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Allot of fun
Hannah Stephenson's tips for growing your own on a patch of your own.
TV cook Jamie Oliver may now be growing his own veg, but so are thousands of people in this country, many of whom are taking on allotments along railway sidings, behind housing estates and on pieces of land on the outskirts of town.
Allotments are no longer just the manor of the old-school cloth cap brigade. They are the epitome of political correctness, fitting in with the push for a healthier lifestyle, organic practices and GM-free food.
If you want to turn over a new leaf this year and grow fruit and veg but simply don't have the space, renting an allotment doesn't cost a fortune but can provide both physical and psychological benefit, as well as a plethora of delicious produce.
Call your local council or visit your library which should have a list of allotment sites in the area. Some councils provide literature, run courses for beginners and take part in National Allotments' Week in August.
But you need to do some research on choosing a suitable plot, advises Caroline Foley, garden designer and author of a variety of allotment books including The Allotment Handbook and The A-Z Of Allotment Vegetables.
Her top tips for finding the right site are:
:: Make sure it's close to home. You will not want to catch a bus carrying tools or get in a car after a long, hard day at work, to get there.
:: Choose a site which has fences, hedges and locked gates at night to deter vandals.
:: Check water arrangements. Councils should supply mains water at a convenient distance for plot holders. A mains water supply in the form of tanks and standpipes is essential.
:: Check out the land, examining the plot which is offered to you. Work out if you have plenty of sun or if the plot is going to be in shadow, which isn't good for a lot of vegetables. Large trees may cast shade and sap the soil of nutrients.
:: Study the neighbours' plots. If they are neglected and dominated by tough, perennial weeds such as ground elder, you may be facing a losing battle.
:: It's important to feel comfortable there. Some sites have a clubhouse for meetings or a trading shed where you can buy gardening goods at more or less trade prices. Others will have tools or machinery for the use of members.
:: It's worth befriending the committee or manager, showing them you're really keen, to try to fast-track the waiting list.
:: See how the site is run before committing yourself. In two-thirds of council sites, local authority officers deal with the day-to-day management and any disputes. The remaining third of sites are run by allotment societies who manage the site on a lease scheme. Good leadership makes a difference. The committee may buy goods in bulk to sell cheaply to plot holders, bring in manure from local stables and old carpet for smothering weeds.
:: Check the rules. Some allotments are run on near-military lines, with penalties dished out for late payment of rent or neglect of plot. Others are strict about what you may or may not grow, some insisting on mostly vegetables.
:: Many councils provide sheds. But check that you haven't inherited a rickety structure made from bits out of skips.
For more information on allotments, contact the National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG), the nationally recognised body for the allotment movement, at www.nsalg.org.uk, or phone 01536 266 576.
BEST OF THE BUNCH - Cyclamen coum
This pretty member of the primula family displays rounded marbled leaves in autumn, following on with flowers throughout winter and early spring. Some varieties come in strong colours, ranging from carmine and pink to white, and many display silver foliage.
Corms should be planted 5cm (2in) deep between July and September in sun or partial shade in humus-rich, rather gritty well-drained soil with added leafmould. They are excellent when grown beneath deciduous trees or shrubs, or with swathes of snowdrops for an early spring display.
Cyclamen thrive in undisturbed corners and resent overfeeding but will benefit from an organic compost mulch which will help hold moisture. Left undisturbed they multiply year after year and make great partners for hellebores and heucheras.
GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT - Chitting potatoes
If you've ever tasted a potato that's been cooked just minutes after being dug up from the ground, you'll know how different the flavour is from any supermarket variety. So now's the time to grow your own.
Seed potatoes can now be bought in large bags, but if you have limited space or just want to try out a few, some outlets sell loose tubers by weight.
Extra early varieties of seed potatoes, available from garden centres, should be 'chitted' before planting out. This is done by laying the potatoes rose end (where most of the tiny sprouts are) on newspaper in clean seed trays on a windowsill or in a frost-free greenhouse, in a light position but not in direct sunlight.
In a few weeks the shoots will grow, gaining strength while the soil is still too cold for them to be planted outside. Rub off all but the four strongest sprouts and when they have grown to around an inch, chitting is completed.
You shouldn't plant them out until next month, though, as the shoots will take time to develop.
Good extra early varieties, which should crop quickly and produce less top growth include 'Swift', 'Rocket' and 'Accent'.
THREE WAYS TO... Make the most of winter pansies
1. Stand pots where they will catch all the available sun that winter days can offer.
2. Place singular pansies in individual pots on a stand or shelf next to a sunny wall. It not only protects them from winter weather but also allows a good display with relatively few plants.
3. Create a modern look by pairing them with the glossy black grass Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' in a sharp-edged galvanised box.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
:: Complete the pruning of greenhouse vines while they are still dormant and remove loose bark which may harbour pests.
:: Bring in pots of forced bulbs for indoor flowering when ready.
:: Protect winter-flowering bulbous irises in the garden from severe cold or damp.
:: Keep off the lawn when it is frozen or waterlogged.
:: Start forcing pots of lily bulbs for Easter and early summer flowering.
:: Give perennial vegetables such as asparagus, artichoke, rhubarb and seakale a dressing of general fertiliser.
:: Buy seed of the 'White Lisbon' variety of salad onions to sow in a glasshouse border for an early crop, or outdoors under cloches in mid February.
:: Water patio pots occasionally if it is windy and dry.
:: Place black polythene over your vegetable patch to warm up the soil for early vegetables and suppress weeds.
:: Cut off old leaves of hellebores at ground level so the flower stems can be more easily seen.
DON'T MISS
Feb 2 and 3: Actor Geoffrey Hughes opens Garden Organic's 13th annual Potato Day, Garden Organic Ryton, Wolston Lane, near Coventry. This event now spans an entire weekend to enable members of the charity and the general public to access the best of British potatoes as well as expert growing advice.
More than 80 different UK seed potato varieties will be on show during the event, of which 21 are organic and mostly cannot be bought in the shops. For details visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk or call 02476 303 517.
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Weather for Bedford
Sunday 12 February 2012
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Wind Speed: 15 mph
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