| Open Gardens – a national institution
By Diana Muir, The Plant Plot garden nursery, Lichfield The National Garden Scheme (or ‘Open Gardens’) will see over 70 Staffordshire gardeners opening their gardens to the public this year to help raise funds for a number of UK charities. If you want to help raise money and gain endless inspiration for your own garden, then you should make a date to visit some of the fabulous, local gardens in the region. Diana Muir of the Plant Plot in Lichfield avidly supports the scheme. “We feel it is important to have a reliable source for your plants and we work with many gardening enthusiasts, sourcing specific plants for people who know exactly what they are looking for” explained Diana. “As we grow hundreds of thousands of our own plants each year, we know all about quality control and make sure our customers have healthy plants that are robust and suit their conditions.” Since it began in 1927, almost £42 million has been raised for charity. Today’s list of beneficiaries includes: Macmillan Cancer Relief, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Help the Hospices, Crossroads Caring for Carers and The National Trust among others. The National Garden Scheme raised £60,000 in Staffordshire alone in 2009. The tradition has continued to the present day of course and, for 2010, you will find the current list of Staffordshire gardens in a bright yellow booklet situated in garden centres and other public places. Information can also be obtained on the extremely helpful website: www.ngs.org.uk. How does it work and why do people get involved? Many owners offer refreshments – a cup of tea and slice of homemade cake or scone with homemade jam and cream. It takes good organisational skills to offer this throughout the day so neighbours and friends are often drafted in to help serve, wash up, set out tables and chairs and clear away. Owners try to be imaginative with their open sessions – some even doing an evening version with helpers dressed in evening dress, serving canapés and bubbly! This means visitors get to see the garden in, quite literally, a different light. Some gardens are able to accommodate group visits whilst others prefer individual appointments to be made. Each visit and garden is as individual as the owner. Peter and Margaret Hargreaves live in the pretty village of Barton under Needwood and have opened the “Grafton Cottage” garden to the public for 19 years. They enjoy meeting people through the scheme and have made many new friends through a shared love of gardening. “I think visiting other people’s gardens provides new ideas and can be very inspirational” explained Margaret. She commented on how she likes to buy a plant when she visits other gardens as they act a lovely reminder of the visit. “The biggest compliment to me was last year when visitors were amazed at the variety of insects our garden attracted – it shows how planting can bring diversity and encourage wildlife to the garden” she commented. “I enjoy helping people by sharing the knowledge I have gained over the years. I also love to cook so enjoy providing refreshments to make people feel at home when they view the garden” she finished. Another important factor in motivating the Hargreaves is the fund-raising aspect. “We raised £4000 last year over 3 days including some group visits” she finished. John and Sue Weston, have been county organisers of the Staffordshire National Garden Scheme for the past 3 years. Sue shared her vetting criteria by explaining that they research gardens a year in advance and look at the interest factor (there must be at least 40 minutes worth), access, health and safety and parking. It is important to the Westons that they include a variety of gardens, stating “Most people think that we are only interested in large gardens but in fact smaller gardens are of interest to many visitors as they want inspiration for their own gardens, which tend to be smaller ones“. Sue and John’s own garden, “Birch Trees”, has been part of the Staffordshire line-up for 12 years. “It is hard work but really worthwhile. We work flat out and hope for nice weather. The visitors enjoy the tea and cakes on offer as much as seeing the gardens – it is all part of it. We enjoy taking the time to sit and chat with like-mined people in our lovely garden.” If you would like to put your garden forward for consideration, contact Sue and John Weston 01785 850448. Visit www.ngs.org.uk for a list of dates of open gardens in Staffordshire. Dates to note: Mr & Mrs Hargreaves - Grafton Cottage – open Sunday 4 and 18 July, Sunday 8 August. www.theplantplot.com. The Staffordshire Open Gardens booklet is available at the Plant Plot, A51 Western Bypass, Lichfield, WS13 8JA. April 2010 Contain your excitement! May is an ideal time of year to plant up pots, hanging baskets and other containers for splashes of colour and added interest to your garden, driveways and pathways. In an age where recycling is a big issue for us all, how about potting your spring bulbs and bedding plants in more unusual containers this year? Hanging baskets and pots are always popular - they can be moved so the situation suits their contents and are easy to put together and look after. They are extremely flexible and can be used for all sorts of planting from traditional flowering plants, ornamental greenery, spiky grasses to herbs and strawberries right the way through to tomatoes and potatoes! Anything that will grow well in a pot will most likely flourish just as well in an old watering can, Wellington boot or lined basket. Unusual containers add interest and sometimes a touch of fun to a garden area and can bring areas to life. There have been sightings of really odd receptacles including old ceramic sinks, toilets, bathtubs and even a rowing boat! Ruttle, a business in Whittington, near Lichfield, that specialises in construction equipment plants up old digger parts for a lively display at its main gates. So where do you look for unusual containers? A trawl of your shed, garage or loft may inspire you. We’ve come across all sorts of ideas from old tyres, terracotta pipes, wheelbarrows and barrels. A quick browse on the Internet unearthed a photo of 3 Heinz tomato soup cans filled with flowers – an image that makes you smile and looks really effective. The Plant Plot offers its own, extremely popular recycling system whereby customers bring in their old hanging baskets to be refilled with plants and flowers in the colours of their choice. Eventually, even with the best linings, they do have to be replaced as they grow tatty after several seasons. Probably one of the ultimate applications of unusual planting schemes has to be the concept of skip allotments. This is where people with limited land available actually plant up skips and use them as allotment space. A London based charitable organisation called Global Generation started a series of these opposite St Pancras Station with ‘generators’ – volunteer helpers from nearby schools. Each skip has wooden steps with raised beds built inside. You walk right into the skip and garden at a sensible height. The aim is to use the produce in a local restaurant and the canteen of the Guardian newspaper. So why not think a little differently this year and start to look at objects that are destined for land-fill as an alternative vessel for a stunning flower display or as a practical container in which to grow this year’s vegetables? March 2010Salad Days April is the ideal time to start thinking ahead to the long, lazy summer days where we enjoy salads and chilled glasses of wine sitting alfresco, tending the barbecue and watching butterflies dancing round the Buddlea. Well, OK it may not happen very often in the UK but we definitely tend to eat more salad as the weather gets milder. During the summer months, there is nothing as tasty and so satisfying as eating fresh, home-grown salad, picked exactly at the time we need them, not left to wilt in the fridge a week after you bought them from the supermarket! What’s more, you know exactly how and where they’ve been grown. You can, of course, minimise the amount and types of chemicals you use and opt for more environmentally-friendly pest deterrents. The types of salad you can plant now include celery, chilli peppers, lettuce, peppers, radish, spring onions and tomatoes. Add in a few salad vegetables such as minted peas, asparagus and beetroot and your salad mix will have an abundance of colour and crunch. Cucumber is best planted slightly later, in late Spring. A variety of fresh, home-grown herbs are easy to grow and also excellent salad accompaniments, dramatically changing the flavour of your salad combination. They can also be used in the cooking of your other dishes all year round. Rosemary is especially hardy and will provide a bushy crop at any time of the year as well as a wonderful fragrance – plant along pathways and other places where people walk by so they can appreciate it too. Tomatoes are an excellent introduction to the world of growing your own. At the Plant Plot garden nursery in Lichfield, they grow many varieties and encourage growing your own under a scheme called ‘GRO4U’. To help local gardeners, the Plant Plot has both a model allotment and a supervised area called ‘the Yellow Brick Road’ where customers can walk through and see produce being grown on-site. Most people can find space to grow tomatoes as they thrive in all kinds of containers (or directly from grow bags) and can be positioned on a windowsill, in a covered porchway, conservatory or other sunny spot. When the weather is truly frost-free and warms up during the spring, they can be transferred outside. The aroma of home-grown tomatoes is wonderful and inspires many people to give it a go. We all know salads are healthy and good for us but the actual reasons lie in how low calorie they are, the fact they are excellent sources of vitamins (including A, C and others) and that red and dark leafy greens are best of all with the highest levels of nutrients. Add the food benefits to the exercise you get whilst in the garden or greenhouse and you are well on your way to a very healthy lifestyle! If you manage to plant and cultivate a good variety of crops, you’ll be enjoying lovely bowls of salad by July. Try it with the salad dressing suggested below – making your own means you can experiment with the amounts of the ingredients to suit your own palette. The Best Salad Dressing
Use a pestle and mortar to crush the salt flakes, garlic and mustard powder together to form a smooth paste. Add the vinegar and oil and blend together. Store in a screwtop jar and shake well before use. www.theplantplot.com February 2010One potato, two potato, three potato… MORE! Charles Darwin, whose Grandfather Erasmus lived in Lichfield, said of the potato: "It is remarkable that the same plant should be found on the sterile mountains of Central Chile, where a drop of rain does not fall for more than six months, and within the damp forests of the southern islands." This quote from Charles Darwin shows that the humble potato is an extremely adaptable plant and very easy to grow. There are 3 groups of potatoes – First Earlies, Second Earlies and Maincrop. As their names suggest, the first to be planted and harvested are First Earlies – normally planted in March, followed by Second Earlies in April and Maincrops in May. The later potatoes have better keeping qualities but there’s nothing quite as tasty as the Earlies, or ‘new’ potatoes. The range of potato recipes must extend to hundreds from the simple fried chip to the more exotic, creamy, layered ‘Dauphinoise’. Search under potato recipes on Google and you get an astonishing 14 million pages of results! Little wonder then that potatoes grace UK dining tables on a regular basis in a variety of forms. Mashed, chipped, sliced, croquettes, roasted, the list is endless. However you can’t beat a freshly dug and prepared potato with a dot of butter and a sprinkling of parsley – what a treat! It also gives you a real buzz to know you have provided such a staple part of a meal for your family – kids will feel very important if they are let loose and allowed to grow them too. Here’s a brief run-down on how to ‘grow your own’! PLANTING GROWING HARVESTING Maincrops take about 14 weeks to mature – allow for the plant to actually die back and then remove the foliage. Now leave the potatoes in the ground for a couple of weeks for the skin to set firm so that once the potatoes are dug up they can be left to dry out. Place them in a wooden box or hessian sack before storing in a dark, frost-free shed or garage. When harvesting, always try and remove all potatoes, however small, as they will grow again next year. Recommended potato types:
For some inspiration on cooking your potatoes, we liked the website of the potato council – www.lovepotatoes.co.uk. There are some fun articles and ideas as well as nutritional advice. Need help? If you need any guidance, please do ask at the Plant Plot – we’re on a crusade to get more people growing their own! www.theplantplot.com January 2010The spice of life! February is the month of love, the spice of life. Valentine’s day brings us passion and excitement – all excellently encapsulated in the fire of the chilli pepper! For those of us who enjoy the edge a chilli pepper can add to our cooking, home-grown chillies can offer a broader range of flavour and intensity than shop bought ones. It is important to handle chillies with care. The heat is mainly found in the seeds so very hot chillies sometimes are best de-seeded. Contact lens wearers need also be especially vigilant to minimise direct contact as handling lenses can result in the painful realisation that no amount of washing gets rid of the burning sensation for many hours afterwards. A handy tip is to soothe any burning with dairy products such as milk or yoghurt – ingredients often used to make Indian cuisine less spicy. February is the ideal time to source chilli seeds and start them off in a heated greenhouse, in a propagator or on a warm windowsill. They do need some looking after and ideally benefit from being kept uniformly moist and at a steady temperature in a damped down greenhouse. From May time, they can be hardened off and planted in your vegetable patch although they will always do better in a greenhouse. If you plan to grow your chilli plants outdoors, warm up the ground for a few weeks beforehand (using cloches or fleece) for better results. You should also choose a sheltered, sunny spot and include some multi purpose compost at the time of planting. They aren’t the hardiest of plants so keep an eye on them and cover them up when outside if the weather does get cold. Watch out for the usual suspects when it comes to attack – slugs, snails and aphids. The red spider mite is also fond of snacking on chilli peppers so spray your plants with rainwater to deter these greedy pests. Use your preferred deterrents and always welcome the ladybird to your greenhouse as they are most definitely on your side and will offer a good course of natural control against these pests. Water them regularly and include a very mild liquid feed once the flowers appear – tomato feed is ideal but use a much lower strength than is advised for tomatoes. Chilli plants are attractive, have good strong green leaves and a display of white star shaped flowers – these flowers become the chillies in late summer. You’ll know when your chillies are ready to pick as they’ll appear vibrant, full of colour and firm to the touch. If you pick them regularly, you’ll be rewarded with regular new chilli growth from the same plant. Use them fresh, dried or frozen. You can add a mix of chillies to a jar of olive oil to give it a great flavour – it also looks good too and makes a thoughtful and special gift, especially as the chillies are home-grown. Once harvested, from July onwards, your chillies can be used in a whole host of ways, from a simple sweet chilli dipping sauce to curry flavouring, Chinese spare ribs, guacamole – the list is endless. A twist to the more delicate flavour of fish is to mix some finely chopped chilli with garlic, lime and olive oil when pan-frying monkfish, prawns and other tasty seafood. Use it sparingly though until you know the level of heat you (and your family) can tolerate and enjoy. You could try to grow chillies next year from seeds saved from dried peppers you grow this year. Just collect the seeds, store them in a marked envelope in a cool dry place and plant next February. So as you plan your vegetable plot or allotment and are wondering what to grow this year, why not try the more exotic chilli pepper for its colour and interest – both in the garden and in the kitchen. November 2009Thinking of keeping chickens? Keeping chickens is a rising trend once more – the idea of having fresh eggs laid regularly in your own back garden is irresistible. As a nation we also have an increasing interest in the provenance of the food we eat and the carbon footprint we use to get it to our table. The nature and charisma of these birds also make them entertaining and rewarding family pets. Keeping hens is the whole package! Looking after chickens is as complicated as you want to make it. On a basic level, they need somewhere to live and lay eggs – a purpose built hen house and attached run is ideal. This needs to be well-constructed and as predator-resistant as possible. This includes the chicken’s notorious enemy, the fox, but also badgers and rats too. There are many available to choose from to suit the space you have available and, of course, your budget. You could also consider the innovative eglu – a futuristic looking plastic hen house. It is ideal for the first-time owner and provides everything you need for 2 chickens to sleep and lay eggs. Your chickens will need somewhere to roam and peck! This can be within their run or if you have a hard back yard area, you can hang up a cabbage or bunches of broccoli that will provide them with nutritious pecking balls. Ideally, a small area of land with shade, where they can wander and scratch in the dirt will be chicken heaven. Chickens will scratch around almost anywhere so it isn’t a good idea to let them roam openly round your garden unless you don’t care about the state of it! They love grass but be warned, it doesn’t last long! You need to think about how many chickens you can keep. Most experts say 1 bird to every square metre, excluding the henhouse. Chickens like perches (branches make ideal perches) and need at least 8” each – this isn’t much as they do like to be close to each other! They keep warm by nestling close to each other and fluffing up their feathers. Battery hens will struggle to live outdoors as they won’t be used to the climate but free-range hens often sleep outdoors, even in winter. You need to think carefully about the breeds of chicken you want to keep and talk to experts before you make your decision. Some pure breeds are showy and beautiful but not necessarily great layers whilst others may not look so impressive but fill their laying box regularly and without much hassle. Think ‘performance’ versus ‘looks’! Most hybrids will lay an egg a day except when they are moulting in late autumn. There are even clubs across the country dedicated to specific breeds so if there’s a particular chicken you fancy, you can find out a lot by visiting the club websites and reading up on their behaviour so you know what to expect. There is no need to keep a cockerel unless you have very understanding neighbours, or better still, none at all! Chickens will lay very happily without a cockerel around. Like most creatures, chickens need a good supply of clean, fresh water, changed regularly. Their food diet is made up of a combination of whatever they can forage for themselves – grass, worms and insects - together with special feed prepared specifically for laying hens – a mix of corn, layers mash or layers pellets and grit. Layers mash or pellets are made up of wheat, barley, oats and maize and preferably soya. Chickens need regular attention - feeding every day, putting away when you aren’t there to check for predators and their eggs need collecting to keep them laying. They also need a clean pen and henhouse. It’s also a good idea to have a friendly neighbour who will be happy to look after them when you are on holiday. In the Plant Plot’s model allotment, we have 2 good-sized chicken runs with a variety of hens. We chose most of our hens for their looks, not their laying prowess! We are enjoying them and their quirky behaviour enormously, not to mention the delicious eggs that we sell in the farm shop. They are certainly earning their keep. Fresh eggs, fun pets, fairly low maintenance - you can see why keeping chickens is a revival that looks set to continue! November 2009A Fruitful Pursuit This is a good time of year to plan for growing your own soft fruits and fruit trees but if you’re wondering what soft fruits can we grow successfully in the UK with our notorious lack of sunshine, you may be surprised to learn that there is a huge variety. The range includes: blueberries, rhubarb, redcurrants and whitecurrants, gooseberries and the more usual raspberries and strawberries. There are, of course, more unusual soft fruits such as kiwi, quince and mulberry. You can buy and plant up to the middle of December and again in the Spring between February and April when the soil isn’t at it coldest. Most fruit likes a sunny, sheltered position in soil that never either dries out or gets waterlogged. If your soil is very sandy or heavy clay, dig in lots of bulky organic matter such as garden compost before planting. This improves sandy soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients and opens up heavy soil so the roots can penetrate more easily. Try and buy some of the hardier disease resistant plant varieties that are available if possible. If you don’t like the thought of chemicals to protect your bushes, you could try a natural spray or you’ll have to be extra vigilant in your care of them once the temperatures start to rise. Diana Muir, owner of Lichfield’s Plant Plot nursery is a keen advocate of growing your own and making the most of any outdoor space you have. “You can grow practical plants like these in your borders among decorative flowers and bushes” she explained. “The tradition in separating your allotment from your main garden is simply not necessary and often, not practical either”. You can grow your soft fruits against a wall (for extra warmth) or with the aid of canes to provide some structure and support. You can also make use of tubs and other smaller containers such as hanging baskets. The Plant Plot has designed its own chart to show what produce can be planted and harvested throughout the year – this can be downloaded from their website (www.theplantplot.com). You can get more information from the products themselves also – most come with planting instructions – or by asking someone knowledgeable in the garden centre. By growing your own fruit, you’ll save money, enjoy freshly picked goodness and have an amazing choice of options when faced with your pile of fresh berries! From delicious puds to home-made jams and sauces, fresh berries are extremely versatile. There’s something very satisfying about growing and preparing food yourself and you couldn’t source it any more locally than from your own back garden! October 2009Living off the land The Plant Plot garden centre in Lichfield has really taken the concept of ‘grow your own’ to heart by totally transforming a piece of bleak, unused land (just under an acre) situated behind the nursery into a ‘model allotment’ to inspire and encourage the general public to get the bug and see how easy it is to grow your own food from scratch. Diana Muir, owner of the Plant Plot, believes it is genuinely possible to live off the land, particularly if you have a big enough plot. “Whist it is true that you can grow your own food no matter what size of land you have available, it is easier and possible to grow your core food - a range of soft fruits, vegetables and herbs - if you have a reasonable size space available to you. With the addition of chickens for eggs you really could become self-sufficient” she explained. However the point of the Plant Plot’s model allotment is to show the scope of what can be achieved no matter what size plot you have. For those with just small pots or a window box, it is possible to grow a few good herbs for a fresh, daily addition to cooking. It is cheaper than buying them from the supermarkets and they can be available all year round with some careful planning. For those with limited space, tomatoes can be grown in grow bags and potatoes in barrels very easily. Moving on from this level, you can introduce runner beans, a whole host of summer berries and root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and beetroot. At the next level, using a greenhouse and potting shed until the weather gets warmer, you can grow cucumbers and peppers. It is important to know what you can plant at different times of the year. Clever gardeners will have a continuous cycle of a variety of seasonal crops being planted and harvested so they can enjoy different produce all year round. At this time of year you can start to plan your winter vegetables: cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, onion sets, leeks and even garlic. The Plant Plot has designed its own chart to show what produce can be planted and harvested throughout the year – this can be downloaded from their website (www.theplantplot.com). It is well worth considering the types of food you buy and assessing whether you have the space to grow them instead. “Growing your own isn’t just about saving money” commented Diana. “It is about better tasting, seasonal food that you know where it has come from. It’s also great exercise and extremely satisfying.” The allotment is now doing so well that they’ve even started selling what they’ve grown in the farm shop here - how about that for low carbon footprint from farm to shop! The Plant Plot’s allotment now includes a potting shed, greenhouse, raised beds, seating areas, chickens, an orchard and even a golf putting area! It will continue to be developed over the next year and it is hoped that a group of volunteers will help with its upkeep soon - rewarded by fresh produce of course! So whether you are considering growing a few easy veggies or going the whole hog and living ‘the good life’, get digging and give it a go! |