Ask The Expert

Dear Shirley,

Sowing seeds always leaves you hopeful of a great crop. I always imagine eating my produce when I sow it, and it is always a horrid feeling when something goes wrong. Carrot root fly got to your carrots, I’m afraid. They fly close to the ground and their antennae can detect the smell of carrots from a mile away.

There are a number of things you can do to keep them at bay. Firstly, grow a few spring onions in the same box, it disguises the aroma of carrot. Secondly, since the carrot fly cannot get as high as 60 cm from the ground, build a barrier around your carrots. Better still, buy some horticultural fleece, which comes in three sizes. You want the finest mesh that excludes all insects. Cover the carrots and you will have no further problems. Remember to tuck the fleece into the soil or hold it down so nothing can crawl inside and be especially vigilant when you are thinning your carrots, because this is when the aroma is strongest.

Dear Ruth,

The first thing you need to do is to check if you are allowed to keep chickens. If you own your own home, check your deeds and if you rent, check your tenancy agreement. Around 10% of homes are excluded by law from keeping livestock of any kind.

If you are worried about rats, there are some things to remember. There are plenty of rats around already. People’s rubbish and litter, the remains of late night takeaways feed the rats quite comfortably. Rats and mice are only interested in the hen’s food, not the hens themselves, though sometimes they will break in to eat the eggs if you are tardy in removing them.

If you keep your hen food in a rat proof container,only feed them daily and don’t use a hopper, remove the food from the run each night and keep the hutch tidy, you will never see a rat.

It is harder work keeping hens in the city, but it is worth it. Don’t buy a cockerel, the girls do not need one to produce eggs, and you should have no noise considerations at all. Finally, the gift of a box of the freshest eggs in the world goes down well with neighbours.

Happy clucking!

Dear George,

Runner beans are magnificent vegetables. Last year I grew the variety ‘Butler’ which is stringless and very heavy cropping. The secret to growing perfect specimens is plenty of nutrients, full sun and water, water, water.

In November (yes, November) dig a trench about 40cm deep and around 30 cm wide, and as long as you need it. Half fill this trench with plant waste, or partly rotted compost and when it is half full, top it up with good quality compost. By April the material in the bottom of the trench will be ready for growing runner beans. If you want more than one row, they should be 2 metres apart.

In late April build a support of sticks that are 30 cm apart and around 2 metres high. At each stick sow two seeds about 5cm deep. Discard the slowest growing plant, and from there train them up the sticks.

When the first flowers appear, start watering and feeding. You simply cannot over water them, the trench ensures the water drains properly. Each week give them a good feed of organic fertliser.

Pick the runner beans when they are about 20 cm long. Continual picking will create more flowers and you should have a perfect crop right through the summer.

Dear Mrs Davies,

Cape Gooseberry is not a gooseberry at all, but is related to the tomato, so you can guess it needs very similar conditions.

However, if you have plans now, outside, they will never come to fruit. Just leave them so you can start for next year and collect the seeds when the fruit dries our.

Start them off in ordinary compost in March and aim to have plants in pots in June. If kept in a warm sunny spot they will flower and fruit by late summer UNLESS you feed them.

They simply grow too large if you over feed (that is feed them at all really) then and they tend not to set fruit too well. Some plants like to be under stress in order to flower, feeding makes it too comfortable for them.

Finally, I don't remove side shoots, just leave them to their own devices, and if you gan get a greenhouse (even one of those £20 plastic jobbies) they will fruit nicely.

Dear Malcolm,

Well, I could be here all day with this one - it is such a big question.

I am assuming the plot is a half one and you have at least one good path.

As a general rule the soil being in good heart (well manured and fertilised, of good crumbly texture, neither too wet or too dry is more important than the order you grow your plants.)

With such a small plot you will want every bit of useable land you can get, so I would not consider raised beds unless you really needed them or really fancied them. Similarly I would fine somewhere else to put a shed and  take your tools home each time you visit.

One thing I would invest in is a plank. So far as you are able, don't walk on the soil, walk on the plank. A lot of disease on allotment sites is spread  by people walking on soil. Clubroot is the worst culprit.

Find our where the prevailing wind comes and make a windbreak. This cold be a row of black currants or raspberries, or it could be a row of raised beds. You can get them (or make them) these days with hoops over which you can drape polythene and make a micro polytunnel. When it's hot you can replace it with mesh. The effect of the wind break is to shelter the rest of the plot - making a better environment for growing. (You could grow a couple of double rows of broad beans along the windward edge that would provide an adequate windbreak.

The actual order of the plot is really up to you. I would have a think about the available light and if there is a slope.  Potatoes can go at the bottom of any slope so long as it is never waterlogged, otherwise they would benefit from the extra moisture.

However you set out your plot, I would grow, between each row, or around each block of plants, some plants designed to ward off pests - onions, marigolds, sacrificial lettuce, garlic (though garlic can taint other crops).

Don't forget to leave room for you to set out your plank to walk between the rows.

What you grow where will vary from year to year.  Think in blocks or rows. Brassicas1 (Cabbages caulis etc), salads, root crops 1(carrots, turnips etc),  Brassicas 2 (Sweeds), more salads, root crops 2 (spuds).

In such a small plot, try growing early potatoes (first and second) and don't worry too much about maincrop ones - you can always leave a few in the ground to last through to September.

On average, for every 2 metres you will get three rows of crops, so you have room for 22 rows of produce.

Dear Malcolm,

The temperature you need for growing good leeks is 12-15°C.

I personally don't grow leeks for showing, but in the past I have not potted them on at all, toping and tailing them when at pencil thickness and then growing them in a sheltered position. I have cloched them in when cold and fleeced them through the summer, but I have to admit I have never won a leek prize, except in a flan - which is a different matter altogether!

There are two ways of growing leeks for exhibition. You can sow now and create a basic stock of leeks.  Judges are not looking for size alone, but the conformity between the shaft and the bulb, and that they are in proportion. The shaft should be no larger than the root disc underneath the bulb.

The other way to grow leeks is by vegetatively growing them. If you let a leek go to see you will find little bulblets or leeklets also known as pods or pips at the seed head. Carefully pul these off and grow them on in compost.This will have the same genetics as its parent, and consequently, if you have a good leek originally grown from seed, you can maintain this plant- get the same shape and conformity and so on.

I would try 'Mammoth' or 'Shirley's Giant Exhibition' but if you shop around you will find many varieties marked 'exhibition'.

Dear Shirley,

Well in a way you have done everything you need to do to a lawn but not quite all.

First of all, right now, I would aerate the lawn. Choose a cold day, because this will make you sweat. You need an ordinary garden fork and dig it into the lawn so the holes are about 1 cm diameter and about 10 to 15 cm deep. Waggle the fork about a bit and then pull it out. You need to put a forl load of holes every 20 to 30 cm apart. That's a lot of holes.

Then get a grass rake on the good grass and give the lawn a good scratch, get all the moss out. Do this in March.

In April buy some shady lawn mix which you can buy from a number of suppliers.

All your patches, that is anything bigger than a  cup will sit on, you need to hoe them up so you have a fine soil to sow into.

add a handfull of seeds per square foot (ish) but a lot of seeds, and get an ordinary stiff yard brush and brush the seeds  into the soil.

From then on you need to keep the grass watered - never let it dry out. When I looked after some football pitches we had a hose pipe on the grass all day until the grass was growing, but you can just water every other day.

When the grass is 5 cm long give its first cut. Make sure it is only a very light trim, and make sure the soil is dryish to stop it becoming muddy. Needless to say, don't walk on the grass much.

Increasingly, over the summer, cut lower and lower. Cut monthly, lowering the cut by one notch. Cylinder mowers are better than rotary ones.

Dear Mr. Wooley,

The goji is a member of the Solanaceae, which puts it in the same family as the potato and tomato.

Health benefits of eating goji berries

Goji Berries contain an impressive 18 amino acids and 21 trace minerals. They also boast a wide range of vitamins, including B1, B2 and B6, and also Vitamin E, which is rarely found in fruits. Their superfood status, however, comes from the presence of complex compounds and phytonutrients, and an extremely high number of antioxidants per berry, which help neutralise harmful free radicals in the body. They also contain a fair amount of protein, making them a great healthy all-rounder. The berries have been used in Tibetan medicine for nearly 2,000 years, mainly in the treatment of kidney and liver problems. They have also been used in the treatment of eye complaints, skin rashes, psoriasis, allergies, insomnia, diabetes and tuberculosis. What’s more, goji berries are also used to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, cleanse the blood and increase longevity.

How to grow goji berries

Gojis come either bare rooted or as young plants in compost filled pots.

Once established, goji berries are incredibly easy to cultivate. Unchecked, they grow into a thick bush that reaches up to 3m tall, with vines that can grow to nearly 4m. If regularly pruned, they will form small, attractive bushes that will produce more berries as a result. They’ll thrive in almost any type of soil, and are reasonably tolerant of conditions such as drought or waterlogged soil. However they tend to flower and fruit better in a well-drained soil with a fair amount of organic matter. Position them in full sun for the largest possible harvests, but they’re not too fussy, and will grow in partial shade as well. They grow well in containers and make attractive crops to grow on your patio, but, as the roots are deep, it’s important to get the largest pot possible (around 30cm-1m deep).

You can grow them from seed, or buy them as young plants. If growing from seed, use a free-draining potting compost with added vermiculite, that’s not too rich in nutrients (as this can make the seedlings grow leggy), and place in a well-lit position with a regular temperature, such as a windowsill (a long as it’s not too drafty). Water the compost before sowing the seeds, to avoid them rotting before they germinate. Keep them warm and spray occasionally to keep them moist until they germinate. Once they have germinated and developed around four ‘true’ leaves, gently transplant them into individual pots around 2cm in diameter, and keep them in a well-lit position indoors for a year, where they should remain warm. The young plants should not be moved outside in their first year as they are not hardy, and are prone to frost damage.

Growing from young plants

Buying young plants is far easier than growing from seed, as the plants are fully hardy and can be planted out as soon as you buy them. Your young bushes will come as bare root plants with no leaves. If planted straight away and watered well they will start to grow leaves within two-three weeks. Dig a hole around 50cm deep and wide and place the goji berry plant in it. Firm the soil around the plant and water well. Leave about 1m between plants and mulch the area around the stems with leafmoluld or garden compost to keep the soil moist and well nourished. You can even grow the bushes into a goji berry hedge; simply plant them 1m apart in a straight line and prune into shape each year.

Flowers and fruit

After two years the bushes will start to fruit, and from four years you’ll start to get very heavy yields. In early summer the bushes will produce small, delicate, trumpet-shaped flowers. Both white and purple blooms can appear on one plant, so they provide visual interest before the berry production begins.

The berries will begin to set in autumn. The ripe fruit are sweet and juicy and almost shiny in appearance. The flowers will continue to bloom right up until the first frosts, however, so your plants will be red, white and purple throughout late summer and autumn.

Harvesting

Harvest your goji berries when they are soft, red and glossy looking. Gently twist each berry off the vine, leaving others to ripen. You can eat them fresh, when they’re juicy, or dry them. To do this simply place them on a wire rack in full sun, or if that’s not possible, place them in a single layer on a baking tray in an oven set to the lowest temperature setting possible. It may take up to 24 hours for the berries to dry; check on them regularly, they’ll be ready when they are dry and crinkly. They also make a fantastic juice, but it’s recommended that you use a juicer for this job as it can be quite tricky otherwise.

Dear Joey,

You've asked if rhubarb and nettle leaves can be put in water and left to rot to be used as plant food.

The way to do it, Joey, is to find an old pillowcase and make a tea bag out of any leaves you have, rhubarb, nettles, dandelions, comfrey, anything really. Once the pillow is full, tie a knot in the end and use it like a huge tea bag - soaking it in a water butt. Please remember to keep a secure lid on the butt, and let it soak for a couple of weeks.

The resulting stew smells horrid, but dilute it 1 part to 3 parts water - it’s good stuff!

Remember to wear rubber gloves, just in case you are allergic to the contents.

Dear Mr. Collins,

There isn't much you can do about it in practical terms except isolate the problem. If possible, improve the drainage, grow onions in a raised bed if your soil is drenched - some allotment plots are awful when it comes to drainage. White rot hase become a serious problem and there is little in the way of effective organic treatments.

Dig over the soil and add wood ash to it. Some remedies say add lime too.

This vicious fungal infection remains dormant in the soil for at least 8 years, and is particularly suited to damp soil. I knew a gardener who had a big bonfire on his onion patch and grew only in the same spot year after year. This way the soil was sterilised before he grew his onions - but where he got the wood from I don't know

Also, if you have white root, keep your tools away from onions or your onion bed. Make sure you sterilise them beforehand. Don't walk around the garden - keep to the paths.

Finally, be sure to buy certified infection free stock, and don't plant supermarket garlic - it can bring white root into your garden.