October at The Elmsleigh Centre, plus top tips for growing-your-own this winter
On Saturday 24th October, the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre in Staines will continue its campaign to ‘Get Staines Growing’ by hosting a fantastic food event.
The Centre has partnered with Staines garden centre, Vermuelens, and online grow-your-own specialists Urban-Allotments.com to host a day of foodie themed fun and freebies. There’ll be fabulous food carving displays throughout the day, free ‘Grow You Own’ packs for shoppers (while stocks last), expert advice on healthy eating and what to grow when, and some amazing prizes to be won on the day.
For local families, there’s also a free children’s fruit and veg printing workshop on Tuesday 27th October at the Centre, so little ones can learn about healthy food whilst getting creative!
Growing your own veg saves money, helps the environment and is healthier – so here are a few hints and tips as we enter the colder months:
Don’t let the cold weather put you off!
Autumn is a fine time of year in the ‘grow your own’ calendar. The summer crops have been harvested, so it’s now time to fill the space with plants that will produce great fresh veg in winter. Leeks, sprouting broccoli and kale are the best examples of winter veg that are both easy to grow and versatile in the kitchen.
Top 10 winter crops:
- Broad beans
- Sprouting broccoli
- Peas and pea shoots
- Garlic
- Onions, leeks, spring onions and shallots
- Winter lettuce
- Lambs lettuce
- Spinach and kale
- Sugarsnap peas
- Spring cabbage
Don’t drown plants
One of the golden rules for winter plantings though is to make sure your soil does not puddle water as standing wet may adversely affect your poor plants. Any doubts, then use a raised bed filled with a compost and soil mix.
Visit Urban-Allotments.com for a great range of raised beds, including small space solutions.
Compost is the word
Incorporate as much organic compost as possible while digging, this will improve the texture of the ground and acts like rocket fuel to next years crop! If you don’t have a compost heap then your local garden centre will stock compost and soil improvers.
Vermuelens has some great multi-buy deals on composts and related products, and can offer expert advice on what’s best for your needs.
Have the weedkiller handy
Now is an excellent time to spray with a glyphosate based weedkiller – you can use this in the depths of winter as the plant will still absorb the product and any effort it makes to grow, even weeks later, will allow the chemical to work.
For the rest of the weeds and for the benefit of the soil in general, the ground can be dug over and any roots left in the ground exposed to the air. This way, the ground is kept light and airy and frost will kill many pests and unwanted roots.
Don’t forget to visit the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre on Saturday 24th October between 10am and 4pm for some great grow-your-own freebies, advice and food-themed entertainment. Head back to the Centre on Tuesday 27th October with the little ones between 10am and 4pm for the free workshops.