Alan wants to show us how easy, as well as enjoyable it is to Grow Your Own At Home along with his trusty Love Your Garden team of David Domoney, Katie Rushworth and Frances Tophill in their own gardens.
'Getting to your plate within moments and that is what all this is about'.
We are now into the main growing season and gardens are filling up with colour including Alan.
His Alliums are shining in the sunshine like metal and his veg patch is growing fast.
Alan has been watering the garden well and its really starting to show results.
He has lettuces, his Red Cabbage is doing well protected from the birds and his Runner Beans are starting to climb the poles.
5 Weeks ago Alan sowed his Radishes in Episode 1 and they are now ready to pick and eat.
He has a washed one ready to crunch into the hot Radish.
The Lettuces Alan planted in Episode 3 are now just about ready to pick and try, so with a mouthful Alan tells us 'growing your own really comes to the fore'.
Take 2 without the mouthful of lettuce! He tells how its so much better having fresh picked than shop bought lettuce.
Alan wants to add even more produce into his garden with some more fruit.
So that he doesn't take up too much room in his kitchen garden he is using stepover trees.
There are 2 pears and 2 apple trees, the pear variety is Doyenne Du Comice which is a normal tree grafted onto dwarf root stock, which keeps it small.
Alan is making a micro orchard and they will produce a decent crop.
He is planting them a metre apart and is leaving a hollow around the planted base of the tree for the water to pool in.
Any side shoots will be pruned back.
Katie Rushworth is in Balidon, Yorkshire with her husband Andrew Edwards and her family.
It is a windy day in Yorkshire and Katie is wanting to add even more edibles to her stunning garden and home.
Today she is making a health conscious container garden and she starts with a family favourite, a Blueberry bush.
They need acid soil so plant them in Ericaceous compost and the Blueberries that are supposed to be a good source of vitamins as well as lower Cholesterol and Blood Pressure.
They need a sunny spot and a self fertile variety is best if you want fruit this summer.
Blueberry Bushes are also an attractive addition to the garden as they flower well which later produces the fruit.
Next a herb pot and she is planting flat leaf Parsley that is a good source of Vitamin K for healthy bones.
Katie is now making her own designer boxes using a basic wooden planter to which she is using adhesive to stick on some grey slates.
To save on tricky cutting of the slates she has made the box to fit the slates.
Her assistant and husband Andrew helps out to staple on some membrane liner and she then fills them with peat free multi purpose compost.
She is planting them with purple sprouting Broccoli whose dark colour indicates its full of healthy vitamins.
This delicious vegetables which is one of Katie's favourites can be harvested from the Summer to Autumn.
In the second planter she is adding Kale which is full of Vitamin B which is good for Energy boosting.
The harvest period is 10 months so as well as looking attractive it is very productive!
A good water and Katie has show us how super her super foods can look in a small space using just containers.
Alan tells us that the seeds we have been nurturing indoors can now all be planted out.
The tomato plants are now big enough to plant outside in a sunny spot.
As the plants get quite big and heavy Alan has already put stakes in the ground.
He plants them 50cm apart and he also plants a plant pot next to them so he can water them at the roots directly.
Tomatoes can be grown in pots, growbags and if we get plenty of sun you should get a good crop.
With the nice weather its Barbecue time and growing your own veg for the Barbecue means its lovely and fresh.
David Domoney is at home in Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire with his partner Adele Holdsworth and their 3 children, Alice, Abigail and Lance.
The girls are helping themselves to the strawberries and Lance is busy cutting the lawn with his toy mower.
David has been expanding his vegetable and fruit growing to enable him to feed his growing family with his home grown produce.
They are already reaping the rewards and Alice is helping him pick the salad for lunch to accompany the delicious Barbecue food he is cooking.
Katie is now making her own designer boxes using a basic wooden planter to which she is using adhesive to stick on some grey slates.
To save on tricky cutting of the slates she has made the box to fit the slates.
Her assistant and husband Andrew helps out to staple on some membrane liner and she then fills them with peat free multi purpose compost.
She is planting them with purple sprouting Broccoli whose dark colour indicates its full of healthy vitamins.
This delicious vegetables which is one of Katie's favourites can be harvested from the Summer to Autumn.
In the second planter she is adding Kale which is full of Vitamin B which is good for Energy boosting.
The harvest period is 10 months so as well as looking attractive it is very productive!
A good water and Katie has show us how super her super foods can look in a small space using just containers.
Alan tells us that the seeds we have been nurturing indoors can now all be planted out.
The tomato plants are now big enough to plant outside in a sunny spot.
As the plants get quite big and heavy Alan has already put stakes in the ground.
He plants them 50cm apart and he also plants a plant pot next to them so he can water them at the roots directly.
Tomatoes can be grown in pots, growbags and if we get plenty of sun you should get a good crop.
With the nice weather its Barbecue time and growing your own veg for the Barbecue means its lovely and fresh.
David Domoney is at home in Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire with his partner Adele Holdsworth and their 3 children, Alice, Abigail and Lance.
The girls are helping themselves to the strawberries and Lance is busy cutting the lawn with his toy mower.
David has been expanding his vegetable and fruit growing to enable him to feed his growing family with his home grown produce.
They are already reaping the rewards and Alice is helping him pick the salad for lunch to accompany the delicious Barbecue food he is cooking.
This has given David the idea for a Barbecue vegetable patch.
He has a shop bought recycled plastic raised bed kit that is very easy to put together and he is siting it straight on the lawn using the cardboard box as the base.
He fills it with compost and the plants he has chosen are all fast growing and Summer harvesting.
David first plant is peppers, they come in 2 sorts Bell Peppers or long pointed ones which he uses for barbecuing on a skewer.
The variety he is planting is Marconi as it grows fast.
Peppers need feeding when they produce flowers with a tomato feed once a week.
David has planted 4 plants and they will grow to a metre tall and hopefully be full of delicious Barbecue ready Peppers.
David is adding a poly plastic cover as they like it nice and sunny and hot.
The next vegetable is a heavy producer making it great value its a Courgette.
You need just one plant and that will keep a family fed and the flowers are also edible and delicious stuffed.
Courgettes can grow very big so its best to keep harvesting them to keep the plant producing more.
Around the edge of the planter he is planting Mange Tout Peas and using branches for them to twine around.
These are delicious picked and eaten whole straight off the plant.
David then wrestles with a pop up net cover to keep the bird off the peas!
Once popped he places it over the bed and they are both complete!
The 2 planters will keep them in produce for Barbecues right through July and August.
How about that for instant vegetable planters and they are green in more ways than one!
It is team video chat time!
Katie says how well her indoor planters she made in Episode 1 are doing and the Lemon Balm has gone crazy so she cant keep up with her Gin drinking.
Alan asks if there is anything new they want to try.
Frances says now she is at home more her next project is to grow as many chillies ae she can.
'Hot Stuff' says Alan!
Katie says she wants to try Hydroponics, growing with out soil just water.
She wants to do it indoors so she can grow all year round and things that are out of season.
Alan says he is a melon man so wants to try these!
Frances points out these need to be hung in bras!
Alan is speechless!
Katie finds that hysterical.
Frances Tophill and her partner moved to a new terraced house in Folkstone, Kent before the lockdown.
She has already been very busy transforming her narrow back yard by adding a flowerbed and planters to the painted walls.
Frances garden is now full of flowers, fruit and vegetables and her Ginger she planted in Episode 1 are really shooting up.
In the bottom corner she wants to site her Chilli farm for 11 varieties of Chillies.
She is growing some from seed that need to be in a greenhouse and some from plants.
Frances has a cold frame that she gives a quick coat of paint.
To plant her Chilli seeds she puts 4 seeds per pot in 5mm deep holes.
She put the pot in a tray of water to water it from the bottom and they should be sprouting in 4 - 7 days as its been so hot.
Frances also has some plants and she slices a chilli to show us the seeds and tells us its the chemicals in the chilli pith that makes them hot not the seeds.
Some chillies are so hot and they have their own scale called the Scoville scale to measure the heat.
Frances shows us a Trinidad Perfume Chilli that actually has no to little heat 0 - 15 on the scale.
Not to be confused with a Trinidad Scorpion that is over a million on the scale! Best not muddle them up!
There is always one person that thinks they can handle the hot ones but they can't.
Frances is making a visual guide by painting her pots rims either Green for mild, yellow for medium, red for hot and Black for dangerously hot.
Chillies need the sun and also feeding when they start flowering as well as staking to support them.
Growing your own gives you so much choice as to what you personally like, Frances points out a hot Chilli Aji Red that is lemon flavoured.
Alan is getting his melons out something he not done in ages.
He is growing them in growbags in the greenhouse.
They are a favourite summer fruit of his and are ready to harvest in September / October time.
They can be difficult to grow and Alan has some plants already to go in after he has made a framework for them to climb.
Cantaloupe Melons grow best in the Greenhouse and are planted 45 cm apart and need lots of water.
The melons form behind the female flower and they need a bit of help to pollinate using the make flower which you rub on the female flower to pollinate.
If your luck enough to get Melons once they start going they need supporting in a net as they get too heavy and will fall off.
Alan ends by saying it really is the best time to be growing your own and you will soon be harvesting your rewards.
All photographs are copyright of ITV.com
He has a shop bought recycled plastic raised bed kit that is very easy to put together and he is siting it straight on the lawn using the cardboard box as the base.
He fills it with compost and the plants he has chosen are all fast growing and Summer harvesting.
David first plant is peppers, they come in 2 sorts Bell Peppers or long pointed ones which he uses for barbecuing on a skewer.
The variety he is planting is Marconi as it grows fast.
Peppers need feeding when they produce flowers with a tomato feed once a week.
David has planted 4 plants and they will grow to a metre tall and hopefully be full of delicious Barbecue ready Peppers.
David is adding a poly plastic cover as they like it nice and sunny and hot.
The next vegetable is a heavy producer making it great value its a Courgette.
You need just one plant and that will keep a family fed and the flowers are also edible and delicious stuffed.
Courgettes can grow very big so its best to keep harvesting them to keep the plant producing more.
Around the edge of the planter he is planting Mange Tout Peas and using branches for them to twine around.
These are delicious picked and eaten whole straight off the plant.
David then wrestles with a pop up net cover to keep the bird off the peas!
Once popped he places it over the bed and they are both complete!
The 2 planters will keep them in produce for Barbecues right through July and August.
How about that for instant vegetable planters and they are green in more ways than one!
It is team video chat time!
Katie says how well her indoor planters she made in Episode 1 are doing and the Lemon Balm has gone crazy so she cant keep up with her Gin drinking.
Alan asks if there is anything new they want to try.
Frances says now she is at home more her next project is to grow as many chillies ae she can.
'Hot Stuff' says Alan!
Katie says she wants to try Hydroponics, growing with out soil just water.
She wants to do it indoors so she can grow all year round and things that are out of season.
Alan says he is a melon man so wants to try these!
Frances points out these need to be hung in bras!
Alan is speechless!
Katie finds that hysterical.
Frances Tophill and her partner moved to a new terraced house in Folkstone, Kent before the lockdown.
She has already been very busy transforming her narrow back yard by adding a flowerbed and planters to the painted walls.
Frances garden is now full of flowers, fruit and vegetables and her Ginger she planted in Episode 1 are really shooting up.
In the bottom corner she wants to site her Chilli farm for 11 varieties of Chillies.
She is growing some from seed that need to be in a greenhouse and some from plants.
Frances has a cold frame that she gives a quick coat of paint.
To plant her Chilli seeds she puts 4 seeds per pot in 5mm deep holes.
She put the pot in a tray of water to water it from the bottom and they should be sprouting in 4 - 7 days as its been so hot.
Frances also has some plants and she slices a chilli to show us the seeds and tells us its the chemicals in the chilli pith that makes them hot not the seeds.
Some chillies are so hot and they have their own scale called the Scoville scale to measure the heat.
Frances shows us a Trinidad Perfume Chilli that actually has no to little heat 0 - 15 on the scale.
Not to be confused with a Trinidad Scorpion that is over a million on the scale! Best not muddle them up!
There is always one person that thinks they can handle the hot ones but they can't.
Frances is making a visual guide by painting her pots rims either Green for mild, yellow for medium, red for hot and Black for dangerously hot.
Chillies need the sun and also feeding when they start flowering as well as staking to support them.
Growing your own gives you so much choice as to what you personally like, Frances points out a hot Chilli Aji Red that is lemon flavoured.
Alan is getting his melons out something he not done in ages.
He is growing them in growbags in the greenhouse.
They are a favourite summer fruit of his and are ready to harvest in September / October time.
They can be difficult to grow and Alan has some plants already to go in after he has made a framework for them to climb.
Cantaloupe Melons grow best in the Greenhouse and are planted 45 cm apart and need lots of water.
The melons form behind the female flower and they need a bit of help to pollinate using the make flower which you rub on the female flower to pollinate.
If your luck enough to get Melons once they start going they need supporting in a net as they get too heavy and will fall off.
Alan ends by saying it really is the best time to be growing your own and you will soon be harvesting your rewards.
All photographs are copyright of ITV.com
Can you advise where David bought his recycled veg planters for £25.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Good evening Sue
ReplyDeleteI have looked on the credits at the end and I believe this is the company the plastic raised beds came from.
Unfortunately they are more expensive than quoted in the programme!
I hope this helps.
https://www.garlandproducts.com/shop/
Hope you are enjoying the blog and happy gardening🌻
Pete Free