seeds Archives - Page 2 of 22 - The Smallest Smallholding

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016 visit

May 26, 2016 by Lucy

Part of the Botanic Garden

This week I headed down to Sloane Square with my mum for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The weather was a bit crap – overcast and pretty chilly for a late May day – but given the crowds I was actually quite pleased not to be in the glare of a hot sun!

First off we headed for the show gardens, and although at times given the volume of people it was hard to stop and ponder the planting, I really enjoyed the flowing, naturalistic planting schemes that seemed to prevail in the vast majority of the gardens. Wildflowers have definitely made a comeback, with ragged robin a popular choice, and it seemed most gardens were going for purples, whites and a variance on rusty orange or rusty pink.

I suppose just like fashion, preferences for planting are subject to trends. But I like this recent trend. Pollinating flowers like alliums and salvias were in evidence everywhere, as was a certain type of almost milk chocolate-coloured California Iris.

I think my favourite garden had to be the Botanic garden – not for its main feature, a glass house, but for one side of the garden that was planted up in a style that nodded to permaculture, with salvias, lupins, wild carrot, hyssop, beetroot, rhubarb, blackcurrant, gooseberry, french beans, nasturtiums, and all manner of fruit and veg crammed in together to create a bustling, thriving growing space. It definitely gave me lots of ideas for my own patch of the good life.

A close up from the Greening Grey Britain garden

The Greening Grey Britain garden was also an inspiration, with some almost prairie-like planting with swathes of plants that are perfect for pollinators, wildflowers including ragged robin and aquilegia (another popular feature in many gardens this year), grasses, and some gorgeous rusty metal bird seed cups that I haven’t been able to locate anywhere! I love the idea of ‘Greening Grey Britain‘, an RHS scheme launched last year in a bid to overcome the paving over of front gardens, driveways and what could be thriving spaces for flora and fauna to reduce flooding, combat localised temperature rises and even subsidence. Want to make a contribution and bring colour and vitality back to the streets of Britain? Then visit the RHS site to make your promise.

So lots of ideas and inspiration, and armed with three new packets of seed (two types of pollinator-friendly Astrantia, and some white ragged robin), I’ve come away determined to make the Smallest Smallholding a living, breathing and productive oasis in my part of suburbia.

Natural planting schemes were everywhere!

Naturalistic planting schemes were everywhere!

Filed Under: flowers, garden, seeds, tips, veg Tagged With: Chelsea Flower Show, flowers, natural, permaculture, pollinators, RHS, show gardens, sustainable, wildflowers

Interplanting

May 11, 2016 by Lucy

I’m now on week 25 of my pregnancy and boy, have I grown. I have been more determined to keep on growing despite having to take pretty much everything so much more slowly! So I’m quite pleased that despite all this, so far I’ve managed to plant in the onions, shallots, sow carrots, get the potatoes in (albeit it a little late), plant gooseberry bushes, and with my mum’s help last month we got the early peas in, and planted the parnsips and calabrese too.

Whilst this is most definitely progress, with everything yet to mature there’s still a lot of spare space in between the main crops in the big veg plot. So I’ve decided to have a go at interplanting – using smaller, quick-to-mature plants that utilise the spaces between the slower growers like the calabrese and parsnips.

The beetroot went in about three weeks ago and is doing well. I’m not hugely keen on boiled beetroot so I’m think I might have a go at pickling it myself! And this recent bout of hot, sunny days followed by damp and muggy days has seen an explosion in growing speed. Everything is taking off at great speed so there’s definitely time to get some more lettuces and radishes in as well.

Interplanting can also include thrifty companion plants – complementary flowers or plants that help to create a plant community that can improve pollination or deter pests and diseases. For instance, marigolds are often planted around tomatoes to deter aphids, and nasturtiums are used to attract blackfly away from beans. Calendula are said to help improve the pollination of courgette flowers and mint (keep it planted in the ground in a pot or it’ll grow rampantly) or alliums help keep carrotfly at bay.

I love the idea of planting sweet peas around my legumes to encourage bean flower pollination – I picked up a couple of cheap plants at my local nursery and will plant them close to my early peas. Hopefully they’ll also add some colour and scent to the veg patch too. I might be a practical soul, but I can’t deny I like to see a little bit of pretty in the vegetable garden too…

Munchkin pumpkins growing up the arch

Filed Under: foodie, garden, plans, seeds, sowing, sustainability, thrifty, tips, veg

Growing Chick Peas

April 15, 2016 by Lucy

I would say that chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) are one of my staple food groups. Yes, it’s almost like a food in itself because I could eat chickpeas every which way quite happily. Whether it’s chana masala (one of my all-time favourite Indian dishes), falafel, that vegan God-send hummus, lemon chickpea cake or just chickpeas thrown into a shepherdess pie, chilli or one-pot meal, I just love them. And they’re so very good for me (and the baby). Win-win.

Although I can buy chickpeas fairly cheaply from the tinned basic range at my local supermarkets, or even cheaper dried (now they only take 40 mins or so from dried in my Instant Pot), I fancied doing something a little different this year and giving chickpeas a go in my mini kitchen garden.

They’re ideally suited to our sandy soil here in Bedfordshire, one of the driest regions of England, as they’re not hugely fussy about nutrient-rich soil and are relatively drought tolerant. And as they’re a legume, they also fix nitrogen into the soil, so another win-win for me. I’ve got some space left in the big plot, but I need to get my skates on and get the next no-dig plot (and polytunnel) ready for more crops!

A little space left for some chickpeas and interplanted ‘catch crops’

They like to be planted where they’re going to grow, so I’ll be sowing directly very soon now that the temperatures have risen and the soil is warmer. Once established, they’ll grow a canopy and help to suppress weeds underneath them… so less work for me, and a great addition to my no-dig methods.

But with our temperature climate, I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to harvest anything that I can dry and keep… we shall see. Chickpeas apparently like hot climates, so I may be left with immature, green but perfectly edible peas that need to be eaten like mange tout or petits pois instead. These can be blanched and frozen for later, but I’d prefer to be able to dry them and store them.

However, my biggest battle will be keeping our feathered and small furry friends at bay. Chickpeas, like any kind of bean or legume, will be an attractive prospect for little nibblers, so I’ll have to keep them under a small fortress to start with. Wish me luck!