Father picked up article on the German porches (8)
I believe the answer is:
verandas
'porches' is the definition.
(veranda is a kind of porch)
'father picked up article on the german' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'rev' (I've seen this in other clues).
'picked up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the german' becomes 'das' ('the' in German).
'rev' written backwards gives 'ver'.
'ver'+'an'+'das'='VERANDAS'
(Other definitions for verandas that I've seen before include "Large open porches" , "Porches outside buildings" , "Porches alongside buildings" .)