HOME & GARDEN Tales from a kitchen Gardener
Excitement is bristling at Mel- fort House. Annual detox for the polytunnel, all accoutre- ments washed, the odd tear mended and any loitering al- gae cleaned off in preparation for the growing season. When husband Matthew. More disciplined people would advocate waiting until March to sow vegetable seeds. But, with the tunnel, anything is possible.
In a few weeks my bench will be groaning with trays sit- ting on a cosy blanket to fool seeds into thinking its time to germinate. I’ll suspend a light overhead to dissuade them from stretching up too much. ‘Seedlings are the closest things I get to ‘long and leg- gy,’ Matthew chips. Drooling over mouth-water- ing images in gardening cata- logues is always a thrill. But what seeds to buy? Vegetable enced by what supermarkets want to stock and we know how different their priorities can be. I would happily sacri- A visit last year to the week- ly market in Carcassonne clinched it for me. There was more deformed veg than you could shake a trowel at. The
by Yvonne Anderson, Melfort House Hot beds of intrigue for 2013
Roger Parsons Sweet Pea ‘Promise
Yvonne Anderson runs Melfort House, near Kilmelford, where she has erected a polytunnel to grow fruit and vegetables, including French beans, strawberries, shallots and chillis, for her guests and her family. With no background in gardening, the project has been a steep learning curve for Yvonne but, come success or failure, every month West Coast Review will follow her efforts through her new column. This month, Yvonne realises the value of compost - and lots of it.
French don’t mind knobbly tomatoes, hairy boomerang- shaped cucumbers, enor- mous two-headed radishes and carrots with bunions. They may have looked gro- tesque but they tasted won- derful.
Joining the Heritage Seed Library has been a revela-
tion. Seed-savers (people, not gadgets) work tirelessly to preserve seeds from lesser known varieties no longer grown by large distributors. These varieties are not the Pippa Middletons of the plant world but, like Subo, their qualities are highly prized.
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