The Cottage Smallholder

Photo: Flowering broad beans

“I’ve brought you some broad beans and some new potatoes.”
My heart leapt as John Coe passed me the bags. We haven’t grown new potatoes this year – just concentrated on our main crop.
“Just wipe the potatoes and the skins will fall off. Easy.”
He placed a pack of plants wrapped in newspaper carefully beside his Wellingtons.
“What are those?”
“Purple sprouting broccoli.” He beamed.

My mind whirled. The kitchen garden is choc a bloc. The baby purple sprouting broccoli plants usually are planted in July. I had been planning to put them into the space freed when we lifted the garlic.

Sensing the problem John suggested that we might dig up our broad bean plants. These had been planted towards the end of November and the frosty winter meant that they didn’t germinate until the spring.
“They looked pretty miserable the last time I was here.”
“But they are finally developing bean pods.” Danny would kill me if we dug them up now. We love eating the tiny broad beans, pod and all.
“We’ll find a space somewhere. I’ve brought a lot of plants.” John was determined.

Purple sprouting broccoli plants need nine months to develop and a year from planting the seed. Baby plants go into the ground in July and are finally harvested the next April. Far sweeter than the sprouting broccoli available in the shops, these are well worth growing at home. They do have to be grown under nets so they are not eaten by the birds and you need to keep your eyes peeled for the cabbage white caterpillars that can destroy the crop in just a few days.

When we walked down to the kitchen garden we found no free space.
“Why don’t we interplant them in the gaps between the broad beans?”
“But I was planning to do a makeover on that bed when the spuds and beans are harvested. Lots of compost and chicken pellets. Nothing really thrives in that bed.”
“Let’s fork in chicken pellets now, with the claw tool.”
“But the chicken pellets need to go in a few days before planting.”
“But these are good strong plants. They’ll be fine.”

John is as stubborn as I am.  Just as I left for work he announced
“I’ve got four rows in. That’s about 50 feet of broccoli plants. I can bring some more next time to go in the fruit cage.”

I couldn’t do without John’s bi-weekly help and must remember that he’s King Pin in the kitchen garden. He is passing on fifty years of experience. Growing your own veg can be tricky, especially the winter crops. I’ve been given a rare and valuable opportunity. John is not sentimental about his plants. If things are not thriving they are chucked out to make way for something that will do well. John takes no prisoners in the kitchen garden. And this evening I reckon that he is right. Why waste time nurturing plants that are not thriving? But we generally harvest our braod beans in July so they will share the bed with the PSB until then.

On the Grand Potato Challenge front he gazed at Danny’s beds that were bristling with strong plants. Even though they are being watered every evening with our drip feed watering system and John remarked how moist our soil is, I noticed that he was watering D’s border with the hose. An honourable gesture in my book. When I mulled over the reason for doing this I twigged that the leaves must need water as well as the roots.

Like Cassandra, John explains if I ask. But often I don’t know what to ask.