* Parsley has grown well in this mild winter.
* It benefits from constant clipping.
* Cut off the outer stems.
* Discard any that are not perfect – green and young
parsley-for-cutting
* Wash well under cold water
* Shake dry
* Place in a freezer bag & seal
* Label ‘parsley’
* Put in freezer to freeze
* Crush bag when frozen
* Fine, chopped parsley comes out of the crushed bag.
* Just take the amount required from the bag & place the remainder
back in the freezer.
* Use as a garnish, or in soups, sauces or casseroles – no need to
defrost first.
Freezing parsley is an easy way to get chopped parsley as the frozen parsley is easily crushed to form small pieces.
* The rhubarb is ready to produce shoots.
* Force it up, by creating a dark environment.
* Cover it with a chimneypot, dustbin, or straw.
straw covering rhubarb
forced rhubarb has long, tender, light coloured shoots
* The onion plot has been covered to keep the rain off
* now the sheets are lifted to let the wind blow in & dry the soil
fork&rake
* the soil was raked & lifted to dry it
National Potato Day was celebrated on 28 January 2007.
Garden centers all over the UK celebrated the huge number of varieties
of potatoes grown in this country.
Different varieties suit different purposes – such as:
* baking
* mashing
* chips
* salads
5 a day is good for your health & the environment
Jeff Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming, said:
“These healthier trends in food purchases are promising, but we cannot
be complacent, and must continue to encourage these trends, through
healthy eating initiatives, like the 5 a day programme.
“Consumers must remember that the food choices they make can have a big
difference not only to their health, but to their environment, and our
countryside.”
Frost is forecast, and it looks as though we will have some seriously
cold temperatures in the next few days.
Young seedlings are tender, and vulnerable to the frost. At worst, they
will be killed. Otherwise the frost will damage their cells, slow down
their growth, and reduce their potential. They will not yield so much.
Return on effort is one of our guiding principles – so do not allow the
frost to affect potential yield, & reduce the return on all the effort
put in so far.
Protect the plants by covering them over. Use
* polythene sheets
* horticultural fleece
* or similar light materials.
* in Switzerland they use conifer branches, which are placed over
the plants to produce warm air pockets protected from the frost.
Snowy day, bored gardener, who disappears & returns with bounty!
*
Sharpe’s Express early potatoes
*
red onions
*
white onions
*
shallots
*
garlic
Still rather early for planting, but the benefits of covering the plot
will now be revealed.
The strip has been covered for 8 weeks, so is quite dry and slightly
warmer than the uncovered plot.
The shallots will soon be in.
strong>Carrot fly (latin name – Psila rosae) is a disaster, and it is worth knowing how to avoid it.
The carrot flies lay eggs in cracks of the soil, near carrots & parsnips. The eggs hatch
out into maggots which enter the roots & feed on them. They ruin the crop.
* Carrot flies are not strong fliers, so a windswept site is an
advantage.
* Grow a resistant strain.
* Sow seeds thinly, to avoid having to thin the carrots out, as the
fly is attracted by the smell
* weed & pull carrots on a dry, still evening so the scent of the
carrot does not reach the fly
* use a net to keep the fly off the carrot
net
*use a vertical barrier, at least 70cm high, of fine mesh or
polythene around the crop
Biological pest control involves the release of organisms that attack pests.
The aim of biological control is to shift the balance of competition
between the pest and the crop in favour of the crop and against the pest.
The biological control agent, guinea fowl & lacewings in our case, may
not necessarily kill all the pests but should, at least, reduce their
vigour and competitive ability. From a practical point of view the
organism or agent should prevent the pest reproducing.
Free range Guinea fowl constantly roam the vegetable garden looking for
insects.
winter-guinea
They keep the pests down to an acceptable level, & don’t seem to eat
the vegetables.
guinea2
The Guinea fowl are a problem at sowing time as they like to have dust
baths in dry soil. To get over this we cover the seed rows with various
cloches
cloche
The lacewings prey on aphids and other soft bodied insects. We have a
lacewing breeding box in the veg garden, filled with straw, which will
encourage them to breed.
lacewing
They will be perfectly sited to take all the soft insects off the
vegetables. How they will manage with the guinea fowl remains to be seen
lacewingsite
1. choose site
2. decide what crops to grow
3. plan rotation
4. design site to fit rotation – make strips & walkways
5. prepare soil
remove weeds
dig soil
add compost, sand etc to improve soil structure
add FYM & compost to enrich soil
nb. do not walk on soil – it will compact it, break down structure & reduce drainage (work from walkways)
CHEATS
1. use polytunnels to control moisture levels, increase warmth & keep out pests
2. use netting (wondermesh) to keep out pests ( birds, carrot fly, greenfly, cabbage whites etc)
