The strawberry variety Flamenco is ideal for gardeners who are short of space, or use containers, as it produces lots of sweet, juicy strawberries over a long period.
Sue has asked us to make it clear that “well rotted manure” and “farmyard manure” should be used with caution because of the recent problems with herbicides containing aminopyralid. Manure resulting from plants sprayed with these herbicides, (even if the plants have been made into hay or silage & then eaten by horses or other animals who make the manure), has had detrimental effects on some potatoes and other growing vegetables.
It explains how the contaminated manure affected their allotments in 2008 & 2009. The site details how the manure chain can become contaminated and points out that it is almost impossible to know if the manure is contaminated, unless you can truly trace its history back from farmer to farmer, and obtain all the spray details.
Dow Chemicals have launched the Manure Matters website. Dow say “Manure, from horses or farm livestock, is a wonderful soil conditioner and natural fertiliser, and we do not want gardeners and allotment holders to be afraid of using it. This is why we have created the manurematters website – to provide guidance and advice for its future use.”
Sue advises: “If you have a pile of contaminated manure contact the Manure Matters website as Dow will arrange to have it removed.”
Sue says: “In the Uk we have had problems caused by using manure containing an hormonal herbicide so always take care when obtaining manure.”
soil does not have to be trodden on – allowing a perfectly structured soil
beds at least 1 m high keep pests away – carrot flies cannot fly higher than 0.7metres
beds are easy to cover with plastic to warm up the soil before planting
beds are easy to cover with enviromesh to keep the bugs, butterflies & other pests off
beds are easy to cover with netting to keep birds off
vegetables are planted close together, and so cover the ground, which means that less weeds will grow. This reduces competition for veg and means less weeding
Gone are the days when a cabbage or cauliflower lasts a family a week – sections of the head being cut off and cooked each day. Now a baby or mini veg will provide a mature cabbage or cauliflower which is small enough to be eaten by one or two people in one sitting. If the household is larger, the baby mini veg provide the opportunity to present a selection of fresh vegetables, by using several different mini veg for one meal.
Gone are the days when a cabbage or cauliflower lasts a week – with sections being cut off and cooked each day. Now these vegetables have varieties which will mature quickly and produce a very small specimen, just large enough for one or two people to eat in one meal. Or, their compact size means that they can be mixed with other mini veg to provide a selection of fresh veg for one meal.
So many vegetables can be grown on the patio, balcony or window box.
Very little space is needed to produce a regular supply of fresh, healthy salad leaves, and one courgette plant will produce plenty of fruit, without causing a glut.
We have a friend who lives in a fourth floor flat, with a small west facing balcony, who grows tomatoes, salad leaves, courgettes and french beans.
A great variety of vegetables can be grown in containers, but it is important to select a small or mini-variety.
radish-growing-in-pot
Examples of vegetables which can be grown on a patio or window box are:
Click this link to buy this patio vegetable collection for £9.99 which is also suitable for a balcony or window box. Click this link to buy this book about growing vegetables in containers:
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