Winter Spinach and Outdoor Cucumbers
by Sarah Flint

Sowing winter spinach

You might think there wasn’t much to do in the garden in midsummer, but it’s the right time to put in a few lines of spinach for harvesting over winter. If you’ve never tried fresh spinach before then it’s time you did – it’s a world away from the slimy stuff that scared us as children. And we all know how good it is for us.
Spinach isn’t difficult to grow. Providing the soil is well fed and you can find a well-drained site, you can’t go wrong. Use the prickly seeded varieties rather than the smooth - ‘Giant Winter’ and ‘Bordeaux’ are both reliable.
Make drills 30cm (1ft) apart, sow sparsely at 2.5cm (1in) deep. Thin the seedlings to 23cm (9in) apart. One or two 4.5m (15ft) rows will be enough. Keep them watered – dry spells can make them run to seed. From October cover the rows with cloches. Winter spinach is ready about 12 weeks after harvesting. Pull away a few leaves at a time and they’ll supply you with a crop until spring.

Pests: aphids (greenfly and blackfly) can attack spinach. They suck the sap of young tender plants, which causes the shoots and leaves to become distorted. It’s unlikely to kill the plant, but can seriously weaken it. A large range of chemical sprays is available, but kill other beneficial insects and wildlife like hoverflies, lacewings, ladybirds and birds. Instead encourage these insects that feed on aphids. Plant tagetes, calendula and poached egg plant near the rows. Using an insecticidal soap as a spray is also effective.

Spanakopitta (Greek spinach and cheese pie)
Serves 4

• 1kg (2lb) fresh spinach
• 120g (4oz) butter
• Quarter tsp grated nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 120g (4oz) grated cheddar or feta cheese
• 500g (1lb) block of readymade puff pastry

Remove any hard stems from the spinach. Wash, drain and chop roughly. Stew gently with 2 tbsp of butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper, until tender. Drain well and mix in the cheese and lightly beaten eggs.
Butter a large baking tin or oven dish and roll out half of the pastry so it’s large enough to overlap the edges. Put it in the dish and spread the mixture over, and cover with the rest of the pastry. Trim and seal the edges by pressing them together. Bake in a preheated oven (180º/350ºF) for 40 minutes.

Outdoor cucumbers and gherkins

I always thought that cucumbers were high-maintenance vegetables, needing the protection of a greenhouse, lots of heat and frequent tying-in. But then I discovered that the ‘ridge’ varieties and gherkins are quite happy coping with a British summer - so I’m trying them out this year. I like the fact that they can be left to trail on the ground (the very long fruiting types will need some support).

Seed varieties:
‘Burpless Tasty Green F1’ – crisp and ideal to eat like celery. Best when 20cm (8in) long.
‘Marketmore’ – crops well and copes in good and bad seasons.
‘Crystal Lemon’ – an unusual variety that has golden round fruit.
‘Vert Petit de Paris’ – a tiny French gherkin. Good taste and good crop.
‘Venlo Pickling’ – a good reliable gherkin.

These cucumbers used to be grown on ridges, the idea being that the improved drainage would prevent stem rot – but then again the soil can get too dry, so it seems good enough to grow them on level ground. What remains imperative is that they have lots of food. So in early May I dug a 30cm wide and 30cm deep (12x12in) hole for each plant (60cm (2ft) apart) and filled them with manure and compost topped with a scattering of general fertiliser. I chose a sunny and sheltered spot for them.
To make my life simple I decided to sow the seeds in situ in mid-May, under jam jars. There’s a belief that cucumbers don’t like to be disturbed, so this will give them a better chance of success rather than growing them in pots and then transplanting them. I put in two seeds together, taking out the weaker seedling. When six or seven leaves appear, pinch out the growing tip – this encourages fruiting on side shoots.
Keep the soil well watered and feed often with a liquid fertiliser. Consider using black polythene around the plants – it will keep the weeds down, conserve moisture, warm up the soil and keep the fruits off the ground (otherwise use pieces of board or glass to prevent them from rotting) Watch out for slugs and snails.
They are ready to pick from late July – just cut them as needed. Don’t let them get too big, as they can be bitter. Gherkins should never be allowed to grow more than 7.5cm (3in).

Cooking with cucumbers

Typically we use cucumbers in salads. There’s a lot of water in cucumber, which can make for a very runny salad dressing if you’re not careful. So before putting together a cucumber salad it’s wise to sprinkle the slices with salt, leave for an hour and then drain thoroughly.
Rather than the usual mixed bowl of tomato, radish, cucumber and lettuce, why not try a salad of thinly sliced cucumber and strawberries? Scatter over a teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar and finely chopped basil. A mix of cold salmon, sliced cucumber, freshly chopped dill and crème fraîche also makes a tasty and simple supper dish.
Reintroduce cucumber sandwiches to your friends and family – for extra interest add a little orange zest to the butter before you spread it on the thinly sliced bread.
Cucumbers can also be very good cooked. Blanching them in boiling water for two minutes will stop the skins being bitter. Cucumbers can be baked - use peeled and thickly sliced pieces, lots of butter and fresh herbs of your choice. Bake for 30 minutes at 190ºC/375ºF. Alternatively, steam sliced or diced cucumber in butter for about 15 minutes and serve with a cream sauce flavoured with chopped fresh tarragon.
One of my favourite summer soups is a chilled cucumber soup. Melt peeled and chopped onions and cucumbers together in butter and then add a good chicken stock. Simmer for about ten minutes and then puree until very smooth. After chilling adding a dash of cream.
Gherkins are pickled whole and are simple to make. Cover generously with salt to draw out the moisture and leave overnight. For softer pickles soak in brine overnight: 2oz salt to each pint of water and make enough to cover the gherkins. Rinse, drain well and pack into sterilised jars. Cover with cold spiced vinegar and seal the jars. Add a bay leaf or two to each jar.

Bread and Butter Pickle
(Not quite pickled gherkins but very simple and a good use of a glut)

• 3 large cucumbers sliced
• 3 large onions skinned and sliced
• 3 tbsp salt
• 150g (5oz) granulated sugar
• 450ml (three quarters of a pint) distilled vinegar
• 1tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 1tsp celery seeds

Layer the cucumber and onion slices in a large bowl, sprinkling each layer with salt. Leave for two hours. Rinse and drain well.
Put the sugar, vinegar and seeds in a pan. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for three minutes. Put the vegetable slices into pre-heated jars and pour in enough hot liquid to cover. Cover and store in a dark place. Makes about five 340g (12oz) jars.