The Last Courgette Flowers in the Vegetable Garden
The courgettes are madly producing flowers, trying to beat the onset of cold nights. Read More »
Herb - Parsley - HerbDay2007
Parsley (Latin name - Petroselinum crispum) - Annual
Plant Height - 15cm/ 6″
Where to Sow - Indoors in pots 7.5cm/3″ diameter
or sow thinly outside in the garden. Germination of parsley is very slow, so pour boiling water over the seed row to heat it up, or bruise the seed.
Sowing time - February/April - temperature +16C/61F
Read More »
Juicy Apples Full of Flavour.
This year’s apple crop are bursting with juice and full of flavour. The wet season is responsible for the juice, and the last few weeks of sun have helped the flavour.
But the apples are about 20% smaller than normal. This is because of the bad weather at the end of June and in July. The apples are normally growing rapidly at that time, so they were badly affected.
An apple picked from the garden this year will taste better than ever!
Favourite Herb Poll - HerbDay2007
TopVeg have started a Favourite Herb Poll which is in the left hand margin of this web-page. There are ten of the commonest herbs listed, (parsley, chives, bay, rosemary, tarragon, oregano, mint, thyme, basil, sage) so please vote to show which is your favourite.
It would be interesting to know why you have voted for a particular herb. Is it because you like the way it grows, or find it invaluable in the kitchen? Click on the comment link below & let us know.
HerbDay 2007 is on Saturday 13 October, and we are running a series of posts about herbs before then. The Poll will be finalised on that day.
Sage - HerbDay 2007
Common Sage (Latin name - Salvia officinalis) - Perennial
Plant Height - 90cm/3 ft
Where to Sow - Indoors in pots or trays 14cm/6″ diameter
Sowing time - February/April - temperature +16C/61F
How to Sow -
- 2.5cm/1 inch apart
- 6mm/0.25inch deep
- in a soil-based compost, not peat
- water well
- place in sealed polythene bags or cover with glass
- water from beneath keeping compost moist but not too wet.
Nutritional value of Pears
Nutritional value of Pears
- good source of dietary fibre (4 grams in a medium sized pear)
- good source of Vitamin C
- no saturated fat, salt or cholesterol
- a medium sized pear contains about 100 calories
Conference Pear
Conference Pear Latin Name: Pyrus communis
- easy to grow
- upright habit, often seen growing against a wall
- produces a heavy crop of longish khaki-green fruits
- pick early September for long storage, or early October for using fresh
- ripen at room temperature - a soft stem end indicates optimum ripeness
Herb - Basil - Herbday 2007
Basil - Sweet (Latin name - Ocimum basilicum) - Annual
Plant Height - 45cm/ 18″
Where to Sow - Indoors in pots 7.5cm/3″ diameter
Sowing time - March/April - temperature +16C/61F
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Harvesting Maincrop Potatoes.
The maincrop King Edwards are being harvested.
The potatoes are handled gently, not thrown or dropped, so that they will not bruise.
Why Boiled Potatoes Go Mushy.
Different varieties of potato are suitable for different uses. Some are grown for baking, other varieties for boiling etc.. A baking potato will not be a very good boiling potato, and vice-versa.
But, sometimes a ‘boiling’ potato gives poor results, collapsing or ’sloughing’ in the pan, to produce a mush. This is because growing conditions (particularly the nutrition and irrigation) have a greater effect on the cook-ability than variety. Where, when and how the potatoes were grown accounts for about two-thirds of the variation in cooking qualities, with variety only causing one-third of the variation.
The low solids potatoes, the guaranteed stay-whole boilers, probably need more irrigation and higher N applications. Soil should be well fertilised or have a good dressing of farmyard manure before potatoes are sown. Read More »
