#growing tip

As the days are getting colder and colder, and it is frequently freezing at night, Wintering The Garden becomes essential, if you want to see it beautifully abloom come Spring. Now is the ideal time to feed and enrich your soil, too; next year's harvest will reward your efforts!

Leaf Mould 

Lasagna Garden (Update One) (Update Two) (Update Three) (Update Four)

Wintering Camellias 

Mulching 

Wintering Geraniums 

Pruning Fruit Trees 

Pruning Hydrangeas 

Growing your own Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), you can really tell the difference, even with a plant you brought home from the garden centre! Its leaves are fatter, more fragrant, and the flavour is uncomparable! Like any herb you grow yourself, it is so tasty and powerfully scented that a little really does go a long way!

And the good news is, it is rather easy to grow, as well. One mostly need to be patient and very attentive to the weather!

I sowed rosemary seeds sparsely in a terracotta pot filled with a mixture of garden soil, potting soil and compost on top of clay marbles --good drainage is essential-- on 28th June (my birthday!)

Then, I watered regularly, but only when the soil was dry to the touch.

It took quite a while to sprout, in late July, early August, but once it did, it grew rather nicely, and by mid-August, I could snip off some of these soft, tender tops to cook with! This actually helps, and encourages the plant to grow further, sturdier and stronger. Don't hesitate, but be careful to cut just over the tiniest, youngest leaves, so they can continue to flourish and your Rosemary plant with it!

Tending to it is quite easy: water, generously, when the soil gets dry to the touch, make sure your plant gets a lot of light; and, when it rains abundantly, make sure the water does not flood your pot, as the Rosemary roots can rot if over-watered.)

After sucessfully growing Cherry Tomatoes this past couple of years, I've become more ambitious this year and decided to grow bigger tomatoes! Not any bigger tomatoes either, but Marmande Tomatoes, these big, tasty, juicy Beefsteak heritage tomatoes, proudly displayed on many a Provençal market stall!

I sowed my Marmande tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings, a generous sprinkle over a mixture of good potting soil and a handful of compost in a flat-ish but wide enough pot on the 18th April. I covered the seeds with a light sprinkle of the same mixture, watered, dusted with grated coal to prevent damping off and took the pot upstairs, to the Nursery, just under the window with plenty of light, warmth and regular waterings.

A few days later, they were already sprouting. Quickly, the seedlings started growing proper leaves after their dicot cotyledon. As they grew, I thinned them, pinching off the weaker seedlings so the others had more room to expand.

On the 7th May, I potted two or three seedlings in small pots, filled with garden soil, potting soil and a handful of compost. Watered well and took them back up to the Nursery.

I continued tending to them, much like I did the Garden Cherry Tomatoes, until they started growing proper leaves, and sturdier stalks and reached about 12 centimetres/4.75 inches. I potted these in large pots in the garden filled with a mixture of garden soil, potting soil and a handful of compost a month later.

In late July, the seedlings had grown nicely and started blooming. I used sturdy branches I had cut from the apple and pear trees in the Wintrer to stake them, as they would be heftier once the tomatoes started growing.

And once the flowers were pollinated, it did not take long before tiny tomatoes indeed started growing!

And then, they just kept growing!

And began ripening!

Until I harvested my first Marmande Tomato on! And it was as fragrant and juicy and tasty as a gardener humbly wishes! Simply delicious.

I harvested three more today, and a couple are still ripening on the vine. They might have gotten a bit bigger, but there was plenty of rain by the end of the Summer! And now I know I shall sow them a little earlier next year.

I had attempted to grow potatoes before, and even harvested a few; but no attempt was as successful as this year’s! And I’m not even done digging yet!

It all started on a cold January day. A local farmer was going around neighbourhoods in my town, selling his produce. A bit pricey perhaps; but excellent quality, and because he only sold in large amounts, I ended up with some twenty-five kilos of potatoes (in addition to fifteen of carrots, ten of white and five of red onions!)

It kept rather well in the garage, and the vegetables were delicious. But even in the dead of Winter, there are so many potatoes two people can eat!

Thus they started shrivelling and growing sprouts! Perfect, I thought; then, I could plant them!

And so I did! On the 29th of March, I prepared the place I would plant them in, a large iron garden bin, where I had grown and harvested the last of the Mesclun. One thing to always remember when growing vegetables is to rotate your crops; you cannot grow the same type of vegetables in the same spot two years in a row. The previous crop will have taken most the the nutrients they need, leaving very little left in the soil, and your next harvest, if any, might not be as bountiful... Luckily, different crops need different nutrients from the soil they grow in; hence the rotation. Tubers (like potatoes), for instance, will appreciate a soil formerly hosting brassicaceae (like cabbage, kale, etc...) or leafy greens (like lettuce or spinach).

I tilled the soil thoroughly, and mixed in good soil and compost to amend it. I left it for a few days.

Then, on the 4th of April, I planted my sprouted potatoes. I had eight (8) of them, and arranged four (4) on two levels, so the bottom ones would not be right underneath the top ones. There was about 15cm/5.5″ of soil mixture between both levels.

I covered them with about as much soil mixture (15cm/5.5″). I watered thoroughly. It is also important to have a good drainage, if you grow potatoes in a container, or they will rot. A few years back, I had hammered in four holes in this iron bin, and it wasn’t easy; but very much worth the effort! 

Then, I watered regularly only when the April showers were scarce! After a couple of weeks, potato stalks and leaves were starting growing in the bin.

And after a month and a half (on the 16th of May), they were tall and luscious and very leafy!!! From then on, it is very easy to take care of them. Water when the soil gets dry to the touch, trim the leaves a little when they become yellow.

You can also sow herbs at the  feet of your potatoes. They may improve their taste and protect them against aphids. Cilantro and thyme are good companions. I only managed a very small bunch of Cilantro. Because they are in a bin, and the Cilantro stalks are significantly thinner and smaller than the potatoes’; they do not get as much light as they would if you planted and sowed in a Veg Patch.

That said, harvesting potatoes in a bin is heaps more convenient! You know where they all are; you just need to dig them out!

I dug about 840 grams/1.85 pound New Potatoes (harvested about three and a half month after planting); and left the greenest, leafiest stalks in the bin to harvest later, and perhaps have bigger spuds! I might also try to sow more, as there is enough light for it now!

As I always say, gardening, especially growing fruit and vegetables, teaches one patience and perseverance. And I can also say that it often rewards it, too.

Last year, I Planted Bell Peppers in the Lasagna Garden. After a week, some of the young seedlings were gone, and those which did take and started growing were eventually eaten (by whom, I am not sure; certainly not me!)

What this taught me was that I maybe had not waited enough before planting the seedlings, which were too young and fragile.

Thus, I kept the ones I still had upstairs in 'The Nursery' there. All Summer, Autumn and Winter! I watered them regularly, oftener in the warm months, and decreasingly as the days became chillier and then properly cold. Whilst it was freezing outside, my seedlings, then growing into leafy plants were warm and cosy under the window, providing them with all the light they needed.

In April of this year, they were lush and green, and just about to bloom! I was absolutely chuffed.

I waited until all risk of late frost had passed and, a month later, on the 19th of May, I prepared two large pots in the garden, which I filled with a mix of garden soil, vegetable potting soil and compost. I planted my three Bell Pepper Plants in them.

Soon enough, they were growing and flowering beautifully!

And in early June, some of the flowers became tiny Bell Peppers!

And from then on, they grow quite quickly! All one has to do is to water them regularly (their soil should always be moist, but never soggy), every two weeks with a mixture of 1 cup Onion Skin Decoction and 4 cups Nettle Soup in a watering can, topped with about 8 litres of water. It both encourage growth and protects them from insects. Likewise, if slugs manage to crawl into your Bell Pepper pots (they are very fond of the leaves!), sprinkle Coffee Grounds generously at their feet; it shall deter them!

And then, just watch the magic happens as they grow bigger with each passing day. These pictures (above) were taken in late June!

And these (still above) in early July!

Finally, I harvested my first Bell Pepper on the 8th of August! It is big enough, eh!

And there are plenty more growing on the plants, which are also still flowering! I am very happy I learned to be patient; --and this isn't the first of my qualities!-- it was more than worth it!

You can harvest Bell Peppers green, and let them ripen in the kitchen, they will become orange-y before turning red! I like to have a mix of colours in my dishes, thus I allow them to reach different degrees of ripeness. They will also taste and feel different: Green Bell Peppers are firmer and crisp, and fresh whilst Orange and Red ones are softer, mellower and sweeter in flavour.

I always think one law of physics that works well in the kitchen is Lavoisier’s Law --“Nothing is lost, nothing is created; everything is transformed”-- which I mostly apply to leftovers! It works even better in the Kitchen Garden!

Think about it: Coffee Grounds repel slugs, and an Elder Leaf Decoction chases unwelcome rodents, whilst Nettle Soup and Onion Skin Decoction will help make your soil fertile; like Egg shells which can be used both outside or while caring for your house plants.

So can Nasturtium Water. It is the water you have blanched your Nasturtium leaves in, when making a delicious Nasturtium Pesto. Don’t throw it away (“Nothing is lost”!) Allow it to cool and then pour it in your watering can and water your plants with it. 

The last time I told you about my Squashes, a litlle over three months ago, I was very happy about my growing Red Kuri Squash, and hopeful about my butternuts...

It turns out no butternut squash grew from these beautiful flowers in my Bean and Squash Square, but my Red Kuri Squash got slightly bigger and heavier, and a deeper orange colour over the Summer and the beginning of Autumn. 

I kept watering it regularly, oftener when it was hotter, never directly on the vine (or the fruit), but at its feet. Over time, the vine browned; I kept the squash on it nonetheless. It seemed happy!

And today, I finally cut it from the vine and harvested my first (and only) squash, a beautiful 475-gram/1.05-pound Red Kuri Squash!

Given the proper Adventure growing Squashes has been over the past few years, I am absolutely delighted with my little harvest this year. I have learned, I have been patient and I have persevered, and I have a gorgeous little squash as a reward!