartsof EastAsiathat

canbegrown,suchaspurplemizuna,

thesharplyserratedleavesof which

havea pepperytaste,andkomatsuna,

withleavesthatcombinethe taste of

mustardandcabbage.

Allthemajorseedcompaniesoffera

widerangeof varietiesthataresuitable

forfillingthehungrygap.If you’dpreferto

cheat,goodgardencentresarelikelyto

stockpacksof ready-grownplants.There

are also several online nurseries that will

Hardysaladplants,suchasmustard,can

withstand temperatures down to-15ºC (5ºF)

All photography Alamy

Mind the gap

with Martyn Cox

Mixedchardwillhelp

tobridgethehungry

gap – and add colour