ROOF TOP VEG PLOT

Now is the Season

My grandfather always planted his seeds at Easter time.  And I would have done the same this year, were it not for a virulent infunza that bugged me all over the holiday.   I’m glad I waited, because these last few days have contributed just that mix of sunny intervals and showers that emerging seeds enjoy. 

I find that waiting to plant seeds a little later in the season has many advantages.  They emerge fighting fit, rather than spindly and etiolated (elongated due to lack of light). 

Anxious to make a good impression for my first visitors of the season, I did a large sowing last week on the 5^th and 6^th of April.  Already, (10^th April) quite a few small seeds and the bigger ones are starting to come through.  (See below for the seed list)

Left: Fenugreek; RIght: Mizuna

I plant in the greenhouse, partly in order to protect the seeds from slugs and partly so I know what is what.  I’m not great at keeping accurate records within each bed. I don’t often plant in rows it can be difficult to remember where things are.

I do have a small fan heater in the greenhouse, but with night-time outdoor temperatures never dipping below 8°C here in central London, I don’t think I can be using much electricity.  The tomatoes, courgette and cucumbers have a little bit of bottom heat from an electric propagator as well.    

While the seeds germinate, I’ve been preparing the outside beds, liberally piling in semi-degraded kitchen waste which is brown and gummy and overtopping that with friable compost from the rooftopvegplot compost heap.  I’ve forked in a few chicken pellets and worm castings as well.  This week I shall anoint the bare soil with anti-slug nematodes. 

I’ve also planted violas around leaf crops sown earlier in the season.  Slugs prefer viola flowers to lettuces, so do a good job as an anti-slug decoy.  I hope that at least some of the viola petals I can use myself in salads.  They look marvellous, taste sweet and delicious and are certainly a visual improvement to ugly blue slug pellets.

Last year, due to family crises, I planted even later – and didn’t notice any appreciable drop in productivity.

The early bird might find the first worm, but the early planter may not benefit from any head start at all. My advice is to wait for the weather to tell you when to sow.   Now is the season for me.

 

Planting List

All seeds planted 5/6th April,  source Chiltern Seeds

* those that have germinated by 10th April
Climbing French Bean Cosse Violette
Courgette 'Costa Romanesco' (Cucurbit pepo)*
Agretti 'Roscano'
Gherkin, Cucumber 'National Pickling'
Tomato, 'Ailsa Craig'
Artickoke 'Romanesco'
Mustard Greens 'Indian Mustard' *
Oregano Heirloom/heritage variety
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum)*
Mizuna 'Japanese Greens'*
Pot Marigold, Calendula officinalis

Perfect 'four-leaf-clover' leaves of Indian MUstard (Amsoi Green or Brassica juncea).

May Knowhow Climbing Vegetables

Going up!

It interested me to discover that vining plants had a pivotal role in evolution. Apparently the ability of a climber to seek nutrients deep down in the soil, but to soar up through the jungle canopy in order to find light was critical.  It meant that plants could at last leave the fringes of the sea and learn to thrive almost anywhere.

It’s just that will to survive anywhere that we need in the roof top potager. By introducing a whole series of trellises, wires and wigwams, I can encourage many vegetables to head for the heights. This should increase the yield from each valuable square metre of raised bed or pot.  

Plants that climb include the following. 

Peas - Alderman is a white flowered old fashioned cultivar which runs over two metres high.  Pea stems are vulnerable to wind damage.  Make sure you tie them in well and pinch out the growing tip when it gets to the top of the trellis.

Tall peas starting to crop. Now is the time to prune the tops of the plants. (I didn't and they fell down in a storm!)

Runner Beans
Almost all varieties will climb two or three meters. Cut off the top shooting spike when it gets too tall for picking.  This will encourage side shootsand more beans.  It is very important to pick all the beans as soon as they are ready.  Leaving runner beans on the plant, except right at the end of the season will change the structure of the plant and it will stop cropping. Like sweep peas, harvest everything once every ten days.  The runners will keep fresh for two weeks in the chiller cabinet of the fridge.

Runner beans 2013

Courgette
Really good climbers are hard to find.  I planted Courgette de Nice this year, but found even in a hot summer it didn’t make the height, though its fruits were delicious.  Thompson and Morgan recommend an F1 Hybrid called Black Forest, but I haven’t tried it myself and those who have don’t rate its climbing ability.  I suspect we need to learn how to train them.

French beans
Climbing French beans are a must for any garden.  I can’t understand why people bother with the dwarf varieties – all that bending down to pick them.  Choose a mangetout variety and then the pods can be picked at any size – they don’t go stringy.

Cucumbers
These are a bit like courgettes and need side shoots pricking out in order to get a good climb.  Mulch very fully as they need rich soil and a little shade.

Tomatoes
Choose an indeterminate type and cut off all side shoots.  

Tomatoes will outgrow everything!

The choice of varieties is important.  Often people recommend dainty minature cultivars for container growing. I was hesitant at first to plant notoriously vigorous varieties.  I figured that only six inches of soil might exhaust them too easily.  But of course I forgot about evolution. I forgot that vining plants have genes that were brought forth in response to hardship.  The stress of my rooftop isn't really a hardship to them at all. I can water and feed the plants generously and the rooftop perfectly replicates the canopy level of the vegetable jungle.

Many of the vegetable climbers need a helping hand to start their climb.  Plants like runner beans respond to the touch of the support by twisting their stems and embracing it. Others need to be tied in as they clamber.  Plant seedlings close to the trellis and then use ties to get them going.  Once the plant had reached the desired height simply pinch out the top sprout and watch your climber full out and flower.  

I always plant companions around climbers. A nitrogen fixer like sweet pea seems to boost even the nitrogen fixing climbers and nasturtiums or small roses planted at the base of the trellis will attract black fly and green fly respectively.  Something spindly and floriferous will also to attract bees to pollinate.  This year ipomoea is scrambling all over the place, providing those heavenly single day flowers in every hue from shell pink to the deepest purple.  As the year progresses climbing vegetable can look a bit dull, so the added virtue of these flowers is to extend the beauty season!

Most of these climbers thrive on picking, so get cropping as soon as possible and see how much the plants respond by producing more and more.