Asparagus is best know in its green variety in the UK but can also be white, purple or multicoloured.
fresh-asparagus green
White asparagus is the norm in Switzerland.
White asparagus grows when it is deprived of light. Dirt is kept mounded around the emerging stalk, keeping it in the dark. The plant cannot produce chlorophyll without light, thus there is no green colour to the stalks. The stalks grow very fat, and do not have a tough bit at the end.
Compared to green asparagus, white asparagus is considered to be:
- slightly milder in flavour
- a bit more tender
All varieties and colours of asparagus may be used interchangeably in recipes
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potato-leavesThe vegetable gardener should inspect the potato leaves daily to look for potato blight.
Potatoes are growing very quickly in the warm damp weather. These warm, damp conditions are the ideal environment for potato blight.
Early potatoes are relatively safe because they can be eaten before the potato blight does any damage.
Keeping an eye open for potato blight keeps the gardener in control, so regular inspections of the potatoes are wise.
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The only way to tell if new potatoes are ready to dig is to have a look. It is possible to gently remove the soil from the side of the ridge, to have a look at the new tubers. If this is done carefully, the soil can be replaced without disturbing the potatoes, if they do not look big enough. They will keep growing, as long as they have not been broken off the white underground stem (stolon).
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Fungicides are classified by their mobility around the plant, & are contact, translaminar or systemic fungicides.
How appropriate the mobility of the fungicide is will depend on:
- the stage of development of the vegetables
- how much leaf shading prevents a good spray coverage throughout the canopy
Fungicide mobility is defined as:
- contact – contact fungicides are not taken up into the plant tissue, & only protect the plant where the spray is deposited
- translaminar – translaminar fungicides redistribute the fungicide from the upper, sprayed leaf surface to the lower, unsprayed surface
- systemic – systemic fungicides are taken up & redistributed through the xylem vessels to the upper parts of the plant. New leaf growth is protected for a short period.
When choosing a fungicide, such as a potato blight spray, it is important to understand which type of chemical is best for the situation, and weather.
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A herb trough is attractive and productive, producing an abundance of herbs for the kitchen.
herb-trough
A herb trough:
* can be any size, to suit the space available.
* can be made from any container, as long as it has drainage holes.
* must be watered regularly in the summer.
The herb trough in the picture contains:
* chives
* thyme
* marjoram
* borage
* mint
Each herb has an abundance of flowers, which attract the bees. All these
herbs have over-wintered well in the herb trough.
Click here to find out more about the eBook called “How to Grow Culinary Herbs.” which has been written be FarmingFriends & TopVeg.
The ebook is on sale now and explains how to plant a herb garden or grow your own herbs for cooking.
What is a Tomato Truss?
The bunch of yellow tomato flowers is called a truss.
2-trusses-on-tomato
They will wither and drop off, leaving a little green tomatoes behind, and the truss is said to be set.
tomato-truss
Wool Shoddy is a byproduct of the wool textile industry.
Shoddy used to be used by farmers to add organic matter to the soil. In the 1950s, the brussell sprout fields of Bedfordshire were cheered up with the different coloured wools making up the shoddy which was put on the sprout land.
The advantages of using wool shoddy in the vegetable garden are:
* slow release fertiliser
* completely biodegradable
* rich organic source of nitrogen
* other elements beneficial to
* plant development
* slug deterrent
Wool shoddy makes an ideal mulch which acts as a:
* weed suppression
* soil moisture retention
* soil structure improver
Beneficial results from the use of wool mulch have been achieved in a range of trials on vegetables.
Greater top growth on wool mulched broad beans gave a heavier crop yield, showing that even nitrogen fixing legumes can benefit from an application of nitrogen rich pellets.
In a root crop – beetroot – using wool pellets allows earlier cropping. On the trial site wool mulched plants produced mature roots of harvestable size earlier than without by weeks.
Shoddy can be used in pellet form, where the pellets:
* act as a self felting mulch
* absorb and retain moisture; ideal to mix with soils and composts
* cut down evaporation; major reduction in watering costs
* help suppress weeds
* bio-degrade over 6 to 14 months, releasing organic nutrients
* are ideal as a water retainer and soil improver
* are natural mulch and soil conditioners
* protect soil
* are ideal for vegetable beds, container pots and hanging baskets
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Wool based compost is being sold by a UK farmer in The Lakes.
The unique properties of sheep’s wool make it ideal for compost. Sheep’s wool compost:
- retains moisture
- acts as a slow release fertiliser
- provides nitrogen
- is 100% natural
- sustainable
- has low carbon footprint
Lakeland gold is a sheep’s wool compost made on a small hill farm in the Lake District.
Wool based compost is ideal for use in hanging baskets and containers as it retains moisture and slowly releases the fertiliser.
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Cockchafer or ‘Maybug’ (/Melolontha melolontha/)
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Chafer Bug larvae can cause devastating damage to young vegetable plants. Chafer Grub larvae are white grubs with a brown head, and distinct pairs of legs at the front end.
The Chafer Grub are 2cm beetles which hatch into flying adults in
mid-May. The adult beetle is a night-flier and often comes crashing into
lighted windows on warm evenings in early summer, making a buzzing
sound. Chafer Grub adults lay eggs in June which turn into more Chafer
Grubs in July to eat roots until October. Then Chafer Grubs dig deeper
into the soil to over winter until May before Chafer Grub surface to
fly, mate and lay eggs. Chafer grubs may feed below ground for 3-4 years
before changing into adult beetles.
Adult chafers eat the leaves and flowers of many plants, but rarely cause any serious damage in the UK.
The fat, white grubs (reaching 40-45 mm long when full grown) live in the soil and feed on plant roots, especially lawns, and are occasional pests in vegetable gardens.
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