Episode 637 Building an Edible Fence & Planning a Home-Grown Christmas Dinner
The Veg Grower PodcastShow Notes
This week on the Veg Grower Podcast, I’ve been making the most of a rare bright December day down on the allotment, starting a long-planned project that should completely change how the plot looks in years to come.
Back at home, I’ve also been tackling a problem area in the kitchen garden and, with Christmas just around the corner, I’m sharing exactly what’s going to be on our home-grown Christmas dinner table.
Down on the Allotment
It’s been a surprisingly productive December day down on the allotment, with sunshine, dry spells and plenty of motivation. One of my regular winter jobs is keeping the grass trimmed — it makes a huge difference to how the plot looks, even when very little is growing.
The main focus this week, though, has been starting a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time: training apple trees to form an edible fence. Along the roadside edge of the plot, I’ve cleared an underused area, removed old pots and revealed beautifully clean soil beneath the weed-suppressing membrane.
I planted a new apple tree and set three sturdy posts with supporting wires. This tree is being trained as a Belgian fence (espalier style), with horizontal arms running left and right at different levels. It’s a bold thing to do — you have to be confident with the pruning — but it creates a productive and incredibly attractive feature.
The posts went in deep (no concrete allowed on allotments), and I even uncovered an old lump of buried concrete that explained why a nearby apple tree had always leaned. Everything is now straight, mulched with compost and straw, and ready to grow.
I also reused compost that had been rotting down over an old elder tree stump. This compost-bin-over-the-stump trick is one I’ve used many times — it slowly rots the roots away and feeds the soil at the same time. The stump isn’t quite ready to come out yet, but another year should do it.
Back in the Kitchen Garden
At home, I’ve been sorting out a boundary bed between the kitchen garden and the patio. The old wooden trellis had finally given up, leaning badly and relying on blackberries and tayberries to stay upright.
The plants were cut back hard, the rotten structure removed, and the area mulched with compost. It does mean less fruit next year, but sometimes a reset is exactly what’s needed. I’m now rethinking how best to create privacy here — possibly taking inspiration from the grapevine on the arch nearby, which has performed brilliantly.
Christmas Dinner – Grown, Not Bought
With Christmas almost here, I’ve been doing final checks on the vegetables — and I’m pleased to say we’re fully stocked. This year’s home-grown Christmas dinner includes:
Roast potatoes (King Edward) with garlic and rosemary
Roast parsnips with maple syrup
Brussels sprouts lightly boiled, then fried with crispy bacon
Honey-roasted carrots
Red cabbage with apple, spices and redcurrant sauce (made ahead)
Cheesy leeks, prepared on Christmas Eve and baked on the day
It’s simple food, cooked well, and made extra special because it’s been grown at home.
More from The Veg Grower Podcast
I can cope with working in the cold. Working in the rain is another matter. With plenty of showers this week, I’ve found myself moving more of my gardening under cover — and growing food indoors has become the thread running through this episode.There are young plants filling the shed, cold frames back in position in front of the greenhouse and clear benches at the allotment where the tomato plants used to be. Inside the house, the kitchen windowsill and growing shelves are part of the picture too.It might be the middle of October, but I’m not putting the garden away. I’m making room for what comes next.
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The end of September can look like the garden is winding down, but this week it felt more like a fresh beginning. Moist weather brought a burst of growth to the kitchen garden, the allotment continued to provide generous harvests, and autumn sowings offered the promise of food through winter.
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