Kiwi Phil
Commander
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 2,182
Spring is coming so lets work out what we are going to do. Work in decayed manure and compost and blood and bone, to get the soil pulsating with life.<br /><br />This is just a brief outline of suggestions.<br /><br />For those vegies that can't be grown by sowing seed directly in ground, check what a punnet of seedlings is worth in the Nursery or Garden Centre/Hardware shop.<br />Then go to your local Flea Market and see if seedlings are being sold there, what their standard and price is like. At our Market, one family specialises in seedlings, and you get 12 for $1.20. They are good quality and cheap, and they bring 2x 3 ton trucks full.<br /> <br />Sweet corn. (seed)<br />Sow seed, then when they are up, thin the seedlings to about half a metre apart, and expect to get from an area of about 4 square metres, some 60 or 70 magnificent cobs.<br /><br />Cabbage.Cauliflower.Lettuce etc.(seedlings)<br />If you can't raise them from seed in an open punnet yourself, then best you buy the seedlings.<br />All are susceptible to snails/slugs/caterpillars etc.<br />When planting out, if it is hot, then ensure they are sheltered from sun until the stand up and start growing.<br />If appropriate to your climate, you can get a 2lts milk/drink plastic container. Cut off top and bottom so you have a 4-6" high sleeve. Plant the seedling, then put this over seedling and push into ground for protection. If it is hot then be careful the seedling doesn't "cook" inside. Put slug/snail pellets around outside. (watch the dogs, they will eat these pellets, and it can kill them). When they are away, remove the sleeve. Another hint, if snails climb the plastic sleeve, put some cooking oil on a rag and wipe the outside of the sleeve.<br /><br /><br />Carrots. (seed)<br /> Mix the seed with sand ( this assists in sprinkling the seed into the 'row' )-and plant by drawing a line through the soil with the end of a handle (rake) and sprinkling along. They are quick and easy to plant and you dont need to backfill. <br /><br />Parsnips.(seed)<br /> throw any old packets of seed away, and always plant fresh seed. <br /><br /> Turnips (seed)<br />Easy to plant and wont want backfilling. <br /><br /><br />Beetroot, (seed or seedling)<br />'Bolt Hardy' are available already spaced out and attached to tape. Just bury one end of the tape, so its nice and firm, stretch it out in the row groove, and backfill. Its dead easy and it means the seed will come up evenly spaced. <br /><br />Beans(seed)<br />One of the most economic sources of good food in the veggie patch is climbing beans. The reason why is because they take up so little room. <br />These few tricks will help you grow them and get the most marvellous crops.<br />Now, let's make it quite clear about beans. They don't take very much out of the ground. In fact they put stuff into it. They enrich the soil with nitrogen. It means that when you have grown beans you can plant all these leafy massive and hungry plants like cabbages and lettuces and they thrive. <br /><br /><br />Climbing beans need a climbing frame. Make this from garden stakes. Just tie them together to make a couple of quick tripods, and ram this into the ground. Use a couple of extra stakes, to brace them, and these can be tied together, stretchy ties can be used to bind them together. <br /><br />it's also a great time to plant chillies<br /><br />Pumpkin.(seed)<br />They are a nice big seed. Make a hole with the handle of your rake, and drop the seed in.<br />Always knock on a pumpkin before you pick it because if it's got a hollow sound, this means it's ready. Ripe pumpkins, believe it or not, will keep for up to a year as long as the stalk is kept on and they're stored on their sides. When they produce lots and lots of fruit dont hesitate to pinch the growing tips out because it forces out side shoots and those side shoots bear female flowers. That means more pumpkins. Here's a little tip. When you see pumpkins invading your sweet corn patch, don't be dismayed. Remember, these are companion plants. Sweet corn when they are forming a cob cannot get enough water. <br /><br /><br />Garlic(bulb)<br />You can buy garlic from the local shop, which should be perfectly good to plant. Breaking off a clove, and plant making sure the little hard bit at the bottom goes in the ground first, push it in and cover with soil. <br /><br />Leeks(seedling)<br />When you buy leeks in a punnet there are lots of them. Shake/wash off the soil, make holes in the soil and drop one leek in at a time, don't backfill, just water and this washes in some soil so you get lovely white shanks and the most marvellous yields. A punnet of leek plants will feed the average family for weeks<br /><br />English spinach.(seed)<br />Make a ridge in the heavily manured soil, which has been sweetened with Dolomite. Spinach needs perfect drainage Make a little groove in the top of the soil, and sprinkles the seed onto it. Cover the seeds with soil, and water. They will be up soon, and remarkably, even if they freeze solid as seedlings, they still thaw out, and grow into a magnificent crop of the most beautiful vegetable of all - smooth English spinach. <br /><br />Tomatoes(seedling)<br />If you can't raise your own seed, then buy seedlings.<br />Cherry Tomatoes (little ones) come in basically 2 sizes.<br />Very small ones, the size of a thumb nail<br />or slightly larger, the size of a golf ball.<br />Both are good to grow, as they do not suffer from the same complaints as the large table tomatoes (no caterpillars, fungus/diseases etc. They are normally very hardy.<br />The large tomatoes do come with problems. <br />Sweet bite is a medium sized one, and forms a perfect truss of fruit like a fish skeleton.<br />Everybody should learn to grow them, as they can be used with most meals.<br /><br />A big healthy tomato plant is one that has big and fairly coarse leaves. <br /><br /><br />Giant Japanese radishes (seed)<br />They're so tender and crispy and delicious and quite mild, and they're so easy to grow <br /><br />Pak Choi. (seedling)<br />at around five weeks old, you can just cut them off at the ground and eat them while they are lovely and crisp and fresh. <br /><br />The final one is the smaller Japanese turnips. In a few minutes you can plant enough to eat for a family for month after month. <br /><br />Just remember dont walk on them once they have been planted.<br /><br />Always water everything 'in".<br /><br /><br />Mulching vegetable gardens: <br />One rule for the vegetable garden is never mulch onions as the bulbs need to swell and ripen in the sun. Virtually all other vegetables love mulch but never use pine bark or wood chips because you are constantly digging the vegetable patch and these mulches should not be dug into the soil. Pea straw makes an excellent mulch that will be taken into the soil by the worms and will enrich the soil. Barley straw is just as good as pea straw and will suppress the weeds, hold in the moisture and keep the soil cool in the summer.<br /><br />If you mix mushroom compost with old sheep manure you get a magnificent feeding mulch that can be placed over pea or barley straw. Water in the feeding mulch with a liquid fertiliser of seaweed concentrate and water. This will further enrich the soil and create a super feeding mulch that the plants will thrive on. <br /><br />Whatever you do, never forget to feed your garden and your plants. I have discussed the importance of this several times before. Plants are just like you. If I feed you nothing but water, you wouldn't look too good at the end of the week, and you certainly wouldn't be perform to your maximum. Plants are no different.<br /><br />Sure I have missed some items. Let me know if you need any more info.<br /><br />Cheers<br />Phillip