IT’S BEEN A thoroughly miserable few weeks of weather and I have to admit that I’ve been spending very little time in the vegetable patch. The days are too short now for pre or post-work GIYing, and recent weekends have also been a washout.
So, the only visits to the veg patch of late have been rain-soaked hit-and-runs to grab some grub for the dinner. Thankfully, there’s plenty of veg still in the ground to harvest – carrots, leeks, fennel, turnips, celeriac, parsnips, oriental greens, perpetual spinach, beet-root and more.
As I’ve looked glumly from the house at the sodden garden, it’s been playing on my mind that it’s high time I got the beds in the veg patch covered down for the winter. The soil in beds that have been cleared of vegetables are vulnerable to inclement weather – heavy rain can make the soil waterlogged and wash away remaining nutrients. So, last Sunday I managed to find a few hours where it wasn’t raining so I could get some much needed work done.
I’ve started the process of covering bare beds down – this will continue right through the winter as more and more bed space gets cleared of veg. In my veg patch a winter ‘cover’ can take the form of black plastic or a covering of organic matter (e.g. seaweed, compost or farmyard manure).
Sometimes if I am feeling really organised, I will put a layer of organic matter and then cover it with black plastic. The plastic serves a number of purposes: keeping the weather off the beds, keeping them warm and dry and killing off any weeds (which will return their nutrients to the soil as they die off).
I took out the runner and climbing French bean plants (and their frame) and the sweetcorn plants, both of which are finished at this stage. (It’s worth noting that in the GIY Market Garden, Dermot and Eimear are still harvesting climbing french beans from the polytunnel). I also lifted the last of the courgette plants and put them on the compost heap. They have served us well this year – we have been eating courgettes since July and each plant has produced up to 30 courgettes. Alas, the courgette glut is over for another year (though many of them live on in pickles and chutneys).
When I sowed my garlic and overwintering onions in late October, I put a fleece cover over them to stop birds picking them out of the soil before they had a chance to take root. They are well established at this stage, so I took the fleece off. Later than planned, I also sowed over-wintering broad beans (variety aquadulceclaudia) in two rows, (45cm apart and 15cm apart in the rows). All going well, these beans will be ready to eat around May of next year.
As the cold weather and lower light conditions draw in, it’s important to close up the doors of your greenhouse or polytunnel to keep the heat in there as much as possible.
However, try and give the polytunnel/greenhouse a good airing on fine dry days – open up the doors and let air circulate – this will help to stop disease developing, particularly downy mildew which can be a big issue in the winter months.
On days where you do open up the doors make sure to close them again at night to retain whatever heat is in there.
My cauliflower didn’t work so well this year (succumbing to the attention of slugs at seedling stage), but thankfully our Head Grower Dermot, has some great caulis at the moment in the GIY Market Garden and I was able to blagsome to make this great recipe from River Cottage Veg Every Day.
I used this as a side dish to go with a roast chicken, but it would work just as well as a veggie main course. The strong flavours transform the cauliflower from bland to bold! Serves 2 to 4.
Ingredients
Directions
Break the cauliflower into small, neat florets, then place in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes.
In a small, dry frying pan, toast the sesame seeds for a minute or two, until toasted and fragrant. Tip onto a plate and set aside. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat and add the onion.
Sauté until pale golden, then add the garlic, chilli, ginger and fry, stirring, for a minute. Drain the cauliflower. Turn up the heat on the frying pan, then tip in the cauliflower and 1⁄2 cup of water. Cook, stirring, for 5 to 10 minutes until the florets are browning around the edges, adding a splash more water if they start to stick.
Stir in the sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce and chopped coriander. Serve scattered with coriander sprigs and with extra soy sauce for people to use as they wish.
Here’s a novel idea for storing onions and an alternative to (the frankly slightly complicated) braiding system that is often used. Feed a single onion down to the toe of a pair of tights and tie a knot over it.
Repeat until each leg is full and hang from a nail. The tights allow air to flow around the onions while the knot over each prevents the onions from touching each other, keeping rotting to a minimum.
Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY.
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