Sowing Tomatoes and Picking Kale
by Sarah Flint

Growing tomatoes outdoors

Tomatoes are the classic vegetable to grow in a greenhouse, but they can easily be grown outside and with no extra effort – in fact, it may be easier, as they’ll need less watering (unless we have a drought, of course). But don’t expect an early crop. It will be August or later.
April is the best time to sow the seed. Both cordon and bush types are suitable for outdoors. If you’re lazy then try bush tomatoes. Where cordons need stopping and tying in, bush types can be left to just get on with it. I grew an heirloom variety called ‘Broad Ripple Yellow Currant’ a few years ago and it proved to be an amazing cropper, as well as impressive ground cover (even though the slugs did get more than their fair share). Dwarf bush types are useful for the gardener pushed for space. They can be grown in a hanging basket.
I sow two or three seeds direct into pots, thinning to the strongest seedling when they have three leaves. They are grown on and hardened off to plant outside in late May after the threat of any late frost. It’s important to find a sheltered sunny site. The soil should be fairly fertile. I usually put them somewhere that’s been previously manured, or else add a general fertiliser about a week before. And keep them away from potatoes, they can catch the dreaded potato blight.
They are planted 45cm (18in) apart. If they are cordon types I stick in a 1.5m (5ft) cane and tie them in as they grow. As they develop, sideshoots and basal growths are nipped out. The plants are ‘stopped’ in late July by nipping out the growing point. With bush tomatoes, don’t bother with a cane, just put straw underneath them in July to keep the crop clean. Keep them well watered and feed weekly with a high potassium feed once the second truss has set, and be ready for a plentiful crop.

Tomato Gratin
(Serves 4)
This makes a good, easy, light lunch and brightens up even the most boring tomato (not that you’ll ever grow one of those).

• 750g (1lb 9oz) of firm tomatoes, peeled and sliced
• 6 tsp dry sherry
• 12 tbsp cream
• 6 heaped tbsp grated cheddar or parmesan
• 1 tbsp chopped basil

Put the tomatoes across the bottom of a shallow ovenproof dish and dribble over the sherry. Sprinkle over the basil and bake for 30 minutes at 300ºF/ 150ºC/ gas mark 2. Take out of the oven and pour over the cream and scatter the cheese on top. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Harvesting kale

Kale is one of those unpopular vegetables – so much so that I think it’s been forgotten about. It’s an ideal vegetable for the winter months, the leaves (bursting with iron and vitamins A and C), can be picked from November to April. Since the introduction of the variety ‘Black Tuscany’ it’s become more of a fashionable item in the vegetable garden. A typical kale plant can look pretty horrid – with yellowing, sickly looking crinkled leaves. But the Italian interloper is a handsome beast – with huge beautifully indented blue-black leaves. Grown alongside ruby chard it’s positively magnificent. But I fear we still have reservations about its culinary qualities. I wonder how much gets eaten?
Kale is an ultra-hardy vegetable and is less susceptible to clubroot and cabbage root fly than other brassicas. I sow seeds thinly in a seedbed in April and transplant to a permanent position in July or August, about 35cm (15in) apart, in soil that’s rich and well dug. To keep the plants looking good it’s advisable to pick off the dying leaves. If you give it a feed in March it will encourage the production of fresh side shoots. This year I’ll be trying out ‘Kale Scarlet’, whose red-veined leaves should deepen in colour in the cold.

Cooking with kale

Although their architectural leaves look striking in the garden, kale leaves are best eaten when 10–12cm (4–5in long). Treat the plants on a ‘cut and come’ basis and please, whatever you do, don’t just boil them up and serve them in this state – they deserve better (as do your dinner guests or family). Braise them instead: wash, trim and chop half a kilo of leaves and add them to a sliced onion and garlic clove that have been softened in olive oil. Pour over 80ml of either chicken stock or red wine and then simmer, covered, for 12 minutes.
If kale leaves are cut when very small they’re soft enough to add raw to a winter salad. Their peppery taste adds zest to imported lettuce. Potatoes are often included in kale recipes. The Irish dish ‘Colcannon’ is a classic – just add equal amounts of cooked and chopped kale to mashed potatoes. Be sure to add loads of butter and cream. Chopped fried bacon makes a nice addition too.
Both this and kale and potato cakes make a good accompaniment to roast or grilled meat. Add 250g (8oz) of shredded and blanched kale to 500kg (1lb) of mashed potato; blend in two eggs and 50g (2oz) breadcrumbs. Fry the mixture, shaped into egg-sized flattened balls, in butter for about eight minutes.

Seed varieties:
There are hundreds of varieties of tomatoes to grow; from heirloom and ancient to modern, pear-shaped, stripy, large and small.
Tried and tested: Gardeners’ Delight, Moneymaker, Ildi.
Cordon, but can be grown as a bush: Mini Charm F1, Olivade F1.
Weird and wonderful: Chocolate Cherry, Speckled Roman, Orange Banana.
Huge: Legend, Super Marmande.
Tiny (and good for baskets): Balconi Yellow, Gartenperle.

Disease
Clubroot is a fungal disease that causes abnormal growth on the roots, which seriously weakens and may kill the plant. The plants appear stunted and sickly, with wilting leaves. There’s really not a satisfactory cure except for a few basic management rules:
Never plant any of the cabbage family in the same place for more than 2 years running.
Improve drainage and add lime to the soil to raise the pH to about seven.
Remove and burn affected plants.
Keep weeds down.
Raise plants in individual pots of compost and plant out.
Try adding pieces of rhubarb or garlic into the planting holes!

Kale and Chorizo Soup
(Serves 6)
A really tasty and nutritious meal in itself.

• 4 slices of smoked streaky bacon, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 chorizo sausages, sliced
• 4 large potatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 litre (one and three quarter pints) chicken stock
• 200g (7oz) kale, finely shredded

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add bacon, onion, garlic and chorizo. Fry until soft – about five minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for another two minutes, then pour over the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes are until the potatoes are soft. Take off the heat and roughly mash the potatoes with the back of a fork. Add the kale and return to the heat, simmering for five minutes more, until tender.