Not my work, this is all the domain of my
wife Sally.
Lifting the show Potatoes
This bag of Winston potatoes were lifted after 11
weeks of growth. You can see the bumps at the
side of the bag, an indication that we have
potatoes but what size and condition will
they be.
This looks promising, lots of potatoes and
quite shapely. I had to take my time
teasing them out. Normally I would cut off
the haulms and then leave the bags for
three days to allow the skins to harden.
As this is a test bag I needed to assess
the growth of the potatoes.
The ideal size for show are specimens in the 6 to
8 oz range. The skins are very tender so I need
to handle them very carefully.
And this is what I am looking for. A well
proportioned potato and of the ideal weight, a
shade under 7oz.
In all I had 6.5 lbs of potatoes in the bag.
The best have been retained for show.
They keep very well if stored in a box of
dry sphagnum moss peat. The day before
the show they will be cleaned under cold running water using a soft cloth. Then wrapped in a
double layer of kitchen paper towel to exclude the light and to protect them during transport to
the show.
As you can see the size of the potatoes is quite variable. The largest was 9oz and the
smallest were of marble size. As quite a few were around the optimum size I have decided to
cut the haulms off the Winston’s after 11 weeks and 5 days of growth.
Of course this will not apply to all the varieties I am growing. Each variety will be assessed on
a day by day basis before cutting the haulms and lifting. Some varieties especially the early
main crops will take 15 or 16 weeks to come up to size. In all cases a test bag is taken up to
check on development. There is no point in guessing when they are ready.
Even so, it takes judgment and a little bit of luck to time the lifting date to perfection.
I am always looking for ways to make
gardening cost effective.
I bought this basil plant at a reduced price
from the local supermarket. This is the
quick and easy way to provide yourself with
extra herbs for the kitchen.
First of all the plant is stood in water for ten
minutes, supermarkets are notorious for not
looking after their plants properly. Then knock
the plant out of the pot and with a sharp knife
divide into four. Cut off an inch of the root ball
and pot up into 1 litre pots. In fact the same
size that the original basil plant occupied. Any
decent potting compost will
do.
Pinch out the tops and the
plant will grow away
strongly and become quite
bushy. The pinched out
tops can be used up in
cooking or even frozen until
required. In a few days one
of the pots of basil can be
placed on a saucer of water
on the kitchen windowsill
for easy use.
This works equally well for
most soft stemmed herbs.
Fennel, parsley, coriander,
dill and many others.
It’s also an excellent way of producing herbs for your local plant sale and saves months of
tedious growing and potting on. It also cuts out a lot of the expense.
It may not look very pretty but at least this herb garden is close to the kitchen. No reason for
the cook to neglect the inclusion of fresh herbs into a dish.
In the kitchen garden the last of the De
Monica broad beans have been
harvested and shucked ready for
freezer. This is one of the few
vegetables that actually taste almost as
good after freezing.
In the kitchen garden the row of ‘Charlotte’ early
potatoes have been lifted and the ground
prepared for the next crop which is ‘Cornel’
cauliflowers.
I treated the soil to 4oz of Vitax Q4 per yard run and each planting hole had a good handful of
Dolomite lime. This will raise the pH and
discourage early formation of club root.
Even though I don’t have club root in the
kitchen garden it is always a practice I
always adhere to.
The cauliflowers were raised in pots and
planted out when they had made a good
size. Don’t skimp on the planting distance
between each cauli, mine are set out 2’
apart. Then they are given a good watering
and a sprinkle of slug pellets.
The last job is to pop a net over the hoops and
make sure it is secure to the ground. If you
leave a single gap the cabbage white butterfly
will surely find it.
Growing for continuous year round crops means paying attention to regular sowings. As I
often mention when giving talks, a good gardener should be able to pick some form of
brassica all year round. Here I have calabrese, cabbage and broccoli. Since this picture was
taken all of these have been potted on to
await ground becoming vacant on the
allotment.
In the cucumber house we are picking
‘Carmen’. These took less than 12 weeks
from sowing to producing a continuous supply of fruits.
A few weeks ago I took cuttings from the side shoots and set them away in a jar of water. I
now have more plants than I can cope with. In another week or so I shall strike a few more
cuttings to give me a continuous supply of
cucumbers right up to the first frosts of
winter.
With my first big show just a couple of
weeks away it will shortly be time to select
some young fruits to train into the ideal
shape. The top leader will be trained along
the wire so that the fruits hang free. I shall
select fruits 2” long 10 days from the show.
All other cucumbers will be removed. If any
of the young fruits have a bend in them
they are gently straightened at mid day
when they are pliable between finger and
thumb. It is very important to keep the
humidity high and the plants well-watered. Give a couple of dilute high nitrogen feeds on the
run up to the show. And remember when it comes to cutting the fruits don’t handle them with
bare hands. Hold them with a sheet of newspaper and do try and retain the flower. If one
cucumber is up to a good size it can be cut and wrapped in cling film. Stored in the crisper
section of the fridge it will keep perfectly for several days. That allows other cues to catch up
and match it for size.
The runner beans grown for their seed are doing well. Even though this bean is 18” long it is
still in good condition. I will only select specimens that have a minimum of seven beans in
them and that they conform to the shape
I want. So that means no narrow swan
necks or beans they show waisting.
That’s when they develop a narrowing in
the length of the bean.
That’s it for now
I will try to fit in another article before the
New Forest Show.
John Trim