Beetroot Generation

I am sure you are all congratulating yourself on your beetroot this year. I don't wish to burst your pride, but it is probably the least demanding of vegetables. Now you've mastered it, perhaps try the yellow variety. It is a little fussier, more subtly flavoured and has the added advantage of you not looking like you've severed an artery while skinning it. Also available in white and concentric white stripes; and, to those who care about looks and contrast on the plot, there is a variety with a beetroot-coloured leaf.

Common wisdom is that beetroots are best eaten at golfball size. That is easier said than done of course with, by September, your early sowings more the size and texture of crown green bowls. The trick is successional sowing which requires a discipline alien to most novice growers with limited space. Three week intervals works well for beets. The other thing, also difficult to bring myself to do even now,is to thin the seedlings. This applies to most crops but, for beetroot, you sow not a single seed but a whole cluster. I thin to about 3-4cm and harvest alternate roots when young allowing the others to grow on.

For our southwest contingent once rumoured to frequent this blog: note the way the leaf rib is the same colour as the root. In the root identity parade shown in the picture, the impostor radish is second from the left.

The Fennel Frontier

Now fennel has a bit of a reputation as the primadonna of the plot, prone to sulking and taking its bulb home as it were. Funnily enough, I've never had any such trouble - takes one to grow one perhaps. First thing to know is that there are cousins: the aforementioned stocky lady, Florence, and her promiscuous tall lanky relatives Herb and his darker brother Bronze. The latter two are a striking presence in any setting - I go for their looks and that prolific seed, used in curries etc.

For bulbs you need a bulbing, Florence or Finocchio fennel. Unlike her cousins, Florence may not turn up for a date as scheduled and so sow 3 or 4 seeds at 15-20cm intervals in one place and thin to one once germinated. Supposedly, if she is too hot, cold, wet, dry or has a headache, she bolts and you get a lot of hard stem and not too much of her exquisite clothing. The one pictured was sown in May and served up in a risotto verde with some broad beans and courgettes on Friday. Apparently, the bolting is less of a problem when sown after midsummer, so sow now for braising in red wine in the autumn.

Going global

I sat back at the plot in the evening sun [and howling wind] yesterday and for the first time felt that I was stating to achieve something; things coming to fruition as it were. To celebrate, I begin a new series on what is putting on a show on the plot and what's been a wet lettuce.

The first to be featured is a stately presence on the plot, spiky silvery foliage, a seemingly tough outer shell but with a delightful soft heart, an acquired taste valued more highly in Italy. I could be talking about Al Lotment, but this is in fact the globe artichoke. The moment when the first bud appears nestled amongst the long ribs is one of the highlights of the growing year. After a grapple with a sharp knife, they are delicious with a simple knob (no, that's not Al again) of butter. To be honest, if you want to eat artichokes, go to Italy or buy a jar of carciofi all'olio. But to the conscious aesthete, this queen of the plot is indispensible. Sow his perennial from seed and harvest the same year or steal a root cutting from your local artichoke farmer's field.

Abel and cole - yeah whatever!

Well DSB it seems you are taking a Mark Sharpe way of thinking regarding your new pump - I am sure I have a lot of suitable equipment in a site office in an undisclosed location that may benefit you. Any how - onwards - as my Mark says things like facebook status updates are for fishing for compliments which I now unashamedly do now! I attach a photo of my first Abel and Cole style veggie box - I would like it noted for the record that as of yet there are no onions but I am off to harvest some tomorrow. I hope the blizzards and heavy rain due up north over the next few days do not hamper your garden in any way! Hope you are both well.

Pump Action

We havent been suffering the suffocating heat you're experiencing down there - those northerly winds have been keeping us on our toes. But February to June is a marked dry season up here. There's been no significant rain since May and the plot would resemble the dustbowl if it wasnt for the chest-high grass, dock and thistle. The trudge up the slope with two full watering cans finally took its toll and so I bit the bullet and bought a not too sustainable petrol suction pump that can suck the burn dry and deliver the goods at 100 litres per minute. The start of the annual Monsoon is forecast for Thursday so I'll have to view it as a long term investment.

Rake's Progress

Thought you'd all like to see how my lazy beds are coming along. I sensed a bit of scepticism from Al Lotment, but as you can see they are thriving. The Pink Fir Apples on the right have been earthed up. As I'm sure you don't need reminding, they tend to grow much closer to the surface than other varieties and have a habit of turning green in the light.

First Cut

We've had the first modest crop off the new plot and celebrated wildly with a sag paneer and stewed rhubarb with orange and honey. Both these seem to do better than in Oxford. The rhubarb must like the dampness and the acid soil while spinach enjoys the cool conditions and amazing absence of slugs. Can't believe the slugs won't find out about this paradise at some point. Meanwhile we've had our first pest attack of a much more alarming kind. The neighbouring cattle often come over to check out my variety of artichokes or advise that I should have provided wind protection when I planted out my beans. Now though, one has taken a step further and pinched out the tops of the peas for me. The hoof prints through the spring onions and structural problems in my leaning towers give it away. Fortunately, the offender was a food connoisseur and stepped carefully through the artichokes and asparagus.