VEGETABLE GARDENER'S DIARY - DECEMBER

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Enjoy the festive season by harvesting and using fresh crops from the garden. Sprigs of mint brighten up salads, drinks and, of course, new potatoes, which will be ready for Christmas if they were planted in early spring.

Remember that water is the lifeline of the vegetable garden in summer. Plants are best watered in the morning or early evening, not during the searing heat of the day. Water deeply every few days rather than a little every day, as this encourages plants to develop a deeper root system that will help anchor them more securely in the soil.

With the onset of warmer weather, weeds spring up everywhere. Remove them as soon as you spot them, and never allow them to seed as if you do they will pop up again in a few months. Also keep an eye out for slugs, snails, caterpillars, aphids and whitefly, and deal with them as soon as you see them.

SPECIAL ATTENTION

• Capsicums, chillis and eggplants - can all be grown in containers. Best planted before Christmas to ensure a larger harvest in autumn.
• Cucumbers - plant out now. Provide a support system to keep the cucumbers off the soil.
• Potatoes - harvest the first new season potatoes.
• Tomatoes - this is the last month to plant tomatoes. Garden centres do not stock plants after Christmas. Remove laterals from plants as they appear.
• Herbs - cut back any leggy spring herbs to ensure another flush of growth for summer picking.

SOW

• Beans, beetroot, capsicums, carrots, celery, courgettes, cucumbers, eggplants, leeks, lettuces, mesclun, mizuna, parsnips, radishes, rocket, silver beet, spinach, sweetcorn, tomatoes, chervil.

PLANT

• Beans, beetroot, capsicums, chillies, courgettes, cucumbers, eggplants, mizuna, silver beet, spinach, sweetcorn, tomatoes, basil, coriander, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.
• Plant fresh summer herbs like basil, chives, parsley and thyme in Tui Herb Mix. Plant in containers next to your back door so they are easily accessible.
• Add Debco Saturaid to dry soils to help them hold onto more moisture.

FERTILISE

• Sprinkle Tui Vegetable Food on the soil at planting time and around crops once a month in gardens with poor, dry soils. Alternatively, apply Seasolplant tonic once a month to give plants a boost and kickstart for the season.

PROTECT

• Lay Tui Quash slug & snail control to control these pests, and spray aphids and whitefly with Tui Insect Control for Fruit & Veges when they reappear once the weather warms.
• Dust brassicas with derris dust to combat white butterfly caterpillars.
• Mildew may begin to appear on courgettes and cucumbers; spray plants with Tui Disease Control for Fruit & Veges to control it.

HARVEST

• Asparagus, broad beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, lettuces, mizuna, rocket, silver beet, spinach, spring onions.

Walnut Salad

This brilliant salad has everything going for it – it’s crisp, crunchy, juicy and melting all in one mouthful. I discovered the idea in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Fethiye in Southern Turkey, and now I make it whenever I can get my hands on fresh walnuts.

Annabel Langbein Media

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Prep time:

15 mins

Serves:

8

• 2 cups fresh walnut pieces
• 1 large spring onion, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, cored and finely diced (discard seeds if tomatoes are very juicy)
• 1 small-to-medium cucumber, very finely diced
• 1 green pepper, very finely diced
• ½ cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves
• ½ cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
• 2 tbsp boutique extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Serve within 3-4 hours.

Tips

Walnuts, like other nuts, keep fresh for months in their shells, but become rancid quickly once shelled. Store shelled nuts in the fridge or freezer and smell-check for freshness before use.