The RHS is trialling several varieties of Sweet Potato. They have picked a wet, sunless season so far but as the plants will be harvested during October there is time for a good spurt of hot weather (I am an ever hopeful optimistic gardener).

Normally these plants are difficult to grow successfully in Britain but for those who are a bit adventurous you may want to try this crop next year. If so follow the results of the RHS trials.

• Grow from cuttings or slips (young shoots) forced into growth be heat in a damp sandy compost
• Plant out in June they are spreading vine like plants related to Morning Glory and root along the nodes
• The black polythene acts as a heat absorber and offers protection
• The mounds can be filled with straw and soil mixed
• Avoid frost but allow the longest growing time possible.
• Harvest in early October or wait for half the crop until the end of the month
• Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, is a tender, warm-weather vegetable that requires a long frost-free growing season to mature large, useful roots.

Mulching is the covering of bare soil with a mulch. Mulch can be organic or inorganic and its purpose is to conserve moisture in the soil, suppress weeds and protect the roots of new plants. The right material will cut down on maintenance with less weeding and watering.

Choose a mulch that appeals to you and don’t be worried about experimenting.

Inorganic Options

• Shells are an idea if you aren’t trying to grow acid loving plants.
• Ground glass and rubber chippings are also now available
• Gravel and grit can be acquired in various size grades depending on the location and the requirement. Finer grit can be used on the top of outdoor pots but for a larger area or around larger speciems a bigger chipping is more appropriate
• Slate can give a texture and feeling to a mulched area that transcends the basic purpose and harmonises with the greens in the plants
• Coloured chippings are now available in reds, golds and greys as a result of the base stone used. select a colour that you can live with and that complements the garden
• Pebbles or round rocks or slabs mat also be appropriate

Organic mulches

• The good old stand by garden compost is one of the favourites that also adds some nutrition
• Straw was an old substitute but is less attractive although semi composted ‘Strulch’ is available as a proprietary product.
• Coconut coir and husks may be used but pets may eat it
• Pine needles and different sized of bark are now available. Chose a bark that fits the planting scheme

If you do not want to use chemical sprays on your vegetables and plants how will you protect your crops.

Organic Tips

• Well you could try mix your own but test them on single plants first, monitoring effects for a couple of days.

• Several recipes are available but I use a very weak solution of Comfrey water as a foliar feed. I put a good bunch of leaves in an old water butt for a fortnight then dilute the liquid to a weak tea colour.

• For insect infestation try a stew brewed from rhubarb leaves and a bit of vegetable oil. Crush the leaves then poor boiling water over it and let is soak for a day or two then drain off and dilute to look like weak tea and spray of water it on after adding the oil to help it stick to the plants.
• Recommended for Roses is a pyrethrum base home made from Chrysanthemum cinerariefolium or Dalmatian chrysanthemums. They are safe to use on vegetables and they are safe to eat after 24 hours. (Do wash them).
• The soil association will allow farmers to use copper compounds on potatoes and sulphur isn’t totally banned.

Types of Sprayer

Read the rest of this entry »

Add fresh broad beans to a mixed salad for a special crunchy treat. It is a saying in our family that ‘broad beans make a salad’. They also make a fine vegetable or addition to a soup (Brown Windsor).

• The trick with broad beans is to pick them and eat them young. By the time the part of the bean attaching it to the pod goes black the bean is old, the sugar has gone starchy and the bean is chewy and the kids won’t want to eat them.
• Pick them whilst the bean is still growing and they will be sweet and tender with soft skins.
• Sow varieties like Green Windsor or the short podded organic Witkiem Manita (new to me) for flavour
• Eat ‘pods and all’ from varieties The Sutton and Stereo as you would mangetout
• White and green seeded varieties differ little in flavour but I have a preference for the green ones as the others remind me of school butterbeans (which were really lima beans).
• Heirloom varieties include Bunyards Exhibition, Masterpiece Green Longpod, The Sutton and Aquadulce Claudia.
• Black fly can be a problem at the tip of the plant so if you are organic pinch it out tops at the first sign.
• Tall varieties will need some string support between canes at the end of rows
• Late sowings in August can produce tender green tops for a stir fry

Longpod beans were fed to horses and were the origin of frisky horses being ‘full of beans”

Green manure is a crop specifically grown to create organic matter to be composted on dug into the soil.

Green manures can involve

• buckwheat,
• mustart,
• phacelia
• fenugrek
• ryegrass
• Comfrey

How To Sow Green Manure

Sow direcly into the soil in autumn, early or late spring. Some quick growing crops can be sown as late as June or even early July When the plants have reached a certain height they can be simply dug into the soil.

Advantages of Green Manures

• They provide soil cover, making weeding less intensive.
• Help add organic matter to soil; this improvement will help boost fertlity and the water retention qualities of the soil.
• Makes excellent use of a plot of land that is not going to be used for a year.
• A crop of buckwheat can be ready to dig into the soil in just 6 weeks.

Some Tips for Encouraging wildlife into your garden:

Stack of Logs.

If you make a small stack of logs and cones, you will provide shelter for a variety of small creatures such as frogs, insects and small mammals. The stack of logs can be attractive in its own right and helps to build up an eco system in the garden.

Nesting boxes.

Choose a variety of nesting boxes for birds and also insects. One of the most useful creatures in the garden is the hoverfly. Former BBC gardeners world presenter, Geoff Hamilton, used to provide nesting boxes especially for hoverflies and ladybird, he even used to harden off the nesting spaces.

Water.

A pond with easy access from the side will be much appreciated by birds, hedgehogs and frogs. Make sure it is easy to access from the sides. In summer keep the pond topped up; this can be very important during very dry periods, when many water sources may dry up.

Read the rest of this entry »