war on slug's

So as the nights close in and the last of your roots have been taken out of the ground, you have to start thinking about next year. There are many jobs you can do now to make your lives easier next season such as

1.       Starting to complete next year’s crop planning

2.       Continuing the battle against our friend the slug

3.       Last but not least planting some of you early crops

Crop planning

I find this a hugely exciting time with all the choices that you can make, and with these choices the recipes that flood to mind, make me want to get cooking but that will have to wait awhile. For the last 2 years I have used a garden planning tool I found at www.growveg.com but of course you can just use Graph paper.

 My first and most important rule when planning my veg plot is that I only grow veg we eat as a family; so many people get carried away with the array of choices but I tend to stick to the classics, as this fits in well with my second rule, which is getting the most out of the space you have. Think about it you spend months growing something that take up half a bed and you get 2 dinners out of it, it’s not very rewarding I like to see a good benefit for my labour. Third rule is grow for your area and the soil, this might take a few years to learn but it’s worth it to get them bumper crops. The next consideration should be a basic rotation plan making sure that no crop is grown on a particular piece of ground more than once in four years, to avoid disease and specific nutrient depletion. I find this four year plan works best, starting with potatoes followed by peas and beans (legumes), followed by cabbage family (brassicas), then roots. In the polytunnel it’s hard to stick to the four year rotation! If you're only just starting out on growing - don't take on too much – perfect one square metre first. It's amazing what you can grow in such a small area. Success will encourage you - a weedy mess will just create loads of extra work and put you off for the future.

The war on slugs        

                      

With that done, it’s time to get yourself ready for the war on slugs. It’s nothing as cool or glamorous as apocalypse now or riding in a helicopter with ride of the Valkyries blaring out of your speakers, you can try it and let me know how you get on. In the mean time I suggest you use slug traps placed all around the garden about every meter using beer or milk, this should be done all year if you do it now it will save you lots of hassle in the spring. There are other options like broken egg shells but the reports on their success does not make good reading, and of course there is the option of slug pellets but I feel this is a last resort option, with a bit of persistence the traps will work just keep at it all year.

Planting early crops

GARLIC

Plant garlic now in well-drained soil in a sunny spot - or in raised beds. November is your last chance if you want really big bulbs with nice big cloves. Garlic is very hardy and most varieties in fact need a cold spell for good root development - but it hates sitting in water and will rot. If the soil is too wet then you can plant the cloves into individual modules or pots - planting out later on in March. Don't plant cloves from supermarket bulbs as they may bring diseases and viruses into your garden – (onion white rot can last 20 years in the soil), and spreads around the garden on your boots.  I plant my garlic finger deep and 1ft/30cm apart each way so that I can inter-crop with spring lettuce - which doesn't affect the growth of the garlic at all.  If you plant the recommended 7-8ins/10cm apart, there isn't really leave room to intercrop, which actually protects the surface of the soil and keeps weeds down so it well worth thinking about .

BROAD BEANS

 I always try to autumn-sow broad beans when I get time, it stops nutrients leaching through otherwise fallow soil, which allows its structure to deteriorate. They are ready a good month earlier than those sown in April, and they don't get black fly. If the beans are in an exposed position and grow too tall (above a foot ) over winter, they can wave around and split just above ground level, so put in canes or sticks and string if necessary. Good autumn varieties are Aquadulce Claudia and Super Aquadulce. Don't forget, broad bean tops are delicious wilted with butter.

Making use of indoor space over the winter in your glass house or polytunnel

LAMBS LETTUCE

This is a good filler: it's undemanding, easy to grow and useful for bulking out the salad bowl. It is useful in that it does not need high light levels and tolerates low temperatures, and so can be sown up until the end of October outside should be ok till end of November inside; it can be picked until December outside or into the New Year with some fleece or inside. If you are short of space, you could intercrop some in between your spring cabbage plants

While out getting some of my chores done today in the garden and with a chill in my bones my mind kept wondering back to the kitchen where I had the food to warm my body and soul bubbling away in the greatest invention know too busy families the electric slow cooker a hearty beef stew with a healthy kick of chilli enough to warm a colds of bones

GIBNEYS GARDEN BEEF STEW

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 5-6 hours (in a slow cooker)

Servings 4 (but depends how much work was done)

Ingredients

• 3-4 tbsp. olive oil

• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• Good thumb-size piece fresh root ginger, peeled and shredded

• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced (leave the seeds in if you want a stronger kick)

• 1½ kg braising/stewing beef, cut into large pieces

• 2 tbsp. plain flour, well-seasoned

• 1 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder

• 2 star anise, optional but recommended

• 2 tsp. Brown sugar 

• 3 tbsp. dry sherry

• 3 tbsp. dark soy sauce

• 500.0ml beef stock

1. Heat 2 tbsp. of the oil in a large pan. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp. more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp. oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly.

2. Add the five-spice and star anise (if using) to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, and then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the sherry, scraping up any meaty bits. Put everything into the slow cooker

3. Pour in the soy and stock (it won't cover the meat completely), cook for 4-5 hours on high stirring the meat halfway through. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. If you don’t have a slow cooker I suggest getting one asap, but you could put everything in a casserole dish for 2 hours approx. 180c   Season with more soy. This can now be chilled and frozen for up to 1 month keeps very well. Sever with rice or roast baby potatoes

TOP TIP

Braising/stewing beef

When stewing, look for meat marbled with good streaks of fat and sinew throughout - these will break down during slow cooking and give you the, most tender meat, you have ever had.

So I hope you enjoy this recipe it’s a family favourite and has been enjoyed by many of our friends who have come to break bread with us and pretend to be grown up for a few hours, till next time ENJOY!!!!