KITCHEN GARDENER
I’m fascinated to see how these space-age crops grow in the kitchen garden
Helping you get your best-ever fruit and vegHelping you get your best-ever fruit and veg
By now you’ll probably have noticed I love to try something new or slightly different each year when I’m selecting which varieties to buy and grow. This year is no different as I’m growing a ‘space pepper’! There are a group of 10 peppers, both hot and sweet, which have been developed with the aid of pepper plants that were sent into space back in the late ‘80s as part of the Hangjiao (meaning space pepper) Project.
I’ve decided to grow ‘Big Bang’ (aptly named), which should produce quite large, pointed red peppers which range from 15–30cm long; but the interesting thing about them, to me, is they produce fruit with a corkscrew effect. The fruits are said to be crisp and sweet, with the tiniest amount of heat (0-500 Scoville), so they’ll be great for salads and cooking alike. I’m starting the seeds in peat-free compost along with some other milder chillies, as they don’t need as long a growing season as the hotter ones, and then they’ll be left in the heated propagator to germinate before being transplanted into their own little pots.So, watch this ‘space’!
Over in the unheated greenhouse, I’ve started a couple of pots of salad potatoes for an early crop. Even though it’s way too cold to plant potato tubers outside, you can start them in pots in a greenhouse, conservatory or lean-to, as long as it’s frost free. I simply put 10cm of compost in the base of a large container, then place two or three tubers in and cover with another 10-15cm of compost. The secret to growing them in an unheated greenhouse is to keep a double layer of horticultural fleece over the top to keep them warm, plus it helps to wrap the pot in hessian or some other material, even bubble wrap.
As the plants poke through the compost, treat them as you would any other potato, by earthing them up until the container is full. By starting them like this, I should be harvesting small spuds sometime in late May or June, perfect for salads.
If you haven’t started any garlic cloves off ye
