Archive for June, 2004

Jobs for the month (June 2004)

June 1st, 2004

  1. Earth up your potatoes otherwise some tubers will show through the ground, become green and therefore spoilt.  Green potatoes are poisonous.
  2. Remember that all parts of the potato except the tuber are poisonous, (same family as deadly nightshade), so warn your children.  The flowers set into seed pods that resemble small green tomatoes.  Incidentally not all potatoes flower.
  3. After a spell of hot humid days look out for potato blight.  You may need to spray with Dithane.
  4. Nice to see lots of sweet corn planted on site.  This is a trouble free crop.  The pollination is done by wind, not insects, so plant fairly close in rows or blocks.  The male flower appears first from the centre top of the plant and is followed by the female flower which appears as a silky tassle from the central stem below.  The pollen grains have to fall and stick to the tassle to produce a well filled cob of corn. There is corn on site which will grow to three times the height of sweetcorn.  This does not denote a plotholder with a secret feeding ingredient!  This is African maize.  No need for jealousy!  It’s completely tasteless.  Apologies to Joram for my lack of appreciation!
  5. Lots of runner bean beans have appeared with a variety of supports.  Everyone has their own method and the September winds will make the final assessment of architectural strength.
  6. Runner beans can be unreliable croppers, so why not have some climbing French beans as well?  These never fail to produce heavy crops and are less susceptible to black fly.  Cobra (pencil shaped pods) and Hunter (flat pods) are good and there are purple and gold varieties as well.  Of course they taste different to runners, but are still delicious.  Those who like bending grow the dwarf variety.
  7. When beans are carrying a heavy crop, they need plenty of water.  A sprinkling will not do.  You need to soak the roots.  You also need to keep the pods picked young as the plant will use a lot of energy producing large tough beans that no one wants to chew.
  8. Carrots, beetroot, parsnips and spring onions will need to be kept clear of weeds.  Best to do it with a pointed knife while they’re small.  If you want to keep carrots free of carrot fly maggots, you’ll need to cover them with fleece.  Some plotholders plant marigolds among the rows to hide the carrot smell and confuse the flies.  Does it work?  Parsnips should be thinned out to at least four inches apart.
  9. Brussel sprouts should be planted out by now.  Chairman Paul is the champion sprout grower.  He recommends the variety Icarus, which seems to like our soil.  It is also an advantage to have a father-in-law who brings the seedlings on in his greenhouse.
  10. All sorts of brassicas (cabbage family) are appearing on site now with a variety of pigeon protection devices – netting, humming lines, rotating Compact Discs and cardboard cats with bright eyes.  Even so – rare to see a starving pigeon.  Ours are particularly fat!
  11. Those who planted overwintering onions last Autumn are happy now to see the bulbs swelling at the base.  These are particularly sweet and succulent onions.  They have a tendency to ‘bolt’.  A large stalk with pointed seed pod appears through the centre of the foliage.  This becomes tough and inedible but is easily discarded when the onion is prepared for eating.
  12. Plotholders with polytunnells are planting out peppers, capsicums, aubergines and tomatoes.  Is there any point in giving advice for just one pollytunneller?  No!  But we all wish him good luck and all of us at the lower end will be in to inspect during rain showers.

If you’d like to contribute to this column, need help, or would like to have a plot plan with your neighbour’s names, or would like to be introduced to others on site please use the WASHA email.

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