If you are planning your vegetable garden for the season ahead, how about being a little adventurous and growing something different?  If you have never grown or eaten Jerusalem artichokes, we think you may be pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to grow and how versatile the are in the kitchen.  The usual, old-fashioned artichokes produce knobbly tubers, which were difficult to peel, but our variety Fuseau has much smoother tubers, rather like potatoes.  It has that same unique, almost smoky flavour of the older types, but the tubers are bigger and it is a heavier cropper. 

And how about Chinese artichokes for something really different?  The curly little tubers can be steamed or stir-fried, when you will enjoy their crunchy texture and delicious, nutty flavour.  We are accepting orders for both types until mid March for spring delivery.  You can then look forward to lifting these delicious autumn/winter vegetables year after year, as they are both perennial.

Fancy growing your own horseradish sauce to accompany roast beef?  By the way, we think it is equally good with smoked mackerel.  This is another perennial and it is very long-lived.  Once planted, the roots rapidly form healthy clumps, enabling you to produce plenty of grated horseradish root for turning into sauce.  We supply ‘thongs’ for planting and are accepting orders until the end of March.

In the fruit garden, this is the best month to prune autumn-fruiting raspberry canes right back to ground level.  It may seem harsh, but it really is necessary to ensure a crop.  Autumn-fruiting raspberries, also known as ‘primocanes’, produce their fruit and flowers only on NEW growth.  If you have never grown them, do try our wonderful, recently-bred variety Joan J, named after the wife of its breeder.  It is a marked improvement on the very popular Autumn Bliss, and this high yielding variety bears its delicious berries from late July right through to October with scarcely a break!  Joan J has the added advantages of producing larger berries than ‘Bliss’ and being spine-free.  We recommend Joan J very strongly.  Canes can be ordered until mid March.

February is also the time to apply a general fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone to fruit trees and bushes like gooseberries and currants. If you are new to growing fruit, do not be deterred by the term ‘blood, fish and bone’ for it comes processed, clean and is pleasant and easy to handle!  Always apply in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions as overdoing the dosage of any fertiliser usually does more harm than good.

Chilli peppers are increasingly popular with our customers and seed of these fiery little devils can be sown from February through to April.  When it comes to the annual tasting of  chilli peppers on the trial grounds here at Kentford we rely on a small team of ‘nutters’ (this is a technical term) who are prepared to bite the ends of the peppers to determine which is the best.

The 2009 award for ‘Chilli Pepper of the Year’ went to Super Chilli F1, which also topped the poll in the summer of 2008.  One of the tasting team commented “it has serious heat, but with a fruitiness rather than just a raw burning sensation”.  Ideal for growing in containers, this super-hot variety produces plenty of small, upward-pointing fruits which ripen from pale green to shiny red on compact and most attractive plants.  A packet of 10 seeds costs £1.85.

The variety Aji Crystal, originally from Chile, was very popular with the team.  The thin waxy fruits had  noticeable citrus flavours when in their pale green or orange stages, but when they turned red their fierce heat overpowered these notes. The unripe fruits are ideal for those who like reasonably hot chillies with real flavour.  A packet of 15 seeds of Aji Crystal costs £1.49.  The Spanish variety Padron was also very well liked in both its green ‘moderately hot and fruity’ and red ripe ‘medium hot to hot’ state.  “Padron has a good flavour that fills the mouth but doesn’t last forever”, remarked one taster.  A packet of 20 seeds of Chilli Pepper Padron