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SPRING GREEN NOTES Contents: Growing tomatoes Reducing Plant Disease Problems
What to
Sow Now
DELICIOUS, HOME-GROWN TOMATOES
Growing your own tomatoes and harvesting the sun-warmed
fully ripe fruit is one of the rewards of gardening. Start with seed of a heritage variety, full of flavour. Tomatoes are self-pollinating, so you can have several varieties growing at once and save the seed for the next season. If you live in a warmer area, try the medium-sized, disease-resistant ‘Tropic’. Plant ‘Beefsteak’ for big, tasty tomatoes, excellent for slicing; ‘Cherry Yellow Pear’ is a prolific bearer of mild, sweet fruit. Information on Successful Seed Raising. When it is time to transplant, plant the tomato seedlings deeper, first removing the seed leaves and planting up to the 1st set of true leaves. This deepens the extent of the root area and speeds maturity. Keep the plants growing vigorously and disease at bay with regular applications of Natrakelp seaweed fertiliser or Granulated Kelp. If you suspect fruit fly will be a problem, an effective and easy organic solution is to simply cover the fruit with a PestGuard Bag . Alternatively you could create a fruitfly-free zone within your garden by erecting a frame and covering it with PlantGuard or Vege Net.
DETERMINATE OR INDETERMINATE? Determinate tomatoes are also described as ‘Bush’ types and usually grow between 90 and 120 cm. They usually don’t require staking. Indeterminate tomatoes are also known as ‘Climbing’ types and usually grow between 1.8 - 2.4m. They need staking. Height can be reduced by tying the tomato bush to a stake 1.5m high and then allowing additional growth to just flop over or by pruning.
Once you have achieved a bumper tomato crop, preserving either as chutney, sauce or semi-dried will mean you can enjoy your harvest for many months.
SPICY TOMATO CHUTNEY 2 tablespoons oil (to fry spices) 30 - 40 chillies, finely chopped – very mild ones (or 3-6 Birdseye) 20 cloves garlic, finely chopped 250 g fresh ginger, finely grated or chopped 5 kg tomatoes, peeled and chopped 6 tablespoons ground cumin 2 tablespoons turmeric 2 tablespoons black mustard seeds 4 cups cider or brown vinegar 3 tablespoons salt 3 - 5 onions, chopped 3 cups sugar 2 large green apples (optional) Heat the oil and fry the spices, garlic, ginger and chillies in a large, heavy-based saucepan (not aluminium) until lightly cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer slowly for hours, until the desired consistency is reached. The saucepan should not be more than 2/3 full. Apples are optional, they can be added at the same time as the tomatoes, first peel and finely chop. Stir often. The chutney will start to stick when it is nearly ready. Heat clean jars, standing upright in a baking tray, in a slow oven, without lids, until very hot. Take chutney off the stove and bottle and seal jars immediately. Jars with plastic or plastic lined lids are best for chutney because the vinegar corrodes metal. After sealing, wash down the outside of jars (if sticky) and cool on a towel or tea towel, on a bench top, out of draughts (cold bench tops e.g. granite can crack jars).
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REDUCING PLANT DISEASE PROBLEMS A variety of microorganisms including fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes can cause plant disease. While it is useful to identify the cause of the problem, most organic solutions to tackle diseases are aimed at prevention - by improving the natural balance within the garden. LONG TERM STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DISEASE PROBLEMS The overall design of your garden plays an important part in creating and maintaining ‘garden health’. Make sure that the soil is well drained, that airflow is good and that only plants that like the shade are planted in shady spots. Good plant selection alone can make an enormous difference to the health of the garden. PLANT SELECTION
Selecting the plants most suited to your area, whether
ornamentals, vegetables or fruit trees will reward you with
minimal disease problems. At its most basic, being suitable
means the plant evolved in a climatic zone similar to your
own. So a plant native to the Mediterranean such as a fig or
grape will do best in areas with dry summers. If your area
has wet summers than be prepared for problems with
Mediterranean plants and do your best to select a planting
spot with excellent ventilation and good drainage. If you
live in an area with hot, humid summers then it makes sense
to select plants that have developed in these areas; most
European vegetables have an Asian equivalent that is likely
to be more disease resistant. So try substituting snake
beans for French beans,
Angled Luffa
or New Guinea Bean for zucchini,
Kangkong
or
Ceylon Spinach
for silverbeet and so on. Getting the timing right can also
reduce disease problems; avoid planting vegetables prone to
rust, powdery or downy mildew just prior to periods of
expected high humidity. SOIL HEALTH Plant health is as dependent on the soil, as our own health is on what we eat. Pay attention to feeding the soil and its micro-fauna. Just as many pests are controlled in an organic garden by predatory insects, so can many diseases be controlled by a diverse and abundant soil life. Increase the organic matter by composting, green manuring and mulching. Mulching acts as a barrier and helps restrict the spread of fungal spores from the soil onto the plant. Trace elements are critical to plant health; seaweed is a good way to add these essential nutrients - try Natrakelp or Granulated Kelp. Avoid high nitrogen fertilisers, especially in summer when fungal problems are at their height, as soft new growth is very vulnerable to disease.Golden rule: Stay out of the garden when it is wet. |
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This is definitely the time of year when fruit fly prevention should be on every gardener's mind, especially those who are hoping to harvest delicious fresh fruit and vegetables. Green Harvest believes only an organic solution will do, because contaminating your fresh produce with systemic insecticides seems to defeat the whole purpose of growing your own!
More information on organic fruit fly control… |
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SPRING
CITRUS CARE
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CITRUS KIT
Includes: Eco Oil 500ml Trappit Barrier Glue Grafting / Banding Tape 1 Insectrap
Organic Citrus Care Leaflet
Citrus: A Guide to Organic Management, Propagation, Pruning, Pest Control and Harvesting
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Salad mixes, mesclun, baby
leaf and microgreens are new terms for many gardeners
although they have been available in supermarkets as a
packaged salad item for many years. So what are they and
are they worth growing in the home garden?
For those of you who have to deal with frosted gardens, remember that spraying a seaweed fertiliser such as Natrakelp will help reduce damage to frost-tender plants. Even though frost-burnt foliage is unsightly, resist the desire to cut it off until all danger of frost is past.
SEED STORAGE: The best place to store seed is in a sealed container in your fridge. Seed stored in a hot garden shed or garage that can reach temperatures greater than 40° in summer will simply die. Seed stored open to the air where it can take up moisture will lose viability. The book Seed Production for the Australian Home Vegetable Garden explains the botanical basis and methods of saving seed in the home garden.
Early spring is a good time to plant perennial food plants such as yacon, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, waterchestnuts, ginger, turmeric, galangal and chokos. Potatoes can be planted into well-mulched beds, only use certified seed potatoes to avoid introducing damaging virus diseases to your garden.
In August plant flower seedlings of sweet alice, cosmos, marigolds, phlox, salvia, nasturtiums, snapdragons, verbena and statice. Sow vegetable seed of broccoli, celery, Asian vegetables, cabbage, lettuce, peas, spinach, silverbeet, radish, coriander, beetroot, rocket, turnips and spring onions. Japanese turnips are sweeter than common turnips and very hardy. Plant carrots and parsnips from seed only, root vegetables should not be transplanted. If you haven’t tried Sugar Snap peas, now is your chance!
In September sow vegetable seed or seedlings of silverbeet, lettuce, radish, spring onions, carrot, cabbage, herbs and beetroot. After all danger of frost has passed plant out cucumbers, capsicum, cape gooseberries, eggplant, okra, zucchini, rosella and tomatoes. Soil temperatures need to be around 20° C to germinate seeds of warm season vegetables. To check, see if pumpkin seeds are germinating by themselves from old compost, if so, then the soil is warm enough. Sow larger seeds such as beans, pumpkins, melons and corn directly in the ground. Remember that corn needs to be grown in a block not a row for pollination to be adequate.
Plant flowers to attract beneficial insects for biological control, try our Good Bug Mix.
Plant a green manure crop of Japanese millet and cowpeas in any unoccupied beds to improve the soil for summer planting.
In October plant seed or seedlings for Christmas dinner, especially colourful, open-hearted lettuces like Red Mignonette, butter beans, golden button squash, cherry tomatoes.
Hollandaise
Sauce.
Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Heat to bubbling but do not let brown. Meanwhile, place in blender the other ingredients. Cover the blender, switch to low speed, immediately uncover and pour in the hot butter in a steady stream. When all the butter is incorporated, turn off. If using herbs, add chopped herbs and switch on until combined. If too thick, thin it with a little hot water. GARDEN CALENDAR This information mainly applies to northern NSW and Queensland and other subtropical zones.
SEPTEMBER
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DISCLAIMER: No liability will be accepted by Green Harvest, its owners or employees as to the accuracy of any information. No responsibility will be taken for damage to property or persons due to information given about a product or technique. No responsibility will be taken for the loss of a crop or income due to information given about a product or technique.
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