The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 17

The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 17

The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 17: Carole Baxter and Calum Clunie are at Beechgrove working on the garden’s vegetable plot and fruit growing areas. Calum also works on his own Beechgrove garden area that he has redeveloped across the summer. With the end in sight, Calum has an eye on saving money and recycling as he discovers a cheap and sustainable way of upcycling that will hopefully turn into great furniture for his plot. Meanwhile, George is harvesting at his garden in Joppa, and there is a special report on a Glasgow garden project that is helping to support some of the city’s Afghan community.


 

 



 

Celebrating the great Scottish garden. Tips and advice to get the most out of your garden, with inspirational ideas from Scotland’s most beautiful green spaces. The Beechgrove Garden has been on air since 1978 and remains a firm favourite with audiences in Scotland. It consistently outperforms what is being screened by BBC Network in the same slot. At the heart of the series is a 2.5 acre home garden, situated on a cold, inhospitable slope west of Aberdeen, deliberately chosen to reflect Scotland’s harsher climate.

Horticultural advice in gardening magazines and on UK network gardening programmes is rarely suitable for most of the UK outside the South East of England. Beechgrove shares with its viewers the weekly challenge to work with the Scottish conditions to produce maximum yield of as many varieties as possible of fruit, flowers and vegetables.

 

The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 17

 

Cauliflower

In the shops, cauliflowers are almost always creamy white, but grow your own and you can enjoy attractive and tasty yellow, green or purple ones. They take up quite a bit of space, need rich, deep soil and need plenty of watering, especially in summer, but they can be grown all year round.

Sow thinly, 2cm (¾in) deep in a seedbed. Final rows should be 15cm (6in) apart for mini caulis or around 60cm (24in) for larger cultivars. Thin the seedlings to a final spacing of 15cm (6in) apart for mini caulis or 60cm (24in) for larger cultivars. However, best results come from sowing in cell trays using any good multi-purpose potting compost. As cauliflowers mature in a rush, avoid raising too many plants at a time.

The main sowing period is March to May, although early crops can be achieved by sowing under glass in January/February or sowing cultivars in the autumn in a glasshouse or coldframe.

Cauliflowers do best in very fertile soil, and digging in a bucketful of well-rotted manure or organic matter before planting, and raking in a high potassium general fertiliser, such as Vitax Q4, at a rate of three handfuls per square metre/yard, will help growth. Firm the soil by treading before planting.

If growth is checked, at any time during growth, they produce small, deformed heads. To avoid problems, water plants well the day before transplanting and make a hole deep enough to hold the plant with the lowest leaves at ground level. Fill this hole repeatedly with water. This will fill the hole with soil and ensure the plant is sitting in a large area of moist soil. Firm the soil very well against the roots.

Space summer and autumn cropping types 60cm (2ft) apart and winter cultivars around 75cm (2.5ft) apart; spacing of 30-45cm (12-18in) apart, provides mini, ‘one person’ curds. Water well in dry weather, watering every 10 days, and apply sufficient water to thoroughly wet the root zone. Once the plants are growing well, add 30g (1oz) per square metre of high nitrogen fertiliser such as sulphate of ammonia to boost growth and curd formation.

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