Gardeners' Weekly

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Arch said:
Bizarrely, found flowers on my strawberries last week.... I need to sort the patch out, they are getting on for 4 years old, so I apparently probably need to get the old ones out and replace with runners. I think the runners have already rooted. Will it hurt if I just hoik the whole lot out and then put the newer ones back? I could do with really weeding the patch intensively (couch grass...:biggrin:)

Couch grass, eh? I'd take out some runners, pot them up, spray the whole patch with glyphosate, turn it in when dead, and plant a new strawberry patch elsewhere. Four years is long enough on one patch. I might also get some new plants too.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Cab said:
Couch grass, eh? I'd take out some runners, pot them up, spray the whole patch with glyphosate, turn it in when dead, and plant a new strawberry patch elsewhere. Four years is long enough on one patch. I might also get some new plants too.

Yeah, I suppose moving them might be a good idea. The whole plot is prone to couch grass, but I've been glyphosating bits of it, so I should be able to pioneer a new bit. Could I use the strawb patch for the raspberries perhaps, once clear, or is it better to let it rest?
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Arch said:
Yeah, I suppose moving them might be a good idea. The whole plot is prone to couch grass, but I've been glyphosating bits of it, so I should be able to pioneer a new bit. Could I use the strawb patch for the raspberries perhaps, once clear, or is it better to let it rest?

Errm... I can't immediately see any reason why not. I should think that it'll want to be opened up rather, if its had the same crop in for four years and been stepped on to harvest berries, you'll want to get it good and dug over, you'll want to get some muck or compost into it, then I can't see why it shouldn't do for rasps.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Cab said:
Errm... I can't immediately see any reason why not. I should think that it'll want to be opened up rather, if its had the same crop in for four years and been stepped on to harvest berries, you'll want to get it good and dug over, you'll want to get some muck or compost into it, then I can't see why it shouldn't do for rasps.

It's not been stepped on much, it's small enough that I could harvest from the edges. And had new straw down each year, so it'll have had some nutrients. Sounds like a good plan then.... I must get round to getting some more free muck from my friend with the ponies...
 
OP
OP
Fnaar

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
While we're on the subject, can anyone point me in the direction of an online "what to plant, when" type online info-thingies? I found a rather basic pdf, which worryingly mentioned neither broad beans nor garlic for october palnting....(both of which I'd love to grow, and would happily eat as much as I could get).
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Fnaar said:
While we're on the subject, can anyone point me in the direction of an online "what to plant, when" type online info-thingies? I found a rather basic pdf, which worryingly mentioned neither broad beans nor garlic for october palnting....(both of which I'd love to grow, and would happily eat as much as I could get).

Month by month guide (treat it as guidance rather than rules of course!) here:

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Growing_Food/

The PDF would have missed broad beans and garlic probably because it'll be telling you to get them in during November.
 
U

User482

Guest
Lots of good advice here. I grew enough salad & veg to feed 2 omnivores from May through to now this year - in a couple of small patches probably no more than 3m2 in total. As I was growing so intensively, I double-dug the whole patch, incorporating barrow loads of manure. Only problem is that pests spread very easily with the plants so close together. I've been plagued with blackfly, caterpillars & snails.

If anyone is growing leeks, I advice you to check them for leek moth. A farmer friend warned me about these, and upon checking mine yesterday, I found they were infested. Only solution is to pick them off by hand.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Arch said:
It's not been stepped on much, it's small enough that I could harvest from the edges. And had new straw down each year, so it'll have had some nutrients. Sounds like a good plan then.... I must get round to getting some more free muck from my friend with the ponies...

If you had a baby elephant, it would be ideal for providing mulch around the asparagus bed.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
User482 said:
If anyone is growing leeks, I advice you to check them for leek moth. A farmer friend warned me about these, and upon checking mine yesterday, I found they were infested. Only solution is to pick them off by hand.

I've never seen such a creature. I'll have a look, thank you! What are they like?

Oh, as for keeping the bugs off salad, yeah, it is a problem. Have you tried good old fashioned soapy water spray?
 
U

User482

Guest
Cab said:
I've never seen such a creature. I'll have a look, thank you! What are they like?

Oh, as for keeping the bugs off salad, yeah, it is a problem. Have you tried good old fashioned soapy water spray?

They look like a type of caterpillar. See here http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0805/leek_moth.asp


I've been using an organic insecticide, which proved to be worse than useless. Main problem is that ants were farming the blackfly on my runner & french beans. I may just go back to soapy water as you suggest. Derris proved very effective on the caterpillars, and is borderline organic.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
User482 said:
They look like a type of caterpillar. See here http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0805/leek_moth.asp

Interesting... Thank you. Nothing like that on my leeks, at least I haven't seen any damage, but I'll have a closer look. Got three batches of leeks, the first ones almost ready to start eating, the others are later varieties to see me through till next summer, it would be a shame to lose them! :biggrin:

I've been using an organic insecticide, which proved to be worse than useless. Main problem is that ants were farming the blackfly on my runner & french beans. I may just go back to soapy water as you suggest. Derris proved very effective on the caterpillars, and is borderline organic.

Ahh, yes, organic insecticide sprays... Well, they have their uses, but often as not you're better off with soapy water, depending on what you're up against.

I really would reccomend that your best bet with broad beans is to pinch out the tops at first sigh of attack, if not earlier (when the first beans start to form). You'll get a smaller crop for sure, but you'll get an earlier one too, and you're really going to cut down on the amount of losses due to pesky blackfly. Over wintering crops of broad beans suffer less too.

As for ants/aphids on French beans, thats a complete arse to solve. The only worse ant-attack I've encountered has been when the ants decided to start farming aphids on my leaf beet last year. Thats almost the only time I would resort to a chemical insecticide, I'd go for a single application of a systemic insecticide spray. Derris has its uses, but I'd question whether it has any clear advantages in such a situation.

I find that I get a lot less problems with pests on dwarf French beans than on climbers. I've no idea why that is though.
 
OP
OP
Fnaar

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
Okey doke
been thinking about what I'd like to grow, and here's an initial list. Plot id roughly 10ft x 15ft (might persuade Mrs to let me take more of garden if this works out...)
Have rhubarb and herbs already.

Broad beans
Broccoli (calbrese)
Carrots
Caulis
Courgettes (though plants might take up too much space)
Runner beans
Onions or shallots
garlic
Leeks
Parsnips
Sweetcorn
Lettuce
Beetroot
Rocket
fennel
 
U

User482

Guest
Fnaar said:
Okey doke
been thinking about what I'd like to grow, and here's an initial list. Plot id roughly 10ft x 15ft (might persuade Mrs to let me take more of garden if this works out...)
Have rhubarb and herbs already.

Broad beans
Broccoli (calbrese)
Carrots
Caulis
Courgettes (though plants might take up too much space)
Runner beans
Onions or shallots
garlic
Leeks
Parsnips
Sweetcorn
Lettuce
Beetroot
Rocket
fennel

That's a lot for such a small plot. Also, rhubarb is very space hungry. I would suggest that you concentrate on a) expensive to buy crops and :biggrin: stuff that tastes much better when home grown.

You could extend your space by growing lettuce in grow-bags, and runner beans against a fence.

Cut and come again crops are brilliant for avoiding gluts of a particular crop. Also stuff that can be blanched and frozen like runner beans. Onion & garlic store well. I leave them hanging up on strings in the shed, until I need them.

Carrots grow much better in a light soil - I dug a trench and poured in a load of sand to lighten my clay soil up. Look up procedures for avoiding carrot fly.

Garlic is very easy to grow and takes up minimal space.

Think about when your veg will crop, so that you can re-use the space for something else within the same growing season.

Caulis are supposed to be tricky to grow, but I've never tried myself.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Thats a nice list. Easy enough to cut up into groups as well. Not a selection for classic crop rotation, but nice nonetheless...

Fnaar said:
Broad beans
Runner beans
Sweetcorn
Courgettes (though plants might take up too much space)

These guys all want a rich soil. Dig in plenty of muck, and remember that they're going to give you a lovely, rich spot for next year. Add a fertiliser like growmore or blood fish and bone a week before sowing too.

If you're going for one crop of broad beans, just sow Aquadulce claudia. You can spread your harvest with a second sowing in, say, February or March.

Loads of varieties of runner beans, they're all pretty good. Currently I favour one called, 'painted lady'.

Sweetcorn... Now, you can make good use of your sweetcorn space (which you need to grow in blocks rather than rows!) by planting squashes around the outside and trailing them in amongst the sweetcorn. Last year I had great success with pumkin 'small sugar' in amongst the sweetcorn. Butternut squashes grow in nearly the same way.

There are so many courgette varieties... I currently rekon that 'parthenon f1' is the most reliable, gives you a crop even in bad weather, but 'green bush' is the usual favourite in a smaller space.

Broccoli (calbrese)
Caulis
Lettuce
Rocket

This isn't a normal selection I've picked out here, but in your rotation it works out fine. Manure the ground in Spring if you can, and I'd have this selection following the first lot above. You might want to check on the soil pH if you can, you want a neutral to basic soil for brassicas. I've included lettuce and rocket in here becuse although they're not fussy in the slightest, they fit in best here, although you can keep sowing them wherever theres a gap and they will thrive.

As for varieties... I don't have a good grasp on different varieties of caulis, I find them all difficult, and although I thought I was good at calabrese it all went pear shaped this year and I got hardly any :biggrin: I would reccomend broadening things out and having some early purple sprouting broccoli too, as thats at its best in early Spring when you're crying out for greens, and if you can bring yourself to plant some kale too you'll have green stuff all winter (an Italian one called 'cavolo nero' is nicest I think).

Lettuce... See here:
http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Growing_Food/The_almost_complete_guide_to_growing_lettuce/


Onions or shallots
garlic
Leeks
fennel

This is what you'd call 'other' and it fits in next. Okay, fennel is technically in the same family as carrots and parsnips, but it wants a richer soil. Only manure lightly, and this is your next rotation. Add a fertiliser like blood fish and bone or growmore too. For onions, garlic and shallots its worth adding something fairly high nitrogen as a mulch later on, so I usually pick up the bags of used coffee from starbucks.

Fennel is fussy, the others are easy. Fennel is best sown late, mine goes in as late as July and is then watered in very well, although next year I'm experimenting with a really early sowing too. Mid spring sowings tend to run to seed.


Parsnips
Carrots
Beetroot

Good old roots section :biggrin: Last rotation, give it some growmore, no manure at all.

Carrots - I've listed some varieties already, but check out the main crop varieties like 'autumn king' too, they sit in the soil all winter, which is handy. I also like 'danvers half long', 'early nantes', 'chantenay', and many others. I've got a thing for different carrot varieties!

For fun, try one of the multi-coloured variety packs you can get from many of the big companies now. You get white, purple, orange, yellow... Look great on the plate.

For parsnips, theres a lot to be said for the classics; 'tender and true' and 'the student' are good.

Beetroot... Would like a slightly richer soil, but it'll do fine in this rotation. The classic varieties ('detroit globe', 'boltardy') are good, but check out some of the others too. I adore 'chioggia', which is red and white striped when cut through, and some of the yellow and white varieties are fun too. Monogerm varieties (with one plant per seed rather than four) are easier (so varieties like 'moneta'), but not as nice. Take your pick. While you're growing beetroot, I can't reccomend swiss chard (almost the same plant but you eat the leaves and stems) highly enough. Try 'bright lights', a mix of many of the better coloured varieties. Then you can pick out the ones you like and concentrate on those in future years.

If you've got space left in this roation, do try salsify or scorzonera. Much underrated vegetables.
 
Top Bottom