Peas and Beans The Edible Garden


Peas and Beans

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I'm Alys Fowler. I'm a gardener and a writer.

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I grew up in the countryside, but now my husband and I live in the city.

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I get pleasure from simple things.

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Home-baked bread...

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..home-grown vegetables,

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and making things from what I find around me.

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'This is my garden, a small Victorian terrace backyard, 20 foot by 60.'

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Isabel, don't pee there! Isabel...

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'This year, I'm experimenting.

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'I'm trying to avoid shop-bought fruit and veg and live off my own home-grown produce.

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'But this won't be easy because I want my garden to be both productive and beautiful.'

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Heaven. Heaven is a home-grown cucumber.

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'Each week, I'll focus on different foods.

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'From salads to peas, courgettes to tomatoes, even edible flowers,

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'and show how anyone can grow, cook and eat from their own garden, even if you live in a city.'

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It's the end of April and it's predictably raining.

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And this is the beginning of my summer of making the garden both as

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productive as it possibly can be and as pretty as it possibly can be.

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And, to do that, there are plants in the garden that need to come out and lots of veg that need to go in.

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In order to get as much food in here as possible, I need to get rid of

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some things which just aren't really helping my cause. This cistus

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not only is half-dead,

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I can't eat it and I don't think it's that pretty, so it has to go because this is a good spot.

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I don't want my garden to look like an allotment. I want my garden to look like a garden.

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So I'm going to grow my vegetables in groups

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that will look pretty together and grow happily side-by-side.

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In my new and beautiful garden, this bit will have some chickens.

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This is my compost heap, my huge, ginormous compost heap.

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This bit over here is,

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sort of, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, apple.

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And then, coming up through here is potato, garlic,

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wilder salad things.

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There's a big sweep of garlic here.

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There's going to be more kales, more Swiss chard and...

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Jerusalem artichokes there.

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More lettuce.

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Peas growing up all the way through the rose. More lettuce through here.

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I think I'm going to have a broad bean moment over there.

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Lots of lettuce, can't have too much lettuce. And then some courgettes,

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probably where these geraniums are.

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So, at the very bottom, down by the shed, I'm going to grow some squash.

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And I'm hoping that my neighbours might not mind if I let the squash go up and onto their roof

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because it's really sunny up there, and I'll give them half the squash.

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And, if there's any space left, I'll put some flowers in it.

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People always think of flowers as the pretty bit of the garden,

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but there are just as many beautiful vegetables.

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And a great place to start is with one particular family known for its

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charming flowers and, of course, its wonderfully nutritious pods.

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French beans, runner beans, broad beans and mange tout all taste best when picked fresh.

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And there is nothing fresher than your own garden.

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You can even make cocktails out of some of them.

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This year, I'm going to let go of more traditional growing methods

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and plant my vegetables amongst my flowers and shrubs.

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I'll need to put them where they'll get the best conditions, but I also

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want to enjoy the beauty they're going to bring to the garden.

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It's April, and first to be planted out are my broad beans which I sowed

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back in February in trays filled with shop-bought compost.

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I'm growing

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most of my plants in modules.

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I find it such an efficient way to grow because you raise almost perfect plants away from the slugs.

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There's no problem with the seed rotting off in the soil.

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But also, as space becomes available, you can just drop it in.

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So it's going to be a constant kind of...

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constantly tending

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because I don't want one plant to overcrowd or compete too much for light with the other one.

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I don't think you should ever feel that plants are overwhelming you.

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You don't think much of this gardening lark, do you, Iz? No.

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Coming?

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One thing is for sure.

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All my plants need a healthy home in which to flourish,

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and that means feeding the poor soil that I've inherited.

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I've had to dig in bags of compost.

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Now I'm beginning to reap the benefits.

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But I need to address some of my planting scheme.

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Part of the issue with this kind of gardening is that you've constantly got to nip

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other plants out and give space and light so that the one crop

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you do want can get going, and then they can all muddle together.

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So, in this garden, I decide how big a plant's going to get, not the plant.

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Which means I have to be brave

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and pull at things.

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My peas and beans are going to need supports to grow up,

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and I have this idea in my head that I want to add a kind of sculptural, slightly crazy, hippie, makeshift...

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I just don't want tripods all over the place.

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So I have a friend over who's an incredible weaver

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and maker of beautiful things out of willow and whatnot, just to give a whole new element to the garden.

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At least that's the idea in my head.

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My local park has a woodland area that they coppice,

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and I've got permission for Sally and I to collect what we need.

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What kinds of material are we looking for?

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I mean, willow's an obvious one. But can you get away with, say, using a bit of oak?

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Yeah. If it will bend, then you can weave it.

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It doesn't matter if it's oak or ash or hazel.

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-Anything that you've cut down.

-Why is willow so good, I suppose?

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Lots and lots of reasons.

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I mean, it's traditionally been used to make baskets

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and weaving for centuries, so there's a reason why it was chosen.

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And it grows very fast.

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So these will be last year's growth, and you've got nearly 10 foot.

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-You can see why, it just is so flexible, isn't it?

-It's gorgeous.

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You get all the shapes.

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-You can really use your imagination.

-There's some stuff that's

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been cut because the park just cut it and then leave it as a habitat, rotting-down patch.

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So what you want to do, Alys, is just pull out a bundle.

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So if we can make up a bundle of some thick bits and some thin bits.

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-And as long as it's...

-Nice and bendy, yeah.

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Right, I can see some thin bits down at the bottom here.

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I've been lucky enough to collect my own willow locally, but it's easy to

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buy over the internet, with many suppliers being happy to deliver.

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I feel like a proper kind of harvester now.

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Before my plants start flopping all over the place,

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Sally is going to teach me how to make a beautiful plant support.

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Right, OK, let's go with those.

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To just help it to bend, you just put it

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on your knee, you don't have to press too hard,

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-pull it across the knee.

-It's just amazing how much it starts working with you.

-Yeah.

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It starts to suggest to the fibres inside that that's what they want to do. And that gives you your bend.

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'You don't need string to hold it all together, you can use another plant.'

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Sue, can I have some of your phormium leaves?

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-Is that enough?

-Plenty.

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'Fortunately, my neighbour, Sue, has a large phormium.

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'Sally wants to use the strong fibrous leaves to tie our frame together.'

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'Plant supports can be expensive to buy.

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'But my lobster pots have cost nothing but a few hours of my time and, once the plants have died back,

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'they'll still give some shape to the border.'

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There we go.

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Well, I don't think it's...

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a piece of art.

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But I said I wanted organic.

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But from up here, it looks nice and natural, it really blends in with the garden.

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This will be perfect

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for the peas.

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One of the sources of my inspiration for growing flowers and vegetables together is permaculture.

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This simply means observing how nature works

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and then trying to do the same thing in your own garden.

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Living proof of its success is the Harland family,

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who have been gardening this way for over 20 years.

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You could say this whole landscape is quite wild, but actually we see it as

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a nature reserve that grows food for us as a family.

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Their daughters, Hayley and Gail, have grown up with Mum and Dad's passion for permaculture.

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Their garden is also their other baby.

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They spend more time in the garden than with us!

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When they started, many people thought it

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a hippie approach to gardening and that it wouldn't really work.

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The way we garden is using permaculture principles.

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We create a garden that invites lots of wildlife into it,

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invites lots of predators for pests, so that all that you see

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is completely unsprayed, it's a completely organic system.

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We designed it with zoning.

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Zoning is a permaculture design idea whereby you

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put the things closest to the house that need the most attention.

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So you'd have your most delicate salad plants, your tender flowers.

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As you move outward, away from the home, you then site the fruit trees

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and then the larger nut trees, the wilder hedgerows that need very little attention.

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And it's a nice way to make a garden.

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We don't fuss around the edges, as I think you can possibly see,

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but the food's there. That's what matters.

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But the principles behind it can

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be taken and shrunken down to any scale. Even if you've got a patio, you can apply the same principles.

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What have you got?

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Gooseberries, loganberries, Worcester berries.

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Everything I could find, really.

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I love it because it's given me the opportunity to be a bit more healthy.

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It's nice because it's, like, you think that you can get more

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in the supermarkets and stuff, but actually you've got so much that you can get in a garden.

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And also, you don't get Worcester berries and stuff from everywhere.

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So you get seasonal things.

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Sometimes we'll be having blackberry and apple crumbles and stuff, and then other times we'll be making...

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-Every berry.

-Every berry.

-Every berry coulis.

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This garden is very much about not purchasing a lot of commercial

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materials for the garden, but to try and set up a reasonably self-sustaining system.

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We don't all have to totally change the world overnight, but we do all need to play our part.

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And if we do that collectively, we can make a huge difference.

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It's May, and the weather has turned unseasonably warm.

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Now that it's getting hot, it's really important to start mulching around the vegetables

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because this not only keeps the weeds down, but it locks in and conserves the moisture.

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And this is just blended

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farmyard manure and compost

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which I've clearly bought from a shop because I don't have

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quite enough of my own compost at this point.

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When I water, I'm not losing it

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straight to the air.

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And beans have a critical period when they start to flower and they're beginning to set fruit

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and turn into long pods, and they need a lot of water at this point.

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And if they get in any way checked

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by the lack of moisture, then you don't get good beans.

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Every day, I come out into this garden and I just am amazed by it.

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I want to look at it constantly, I want to be in it and I want to just see how it evolves.

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And this seems so much more gentle, this approach. It doesn't seem to be

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bogged down in these strict things that you must do this at this point,

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and you must water it at this point.

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It just seems to be more free...

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and fluid.

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And nature seems more responsive off it.

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And now I do sound like a crazy hippie!

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Oh, well.

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As a child, my mum kept chickens

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and I loved them, so it's something I want to do, too.

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Today, the chickens arrive, which is one step closer to me

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becoming a little bit more self-sufficient-ish, at least.

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Because the chickens will close a loop within the garden.

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I'll be able to recycle a lot more of my kitchen waste through them.

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I'll get eggs. And then they'll give me chicken manure, which will make the whole garden grow richer.

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'So, it's a nice little cycle.

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'I suppose.

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'There are rules on where you can keep chickens, so it's worth checking

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'with your local authority planning office before you take the plunge.'

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Move this out the way...

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All right?

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Ah.

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Can we go get the chickens?

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We can go get the chickens, yes.

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No problem at all.

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The exciting bit.

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-All ready for you.

-Hello, girls.

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That's it. And if you stroke her and talk to her...

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-Hello.

-..you've got a friend for life.

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'I've chosen 18-week-old chickens called point of lay because they're almost ready to start laying.

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'And, at this age, they cost about £15.'

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That one's feisty.

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A speckledy.

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Lay you some nice dark brown eggs.

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'I've got a bluebell and a speckled hen

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'who I'm naming after Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas.'

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Chickens are basically easy to look after, but you do have to clip their wings to stop them from flying away.

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That's one bit I'm not looking forward to.

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What we've got to do, they are the flight feathers.

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You feel for the end of the wing, so that we don't make... We make sure we don't cut the wing.

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And we take off...

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The flight feathers. It's only like you

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cutting your toenails, no problem at all.

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Done properly, you can't actually see she's been done.

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-And how often do I have to do that?

-Once every six months or so, whenever she has been in moult.

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And when she starts to grow new feathers, otherwise she will replace them.

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Just pop them in, Alys. That's it.

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-Bye-bye.

-OK.

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They'll find their own way out.

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I'm completely in love with my chickens.

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They are perfect.

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They look so pretty together.

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Hi, Isabel, are you coming to say hello to them?

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It's June and, as I hoped, nature seems to be doing most of the work for me.

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All I'm doing is watering a lot. My runner beans are looking absolutely beautiful.

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And the French beans, mange touts and broad beans are coming along, too.

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I'm very proud of my broad beans.

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It was a bit of a gamble whether they could hold their own.

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I thought they might flop all over the place but they've grown up fantastically strong and straight.

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And now that they are in flower and are just beginning to finish flower, it's time to pinch out the tops.

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This concentrates all the energy into producing the beans,

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but it can also help to just keep the blackfly, which are the nemesis of a broad bean.

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And, very shortly, I shall be picking beans.

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Only a couple of weeks later, and my first broad beans and mange tout peas are ready.

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But the real problem with any of the peas is being able to not eat all the peas on the plant

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at that moment and actually getting them to the kitchen.

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That seems to me to be a monumentous task that I never quite manage.

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This variety is called red epicure, they're like little babies wrapped up in cotton wool.

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Broad beans make great falafel.

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All I have to do is boil up the beans, then add some chickpeas,

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garlic, cumin and lots of fresh herbs.

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Parsley, mint and coriander.

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And then mash it together. The only ingredients that aren't from my garden are cumin and chickpeas.

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And the uncooked mixture freezes brilliantly.

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And actually, very quick to make for something that

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looks like it would be quite a lot of faff.

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But there's no faff in this falafel!

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That's really bad!

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This way. That way, come on.

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-Ahh... No.

-CLUCKING

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Not...

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Gertrude.

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Yes.

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'The chickens have settled in now and they're easy to look after...'

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Oi, oi, oi.

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'..except for those moments when they escape.

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'I feed them my weeds, kitchen peelings and the chicken poo goes

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'on the compost as an activator which speeds up the process of composting.'

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You can't escape, go on, back you go. Ooh. Oi.

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Oi.

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Oh, Gertrude.

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Stay.

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Bad chicken.

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When you buy young chickens, they don't lay eggs right away.

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But my two have now matured and are doing their bit for my home-grown diet.

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Thank you very much for the eggs, girls.

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So both Alice and Gertrude are laying every day without fail.

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And then, every other day, Gertrude gives me this extra big,

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extra-special double-yolker, which is just ginormous.

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It makes her star hen, really.

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That's an Alice egg.

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That's a normal Gertrude.

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And that's an extra-special Gertrude.

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That must be really painful.

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This is a good twist on the traditional omelette.

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Two happy hens and a handful of herbs.

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It's mid summer and the garden is in full swing,

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I'm harvesting every day but, to keep my supplies up,

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I am continuously sowing and planting out.

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But if you don't have a garden to grow in, you can do it just as easily in a container.

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You are such a lazy dog.

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Even if you just have a window ledge, you can still grow yourself some peas.

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But you're not harvesting the pea pods, you're harvesting the shoots.

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Pea shoots are the tender tips of the garden pea plant.

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These shoots are three weeks old and ready for their first pickings.

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They make a delicious salad leaf.

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I have to admit, the reason why I have

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dried peas is because I thought the package was stylish and nothing to do with liking to eat dried peas.

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But then I thought, "I wonder if they're any good?"

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And they're so cheap, much cheaper than garden centre peas,

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so I tried them out, and they germinate really well.

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So these are now my official

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favourite pea shoot peas.

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And, just to prove exactly how good they are, this packet was purchased in 2007,

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and they all germinate like clockwork.

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So, all you do is

0:24:450:24:46

cram it full because you're not growing them to full size.

0:24:460:24:52

Squish them in, give them a good water, put them somewhere warm, on a window ledge,

0:24:520:24:58

on a nice balcony, somewhere in the sun.

0:24:580:25:01

And, within a couple of weeks,

0:25:010:25:04

you have pea shoots to start harvesting.

0:25:040:25:07

By August, the garden is at its most productive, and I'm pleased that it's looking so pretty.

0:25:220:25:27

At this time of year, it's easy to end up with a glut,

0:25:270:25:30

which is a good thing because it means plenty for later in the year.

0:25:300:25:34

The minute you stop picking runner beans, they stop producing.

0:25:340:25:39

So, you need to keep picking if you want lots of runner beans.

0:25:390:25:43

At this point, I'm just actually being very traditional and freezing a lot because...

0:25:430:25:48

..now they seem...

0:25:500:25:52

Frozen beans don't seem that exciting. Actually, come January,

0:25:520:25:58

to add to curries and soups,

0:25:580:26:02

they're brilliant.

0:26:020:26:05

Surprisingly, this is just

0:26:060:26:09

four plants,

0:26:090:26:11

and they've really been more

0:26:110:26:13

than I can handle.

0:26:130:26:16

This is a very beautiful dark purple French bean called Nectar Queen.

0:26:180:26:25

And it's just the most intense purple colour.

0:26:250:26:29

But, unfortunately, the minute you put it into boiling water, it goes bright green.

0:26:290:26:33

So, all of that colour is lost when you come to eat it.

0:26:340:26:38

But all is forgiven for the way it looks on the bush.

0:26:400:26:44

Isabel, don't pee there. Isabel...

0:26:490:26:51

I'm overrun with pea shoots, which is a good excuse to do a bit of experimenting.

0:27:080:27:12

I'm going to make a "peatini", which is a pea-based martini using a recipe from chef Mark Hix.

0:27:120:27:19

All I have to do is blend the pea shoots into a puree with a bit of water.

0:27:220:27:26

Then add some gin, sugar syrup and a squeeze of lemon.

0:27:300:27:33

Then invite some friends over to try them!

0:27:340:27:39

And, because the garden has been so productive, I can serve up

0:27:500:27:53

more of my tasty home-grown falafels and a big bowl of salad.

0:27:530:27:56

My little garden really rocks. I haven't had to buy

0:27:590:28:02

any peas or beans this summer and I even have frozen runner beans to take me into the winter.

0:28:020:28:08

The next stage of my grow-your-own adventure is all about salad crops.

0:28:150:28:18

Tomatoes and cucumbers.

0:28:180:28:21

And lettuce leaves, one of the fastest and easiest things to grow.

0:28:210:28:25

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