Plant courgettes in open soil, on a mound.
Courgettes do well when planted on raised mounds of open, fibrous
material, such as compost, leaf mould or strawy manure dug into the soil
to keep it open.
CourgettePlant-on-hill
September 30, 2009
Plant courgettes in open soil, on a mound.
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September 29, 2009
Incorporating Caliente Mustard into the Soil
The Caliente Mustard sown in July has been chopped up and incorporated into the soil.
The mustard was chopped up with a flail in order to get it into very small pieces. The more it is mashed up the better because it releases more gases.
The chopped up mustard was then incoporated into the soil with a rotovator. It must be mixed into the soil immediatley – the sooner the better. The greenery must be well mixed in to the soil. There needs to be moisture present for the production of gases, so this dry weather is not ideal.
The gases produced by the caliente mustard kill soil borne pests.
- Branston Produce are using the mustard as a biofumigant to reduce potato eelworm populations. Their product ’Fumigro’ – is a hot mustard biofumigant for the control of soil borne diseases relevant to potato growers.
- Harper Adams College are doing some research into the effect of the mustard on eelworms.
The green maure resulting from greenery of the caliente mustard is a second benefit to the soil.
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What sprouts should look like now
New gardeners often ask ‘what sprouts should look like now – after planting but before they are mature?’
In August, brussel sprout plants :
- look much like any other brassicas , but taller & with one stem only.
- have closely spaced leaves, all up the stem
tie-brussel-sprout
- are starting to form tiny sprouts where the leaves join the main stem
- have a rosette of leaves at the top that looks like a loose cabbage
top-of-sprout-stalk
Brussels-sprouts care
Brussels-sprouts will provide vegetables for the winter months and deserve some extra care.
- Pull off any yellow leaves, which will develop at the bottom of the stalk as part of the natural ageing process. Cart them well away.
- Make sure the sprouts are secure on their stakes, to withstand the winter winds.
staking-sprouts
- Be prepared & protect the brussels-sprout plants from pigeons, which appear from no-where when the temperature drops. Pigeons cause havoc in a very short time, so it is better to keep them off from the start.
- Pick the sprouts when they are about 1inch (2-3cm) in diameter. The bottom ones will be ready first. The others will be ready to harvest in stages over the next couple of months.
big-sprouts-below
Brussel sprouts give great rewards for a little care.
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September 28, 2009
Honeoye Strawberries Recover from Pruning.
The Honeoye strawberry plants were pruned at the end of July. and every leaf was cut off each plant.
Today the row of Honeoye strawberries looks a picture of health.
Honeoye-strawberry-regrowt
Fresh, new, green leaves have grown and the strawberry plants look very healthy.
fresh-strawberry-leaves
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September 27, 2009
pickled runner beans
This recipe for pickled runner beans is good for using up the surplus runner beans.
Ingredients:
* 1.5lb runner beans
* 1pint malt vinegar
* 1.5lb granulated sugar
* 1 level teaspoon ground allspice
* pepper
runner-bean-branch
Method
1. String & slice beans
2. Cook in lightly salted boiling water for about 8 mins. & drain.
3. Mix vinegar,sugar, allspice & pepper in pan, & stir over low heat till sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil, simmer for 5 mins.
4. Add drained beans to vinegar mixture & simmer for another 5 mins.
5. Take beans out of vinegar & pack tightly into clean jars. Top up the jars with the vinegar mixture so the beans are completely covered.
6. Cover with vinegar proof lids & label.
7.Store in cool, dark place for a fortnight before eating.
Why Sweetcorn in the Vegetable Garden is Small & Shrivelled?
shrivelled-sweetcorn
Sweetcorn or maize, (Latin name – Zea mays) does not always grow well in vegetable
gardens in the north of the UK.
Sweetcorn should receive at least eight hours of sunlight a day, so it needs a sunny site in the vegetable garden. Cold winds will slow growth, as sweetcorn is originally a sub-tropical plant, and likes to be warm.
The site should be protected from strong winds, as the tall plants are easily blown over.
Sweet corn requires frequent watering to produce full, healthy ears. Once the tassels appear, the sweetcorn needs at least one inch of water per week. It is important that the soil does not dry out between watering, so in a dry period the corn needs more frequent watering. The corn will not be able to fill out if it does not receive sufficient water and, as a result, the seeds will be small and shrivelled.
To grow sweetcorn successfully in the vegetable garden, it must receive sufficient sun, warmth and water.
Click the link for more information on growing sweetcorn in the vegetable garden.
growing sweetcorn in containers
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September 26, 2009
Saving Seed from Open Pollinated Vegetable Varieties.
climbing-french-beans
Saving seed from open pollinated varieties of vegetables in the garden, will produce seeds which will grow into plants like their parents.
Open pollinated (OP) plants are varieties that grow true from seed.
* the seed will produce plants which are almost identical to the parents.
* OP plants are pollinated naturally by wind or insects.
* All heirloom plants are open pollinated.
Plants which are not OP, are hybrid plants.
* Hybrids are the result of crossing two varieties.
* Hybrid plants are different from their parents.
Tomatoes, beans and peas have a lot of open pollinated varieties.
* It is easy to save seed from these varieties.
* Plants grown from these seeds will be true to type (like their parents) producing similar vegetables.
* Open Pollinated Tomato varieties include:’Big Rainbow’, ‘San Marzano’ and ‘Brandywine’.
* Open Pollinated Pea varieties include: ‘Lincoln’, ‘Little Marvel’ and ‘Perfection’
* Open Pollinated Bean varieties include: ‘Kentucky Wonder’, ‘Blue Lake’ and ‘Tendercrop’
Cross pollination occurs in some open pollinated varieties.
There are always exceptions to the rule, and some open pollinated plants will cross pollinate, producing a slightly different offspring. This happens in peppers (which are open pollinated), where sweet peppers will cross with hot peppers in the same greenhouse, giving seeds which are hotter than the original sweet pepper.
Some plants have separate male and female flowers.
Sweetcorn is an example. These flowers often cross pollinate, the females picking up pollen in the wind, from a neighbouring plot of sweetcorn. So the resulting seeds will be slightly different from the parents.
* Cucumbers & courgettes are cross pollinated by insects, so if an exact copy of the parent is required the flower should be covered with muslin or a paper bag, so that insects cannot touch it. Then the flower can be artificially pollinated by transferring the
pollen from a male on the same plant to the female flower with a paint brush or feather. This avoids cross pollination.
It is well worth saving seed from open pollinated vegetables which have performed well in the vegetable garden, as long as the correct procedures for seed collecting
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Saving Seed from Hybrid Vegetables in the Garden.
vine-of-cherry-tomatoes
Saving seed from hybrid vegetables in the garden, will produce seeds which will grow into plants which may be quite different from their parents.
It is a lottery, and always surprising to see what the combination turns out to be. They may have great hybrid vigour, growing strongly and healthily. Some hybrid plants have unusual, but useful, disease resistance. Other hybrids can yield heavily, or not at all!
Plant breeders spend years producing hybrids and looking for beneficial features. This is why hybrid seeds are so expensive. But the plants grown from the hybrid seeds will not produce seeds which are true to type. The seeds borne by hybrid plants will very rarely produce plants similar to the parents.
It is, therefore, not advisable to keep seeds produced from hybrid vegetable plants in the garden, because of the uncertain outcome. It is fine to keep seeds from Heirloom vegetables & other open pollinated varieties.
When saving vegetable seeds from the garden, follow the correct procedures for saving vegetable seeds.
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Renovating Strawberry Plants.
Immediately summer strawberries have finished cropping, the old tops are removed. This involves cutting off all the leaves, new and old, and
removing all plant debris. Care must be taken not to injure the crowns
(the central growing point, just above soil level).
This process of removing the leaves prevents the overwintering of botrytis & other pests and diseases.
strawberry-leaves-off
The photo below shows the row of Honeoye strawberries. They have
stopped producing fruit, so all the tops have been removed.
strawberry-row
