April « 2008 « TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs

April 24, 2008

The Green Gym in the Vegetable Garden

Filed under: Uncategorized — TopVeg @ 11:04 pm

The vegetable garden is a green gym. The garden is a place to ‘work out’
in the open air, whilst doing something constructive.

Physically active people are up to 50% less likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke.

But some gardeners need to socialise, and the BTCV Green Gym is the ideal place.

The BTCV Green Gym ® is a scheme that inspires you to improve your health and the environment at the same time. It offers you the opportunity to ‘work out’ in the open
air through local, practical environmental or gardening work.

The Green Gym are looking for volunteers - and experienced gardeners have a lot to offer.

The vegetable garden provides transferable skills which will be appreciated in the Green Gym.

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April 17, 2008

Asparagus Peas are starting to Emerge

Filed under: pea&beans — Tags: asparagus pea — TopVeg @ 8:35 am

Three of the 35 asparagus peas planted on 5 April started to emerge, after 8 days in the heated propagator.

asparagus-pea-day8

The problem now is keeping these seed leaves healthy whilst waiting for the rest of the peas to germinate.

TopVeg has not grown the asparagus peas before and is our entry for the Growing Challenge.

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April 13, 2008

The end of the parsnip harvest.

Filed under: root veg — Tags: parsnip — TopVeg @ 10:27 am

digging-parsnip-goodfriday

The end of the parsnip harvest has arrived. The last parsnip in the garden
was eaten today, 13 April.

dug-parsnip

The parsnip seeds were sown on 15 May, and the variety was Avonresister. They have yielded very well and provided us with an adequate supply of parsnips for 7 months. The taste and
quality of the parsnips has been good. This year the parsnips were not lifted and put into store, but kept in the ground. This was quite satisfactory because the season has not been too hard.

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April 8, 2008

10 steps to Plant Potato Seed

Filed under: potato — Tags: plant — TopVeg @ 5:32 pm

Potato seed can be planted in ten easy steps, after marking out the plot. Chitted seed is sometimes used.

10 steps to Plant Potato Seed:

1. Early potato seed is planted at a distance of 30cm between the seed

Main crop potato seed is planted at a distance of 40cm between the seed

planting-Maris-Bard

2. the seed is planted in a trench which is 7.5cm deep from the original level surface

plant-MarisBard-2

3. the majority of the chits face up

M-Bard-seed-planted

4. a hole is made in the trench

measure-space-between-seed

5. the seed potato is placed in the hole

make-planting-hole

6. soil is placed over the seed potato

bury-seed

bury-chitted-seed

cover-seed

chitted-seed-in-hole

7. the depth of the seed will be 10cm from the top of the seed potato to the original level surface

depth-of-buried-seed

plant-MarisBard-16

8. this photo shows one planted seed & two more seed potatoes to go

one-in-2-to-go

9. when the potatoes are planted, the trench is left open. It provides a micro-climate for the seed potatoes planted within it.

10. the potato rows are covered to keep them warm, with:

a polythene tunnel

fleece

polythene film.

The eBook ‘How to Grow Potatoes’ gives information on potato growing, including how to feed and protect potatoes from pests and disease. Please complete the comment form if you would like more information about the ebook.

1 Comment »
We have a few weeks left before we can grow potatoes over here. I’m pnderong trying “Mini”, a crop developed for balconies – if only to see if it works.

Comment by Rosengeranium (Indoor Gardener) – April 8, 2008 8:16 am

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April 6, 2008

When is Potato Seed Ready to Plant?

Filed under: potato — Tags: chit, potato, potato seed — TopVeg @ 6:53 pm

Potato seed is always ready to plant – but it should not be planted until the
weather and soil conditions are favourable.
Potato seed is often chitted, so that it has started to grow before it is put in
the ground.

plant-MarisBard-12

The ideal potato chits are dark green and stubby, and will be ready to plant
when the ground & weather conditions are suitable.

plant-MarisBard-6

plant-MarisBard-7

plant-MarisBard-9

In an ideal world the potato seed will be hardened off, by placing it outside
during the day, to get it acclimatised, before planting. But it is often not
possible to do this.
Chitting potato seed gives the seed a good start and means that the new potatoes will be ready to harvest earlier. But the condition of the chit does not dictate when the potato seed is ready to plant. It is the soil & weather conditions in the garden which say when the seed is ready to plant.

Comments »
I’m just about to do mine this week, in bags though as I don’t have enogh
space.
Cheers Mark
Comment by Mark – April 6, 2008 10:29 am
I have my first earlies planted but was wondering when to plant my king
edwards which are chitting at the moment. i am going to consult your excellent
ebook.
Sara from farmingfriends
Comment by farmingfriends – April 6, 2008 8:01 pm
Hi Sara
Main crop potatoes can be planted when your soil is ready. It needs to have
dried out so that it does not stick to your hands when you run them through
it. If the soil is cold and wet, your potatoes are better chitting on the
window sill!
Glad you are finding the eBook useful!
TopVeg

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April 2, 2008

How Potatoes help New Gardens

Filed under: potato — TopVeg @ 8:35 pm

It is often suggested that potatoes are the best vegetable for a new garden.

* Weeds will be reduced because:

Potatoes produce a mass of leaves which compete with all the weeds

The dense canopy of *potato* leaves shade all low growing weeds

* Soil structure will be improved by the mass of *potato* roots
growing through the earth and drawing water up.

Potatoes are strong plants, and if they are fed well, the potatoes will
grow vigorously, making it difficult for weeds to develop and at the
same time, improving the soil.

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