Grant Douglas's Garden Diary

Week 5: first week of February

Its a very busy time of year. Summer crops need to be maintained to get the best from them (watered, fed and free of weeds) while Winter crops need to be sown or planted and nursed through to the Winter.

Had quite a lot of damage recently for me in a beetroot sowing from Greasy Cut Worm (great name). It's a nasty, that lives under the ground, comes up during the night and nips your seedlings off at ground level, and slowly moves along the row.

The best control is to go out the following morning and dig around the most recently decapitated plant and you will probably find the grub not far below the surface. It can vary in size from 3mm up to 10mm. Then destroy it digitally (between thumb and forefinger - just not close to your face or it might get you in the eye). If you can't find them, as a last resort, try dusting the plants with Derris Dust - very effective, but remember it is quite toxic to humans and so avoid breathing the dust.

Harvesting is an important part of gardening and there is lots of it going on at the moment (our house is pleasantly full of the smell of beetroot and vinegar). Things like Watermelon can be difficult to know when they are ripe and there is nothing more frustrating than growing the crop, picking it, cutting it open and finding it is not ready.

To judge the ripeness of Watermelons, the small tendril which is in the axis of the melon stem and the main stem of the plant should be completely dried off. The underside of the Melon, where it touches the ground, should be bright yellow and when you tap the Melon it should make a thud, rather than a ping. Rock-melons will fall away from their stalk when they are fully ripe.

The ripeness of Sweetcorn can be judged by the swelling of the top of the cob so that you have a shoulder, rather than a point, and the tassles should be completely dried off. Of course you can peel back the sheath a little bit, but I would not recommend it too often as this will allow insects, birds, etc to get at the unripe cobs.

Somebody has asked about green manuring. Green manuring is growing a crop on vacant ground which is done to protect the soil from weather, reduce weed growth and provide organic matter which can be turned under to improve the soil. If you want a quick cover crop (to turn under soon) I would recommend mustard. Mustard is a brassica so remember to fit it in with your normal rotation. If you're planning on putting in a crop now to last until mid winter, or early spring, then lupins is a good one. Lupins require warmth to grow, so are not ideal as an autumn-early winter sown crop. Lupins will not only provide organic matter but will also fix nitrogren, so are ideal before a nitrogen hungry crop such as sweet corn, or leafy greens.

A cover crop which I prefer for later sowing that grows well during the winter is a mixture of Oats and Italian Rye Grass. The oats give a good amount of top leaf bulk, while the rye grass provides a large amount of fibrous root material. Remember to be generous with the sowing of these, as the birds are bound to get some of the seed. Broadcast the seed and then rake to cover.

If you haven't already cut the tops out of your outside tomatoes, do it now, as anything that flowers after this time will probably not come ripe before the end of the season, so this puts all the plants energy into the existing crop. (You can do the same for pumpkins, etc)

Sowing or Planting this week:

Basil (for later greenhouse production)
Beans - I did one final sowing of Runner Beans in bags in the Greenhouse this weekend
Beetroot (urgent to get these in)
Brocoflower
Brussel Sprouts - plants only
Cabbage (Winter - I use Wintercross)
Cauliflower (Frieda - Summer variety, Snowmarch - Winter variety (5 Mths). Sowing these two varieties at the same time will give a good succession.
Celery
Celeriac
Kale
Leeks - plants only
Lettuce - Loose-leaf Fancy and Hearting (Webbs or Greatlakes)
Parsley
Silverbeet and Perpetual Spinach
Spring Onions
Sprouting Broccoli
Tomatoes/Cucumber - a late planting in the Greenhouse for Autumn harvest (plants only)

Sow Direct:

Carrots - main crop varieties (probably getting too late for most people for Winter use)
Corn Salad
Corriander/Dill
Mescalin Mix
Rocket
Radish

[ Return ]