Download nformation on growing your own

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
SOME FUN AND SIMPLE IDEAS TO INSPIRE YOUR OWN GARDEN!
EASY VEG TO GROW IN IRELAND
Summer cabbage Cabbages like fertile well-drained soil and an open situation. They need continuous
water through summer. They are easy to grow. Usually the only problem with them is that they are a
sitting target for slugs and snails.
Varieties: crisp pointed types with a solid heart: ‘Hispi’ F1, ‘Greyhound’ F1, First of June’ F1.
Once you taste your own grown Carrots, you will never go back to shop bought! Take a tip from the show
bench to get straight roots. Make funnel shaped holes with an iron bar. Fill the holes economically with
the perfect compost for the crop – a fertile, sandy mix for carrots – before sowing the seed.
Varieties: ‘Amsterdam Forcing’, the tried and tested first carrot of the year. ‘Early Nantes’. Also new in are
the multi coloured collections – great for kids. E.g. ‘The Healthy Coloured Collection’ by Thompson and
Morgan.
Spinach beet or Swiss chard is not grown commercially as it has a short shelf life. Whereas true spinach
has a delicate constitution, spinach beet is reliable and easy to grow. It makes good winter greens and is
excellent for cut-and-come-again salad crops when young and tender. A bonus is sheer good looks. It
comes from the glamorous side of the beet family. Red stemmed types are practically fluorescent when
backlit. Though there is the choice of smooth or crinkly, white, crimson, yellow or purple stems and green,
red or rainbow coloured leaves, the white stemmed ones with crumpled leaves are thought to be the
tastiest. Seeds come in clusters. Soak them overnight and sow thinly in March or April 20cm/8ins apart
outside for summer and autumn croppings. A second sowing in midsummer will give you crops through
winter.
Colourful varieties: ‘Bright lights’ (a complete rainbow), ‘Rhubarb Chard’
Peas are believed to be the oldest cultivated vegetables in the world. They were found in the ruins of Troy.
To get decent sized servings, however, be prepared to grow quite a few plants. There are peas for drying,
petits pois, garden peas, mangetout and sugarsnap types. They like fertile, light, moisture-retentive soil, a
good root run and plenty of moisture throughout their growing season. Make a little gully between rows
to collect water. When sowing watch out for mice as they will remove the seeds without trace almost
before you’ve turned your back.
A way round this is to sow peas in pieces of plastic guttering so they can be slid out into a prepared trench
with minimum disturbance. Putting them out as little plants rather than seed seems to make them less
attractive to mice and birds.
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Varieties: ‘Kelvenden Wonder’, an old English favourite, ‘Early Onward’, sweet tasting, prolific pea.
Broad beans are another ancient vegetable. They were known to Neolithic man and were mentioned in
the Bible. They were a staple food for rich and poor before the arrival of the potato. The broad bean’s
near cousin, the field bean, was grown as horse food, hence the expression ‘full of beans’. Soak the seeds
overnight and sow 5cm/2ins deep and 20cm/8ins apart. Traditionally they are grown in a staggered
double row. If you need to support them, run stakes along the row and tie them at the tops. Remove any
suckers as they appear so you are left with a single stem. When there are four clusters of flowers at the
top, cut them off. This will encourage the pods to form and discourage the black bean aphids.
Early yielding varieties: ‘Witkiem Manita’ and ‘Witkiem Major’. ‘Red Epicure’ has red flowers and
interesting reddish beans
Onions. For speed and efficiency, buy sets. They will be guaranteed disease free and the heat treated ones
will be bolt resistant. Space 15cm/6ins apart for average onions. Onions are adaptable and you can control
their size by the spacing. If you want big onions space them further apart. If you want to grow from seed,
which gives you more choice, sow them indoors at 10–16ºC/50–61ºF. The first sign of life you will see is a
crook shaped shoot that will form a loop. Don’t try to free it. Its purpose is to draw nourishment up from
the seed and it will release itself when it is ready.
Varieties: ‘Centurion’ F1 (AGM) is a straw coloured, globe shaped onion. It’s early maturing, a heavy
cropper and stores well. ‘Turbo’ has the same attributes and is also slow to bolt.
Saladini. Get going on saladini and cut-and-come-again oriental vegetables. There are so many interesting
assortments that it’s a shame not to try out lots of different sorts. Sow a few seeds every two to three
weeks. I grow these in a container of proprietary compost so that I can be certain that amongst the many
unfamiliar leaves no weeds will go unnoticed into the salad bowl.
The leek is a five star allotment plant, and grows very well in Ireland. Leeks are easy to grow just so long as
you get the soil right. It needs to be fertile, well drained, light, manured the autumn before, and on the
alkaline side. Put on some lime if your soil is less than neutral pH7. I like to sow leeks in root trainers – loo
rolls serve well. When you transplant them you can plant slightly deeper than before, thereby blanching
them without further effort. Make a big hole for them with a dibber, or try the carrot trick by making an
upside down cornet shape with an iron bar. Drop them in still in their biodegradable cardboard tubes. The
old idea of trimming the roots is no longer recommended.
Varieties: ‘Bleu de Solaise’ (a regal looking leek with blue leaves), ‘King Richard’ (AGM),
Brussels sprouts for Christmas are sown in March/April under cloches mounted on tiles to let in air. Keep
them in the dark until they germinate. Then take the cloche off in the day and put it on again at night.
When big enough to handle, thin out to 15cm/6ins apart. Late sprouts for the New Year can be sown in
April without the weather worries.
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Varieties: ‘Peter Gynt’ dwarf, and ‘Diablo’ (AGM) are clean round sprouts and came out top in trials.
Don‘t forget your potatoes. Dig in well rotted manure or compost. Don’t rush and plant them in cold soil.
If you are in a warm microclimate they can go in in mid-March. Otherwise it is safer to wait until April.
Easter is the traditional time. Plant in trenches or individual holes or grow them in a barrel. First earlies
about 30cm/1ft apart, 45cm/18ins between rows. Give second earlies about 50% more space.
TIPS FOR SOWING SEEDS
Sowing indoors
Use sterilized compost and clean pots. Water the compost well before sowing. Sow thinly and not too
deeply – this is the commonest cause of failure. Follow the directions on the packet. If there are no
directions, a rough guide is two-and-a-half-times the depth of the seed.
Cover the seeds with clingfilm, glass or a black plastic sack. They will be kept moist by condensation and
shouldn’t need to be watered again until the seeds have germinated. Keep them in the dark in the airing
cupboard or in another warm place. Check every day.
As soon as you see signs of life, take off the covers and get them into the light, but out of direct sunlight.
Keep some water at room temperature for them, but avoid overwatering them as they could ‘dampen
off’. If they are on a window sill, turn them every day or put them in a box lined with kitchen foil to reflect
light around the young plants.
Pricking out
Don’t hurry this! Aim to be efficient to minimize the time they are out of the soil. Water them well ahead
of time. Have ready some containers filled with compost with holes made with a dibber (pencil, plant
label, lollipop stick or chopstick) ready to receive them. Ease out the seedlings with a dibber taking as
much compost with them as possible to avoid damaging the roots and to prevent them drying out. If you
need to handle the seedlings or support them, don’t touch the stems as they are easily broken, just the
leaves. Plant them so that the first set of leaves is just above the surface of the compost. Firm them down
carefully and water.
Hardening off
Prepare the young plants for the outside world in stages. Be patient and wait until the weather is really set
fair. Put them out under cloches, fleece or in the cold frame. If you keep them in their pots for the first few
weeks they are easy to move indoors if there is an unexpected cold snap. Alternatively cover them with
thick newspaper if you expect a frosty night – removing it in the morning. On fine days take off the crop
covers and put them back on at night, until you are sure that the young plants have acclimatized.
Planting out
When they are ready to go out into the ground, water them well before moving them from their pots.
Plant them to the same level as before. An exception to this rule is leeks which are planted more deeply to
keep them blanched. Water again carefully to get rid of any air pockets.
Sowing outdoors
Prepare the beds carefully. Clear away all weeds and stones. Work the soil to a fine tilth by moving the
rake across and then lengthways over and over again until the soil is flat and smooth and has the texture
of fine breadcrumbs. The finer the seed that you plan to sow, the finer the tilth should be. When you are
satisfied, firm the soil with the back of the rake.
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Drills
Drills are trenches that are used for sowing most vegetable seed. They can be a narrow ‘V’ shape for fine
seed made by the corner of a hoe, or wide enough for two lines of seeds made with the full width of the
hoe. The seed is sown in straight lines or geometric patterns so that the gardener can discern what is
weed and what is seed. Use pegs or skewers and string to give you a guideline, then make a drill with a
corner of the hoe or a stick. Be careful not to make it too deep. Water the trench before sowing the seed.
One way is to sprinkle the seed into the palm of one hand and take pinches with the other to sow as thinly
as you can. Another is to tip it slowly out of a folded piece of paper. If the seed is very fine, mix it with
silver sand or a little compost. Cover the trench, taking care not to bury the seed too deeply. Mark the
spot and label it (golden rule).
Station sowing
Station sowing is for larger seeds like broad beans and peas. Prepare the ground in the same way but
instead of making a drill, make holes at the appropriate distances along the line. Often peas and beans are
sown in a staggered double row. Drop the seeds into the holes one by one. It is customary to sow three
seeds per station – one for you, one for the birds, and one for luck.
Thinning
Thinning seeds is essential to give your plants the best chance of developing well. Check on your planting
distances and be ruthless. If you are careful, sometimes the thinnings can be transplanted or (like carrots)
be eaten.
SALAD LEAVES AND ORIENTAL MIXES FOR CUT-AND-COME-AGAIN SALADS & STIR FRIES
Packs of gourmet salad leaves in the supermarket are extremely expensive and have a very short shelf life
once opened. They usually go soggy within a day or two. For the same price (around €3) you can buy a
pack of seeds from which you will get nine to ten times the quantity almost effortlessly – with three
sowings and, on average, three cuts with each sowing. Other advantages are that you can pick only as
much as you need, avoiding waste and with the guarantee of a really fresh product.
Seed merchants have caught onto the idea, so now you can buy many different combinations of leaves in
varying degrees of spiciness as well as in contrasting textures, shapes and colours.When the ‘Bamboo
Curtain’ came down, a wide range of oriental greens were introduced to the West. They are a diverse and
very useful group for cut-and-come-again (CCA) salads and stir-fries. They are naturally strong growing and
healthy and many will sail through the worst of winter given a little cover. They include the crisp white
stemmed pak chois, loose-headed Chinese cabbage, choy sum and the flowering broccoli with its delicious
flowering shoots; mizuna with its ferny leaves and many types of mustard including the komatsuna
spinach mustards; also Texcel greens, Chinese chives, green-in-the snow, alfalfa, amaranthus,
chrysanthemum greens and mouli and leaf radish. All grow at speed through summer and autumn – the
ideal is a cool summer and a mild autumn. But given cover, they will keep going through winter until
spring.
The technique
You can grow them in the ground but using a container has the advantages of keeping them clean. It gives
you the opportunity to protect them from slugs and snails. Generally they dislike the ‘hotter’ types but
love to graze off the milder leaves. A simple way to keep them off is to smother the outside of the
container with Vaseline (which acts like the slippery pole) and put Vicks chest rub around the rim (to
confuse their sense of smell).
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Sow fairly densely in a container filled out with multi-purpose compost, or row them out on your plot. For
CCA salad leaves you don’t need to thin them out but when they are 2 – 3ins (5 – 7.5cms) high, begin to
harvest a few leaves while making room for the others to grow on.
After that you should get two or three cuts from the remaining plants over the next few weeks. When
cutting them always leave the first set of two leaves (the cotyledons) so that the plants can re-grow. If you
sow a few seeds every two weeks, you should have a supply all summer. In autumn, germinate the seed in
the greenhouse or at home on a windowsill and grow them on under a cloche or in a cold frame. They will
grow more slowly but it is still worth it.
BEANPOLES AND PEASTICKS
RUNNER BEAN SUPPORTS
Runner bean supports should be erected prior to sowing or planting, if it
is done when the beans are already growing the roots may be damaged.
The minimum recommended size for the poles is 8' x 'T"' diameter and if
looked after properly they will give five or more years se. Above 2"
diameter poles get difficult to push into the ground. Plant or sow the
beans on the outside of poles. The supports will be hidden by the
mature beans.
Wigwams
Four poles, in a square, or six poles, in a circle, set 18"–24" apart.
Garden twine or wire is used to tie the poles together near the top (as
shown on the front of this leaflet).
PEA & SWEETPEA SUPPORTS
Hazel is the traditional peastick however most woody twigs can be used
with Birch especially useful. Peasticks rarely last more than one season.
Peasticks
When the pea or sweetpea seedlings have developed tendrils, push 4'–5' peasticks in either side of the
drill leaving 4"–6" between each pair of peasticks. Keep as upright as possible. Twenty peasticks will give a
run of 3'– 4'. Old peasticks spread about are invaluable for keeping cats off
vegetable beds. Nothing need be wasted!
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Santry Community Garden
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EDIBLE FLOWERS
Part of the fun of growing your own is to have produce that you can’t buy in the shops. Like many
vegetables that have a short shelf life, edible flowers need to be home grown. They always look
wonderfully chic and some are very tasty. They are an excellent addition to the gardener-cook’s
repertoire.
WORD OF WARNING
At the risk of being obvious …
Don’t eat any flower unless you are sure you know what it is and that it is safe to eat (e.g. don’t confuse
garden peas with sweet peas! Don’t confuse pelargoniums with geraniums!) Avoid any flowers that come
from florists, nurseries or roadsides as they may have been treated with pesticides or be polluted. As a
general rule, only eat the petals unless specified otherwise.
Some of the most popular edible flowers are:
Nasturtiums have a good peppery kick and are good for salads. You can eat the leaves and the whole
flower. They can be stuffed with cheese or guacamole and the tiny seed heads can be used like capers on
pizza.
Nasturtiums spring very easily from seed. They like
full sun and don’t need much attention apart from
watering. When they go over pull them out and
shake and they will reseed for next year. If you get
too many they are easy to pull out.
Marigolds are another easy-to-grow annual that
flowers continually for months. ‘Lemon Gem’ and
‘Tangerine Gem’ are the best for eating. These are
unusual varieties that will probably need to be
ordered from a seed merchant. The petals can be
sprinkled on salads.
Chrysanthemums are perennials. Grow them in full sun. The petals have a strong rather bitter taste. The
easiest types to prepare in the kitchen are the open-petalled varieties. They can be sprinkled on salads,
used in stir-fries or to garnish soups. Don’t bother with the leaves unless you are growing chop suey
greens or chrysanthemum greens, Chrysanthemum coronarium. These are hugely popular all over Africa
and Asia as a green vegetable but are usually grown in the West as an ornamental which is rather a
shame.
Herbs
Chive flowers are pretty in salads, tasting mildly of onion. Chives need six hours of sunshine every day in
summer to grow well. You can pull the flowers apart and use them in the same way as the leaves, or use
them whole as a decoration or garnish. They look wonderful in herbal vinegars. They are most easily
grown from divisions of the little bulbs. Harvest the flowers as soon as they open and before they toughen
up. Cut them back after flowering to reinvigorate them and prevent them seeding. Chives are grown in a
pot as they can become rampant in open ground.
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Chamomile. The best type for culinary use is the annual chamomile. It tastes less bitter than the perennial
type which is mostly used for medicinal purposes. Sow from seed in full sun. Use the flower heads, fresh
or dry for tea, or combine with the leaves of other herbs like lemon verbena or mint. You can also sprinkle
the petals over salads.
Rosemary grows well in a pot and the leaves are always useful for meat dishes. The flowers can be used to
good effect sprinkled on many vegetable dishes and look pretty in herb vinegars.
Vegetable flowers
If you leave the odd vegetable to flower (sometimes you have to wait another season for the biennials,
like parsnip) you can produce many delicious flowers. They have the added advantage of drawing in bees
like a magnet.
Peas. It is really worth leaving a few to flower as the flowers taste like the freshest pea. Absolutely
delicious on salads. They can also be candied.
Runner beans were originally brought over from Mexico as ornamentals. The pretty flowers taste
pleasantly of peas and beans. They look great as decoration on bean soups or sprinkled on salads.
Radishes produce dainty flowers in different colours if you leave them (or when they bolt). They are quite
tasty and provide colour to dishes.
Flowers for cooking
Courgettes are hugely prolific in both flower and fruit. Courgette flowers can be stuffed with cheeses,
breadcrumbs or meat mixtures and baked or deep fried. Keep the stems on for stuffing. They look tickly
but smooth out when cooked.
Flowers for sweet dishes and candies
Roses. Grow small varieties for pots. Rosebuds are good for
candying as decoration. The petals can be used for jellies, rose
waters or fruit syrups. Remove the white section at the bottom of
the petal as it is bitter.
Lavender is an excellent subject for container growing. The flowers
can be used fresh or dried.Uses include flavouring jellies, sorbets,
ice creams, syrups, vinegars and sugars.
Violas and pansies taste rather like lettuce. They make pretty
garnishes, fresh or candied.
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RESOURCES FOR THE IRISH GARDENER
http://www.giyireland.com/home.php
GIY is a registered charity which aims to inspire people to grow their own food and give them the skills
they need to do so successfully.
http://www.theorganiccentre.ie/
The organic centre provides courses at their centre in Co Leitrim, as well as having a great online shop for
organic seeds and sundries.
http://www.brownenvelopeseeds.com/
Irish organic seed company, available online.
http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/
Great recipies for all home grown produce.
http://www.theherbgarden.ie/
For everything you want to know about growing and using herbs.
http://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2010/10/10_A_Guide_to_Vegetable_Growing.pdf
Guide to growing vegetables in Ireland
http://sonairte.ie/
Organic gardening, sustainable living and creative arts courses
http://www.getgrowing.ie/
http://store.irishseedsavers.ie/fs/doc/ISSA_Apple_Catalogue_2010_with_order_form.pdf
Seedsavers apple tree catalogue
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Santry Community Garden
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