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Succession Planting for Vegetables All Year Round

August 13, 2020/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Garden/by Sue Reed

Succession Planting

Succession planting has nothing to do with the monarchy but refers to the system of planting crops at regular intervals with thought and planning throughout the growing season to make sure you have vegetables all year round. This helps reduce the gluts and shortages, although I can do nothing about the glut of courgettes that so many of experience in summer.

It’s the middle of August as I write, and we’ve just eaten a spinach and chard omelette for lunch, with salad on the side. Thanks to succession planting, we enjoy these three crops more or less the whole year through. Let me explain.

We all know the buzz of excitement as Spring appears, the days become sunny and warm (well, for some they do) and the seed packets come out of storage and new ones bought in garden centres or online. Perhaps now is time to give a shout-out to Premier Seeds Direct, Real Seeds and Higgledy Garden who have done a fabulous job at supplying us with seeds during this crazy pandemic year.

Seeds for Winter Veg

It’s so easy to plant too many seeds at once – and my top tip here is only planting a few of the seeds you are going to grow, in succession; a few lettuces at a time, a short row of spinach and chard, and maybe half your broad beans, leaving more to plant in a month’s time. Lettuce, spinach, chard and beetroot are crops I like to sow at maybe four intervals throughout the growing season.

Make the most of your containers here, and a succession of tubs of cut and come again salad leaves can be very handy.

The more tender plants like runner beans courgettes, squash can go in once early crops like garlic, early beetroot or onions are out.

Spring grown pak choi

Then there are those plants which don’t do as well in the hot summer months. We had wonderful pak choi this Spring but found the second sowing bolted in July. I’m going to sow some now that the days are shortening, and it should fare better over the next few weeks. Pak choi is a fairly quick crop to grow, as is rocket (clue’s in the name) and is another crop that likes to be sown early and later in the growing season.

Companion Planting

Fennel too likes to grown away from summer’s heat. We’ve just put in some fennel that had been sown in plugs, next to this climbing squash. Fennel and squash do well grown together if you are into companion planting.

Late summer is the time to think ahead towards the winter. Do you want braised red cabbage with your Christmas dinner? Then get some planted out in the summer months. There is still plenty of fine weather in these late summer months and the ground beautifully warm, for crops to grow and be harvested at the end of the growing season or remain in the ground to give lovely fresh vegetables over Winter and Spring. Kale, cabbages, sprouting broccoli, all-year-round cauliflower, perpetual spinach, chard, beets are all good examples of crops to overwinter.

Wool slug pellets on brassica plants

Don’t forget to cover your brassicas with net – those pretty while butterflies we see flitting around the veg patch are longing to lay their eggs on your cabbages, which will in turn to hungry caterpillars. The slugs are doing their darndest to prevent my winter veg growing, but I’ve just given them a liberal sprinkling of wool slug pellets, so fingers crossed they make it into the ground.

The Lady of Shallot

Speed is of the essence, and it’s an idea to have young plants or seeds ready for when early crops are out. We’re pulling up our onions on Saturday, with some help from the Lady of Shallot here, and have kohlrabi, red cabbage, red and Tuscan kale and cauliflower waiting to go in. The slugs are doing their darndest to prevent this, but I’ve just given them a liberal sprinkling of wool slug pellets.

If you’ve got a greenhouse, or live down South, then this is a whole different ball game, and your growing season is extended even further at either end. We have great success growing French, dwarf and borlotti beans in the greenhouse early doors, and then sow again outside once the dangers of frost have passed.

This year are going to experiment with a third, very late sowing of French beans in the greenhouse. We’re not sure it will work, but all we will have lost are a few seeds and a bit of time or trouble. If ever you are in doubt about sowing – give it a go! We can also never predict what the weather is going to be like, so nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Bridge Cottage Greenhouse

Tim is always saying, ‘write it down’ and a garden journal is a really useful tool. Succession planting is about planning and remembering what has worked one year to the next. However, I’m rubbish at following my own advice, and so often forget to write successes and failures down, which is surprising, seeing as I’m a writer.

There are various online digital planners, and after a quick look down the Google tube, I found this Vegetable Garden Planner App from Growveg. I’ve not used it myself, I love a journal, but would be interested to hear from anyone who has found a good gardening planning digital tool.

I do hope this has been useful if you’re new to gardening or succession planting. Please get in touch if there is anything I haven’t covered, or if you have any questions.

I’m off to sow those late French beans and some pak choi to grow in the greenhouse once the tomatoes and aubergines have finished.

Happy Gardening!

Sue

Biennial Sowing in Summer

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other sections of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what we have been doing here at Bridge Cottage as the months go by:

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list here. This will go our four times a year, with the seasons in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We, of course, will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

July 23, 2020/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Garden, Outdoors, Sustainable Living/by Sue Reed

We all now know that we should be reducing our plastic waste, and recycling plastic in the garden is one way of doing this. When I wrote about this back in 2011, on the old Bridge Cottage Way Blogspot site, we were just learning about the tragic byproduct of the plastics industry that is the phenomenon known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This vast expanse in the North Pacific Ocean, in fact, twice the size of France, had become the largest landfill in the world and was made up of plastic. Every year it kills millions of seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals.

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

David Attenborough brought the nation’s attention to the dreadful sea of plastic in our oceans in his programme, Blue Planet, and this brought the issue of plastic waste to the mainstream. We’ve been trying to reduce our plastic consumption here at Bridge Cottage for decades. There are many ways to reduce plastic consumption around the home, and I’ll write later about our experiences with Plastic Free July 2020, but for the time being, let’s concentrate on ways to reduce plastic in the garden, and specifically here with planting.

If you visit any garden centre, you will see rows and rows of plastic plant pots, and plastic seed trays, and folk with armfuls of these, eager to start the new planting season. But ask yourself, is all this new plastic really necessary?

Before we carry on, let’s address the debate on the issues of growing food in recycled plastic. Can we still call ourselves organic gardeners if we grow food in plastic? Is plastic safe to grow food in? What about all those chemicals it leaches into the soil?

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

I’m talking about Bisphenol A (BPA). All plastics leach chemicals. Some plastics are harmful and can leach toxins into the soil, especially when heated or exposed to sunlight or prolonged periods of time. BPA is not found in food-grade plastic, and therefore these containers are deemed safe to use as the chemicals they leach have low toxicity levels and the amounts leached are very small.

You can check to see if your recycled container is safe to use by looking for the symbol on it – there will be a triangle with a stamp on, and numbers 1,2,4 & 5 – (see diagram) are safe to use.

Food Grade Plastic Labelling

Tetra packs used for plant-based milk and fruit juices can make great planters. Crops such as runner beans and sweet corn that have long roots love a chopped off Tetra pack. Toilet roll inner tubes whilst not plastic, are also a great recycling hack for growing sweet peas. Just pop the whole kits and kaboodle into the soil when it’s time for planting. The tube will biodegrade and the root remains undisturbed. No plastic needed there, my dear!

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

Plastic containers that have fruit such as grapes in even have plastic lids that can be used as mini propagator. Larger containers such as sweet or biscuit boxes are great for sowing lots of big seeds in. I used this ‘Celebrations’ tin for broad bean seeds one year.

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

Don’t forget to wash the containers well before use, and put some holes in the bottom for drainage, taking care not to put holes in yourself!

I add a double layer of newspaper to any clear containers to stop the light getting through to the roots. The paper can be planted in the garden as it soon rots down.

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

Once you’ve sown your seeds, you’ll need to label them, and a plastic lid, yoghurt or crème fraiche pot comes in very handy here too – just cut it into strips and write on with permanent marker pen or wax crayon.

Recycling Plastic in the Garden

Don’t forget, once you have planted your seedlings in the garden, wash and dry the containers and store away in the shed for next year.

Going completely plastic-free is very hard, and I guess a step too far for many, ourselves included, but here is one way our plastic kitchen waste can be recycled.

By recycling your food-grade plastic pots to sow your seeds in or make plant labels, you are doing your bit to help the environment. You will also save money and space in your recycling bin!

Remember the ‘Buyerachy of Needs’ which encourages in the first instance, to use what we have?

Sustainable Living. The Buyerachy of Needs by Sarah Lazarovic

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or one our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other section of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what is seasonal and on topic:

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list here. This will go our four times a year, around the Summer and Winter Solstices, and the Spring and Autumn Equinox. We of course will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.

Growing Herbs

July 14, 2020/0 Comments/in The Bridge Cottage Garden/by Sue Reed

A guide to growing herbs and some suggestions for their uses from the Bridge Cottage garden and kitchen.

Growing Herbs The Bridge Cottage Way

A herb is a plant, flower or leaf that is grown for culinary, medicinal or beauty uses.

Herbs can be grown in pots, on a windowsill or in the ground, and will thrive in a sunny, sheltered position. They will provide you with delicious and nutritious flavourings for your cooking, for teas and have been used for medicinal uses for centuries.

Herbs can be divided into two groups:

Annuals which should be planted yearly, and include tender herbs such as basil, parsley, marjoram, coriander, borage. Sow basil and coriander every few weeks to give a continuous supply throughout the growing season. Collect seeds before composting plants at the end of the year.

Perennials will, with a little tender loving care, keep giving every year. Just snip off leaves when you need them. These include herbs such as mint, lemon balm, sage, chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano, fennel.

Basil as a companion plant to tomatoes

Sow tender herbs such as basil in a greenhouse, or on a sunny windowsill. Basil is a great companion plant to tomatoes both in the saucepan and in the greenhouse or on a windowsill. We’ve found that growing basil in containers is better than in the ground. We are careful not to over water basil and pick by removing the larger leaves. Basil freezes well, as does parsley, and you’ll be very grateful of frozen herbs in the depths of winter.

Mint, loved by us for mint tea, is a spreader – along with its friend, lemon balm, it is best grown in a pot if you don’t want it taking over. We’ve just noticed the mint we brought back from Morocco and planted in the ground is now growing in our farmer’s field. I hope the cows like it!

Lemon balm grown in a tyre to prevent spreading

We grow our lemon balm in a recycled tyre and find this help to prevent the spread. As well as mint sauce to go with roast lamb, mint is super in a Taboulleh in raita with curry, or combined with its friends lemon balm and nettles, in a refreshing herbal tea. There are lots of varieties of mint – we love chocolate mint which smells of After Eights.

Thyme is a wonderful herb for use in cooking, added to herb salt, and saved for medicinal uses. Whenever the family have a sore throat, I pipe up ‘thyme tea’ and brew it with honey for sore throats and colds. It is easy to grow and will do well in pots of in the ground. There are lots of varieties, and a container display of different thymes can be very pretty.

Chives grown in a recycled container

Chives are really easy to grow and will come back year after year. They are a good container herb if space is tight. We once grew chives in a recycled Vax! Snip a few chives to go into a potato salad, and don’t forget to pickle the flower heads – delicious!

Rosemary

Rosemary is another perennial herb to grown and this one seems to like the sunny position we’ve given it against a west-facing wall. It’s July as I write this, and on Gardener’s World last week, Monty Don told us it was time to take rosemary cuttings, so that’s a job for the weekend, and I’ll write a piece about that in the next couple of days.

How to take Rosemary Cuttings by Gardener’s World.

Parsley is slow to germinate – I had read that you should pee on it to help germination, though I’ve never done it! Parsley should be grown annually, although a late sowing will overwinter in the greenhouse and provide another flush before going to seed in Spring.

Purple Sage

Sage will keep growing, and benefits from being pruned in the Spring. As its stems are hollow, avoid cutting it back in winter, or the cold with travel down the stem and kill the plant. Sage is wonderful made as a tea and can help with menopausal hot flushes. It is also excellent for coughs and respiratory infections. We cook a sage and squash risotto in the autumn when squash are in season. Sage is a good herb to dry for use over winter, or pop into bags in the freezer. Sage and onion stuffing for chicken tastes so much better when it’s homemade, rather than from a packet!

Talking of seeds, don’t forget to collect your seeds, not only for growing herbs the following year but to use for cooking and tea. I adore fennel seeds any collect from this plant every year, keeping a jar handy for fennel tea and cooking. I have been told that adding fennel seeds to dishes with beans or lentils can help prevent excess flatulence!

Borage

Borage is a wonderful plant to grow and can be added to tea or strewn amongst salad leaves. Borage for bravery! It is an annual, although will self-seed, so only grow it where you are prepared for it to pop up every year. Borage is a great plant for adding to the comfrey feed bucket along with nettles, to provide a nutrient-rich feed for fruiting plants and hanging baskets – see the post on Making Comfrey Feed.

Fennel

Other posts you might enjoy if you are growing herbs:

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list here. This will go our four times a year, around the Summer and Winter Solstices, and the Spring and Autumn Equinox. We of course will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.