Monthly Archives: July 2012

Taylors Garden Buildings make it easy to grow your own vegetables

Posted on by

If you haven’t tried it yet then you won’t have felt the satisfaction you get growing your own vegetables in your very own VegTrug. They are easy to grow, especially from seed and different varieties can be harvested all year round. My mum always said, “Eat your vegetables” and mum knows best. Vegetables are an essential source of vitamins & minerals that help keep body and mind healthy. If you grow your own it’s free too!

  • Beetroot is a great source of betain (one of the B vitamins) and helps to keep you healthy. They can be eaten raw in salads, cooked or pickled. They’re good whichever way you prepare them.

Sow beetroot in early summer, April and May. You only need a couple of seeds 2 to 3cm deep every 15cm in the row. As they grow thin them out as some will be multiples. Why not use the ones you thin in a sald?

Leave them in the VegTrug until the autumn, say September or October. Make sure that you twist the tops off but not too close to the roots. Store them in sand in a cool place and use over the winter.

  • Who said that carrots help you see in the dark? I’m not sure about that, but I am sure that I love carrot cake. Carrots have more vitamin A than any other vegetable we are likely to eat. They keep well through the winter and can be eaten raw or cooked with just about anything.

Sow your carrots in the late spring , March through May. Sow them quite shallow and tamp them down after sowing. Water the rows well to encourage germination and pull out any weeds straight away.

Harvest your carrots in late summer, as late as October, and before the first frost of winter. Store your carrots in a cool place in sand but make sure that you don’t wash them or you will need to eat them immediately.

  • Cauliflowers are a little bit more tricky to grow but by using the VegTrug and taking your time, you are off to a good start.

Sow your cauliflowers in the centre (deepest) part of the VegTrug in late spring, around April and May. Sow them approximately 60cm apart in rows. It’s very important to keep your cauliflowers moist and use fertiliser and nitrogen if needed. Harvest your cauliflowers in July and August, early in the morning is best.

  • Lettuce is the making of any salad. Sow your lettuce about 2cm deep in rows in the spring and then thin the plants out to about 30cm between the plants. You can use any lettuce you thin out to make new rows or replant in another VegTrug.

It’s a good idea to sow your lettuce over a few weeks, adding a few a week and keep the weeds out.

  • Peas can be grown easily in the VegTrug and can produce a great crop. Plant your peas in a small trench the length of the VegTrug in spring from February through May. Soak your peas for 2 to 3 days to encourage germination. Dig a small trench about 8cm deep and plant each pea 5 to 8cm apart. Cover the peas with soil. Pick them young to eat raw in salads. When the pods become tightly packed, use them for cooking.
  • Potatoes are one of the best sources of energy you can grow and our main source of vitamin C throughout the winter. Potatoes thrive in peat and are one of the few crops that love acid soil. put them straight in the VegTrug in the late spring. Plant your potatoes in the middle of the VegTrug in rows about 13cm deep and 45cm apart. As soon as the leaves show, lightly cover the potatoes in earth. Cover in earth again 3 weeks later and again 2 weeks after that.

Don’t lift the bulk of your crop until the tops have completely withered away. Fork them out carefully and let them lie on the ground for a day and a half to set the skins. Make sure that you don’t leave them longer than this as they may go green and become poisonous. Your potatoes can then be stored in the dark.

  • Radishes are very easy to grow in the VegTrug. Sow the large seeds in March and April in drills and simply pick them when they are ripe, usually within 6 weeks. It’s that easy!
  • Runner Beans are full of flavour. They need tall sticks to climb and they like rich, deep soil. Plant runner beans in a long row towards the centre of the VegTrug where it is deepest. They should be planted about 5cm below the surface and about 20-25cm apart. Plant your runner beans in May or June. Put tall sticks in early to give the runner beans a good start.

Keep your runner beans well watered, mulch with compost and spray the flowers with water occasionally. They should be ready in July, August and September.

  • Onions are very easy to grow. Plant you onion crop in late February through to early April. Sow the onion seeds in late February through to early April, very thinly into 2cm deep drills (holes). Plant the seeds in rows around 20 to 25cm apart. Carefully cover the onion seeds with soil and gently water. They will germinate in around 21 days.

Thin out your onion seedlings when they have pushed through the soil so they stand about 5cm apart and again later until they are about 10cm apart. Make sure that the soil is moist when you pull the onions and that you clear the thinning’s properly.

Make sure that you feed occasionally with a liquid fertiliser and water them only if the weather gets dry. Cut off any flower stems that appear and stop watering once the onions have swollen and begin to ripen.

Enjoy!

Taylors Garden Buildings make it easy to grow your own herbs

Posted on by

Herbs deserve a place in any VegTrug. They are easy to grow and can be very attractive. Put your VegTrug in a nice sunny spot close to the kitchen as you will be harvesting your herbs regularly. Herbs have many uses from cooking to cosmetics and also medicinal properties.

  • Basil is a lovely fragrant herb which is important in the making of Pesto. It does however; need to be protected early in the season if there are frosts around. Plant a pot-grown specimen in early June in a well drained sunny spot place about 20cm apart and pinch out shoots to create a bushy plant.
  • Bay is usually grown as a bush or a small tree and is used for flavouring soups and stews, the leaves can be used fresh or dried.  Plant a pot-grown specimen in late April early May.  They can be pruned quite hard and shaped. Pick leaves as required.
  • Chervil is a relative of Parsley and is used with a wide range of dishes including fish. Sow in shallow drills made 30cm apart, make sure the soil is well-drained and sow in August. The plants will then have a longer season for the leaves to be used and for the seed to mature.
  • Chives are wonderful chopped into salads giving a lovely onion flavour. Chives are a hardy perennial – reproducing itself from small bulbs – growing to 30cm tall. It is propagated by division every three to four years; the bulbs are teased apart and replanted into rich soil, plant about 8in (20cm) apart in spring or autumn. Plants may be raised from seeds sown in shallow drills in April. The plant should not be cut until their second year. Whilst chives will grow almost anywhere, they seem to have a better flavour if grown in sunny, dry situations. Not being allowed to get too lush with watering or over-feeding.
  • Coriander likes dry light soils and the leaves are used as flavouring in many Middle Eastern and South East Asian cookery, the seeds are also used as a spice. Plant coriander where you want it to grow; it quickly develops a deep taproot that doesn’t respond well to transplanting.  Sow seeds 1.5cm deep after all danger of frost has passed. When plants emerge, thin them to 10cm apart and mulch to conserve moisture and deter weeds. Keep a close eye on young plants to make sure they don’t dry out, but once established, coriander needs little water.  Ensure a steady supply of leaves by sowing succession crops every three weeks until late summer.  Harvest entire plants when they’re about 15cm high if you want only the leaves.
  • This is a fast growing herb. Dill does not like to be disturbed so sow the seeds in your VegTrug in April where the plants are to grow and thin to 20cm apart.
  • Garlic can be used in all types of cooking. Plant individual cloves 6cm deep and about 9cm apart in March. Apart from watering there is nothing else to do until the foliage turns yellow in July or August. Lift the bulbs and allow to dry under cover., then store in a cool place.
  • Mint is a quickly spreading plant that is very easy to grow and is wonderful for flavouring all those lovely new potatoes.  Also makes a wonderful refreshing tea.  The best way to plant mint is within a small container within the VegTrug as the mint can take over. Plant small pieces of root 6cm deep and 15cm apart in late April early May or early September.  Top dress with compost in the Autumn.
  • Nasturtium is a pretty trailing plant with bright orange and red flowers, the leaves can be used in salads and the fresh seeds are a good substitute for capers.  Plant out in April about 3cm depth and about 20cm apart.  You can use a trailing variety that can hang over the side of you VegTrug.
  • Parsley is an important herb used in lots of recipes.  Sow seeds 3cm deep in April for a summer and autumn crop and again in August for winter use. Germination is slow and can take up to 2 months.  Seedlings should be trimmed to 15cm apart.  Pick regularly for a continuous supply of fresh leaves
  • Rosemary is another evergreen herb good with lamb. You can sow seeds in May or buy a pot-grown plant and plant in the spring. You can sow seeds in May or alternatively buy a pot-grown plant and plant in a sunny sheltered spot.
  • Sage is an evergreen herb native to southern Europe and is used a lot for flavouring. Sage can be propagated by cuttings from the end of April through to September. Insert the cuttings 30cm apart in a lightly shaded place; leave them until they are well established, then they can be removed and placed in a permanent position. Sage prefers chalky soil in sunny areas, but will thrive in a fertile workable soil with good drainage, water well until moist. Old plants tend to get woody, so replace every 3-4 years. Cutting back hard in spring can rejuvenate the older plants. Sage tea is also said to be good for the throat and ears.
  • Tarragon has aromatic leaves that are used in fish and meat dishes and can also be used in salads.  It needs a sheltered position and you can plant a pot-grown specimen in March.  Remove the flowering shoots to maintain a fresh supply of leaves on the bush.
  • Thyme is a fragrant herb of the Mediterranean and it grows easily in light dry soils.  Plant in late April early May in your VegTrug in a sunny spot at about 20cm apart.  Pick leaves as required. It grows new stems, which need to be divided and planted every two or three years.