Streamside News…Spring ‘21
As we move slowly towards the warmer spring days, there are more tasks to consider in order to keep your garden, allotment or any outside space looking good. We are pleased to forward your newsletter for the next few months.
STREAMSIDE REOPENING DATE FOR 2021 SEASON…
Currently we are all in a lockdown situation, so regretfully we have needed to postpone reopening Streamside during this time. The committee has discussed when we should commence trading again, and has decided on a “target date” to reopen of Sunday 7th March. However, if there is a relaxation of restrictions before then, we will open as soon as any new guidelines allow. Similarly, if the current restrictions are extended for a further period, we would have postpone the date again, and consider when it would be appropriate to reopen. We will email all members prior to opening to confirm the date at the appropriate time, and will post details on the Streamside website www.streamside.store
OUR SPRING BULBS, CORMS AND TUBERS for SUMMER FLOWERING
Traditionally we begin to sell products for Summer flowering late in February. We do intend to have our usual wide choice for your gardens in 2021: Agapanthus, Begonia, Canna, Dahlia, Lilies and many others plus one or two new flowering surprises. Also onion sets, seed potatoes and shallots will be in the store as soon as we are able to safely open.
STREAMSIDE PRODUCTS IN STORE…
We always endeavour to source some great products to sell at competitive prices for our members and below are just a few samples of some of the new additions to our range.
Seaweed, Calcified, Vitax 2.5kg £4.60
Hydrangea Colourant, Vitax 250gm £2.30
Buckets, Black (3 Gallon) Each £1.00
Hooks, 100mm, Plastic Coated Pk of 8 £4.60
Potato Planter Pk of 2 £1.20
Potting Tray, Black Plastic Each £6.20
Gloves,Garden,Rubber Grip Pair £1.00
Gloves XL, Latex Coated Pair £1.00
Tarpaulin, Blue 1.8 x 2.75m Each £3.50
Tarpaulin, Green 1.8 x 1.2m Each £1.25
There is also an ever expanding range of both functional and decorative pots.
STREAMSIDE DAYS OUT IN 2021…
We hope that we will be able to enjoy the three days out that were originally planned for 2020, but had to be postponed because of the pandemic, and have provisionally booked the venues for the following dates –:
Tuesday 18th May - PENSHURST PLACE and GARDENS
The medieval Baron’s Hall and gardens are set on the banks of the river Medway in the beautiful Weald of Kent.Historic, famous gardens. (self-guided tours of house and garden).Cafe and full facilities.
Cost £30.00 coach departs 0830hrs
Thursday 8th July -GREAT DIXTER
The family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd with 17th and 18th century furnishings.Historic, famous gardens. (self-guided tours of house and garden).Cafe and full facilities.
Cost £32.00 and coach departs at 0830hrs
Friday 10th September - RHS FLOWER SHOW, WISLEY
Our annual trip to this famous event. Cost £15.00, coach departs at 0930hrs.
But we do understand that some may be reluctant to join these trips because of the pandemic, and therefore will be canvassing members to gain their views over the coming weeks, and will then assess whether the outings are feasible to undertake in 2021.
And of course we may need to alter the arrangements if the venues are unable to accommodate visits, or have to restrict numbers – but will of course keep members informed of the situation as any changes arise.
SEASONAL RECIPES...
Pasta with purple-sprouting broccoli – serves 4
Ingredients
· 1kg/2¼lb purple sprouting broccoli
· 1 medium sized fresh red chilli (not too hot)
· 2 cloves garlic, peeled
· 1 small tin of anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
· good quality olive oil
· 350g/12oz pasta fusilli, oriecchiette, penne rigate or conchiglie are the most suitable shapes
· 4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan or hard pecorino cheese
· salt and pepper
Method
· Put a large pan of water on to boil with a little salt. Trim the outer leaves and woody stalks from the broccoli. Wash the good bits and chop into 1cm/½in sections. Cut the chilli in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds and the attached pith. Chop the chilli flesh, the garlic and the anchovies finely.
· In another large pan warm four tablespoons of olive oil over a medium flame and add the chilli, garlic and anchovies. Gently fry these for a minute or so and add the broccoli, season with a little salt and pepper, then continue to cook gently while the pasta boils.
· Drop the pasta in the boiling water and stir immediately. Cook until just tender with a little bit of resistance to the bite (al dente). This could take anything between 7 and 12 minutes depending on the type of pasta you choose.
· When the pasta has nearly finished cooking, transfer a small ladle of the cooking water to the broccoli and continue to cook over a high heat until tender.
· When cooked, drain the pasta. Add another two tablespoons of oil and the cheese to the broccoli. Toss with the drained pasta and serve immediately.
Gooseberry Crumble Tart – serves 6 -8
Ingredients
1 x 12cm/5in shop-bought pasty tart case or homemade, blind-baked tart case
600g/21oz fresh gooseberries
150ml/5fl oz sweet dessert wine
125g/4½oz caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, halved
1 cinnamon stick
1 orange, pared zest and juice
2 sprigs mint
For the crumble topping
50g/1¾oz blanched almonds
60g/2oz plain flour
40g/1½oz polenta
50g/1¾oz caster sugar
75g/2½oz chilled salted butter, cubed
To serve
Method
· Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
· Bring the wine, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, mint, orange juice and zest to the boil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the gooseberries, place a lid on the saucepan and immediately take off the heat. Set aside until cool, then drain, discarding the vanilla pod and cinnamon stick.
· To make the crumble topping, blend the almonds, flour, polenta and caster sugar together in a food processor until the almonds are ground. Rub the butter into the mix until it resembles breadcrumbs.
· Spread the crumble over a baking tray and cook for 30–40 minutes or until browned. Allow to cool and then break up using your fingers until crumbly.
· Place the double cream, squeeze of orange juice and zest with a pinch of cinnamon in a bowl. Beat with a whisk until it is whipped and soft peeks form. Garnish with mint sprigs.
· Fill the tart shell with the gooseberries, scatter over the crumble mix and serve with the cream.
SOME THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN THIS SEASON...
The following lists are just some of the seasonal tasks that you may like to consider to ensure that your garden or allotment continues to look good, and produce a good level of crops -:
February
Fruit and Veg
Net fruit and vegetables beds to protect crops from birds.
Take mint root cuttings to grow on indoors for tasty, early leaves.
Sow early pea varieties under cover in pots.
Cover strawberry plants with horticultural fleece to protect plants and to encourage early fruiting.
Prune bare rooted autumn-fruiting raspberries while plants are still dormant.
Continue to check stored fruit and remove any that show signs of rot.
Prepare a new bed for planting asparagus.
Cover parsley, French tarragon and other overwintered herbs to bring them into growth earlier.
Prune apples and pears before the new buds begin to open.
Apply organic fertiliser such as chicken pellets to your soil now.
Begin sowing tender crops indoors – start off tomatoes, broccoli, salads and globe artichokes in a heated propagator.
Force rhubarb now if you didn’t cover it last month.
Flowers
Plant spring bedding in pots near the house if the weather is mild.
Sow hardy annuals in modules or pots in peat-free compost.
Ensure that germinating seedlings sown in the last few weeks have enough light.
Deadhead winter pansies as blooms fade to prolong flowering throughout spring.
Plant indoor hyacinths after they have finished blooming outside in a sunny spot to flower in future years.
Trim back any remaining dead stems of perennials to make way for emerging shoots.
Split clumps of snowdrops as soon as they finish flowering and replant around the garden.
Prune winter flowering deciduous viburnum as flowers go over.
Climbing roses can be pruned now, check the stems are still tied to their supports at the same time.
Miscellaneous
Check that birds have plenty of food and make sure water in bird baths does not remain frozen in cold weather.
Sharpen loppers and invest in a quality pruning saw for which replacement blades are available.
March
Fruit and Veg
Plant early potatoes when the soil warms.
Plant asparagus, plus Jerusalem and globe artichokes.
Keep harvesting any winter veg and clear the old plants ready for a different crop.
Tidy up strawberry plants, removing dead leaves to make way for new leaves and flowering shoots.
Plant rhubarb crowns.
Complete winter fruit pruning.
Keep the ground beneath fruit trees free of weeds and grass so that rain runs straight to the roots.
Choose seeds for this year’s summer crops.
Place cloches over empty beds to warm soil.
Sow summer cauliflowers in trays every few weeks to ensure a succession of crops.
Sow spinach under cloches.
As soon as the ground is dry and workable, onion sets and shallots can be planted.
Lift the last of winter leeks and parsnips.
Flowers
Cut back cornus and willow hard now to benefit from colourful stems in winter.
Create drifts of anemone blanda by lifting and dividing established clumps.
Start off your sunflowers in plugs indoors.
Prune late flowering clematis.
Plant new hardy perennials in your containers or borders.
Erect support systems for herbaceous perennials to grown through.
Lift and divide spent polyanthus, breaking clumps into individual crowns and roots.
Pot up lily bulbs for a lovely summer display.
Sow summer bedding such as cosmos and verbena.
Take stem tip cuttings from new growth on salvias, fuchsias and pelargoniums.
Plant container grown roses into well-dug soil.
Cut down the stems of hardy fuschias.
Prune back thick stems of overgrown ivy plants.
Add annual weeds to your compost heap.
Water pots of spring bedding in spells of dry weather.
Pot up dahlia tubers and place in a bright warm position.
Cut back hydrangeas.
Miscellaneous
Scrape moss from paved surfaces.
Top up stocks of composts and fertilisers.
April
Fruit and Veg
Harvest rhubarb now, it is at its best this month.
Harden off salad crops son in modules.
Feed blackberries, blackcurrants and hybrid fruit with a high nitrogen fertiliser.
Thins out vegetable crops, such as lettuce, brassicas and spring onions – use the thinning in salads.
Sow courgettes, squash and cucumber seeds on their sides in small pots.
Plant main crop potatoes now.
Feed spring cabbages outside with a high-nitrogen fertiliser.
Check fruit trees for woolly aphid and blast of with water.
Harvest asparagus cutting stems below soil level.
Use nets to keep pigeons off brassicas.
Tie the new growth of cane fruits to supports.
Pot up containerised strawberry plants.
Plant pot grown fruit trees and bushes.
Support the stems of peas with twigs.
Flowers
Deadhead spent early flowering tulips.
Divide carnivorous plants and pot up as new growth appears.
Plant up alpine troughs with spring and summer flowering plants to create colourful displays for months to come.
Divide hostas to reinvigorate them.
Sow annual grasses like quaking grass and hare’s tail grass in situ in drifts throughout borders.
Plant out autumn sown sweet peas, tying their shoots to netting.
As daffodil displays end, snap off spent flowers below the swelling seedhead.
Cut out any plain green shoots on variegated shrubs.
Spay roses that are disease prone.
Apply fertilisers at the base of summer-flowering shrubs.
Deadhead primroses and pick off diseased yellow leaves.
Harden off tender young plants.
Repot exotic plants into clean pots of oil-based compost.
Reduce the amount of water to cyclamen so plants go dormant.
Be on alert for red lily beetles that will attack new shoots of lilies and crown imperials.
Place supports over or around tall growing or floppy plants.
Pull away dead outer leaves from phorniums.
Miscellaneous
Add lawn clippings to the compost heap in thin layers.
Treat fences and wooden structures with preservative.
Protect plants from slugs using gritty barriers.
May
Fruit and Veg
Prune citrus trees by removing inward growing branches.
Harvest mint regularly to help plants remain bushy.
Sow basil under cover.
Start to harvest autumn planted garlic, drying well before storing.
Water acid-loving plants such as blueberries and cranberries with rainwater.
Remove strawberry runners so that the main plant has energy for flower and fruit production.
Prune plums and cherries.
Plant out courgettes into weed-free ground.
Thin out rows of carrot seedlings.
Keep and eye out for sideshoots forming in the angle between the main stem and leaf stem on cordon tomatoes, and pinch out before they develop.
Continue to earth up potatoes.
Harvest spring onions.
Pot up chillies for the patio
Plant tagetes and other companion plants among vegetables to attract hoverflies.
Prepare the site for climbing beans by digging in bucket loads of garden compost and put up support framework over the site.
Flowers
Direct sow annuals such as ammi majus, nigella and linaria outside.
Plant out dahlia plants into well prepared soil after the risk of frost has passed.
Begin feeding containers with a weekly liquid feed.
Repot agapanthus once the plant’s roots have filled the original container.
Cut back herbaceous perennials such as Echinacea, helenium, aster and anthemis in late May to get more blooms, later in the flowering season.
Trim topiary using a stringline to ensure straight edges.
Feed spring bulbs with a high-potash liquid fertiliser.
Plant clematis near warm, sunny walls.
Dig up and dry off tulip bulbs after they have flowered.
Plant gladioli in a sunny patch of well-drained soil.
Clear spring bedding composting plants that are disease free.
Pile compost around the stems of lilies in pots to encourage roots to form on the buried stems.
Train sweet peas to supports.
Thin out hardy annuals.
Move self-sown plants to more suitable locations.
Miscellaneous
Clip back new growth on conifers to keep them compact.
Give your compost a turn to accelerate the decomposing process.
Clean houseplant foliage with a damp cloth and watch out for pests such as scale insect.
The Summer newsletter will be available at the end of May/ beginning of June 2021.