GROW SOME ONIONS

GROW SOME ONIONS

Everyone who grows vegetables for the home will include some members of the onion family. The range includes bulb onions, exhibition onions, pickling onions, spring onions, chives, shallots, garlic and leeks.

They can be available all year round as fresh during the growing season, with leeks all winter, or stored up till early summer. Small pickling onions can be pickled to keep in jars from one year to the next. Spring onions can be used in salads or lightly cooked in numerous recipes. They have been cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses for centuries originating in Central Asia in India, Egypt, China and surrounding countries.

Studies on the health benefits of the allium family are only just starting but already results indicate they could reach superfood status. They are rich in soluble dietary fibre, the minerals calcium, iron, potassium, chromium, and vitamins A, B6, C and K. Scientists have found about 150 phytonutrients in the onion family many of which are beneficial in treating inflammatory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, arthritis and fibromyalgia. Garlic is also high in selenium and manganese and contains beneficial thiosulfinates which assists cardiovascular health.

Eating onions regularly helps reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol. To obtain the most benefit do not overcook, as they only need a few minutes to soften on a low heat, especially with garlic. Spring onion, chives and sweet types of bulb onion can be eaten raw.

Soil and growing conditions

They all like free draining rich soil, so prepare the ground in autumn by digging in plenty of organic matter and leaving the surface rough over winter so the frost can break it down to a fine tilth. To get large bulb onions I sow seed in mid to late February indoors in cellular trays and grow on in a glasshouse. Plants are ready to plant out at the end of April. If two or three plants grow in each cell I do not thin them out as root disturbance would harm them, but adjust spacing to allow for singles, doubles and more. Bulbs end up touching each other as they swell, but this is ok. My favourite variety is Hytech as it grows quite large, keeps for ages and the onion is very sweet. If you are growing for exhibition, you are more likely to use the variety Kelsae, or other giant growing type, sow a lot earlier and feed regularly. If you get the exhibiting bug in a serious way your onions will most likely be kept in the greenhouse with artificial heat, artificial illumination, individual pots and staked to keep the foliage upright. Growing from sets is a bit simpler, but the varieties available do not compete with Hytech. Onions from sets are also more prone to bolting and white rot in these wet years. Remove any diseased bulbs as soon as you see them to prevent it spreading.

The best variety for pickling is Paris Silverskins. These can be grown in a two to three inch wide row in very good soil where they will grow thickly and bulb up in a fast but short growing season.

Shallots are grown very similarly as onions from sets, but each bulb will spilt into several smaller bulbs then swell up. They don’t store for as long as bulb onions as their smaller size tends to dry up easier.

Garlic is best grown from bulbs purchased from garden centres or seed merchants specialising in varieties for our soils and climate. Don’t use supermarket bulbs. They need a long growing season so plant the bulbs in late autumn on good soil in an open sunny aspect. Some varieties can be planted in modules and overwintered in a cold frame for spring planting and others planted in early spring outdoors. Plant with the pointed end upwards, spacing at 6 inches apart.

All onions need to ripen up at the end of summer, then get dried off thoroughly before roping or cleaning and netting for storage in a cool airy but frost free shed.

Chives are grown as a perennial herb and cut as required throughout the growing season. They are very easy to grow and quickly multiply.

Spring onions are mostly grown for adding to salads, but can be chopped up for stir frying and used in a similar way to chives. I start my first ones as seed sown in early March indoors in cells then harden off for planting in a prepared bed under a low polythene tunnel. Further sowings are made about every six weeks to give me successional crops from late spring to mid winter.

Leeks are my autumn and winter vegetable sown in a bed in spring then lifted and transplanted into rows when about six inches tall. The transplants get topped and tailed and dropped onto dibble holes six inches deep then watered in to firm up the roots. The first ones are ready in late autumn, but harvesting continues till spring. I find it hard to beat the old, but reliable variety Musselburgh.

Plant of the week

Choisya Sundance is an evergreen shrub growing to about 4 to 6 feet tall. The variety Sundance is the golden leaved form of the Mexican Orange blossom whose bright colour is very welcome in winter. It is winter hardy and will grow on any well drained soil but prefers a sheltered position in full sun. It looks good in courtyards, cottage gardens and I have a specimen in a large tub. The white spring flowers as well as the foliage are slightly scented. Sometimes the tips can suffer a bit of frost damage, but these can be pruned back to healthy wood and will grow again.

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EXTEND THE GROWING SEASON FOR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

EXTEND THE GROWING SEASON FOR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Allotment gardeners traditionally always get a glut of some crop that we share with fellow plot holders, family and friends. Some crops such as courgettes, Swedes, cabbages and potatoes, plums and apples can all have a prolific year if the weather is kind. We also tend to grow too much of each crop just in case we get losses. However I am now tending to grow smaller rows and a wider range of fruit and vegetables so I get less surplus and have fresh produce available over a longer period. This idea can be extended further by using the protection of greenhouses, frames and polythene tunnels for bringing on crops earlier and extending the season into the autumn.

It is just about possible to be self sufficient in fruit and vegetables harvested from your own garden provided you accept each crop has its own season. The most difficult period is March and April when the previous years stored crops are just about done and the current year’s crops are still growing. This is when the freezer helps us out as most crops can be frozen and kept in good order for months. The summer and autumn months are the easy ones when there is plenty available and surplus can be stored. Winter is also not too difficult as there is a wide range of winter hardy crops such as Swedes, Sprouts, cabbage, leeks, parsnips, kale, Swiss chard and if you are lucky late sown, (August) summer salads such as spring onion, rocket, sorrel, corn salad and mustard mix can see you in fresh leaves till the end of January as they can tolerate a wee bit of frost. My outdoor beetroot has now finished but onions and pumpkins will stay fresh for a few more months.

Salads and vegetables

Ground prepared well in advance can be covered with low polythene tunnels in mid March to warm up for a few weeks before planting out an early batch of lettuce, spring onions, radish, beetroot and carrots. These are sown in cellular plug trays also in mid march for planting out about four weeks later. The radish are always ready first then lettuce can be picked when quite small as there is usually plenty to grow on a bit bigger. If poly tunnels are not available a cold frame is just as good as long as the soil is well prepared.

Cabbage and cauliflower can also be harvested just about all year round by selecting varieties suited to each season. My spring cabbage can be cut in April and May as spring greens then other plants left to heart up. However these are often overtaken by my early summer cabbage sown in the greenhouse for early planting. Later on we pick the autumn cabbage, then the winter cabbage takes us just about to March, provided clubroot and other pests don’t spoil your plans. Cauliflower can be grown all year round in a similar way, though there is usually a gap in mid winter.

Fruit crops

To grow raspberries and strawberries outside their normal summer season you need to look to the methods of the commercial growers. If you have the room in a glasshouse a couple of pots of an early raspberry variety are a luxury to sample fresh ripe rasps two to three weeks ahead of the early outdoor crops. However extending the season into autumn is normal now with Autumn Bliss and other autumn fruiting rasps. These will fruit till the end of November, but may not be very sweet as they need the warmth of sunshine for best results.

Strawberries can be grown under low polythene tunnels erected at the end of February over a young row planted up the previous autumn. I use the early variety Mae which never lets me down. I also extend the season into autumn with the perpetual variety Flamenco which will continue to fruit till November, but also needs sunshine. Flamenco will fruit from new runners throughout the season.

The summer blueberry season comes in August but saskatoons which are very similar fruit in July so giving almost two months of very healthy fresh black fruits.

The apple season gets extended by grafting early and late varieties onto my one large tree, so the Oslin fruits in August, followed by Discovery in September. Red Falstaff and Red Devil are ready in October but can be stored for a couple of months, then Fiesta, my late variety will store to the end of the year.

Outdoor grapes fruit in September to October in a normal year, but in the greenhouse my Flame starts in August followed by Perlette then Black Hamburg will last till December.

Plant of the week

Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox can be a beautiful winter flowering shrub with yellow spicy scented flowers, but it needs a sunny sheltered spot with good soil and drainage. Planted at the base of a south facing wall with plenty of organic matter added to the soil at planting, then given a mulch so it doesn’t dry out just in case we get a dry year. It is deciduous so the flowers emerging in November and lasting in some years till March can be easily seen. This hardy shrub from the mountains of China can grow up to ten foot tall but careful pruning can keep it about six feet if preferred. The main disadvantage for the impatient gardener is that it takes about four or more years to settle down before it starts to flower. This is another reason why propagation is best by layering rather than from seed as the latter could take a very long time to reach maturity for flowering. Leave layered shoots at least two years to grow decent roots before digging up.

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A SUNNY JANUARY DAY

A SUNNY JANUARY DAY

We have put 2012 behind us and hope to move into a new and better year. The rain has stopped, the sun is shining, there is a wee bit frost, but nothing too severe and the snow has not yet arrived, as I write this in early January. However we know that things could change with very little warning so let’s just enjoy the winter sunshine. Early flowering bulbs are either completely fooled by this mild winter or know what is happening and take full advantage of the sunshine.

Both aconites and snowdrops have started to flower and the winter jasmine is at its best. My tubs and hanging baskets are planted up with winter flowering pansies which are really spring flowering though can last well into summer. These were grown from seed sown last summer and kept cool. They are often prone to greenfly and leafspot fungus, but maybe the 2012 cool wet summer discouraged these so they have grown very sturdy and clean. They just can’t wait to get flowering so almost every tub has some plants with the first large brightly coloured blooms in flower.

A wander around the garden

Take the opportunity every sunny day to enjoy early flowers and other plants that are grown for winter beauty.

 A batch of polyanthus which flowered last spring in my tubs and then got planted out in a border have continued to flower ever since, and even in winter when we get a few sunny days together the flowers open up. The winter flowering heather Erica carnea has now started to flower to add to my winter garden of cornus, kerria, red stemmed maples and orange coloured willows.

This is their moment for the next two months.

A drift of black grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens, planted in the front of the border adds to the drama as it is low growing and forms a thick black clump. They form a great background for snowdrops.

The white stemmed silver birch Betula jacquemontii absolutely dazzles in the winter sunshine and as there are no leaves on the tree the branch framework is really eye catching against the deep blue sky. This small garden tree is growing in the middle of my heather harden where several golden and bronze leaved callunas put on their best show after a few frosts have sharpened up the leaf colour.

Now for some garden tasks

There is always plenty of leaves around to sweep up and add to the compost heap, and digging continues on the allotment provided the soil surface is not wet.

Pruning bush and climbing roses can be tackled any time now, and if we continue to get a mild winter it is better to be well ahead just in case there is an early start to spring growth.

Pruning grape vines under glass should now be completed, though there is time yet for the outdoor vines.

Plant of the week

Hamamelis mollis the Witch Hazel comes into flower in January and continues for several weeks. The numerous spidery shaped flowers are yellow and slightly scented, brightening up the winter garden with a bold splash of colour. Their autumn colour is also dazzling. The plant needs space as it can grow quite large preferring a slightly acid free draining rich soil, placed in full sunshine. Do not plant deeply as most Hamamelis are grafted and the rootstocks are prone to suckering.

They do not need any pruning other than to remove suckers, broken or overcrowded shoots and removal of an occasion shoot if they get too large for their space.

Painting of the month

Cold Day in Glenshee is a winter landscape painting. Artists gather ideas for painting in series or projects. Spring and summer are great for flowers and landscapes, autumn for figurative studies and winter for snow scenes. Whilst it is nice to paint local scenes around your town, the rest of Scotland offers so much variety that trips into the country are always very worthwhile provided the roads are passable. Glenshee was one of my winter landscape projects, and a one day trip with my camera up as far as the closed snow gates at the Spittal of Glenshee got me nearly twenty perfect snow scene images. However if the weather proves to be a bit gray with not much sunshine the artist is allowed a wee bit of artistic licence as paintings can last for hundreds of years and it is nice to look back onto the sunny side of Scottish landscapes.

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HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLACK FRUIT

 HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLACK FRUIT

Our generation benefits from modern technology where it is relatively easy to research any aspect of everything we ever wanted to know from the internet. Television has also given us fantastic enlightenment on the foods we grow and eat, as well as how best to live a healthy lifestyle, and what happens when we stray off the recommended path. We get bombarded with warnings of the effects of too much sugar, smoking, alcohol and drugs, (Brian Cox did an excellent TV series on that) and to increase our intake of fresh fruit and vegetables to improve our health. However the latest revelation is that modern crop breeding in the past has been concentrating on everything concerned with producing heavier crops, more pest and disease resistance, and produce that is uniform and long lasting on a supermarket shelf. The health benefits, vitamin and mineral content and other aspects that give us a better plant to eat have been ignored. Scientists and plant breeders are now addressing this problem and in future we will all benefit from healthier fruit and vegetables. While deciding what fruit and vegetables to grow I am very aware that I should go for those with the healthiest attributes. This is why I make sure I grow a lot of fruit with a predominance of black and purple colours, and although our local raspberry may not be black, it scored very highly in health ratings.

My healthy fruits include chokeberries, blackcurrants, saskatoons, blueberries, brambles and black grapes.

The dark colour of these berries is caused by the very high levels of anthocyanin, an antioxidant. The fruits are also packed with dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. Research on the health benefits of these fruits is still ongoing, but results to date are very encouraging. Antioxidants prevent free radicals from damaging cell components. These plus the other vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre  assist the fight against heart disease, cancer, diabetes, alzheimer’s disease, reduce the absorption of high cholesterol, and can delay macular degeneration.

Chokeberries are not very common at the moment but they produce one of the healthiest fruits on the planet, and once this is realised everyone who wants a healthy lifestyle will want to grow a few bushes. Research has shown them to be one of the best superfoods because of their very high levels of anthocyanin an antioxidant(1480 mgs per 100gms) high levels of dietary fibre, plus vitamins A, C and E and the minerals potassium, iron and manganese.

However chokeberries are too astringent to eat in any quantity straight off the bush but can be juiced, cooked, added to compote, yoghurts and makes a delicious jam. They also make a heavenly wine, but I have no knowledge at this stage of just how healthy my wine is though red wine taken in moderation is said to have health benefits.

Blackcurrants may only have half the level of anthocyanin, but at over 700 mg per 100gms they are still very high. They are also high in vitamins, dietary fibre and minerals similar to chokeberries plus calcium and zinc. Plant breeders have now produced plants with very large sweet fruit aimed at the fresh fruit market. This is the best way to use this fruit as none of the goodness is lost in the cooking process, but go easy when adding them to dairy products such as cream or yoghurts as it has been shown that this can reduce the absorption of the antioxidants.

Saskatoons are also very high in anthocyanin (562mgs per 100gms) plus high levels of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. The berries can be eaten fresh off the bush in season, usually July, and frozen for future use in compote, summer puddings, juices, added to cereals, yoghurts and cooked in cakes, oaties and jams. It also makes a fantastic deep red wine.

Blueberries, Brambles and Black grapes have similar properties to the above (blueberries have 386mgs per 100gms anthocyanin) though each one will have different amounts of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. However they will allow you to extend the season of use for fresh healthy fruit from summer till winter. My Black Hamburg grapes last into December in most years. Although I grow some seedless grapes, both my Black Hamburg greenhouse grape and my outdoor black grape Brant have pips in them, but now we find that these seeds are packed with goodness. So instead of discarding these pips as a nuisance, give them a wee crunch and swallow them. They are anti allergenic, antihistamine and anti inflammatory. They strengthen blood vessels, aid circulation, improve skin elasticity and promote healthy hair.

Plant of the week

Viburnum bodnantense Dawn brightens up the winter months as this is its flowering period, from late autumn till spring. The clusters of pink flowers are strongly scented opening brightly every mild day throughout the winter. This deciduous shrub can grow ten feet tall and as it flowers in winter when there is no leaves on the bush it is best planted in front of some evergreen bushes to give the flowers a background. It flowers best in full sun in Scotland, but is also useful in partial shade as it is a woodland fringe plant enjoying deep fertile moist but well drained soil.

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