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The end of the asparagus season

TopVeg — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:23:45 +0000

The end of the asparagus season has come – so summer should be better advanced than it is turning out to be – is this climate change?

plump-spear-asparagus

Stop harvesting asparagus in mid-June to allow the plant to build up its energy for next year – that is why it is the end of the asparagus season.

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Potato Blight has been spotted in the UK

TopVeg — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:04:45 +0000

Potato Blight has been spotted in the UK this season.

Kerry has written in saying: hi my first crop of potato plants seem to have potato blight (i am only guessing from descriptions that i have read on various sites) i was wondering if any potatoes produced from this crop can be eaten? the potatoes that i have got seem to be ok in appearance but obviously wanted to check first
thanks in advance of your replies
kerry

TopVeg has replied:

Potato Blight is easy to spot because the leaf of the potato plant is either dead or green. At the division between the dead & green bits, on the underside of the leaf, you will be able to see the white fungus of blight. This fungus will move across the underside of the leaf until all the leaf is dead.

potato-blight

There should not be any blight in the potato tubers this early in the season and they will be quite safe to eat.

Getting blight in potatoes early in the season is soul destroying, particularly if they are main crop potatoes, which have not yet produced large tubers. As the season progresses, blight is likely to affect the tubers, and then they will not store properly for the winter. In future it is worth treating the potato leaves with a protective spray against potato blight. These sprays are gentle and safe. There is no other way of preventing blight. Some potato varieties are more susceptible than others to the disease.

blight-on-leaf-tips

Blight is a wet weather disease. Blight can come into the potatoes quickly, particularly in wet weather. Once in the crop it is difficult to stop and will only slow down if it is exceptionally dry weather and low-humidity. This link gives more information about the conditions leading to potato blight.

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How to Cook Spinach with Pine Nuts

TopVeg — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:36:28 +0000

This recipe tells you how to cook spinach with pine nuts.
It only takes 10 minutes and serves 8 people.
Method:

taost 4 tablespoons pine nuts in a dry frying pan until golden brown
toss the pine nuts in 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, & tip on a cold plate
wash 600g of spinach
tip the spinach into a large pan with a pinch of salt & cover with a lid
cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring once or twice until wilted
drain the spinach, then quickly stir in 4 tablespoons of olive oil
season with salt & pepper
serve & scatter toasted pine nuts over the surface

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Runner Beans

TopVeg — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:43:37 +0000

Runner beans form long, flat pods which have to be eaten when young.
Picking every other day is essential to ensure a continual supply. They stop producing flowers if any beans are not picked. Runner beans are a highly productive vegetable and the flowers are decorative.

branch-runner-beans

Stick beans is another name for runner beans because they climb up sticks or poles.

The poles should be 80cm x 80cm apart.
Hazel is the preferred pole, but they are hard to get hold of. It is possible to buy plastic poles, or bamboo canes can be used. These must be firmly supported, as the foliage becomes very heavy, and strong winds will blow them over. The usual method is to have a double line of
inwardly facing and crossed poles with a horizontal holding bar tied along the ridge. Wigwams are becoming more popular, with a cone of poles tied at the top into a wigwam shape.
Sow 2-3 seeds per pole or cane, when the danger of frost has passed.

Runner beans require a well-dug fertile soil with good drainage.

Varieties

    * *Painted Lady – long beans, red&white flowers, high yields
    * *Desiree – long, stringless pods . White flowers, heavy cropper, good flavour
    * *Enorma – excellent cropper with slender beans
    * *Scarlet Emperor – very long beans, delicious and tender

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Growing Winter Radish

TopVeg — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:01:25 +0000

Winter radish are more challenging in the kitchen than summer radish, although they are easy to grow. The roots are large , up to 30cm long, and can weigh a kilogram. Winter radish are used in salads, for pickles and as a hot vegetable.

Sow in July or early August.

Seed

    * **Germination time – 4-7 days*
    * **Yield from a 3 meter row – 5 kg*
    * **Time between sowing & harvesting* – 10 to 12 weeks*
    * **Sowing depth – 1.25cm*
    * **Spacing in row – 2.5cm*
    * **Distance between rows – 22cm*

Soil
Winter radish grow best in a fertile, well drained soil. The radish will grow almost anywhere, but it is worth preparing the soil well to give a good seed bed to insure a good crop.

Crop Care

    * **Thin *to leave the plants 5cm apart
    * **Protect* the radish from birds & flea beetle. If beetles start to perforate the leaves spray with Derris
    * **Hoe between rows to remove weeds
    * **Water when the soil becomes dry

Harvesting
*Pull when required, but cover the crowns with straw or peat. The roots may be left in the soil until Novenber, when the winter radish should be lifted and stored like carrots.*

Varieties**

    * *China Rose – oval roots*
    * *Black Spanish Round – large, black skinned globe*
    * *Black Spanish Long – Long, tapered, black skinned root*
    * *Mino Early – milder flavour, cylindrical roots*

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How Many Potatoes Does One Seed Potato Produce?

TopVeg — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:06:23 +0000

early-potatoes

It is useful to know how many potatoes will be produced by one seed potato when calculating how many seed potatoes to plant in the vegetable garden.

The number of potatoes produced by each seed potato varies according to:

variety
number of chits
apical dominance
planting distance
early or maincrop
growing conditions etc…

Potatoes-King-Edward

The new potatoes, in the photo below, all came from one root.

new-potatoes

Any number of new potatoes, from 2 – 10, can be produced from one seed potato. But most vegetable gardeners would expect at least 6 and preferably 8 -10 new potatoes from each seed tuber planted in the vegetable garden!

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How Many Seed Potatoes to Buy?

TopVeg — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:55:45 +0000

How Many Seed Potatoes to Buy?

new-potatoes-lifted

When calculating how many Seed Potatoes to buy, gardeners have to know what space is available in the vegetable garden for growing the potatoes.

Potatoes are grown from ’seed’ potatoes, which are small, immature potatoes or tubers.

Seed potatoes are sold ‘loose’ in old fashioned hardware shops and garden centers, but it is more common to find them in small, sealed packets.

To work out how many potatoes to buy, decide where the potatoes will be planted and measure the length of the rows available.

Early Potatoes are planted:

30cm (12in) apart from each other
in rows 60 cm (2ft) apart

So if the row is 6ft long, you will need 6 potatoes (remember that if there are only 5 seed potatoes in the packet you can divide the largest potato into 2).

space-potatoes

Main-crop potatoes are planted:

35cm (15in) apart
in rows 75cm (2ft 6in) apart

If possible, rows should run from North to South so each plant gets it’s full share of sun.

maincrop-potato-row

Growing potatoes takes up a lot of space in the kitchen garden, and if space is at a premium, early potatoes take precedence over main crop, because:

earlies are more valuable than main-crop
homegrown early potatoes have more flavour than others
early potatoes are expensive to buy.

The first steps for growing potatoes are:

Plan how many potatoes to grow, and whether to grow earlies and/or maincrop
Choose the potato varieties you want to grow
Prepare the soil in the vegetable garden
Buy the seed potatoes & look for certified seed
Chit the potatoes
Plant the potatoes

It is easy to calculate how many seed potatoes to buy when you consider what space is available in the vegetable garden for growing the potatoes. Remember that unblemished, clean, certified seed potatoes are worth the investment!

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Planting early potatoes

TopVeg — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:03:21 +0000

Couldn’t wait any longer. The polytunnel has kept the soil dry. The seed
potatoes have strong, stubby, green chits. So, I planted 6 Sharpes
Express & 6 Maris Bard today. I figured that if they do get caught by a
cold frost, I have still got some more chitting on the window-sill.

* planting depth 10cm

making-shallow-trench

* cover the potato with soil

cover-seed-potato

* planting distance in row 30cm

space-potatoes in row

* distance between rows 60cm

potato-rows-60cm-apart

Early potatoes are planted closer together than main crop, because we
harvest them when they are smaller.

Early potatoes should be ready for digging in 10-12 weeks!!

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