Posted: 13 April 2023
Author: Luke
We have started our very own kitchen garden here at Smith’s, under the care of two members of our plant area team: Katy & Cecilia. We have three containers ready to be planted up with all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and pots for a mini herb garden.
In late Feb – early march, our fruit container was underway. We’ve carefully selected different varieties of currants and berries to provide bountiful supply throughout the fruiting season. You will be able to keep up to date with what we’re doing & see the containers from the cafe extension window, or have full access to them near our new tree line area.
Our chosen fruits:
Red Currant ‘JVT’, Gooseberry ‘Invicta’, Jostaberry, Blackcurrant ‘Titania’, Blackberry ‘Merton Thornless’, Raspberries ‘Glen Moy’ and ‘Autumn Bliss’ and Strawberries.
These have been chosen for both functionality and beauty.
The Jostaberry is our most unusual choice, it’s a cross between a gooseberry and blackcurrant. It will offer the large fruit of a gooseberry with the taste of a blackcurrant and ease of harvest through thornless spines. We’re looking forward to not only the fruits it will bring in July, but the dainty purple & white flowers in May.
A firm favourite from our customers: The Autumn Bliss Raspberry. We couldn’t resist adding this to our collection. This variety is perfect for smaller areas, it is compact but still offers a heavy crop of berries from August – October. Glen Moy was chosen for being the earliest crop available, so we’ve got raspberries all throughout the season. And it’s spineless too!
We have also planted our strawberries around the edge so that they trail over. We’re looking to create layers of colour and texture for your viewing pleasure.
What’s next?
Katy is keen to get started on our veg planter using the three sisters method. This is where each plant contributes to the crop growth. We’re planning on doing sweetcorn, climbing beans and squash. We may even add in some sunflowers creating a fourth sister, bringing in a pollinator. Our other additions will be peas, beans and garlic that we have growing in our glasshouse for the moment.
Towards the end of March, we started to see life in our pea pots. These will be planted out into our next venture in the coming weeks: the veg container.
Rosemary, Thyme and Chives are on the cards for our herb garden too!
Keep an eye out on our socials to see more.