Page 38 - Simply Vegetables Summer 2023

Kale Black Magic
mind picking the slugs off! When I have grown the crop, I can usually get plenty of leaves and small hearts but not always the large sized hearts seen in the supermarkets
Sow the seed in July to August in to trays or modules, they can be sown directly
in the ground but are prone to attack by flea beetle and slugs which can devastate the plants. If sown in trays prick out into 7cm modules and grow on to 8 to 10cm high before planting out; keep them moist or growth will be slow and tough. Space the plants 30cm apart in rows 30 to
40cm apart, water in well and if dry keep watering until well established; cover with fleece or netting to prevent caterpillar and bird attacks. Grow the plants quickly and harvest from September to late October/ early November as leaves or hearts. Good large hearts will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks or even longer, they are not frost hardy so need picking before the frost arrive.
Radicchio is well worth a try for salad leaves and will form a good heart if sown in July which can be harvested in the late autumn. They are pretty hardy, and I have overwintered them in a sheltered garden in southern England with little trouble only losing a couple to wet or frost damage.
Again, they can be sown in modules or directly into the ground; if sown in August they will not form hearts
before Christmas, but some
leaves can be picked for
salads or cooking, in the
new year they will produce
small hearts. If sown in
modules plant out when
they are 5 to 10cm high
which is usually August if
sown in July and water in
well. Space the plants 15 to
20cm apart in rows 20 to
30cm apart, water in if dry
and keep weed free. Keep an eye open for slugs and take preventative action if required.
Once the hearts are a good size and firm, they are ready to harvest, when harvesting cut so that you leave some of the stem
and lower leaves from which regrowth
will occur to produce some more leaves
Chard ‘Pink Passion’
for picking later in the spring. They can be used in salads, cooked, or braised in olive oil or butter.
Looking at the loose salad leaves which are easier to grow than hearts, there are a wider range of crops available than there used to be. The texture and tastes of the leaves vary but it is worth trying a range and then growing the ones you like.
Chard is easy to grow, has a shiny leaf that looks like beetroot to which it is closely related
and has a nice crunchy texture. It is very hardy and suffers few pests or diseases, direct sow into the soil or into modules in July / August and I have sown in early September and still got a good crop in the southern U.K. Sow the seeds thinly in drills 2cm deep in rows 20 to 30cm
apart; they can also be station sown with 2 / 3 seeds every 10cm along the drill which saves thinning. If the soil is dry water the drill before sowing, sow the seed and then cover with dry soil which stops the water evaporating. If the weather stays dry water once the seed has germinated and hoe regularly to control weeds. Once large
enough you can start picking the leaves and apart from a lull from December to March picking should keep going until late April / May when they go to seed. To help encourage early growth cover the plants with cloches to give some protection from the worst of the weather.
Corn salad also called lambs lettuce, is very easy to grow, very hardy and will grow over most of the winter although slowly in December and January. As the leaves are fairly small you need a number of plants to produce sufficient for a family salad.
Sow the seed directly into the soil from late July to September and if we continue to get mild autumns like 2022 sowing could continue to late September and even early October in the south; these may not be ready to harvest until the spring. Sow thinly in drills 1cm deep and rows 20 to 30cm apart, once germinated thin the plants to 15cm apart and keep weed free by regular hoeing / hand weeding. Once the plant is
a harvestable size cut the small rosettes of leaves that form but leave at least 1 to 1.5cm of stem for regrowth. Corn salad should keep cropping until late April.
Kale, although I have never been a lover of Brassicas apart from calabrese and cauliflower I have grown to like kale which can be used as a salad leaf or cooked.
38 Simply Vegetables
Radicchio is well worth a try for salad leaves and will form a good heart if sown in July