EASY ORGANIC SHALLOTS
Hello, am interested in the easiest possible planting for this time of year. My neighbour advises shallots, and my wife is excited as she likes to cook with them. Is it too late, and do you have any advice?
Gareth, Plymouth, UK
I should say not, Gareth, in fact you might even be a bit early. But maybe this weekend we in southern UK will even get a sunny day this weekend for you to get started. You can pick up some shallots from the store to use as seed, much like garlic. I was given some starters of the “Saffron” variety, from our friends in Holland, and they produced gorgeous shallots that we carmelised with olive oil and sea salt… then, on top of fettucine, a pat of butter and some cherry tomatoes, it was a delicious treat. So let’s get you going!
The already grown shallots from the store or market should work fine and start a cycle for you, which will make buying the plants or the seeds a thing of the past. They will want much the same conditions as your garlic, except use the entire bulb for planting. Pop them in about 2 inches down in crumbly soil, and they will need 5 or 6 inches of growing room. Once springtime comes and you have some greenery, you can hill the soil around your plant.
Each planted shallot will divide and grow into a cluster of up to eight shallots. My Dutch friends say that “if you want large shallots, plant small shallots, and it your tastes run towards little ones, that’s what you’ll get from planting large shallots”. Sounds odd but Edwin swears it is true!
Storing shallots is so easy. Lift them carefully and allow them to dry for two days, assuming you’ve harvesting on a rare sunny day, then put them in a net bag in a cool, dry airy place. Gareth, your wife will have to wait til spring is turning to summer (in most parts of the UK) before she starts planning the menu. if you do your job well, try my suggestion above for the simplest of summer meals.
Arabella May Biddle
a postscript… I might not always have the answers, but I love to hear from you, dear Reader. I’d especially like to hear from our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, where your gardens are coming to life again. Why not post your questions for all to see at our Facebook page? Look for “Easy Guide To Organic Gardening”, and why not Like us, too?
CLEMATIS FOR THE SPRING
Is it too late for Clematis? Well, dear readers, I believe we are at what some would call the “do or die” stage. Planting in Zones 6 and 7 (dare I add 8?) can, and should, commence without haste! If you have clematis waiting around, they may not fare well in pots over the winter.
Remember to dig both deep, and wide, 18inches/45 cm, and since it might be too late to plant an ‘apron’ of a few ground cover plants in front, cover the ground with wood chips, or maybe a few stones.
My favourite type of clematis is the pink asao. I have trained mine up the garden trellis, planting it on the northern side so the roots will stay cool – heads in the sun, roots in the shade! It is now over 4 foot tall, so get going on yours this weekend.
You can find my complete list of Cheap Lazy Top Ten Clematis on page 59 of my book The Cheap Lazy Gardener.
Love the Life You Life
Arabella May Biddle
Get-Well Zinnias
My poor little daughter has been home sick from school, recovering from a nasty case of the flu. Don’t you love it when people you know, when hearing of a person suffering from such an illness, instantly say, “yes, there is something going around, isn’t there?” Well if that was ever true, it certainly wasn’t on this occasion. My unfortunate five year old battled this one alone, and just Friday was back on her feet and had some of her colour back.
We had made plans to do some planting this weekend, but I had to change it up just a little. See, part of the fun of digging in the dirt with my daughter is the lessons it teaches her, and one of the most important is patience. We almost always plant with seeds, knowing that not all of them will germinate, and that we will have to wait for the wonderful payoff that is the push of green seedlings.
This time, however, I just didn’t have the heart to make her completely play the waiting game. And, after a week of caring for a sick five year old and her not-100%-baby brother, our home needed some brightness. I went to the garden centre for both seeds and seedlings of one of my favourite flowers, the zinnia.
Originally from Mexico, zinnias have become an annual favorite for gardeners wanting to spruce up their gardens with color. Zinnias are in the same family as daisies and are easy to grow from seed or container plants and once they take hold, require very little maintenance – perfect for a five year old!
So this weekend we took some standard-issue clay pots (with drain holes) and got started. Here’s how you can do the same:
• Zinnias require a little room, so doubt overcrowd your seeds or seedlings. Space each plant six to ten inches apart. And is your container big enough? Zinnias can grow over three feet tall. For inside planting, do like we did and choose profusion zinnias, which should reach about 12 inches tall, and wide. Remember the width of the plant if using a windowbox!
• Fill the container two-thirds of the way full, with a light potting mix that contains organic matter and peat moss, allowing for proper drainage. Though tolerant to many soil types, zinnias will not live if planted in a potting medium that remains soggy when watered. Either way – don’t over water!
• If using seedlings, did you choose different colours? Let your little gardening assistant choose which colour will go where. Arrange appropriately and put the taller plants in the center, the shorter plants to its sides. If you are using seeds, have your child place three seeds in rows approximately four inches apart.
Zinnia Seedlings
• Dig a small hole into the container that is large enough for the plants root ball to fit into it. Repeat this step for the remaining plants going into the container. Fill in the remainder of the container with potting mix. Let your helper gently press down to firm the soil up around the base of the plants.
• Water the container until it flows out of the drain hole in the bottom. Test the soil by sticking your finger into it. If it feels dry to the touch, give the container water.
• Situate the container in an area that receives full sunlight or partial sun. You might have to move the container in the afternoon, if you can. Zinnias grow best in warm locations that receive sunshine. Make sure the zinnias receive at least 4 hours of sunlight each day.
• Pinch off any under-performing buds, and you should be rewarded with cheerful blooms in 8 weeks.
Francesca Weston Biddle
Gardeners Calendar – October 2011
October 12, South Carolina, USA
Lecture: Grandmother’s Garden
The program, “Grandmother’s Garden,” will be conducted by Mack Fleming, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Christ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 4981 Chapel Road, Hollywood, SC
http://tinyurl.com/679nppo
October 12, Georgia, USA
Planting Fruit Trees 101
Join Robbie Astrove (of the Concrete Jungle) and learn about the basics of fruit trees in the Southern US. from 7:00 pm – 9:00pm. $10 Garden members, $15 nonmembers. Oakhurst Community Garden, 435 Oakview Road Decatur, GA
www.oakhurstgarden.org
October 13, South Carolina, USA
Learning: Preparing Your Pond for Winter
Join instructor Chris Deer of Tideline Aquatics to learn the steps to take and products to use. Participants are encouraged to bring photos of their ponds to share. Advance registration and payment are required. 10-11 a.m. Oct. 13. Charleston Horticultural Society, 46 Windermere Blvd.$10 for members, $15 for nonmembers.
www.charlestonhorticulturalsociety.org
October 14, Victoria, BC
Lecture: Green Walls, Roofs, and Rain Gardens
The Victoria Hardy Plant Group presents the Elizabeth England Lecture at 7:00 pm at the Salvation Army Citadel, 4030 Douglas St. (just north off McKenzie). Speaker Sean Hogan, co-owner of Cistus Nursery in Portland, Oregon, has lectured extensively in North America and Europe. Tickets $15.
www.gardenwiseonline.ca
October 15&16, Sussex, UK
Apple Festival
Live music, dancing, a cider bar, hot food, fun and feasting in celebration of English apples, from 10am to 5pm. Firle, Lewes, East Sussex. £12 for one day, £20 for both days, no charge for under 12′s. No dogs permitted except assistance dogs.
www.middlefarm.com
October 15&16, Washington, USA
Botanical Shamanism: Reconnecting with the Sacredness of Plants
Explore the shamanic perspective of plant medicines for the body. Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA
www.bastyr.edu/continuinged
October 15&16, New South Wales, Australia
Sarcochilus Orchid Show 2011
Blue Mountains & Penrith Districts Orchid Society Inc will be holding their Sarcochilus Orchid Show, Sat 9am – 5pm & Sun 16th 9am – 4pm at the Girl Guides’ Hall Cnr. Gt. Western Hwy & Nepean St Emu Plains NSW. Admission $2, concession $1
October 15, Linbro Park, South Africa
Roses: a Tour
View and learn about roses. 8am-1pm. Ludwig’s Roses Egoli, London Rd, Linbro Park. Cost: R230, includes mid-morning tea and lunch. Bookings essential.
petrisia@ludwigsroses.co.za
October 22, New South Wales, Australia
Fourth Fuchsia Fair
Hundreds of nursery quality named Fuchsia plants for sale. Exhibition of Members’ plants Teas/ lunches/ available/ inspection of house and garden. Advice from members. Starts at 10am. Entry to house, garden and Fair $5′Tarella’ 99 Blaxland Rd. Wentworth Falls
www.fuchsiacluvbnsw.com.au
October 22&23, New South Wales, Australia
South Australian Iris Society Annual Show
Conducted by the Iris Society of Australia, Sat 11am – 5pm Sun 10am-4pm at the Goodwood Community Centre 32 – 34 Rosa St Goodwood.
08 8388 7713 for further information
October 23, Johannesburg, South Africa
Guided Nature Walk
Join a springtime guided nature walk. 8:30am. Park at Marks Park Sports Club, Judith Rd, Emmarentia. Cost: R30 per adult & R10 per child.
www.mk.org.za
November 4, Vancouver, BC
Workshop: Using Colour in Winter Containers
Nanoose Garden Club Meeting at Nanoose Library Centre, Nanoose Bay is hosting a ‘Winter Containers’ Demonstration and Workshop at 1:15 p.m. Learn how to brighten up a lacklustre entrance to your home or garden with materials collected from your summer and fall pruning chores. Guests welcome.
pammccready@shaw.ca
More letters to the Organic Postbag
Of Cabbages and Corn Husks – We Dip Into the Mail Bag
Question for your blog: It looks as if I have been infested with cabbage rootfly maggots. The only good thing is that this is contained to three large planters. Can I use that soil again for next year, or should I bin it?
Timothy, Devon, UK
Yes and no – yes, you can use the composted soil again, but not for cabbage. The cabbage rootfly will only attack the roots of plants of the cabbage family. They lay their eggs in the soil and the pupae overwinter in the soil and will be hungry for next spring’s plants. Try a new container, and try to protect those with a cabbage root fly mat, and introduce French or broad beans to help protect the roots. Other pests this time of year: Onion flies, slugs, cutworms, wireworms and carrot flies will also try to spend the winter with you. Dig the soil up once or twice in winter to expose some of them to the weather and birds.
Hi Arabella, what do I do with all of my leftover corn husks?
Andrea, a Brit living in Normandy
I’m a bit lazy and I try burying mine – out of sight, out of mind. Well, almost. They need to be six inches under, and in smaller pieces, so it’s not as easy as letting them lie and rot. Get the mower and run them over a few times – as long as they are dry! A mower or a woodchipper will not respond well to wet chewy stalks. You can also compost them, but corn stalks take a very long time to breakdown. If you have a large pile or can start a new, exclusive pile, go ahead, but you will have those stalks composting for years!
Best solution – call a local school and see if they would like the use of the stalks for crafts. My great-niece made a doll from some of my corn stalks and some ribbons, well at least I think that’s what it is supposed to be.
What do you think readers – did I get it right? Please email your suggestions and questions to us via Twitter @Toporganicguru or via email at support@easyguidetoorganicgardening.com
Green Manure
September is the month to sow green manures. Novice gardeners might think they need to head down to a local farm and kindly ask the farmer if he has fed the cows lately, but this is not exactly what green manures are. Green manures are cover crops that become part of the soil– plants grown off-season and tilled in to improve the structure and nutrient content of your garden. It can be mixed in with the waste-products of Bessie if you like.
The first benefit is that the green manure will hold onto soil fertility that would otherwise be washed out by the winter rains. Secondly, they will prevent weed growth so you will have less work to do, and we applaud anything that gives us a little time off!
They also help improve the soil structure. In the spring you just need to dig over and allow them to rot down for a few weeks.
Green manures are usually dug into the soil when the plants are still young, before they produce any crop and often before they flower. Choose a manure that suits your part of the world, but not something closely related to the crop you plan on sowing next. Fast growing and leafy green manures are often preferred as they provide more nutrients when dug in.
Some to try are guar, also known as cluster bean, hairy vetch, also known as winter vetch, Hungarian grazing rye, and butterfly pea.
All of these should increase organic matter and available nitrogen in your soil and give your earthworms something to do over the long winter.
Love the life you live,
Arabella
Potato – The Problem Child
We take for granted the simple potato, and if you have been buying them from the local market or grocery store for your entire life, you might think they arrive in bushels from a magic place (Denmark? Ireland?) and never start off as chunks of seed potatoes with potential to rot. In fact, rot and bugs and under the ground catastrophe never come into your mind as you smell the earthy goodness of a fresh potato or as you liberally salt and butter the delicious potato on your plate.
In comparison with some other vegetables, there are so many things that can go wrong with a simple potato.
Blight
The most famous of potato diseases, and there are two types, early and late. Early blight is caused by the fungus Alternaria solani, primarily affects leaves and stems, and is not quite as bad as its friend, late blight. You certainly don’t want either! Symptoms of early blight are dark blotches on the leaves that seem to spread out in concentric rings. The plants look thin and yellow.
Late blight is caused by a different fungus, Phytophthora infestans., and can destroy your crop completely, starting with the foliage and finally destroying all tubers which the spores have come in contact with. Late blight potatoes have a dark, shrivelled appearance. The spots are black, the potatoes are shrunken and rotted inside. Often this becomes visible only after they are picked, so as noted in my previous post, you must check your stored potatoes for damage before you lose the entire lot.
If you notice a small number of affected leaves with patches, signaling either early or late blight, you can try removing those and disposing of them. Burn if possible, as the spores responsible are airborne and will quickly find a new home on other potato plants or on their cousins, the tomato.
Any period of warm, humid weather, while beneficial for other plants, increases blight risk.
Virus diseases
The mosaic virus seems to be the biggest problem, especially, I have heard from friends, in South Africa. You can tell your plants are affected by looking for bright yellow to white mosaic patterns that sometimes cause large areas of leaf
tissue to looked bleached. Potato leaf-roll virus is discernable from, you guessed it, leaves that roll inward.
Aphids play a role in transmitting these viruses, and controlling aphids is tough. You may get lucky, as the potato aphid has numerous natural enemies. There are many predatory arthropods that feed on them including ladybird beetles, lace wing larvae, and syrphid fly larvae. If you are left to fight alone, try a spray of insecticidal soap and water from a spray bottle, or even a blast from the garden hose to knock the annoying beasts off their perch.
Scab
Such a nasty name. Common scab, caused by Streptomyces scabies, appears on the tuber skin as slightly raised patches, and as the plant grows the skin breaks, leaving the scabs with rough edges. The bad news is that this pathogen can also get to your beets, radishes, rutabagas, turnips, carrots and parsnips. The condition tends to be worse on heavily limed soils and under very dry conditions.
The good news is that this is usually just unsightly, and the potatoes CAN be eaten after you scrape off the patches.
To control scab, start off on the right foot by only planting unblemished seed potatoes and to practice crop rotation, avoiding the plants I’ve just mentioned.
Slugs and Wireworms
Keeled slugs, spotted by their yellowish colouring along the bottom of their back end, are the big problem here – they grow comfortably under the leaves and then tunnel into the flesh of the potato. What a treat for the hungry slugs – they will feast until the spud is hollowed out.
They often use pathways already dug by their friend the wireworm, or clickbeetle larvae. These are coffee-coloured and half- to an inch long,
The best solution here is to choose less insect-susceptible varieties of potato, like Romano, Pentland Dell or Golden Wonder, and avoid sowing your potatoes into a site bordering grass, compost heaps or piles of organic waste, which is where the wee beasties like to congregate.
There are wireworm and slug traps that you can build to control these pests organically. Save a rinsed can from baked beans, and punch holes in both sides and the bottom. Fill the can with potato peelings or chunks of potato, and bury the can upright in the garden border. You should get many visitors looking for a free meal! Empty the can weekly and reset your trap. Do this before you plant your next crop to increase your chances of having healthy potatoes survive the season.
Love the organic life you live,
Arabella
Harvesting Your Potatoes
It is time to retrieve those potatoes you planted so long ago! For those of you that didn’t take some “new potatoes” from the ground months ago, it is the peak time, or depending where you live, the last weeks, to dig up your potato bounty.
The calendar might say one thing, but check the vines – their yellowing demise is to your benefit, as this means it is time for the potato harvest. You can either do this by hand, or with a shovel or spading fork. Unless you have a heavy, clumsy touch, doing it by hand is better, as a fork might be damaging to the vegetables.
If harvesting by hand, slide the back of your hand down the stem, get those fingers into the dirt up to the palm, then pull your hand down and away from the stem. Your potatoes should be lying four or five inches away from the visible part of the potato plant. Check all the way around the plant, though, then check again. Have you gotten them all? Any tubers left behind might grow into new plants themselves, and while this satisfies the “easy” ethos of our site, they will probably come up next season as weeds, and will easily get in the way of next year’s planting. Once you feel you’ve discovered all of the potatoes, big or small, before you go back inside give the area around the plants a vigorous forking. Hopefully you will not have to repeat this in a few days, but miracle spuds have been known to pop up through the frosty ground weeks after your harvest. If only growing roses was so easy!
It’s best to harvest potatoes in the morning on a sunny day. Brush off the dirt as they come from the ground and then you get to take a tea break – just leave them spread out in the sunlight for the rest of the day to thoroughly dry off and harden the skins before storing.
After lunch, sort carefully and place perfect specimens into hessian or paper sacks in a cool, dark but frost free place. Any potatoes that have been cracked or “forked” need to be used in the next week. If you won’t be eating them that quickly, throw them away before they have a chance to rot and spread their rot to the rest of the bunch.
Put your treasures into the garage, shed or basement, where they will sit happily for several weeks. If you’re hoping for longer storage, you’ll need to keep the bags in a dark room at a temperature between 38° and 40°F, but no lower. It’s worthwhile to empty the sacks after a month and throw away any potatoes that are going off. You’ve heard the term “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”? Well, this is equally true with potatoes. And on a related note, don’t mix your apples and potatoes, or the entire sack of spuds will turn into a mushy brown mess!
Whether you dig your own potatoes or even (heaven forbid the laziness!) buy them at a store, don’t wash them until right before you use them. Washing potatoes shortens their storage life.
The planting has paid off, and now you can look forward to a Sunday roast, home-made chips with fish, or a simple fluffy baked potato glistening with melting butter. Perhaps, though, you’ve reached into the ground hoping for firm brown or red potatoes and found a disappointing blighted specimen? Is it disease? Bugs? Next time we’ll address some of the things that can go wrong when you grow your own potatoes.
Love the life you live,
Arabella
Latest News! Early Bird Discount Available – Harrogate Flower Show
16-18 September, Harrogate, UK
Harrogate Flower Show
Giant vegetables and Master Gardeners will be competing, and the North of England Horticultural Society will be celebrating their 100th anniversary at this year’s show. Discounts available for tickets bought before the weekend.
www.flowershow.org.uk/
Tickets on the day:
Adults £14 Friday and Saturday £13 on Sunday
Children under 16 go free
On site Parking (FREE)
ORGANIC FERTILISER, AND FOR FREE!
As some of you know, my family and I recently moved into a new home, and one of the selling points of the new house is the abundance of fireplaces. There is a lovely large fireplace in our main living space, and a charmingly squat wood-burning stove in the back addition, where my husband and I share a desk, and from where I type this message. There is also a small brick fireplace, more of a modified firepit, on our patio. I cannot wait until the weather calls for all three to be blazing away.
However, with a fireplace, comes cleaning a fireplace, and the mess of sifting and scooping and bagging the ash. Personally, I would rather read Cinderella than be Cinderella, but the coziness of the fireplace makes it all worthwhile.
A friend was over yesterday with her children, and she is both an old hand with stoves and fireplaces and an avid and successful gardener. Over coffee, she was kind enough to give me a quick tutorial on how to use ash in the garden.
So, thanks to Harriet…
First and foremost, the technical and safety portion of the task – don’t burn wood inside that has been treated or coated, and obviously don’t use that ash in the garden. If you are unsure about the state of the timber, check with the supplier. When in doubt, leave it out (of the house) and throw away the ash. Hardwoods seem to be the best for garden use.
You need to pull on the Marigolds when you handle the ash; it’s not only dirty, but also it’s not the safest thing to expose your bare skin, or eyes, to for extended periods. As you will be distributing it to the garden while dry, put this task off if it is a windy day.
Last safety note: Do not add ash with nitrogen fertilisers such as ammonium sulfate, urea or ammonium nitrate. The chemical composition of the ash combines with these fertilisers in a very nasty way.
So, moving on to the benefits… wood ashes contain “potash”, which potassium-based salts and calcium, and a lesser amount of phosphorus, depending on the type of wood burned. They contain a good percentage of calcium carbonate, an ingredient in garden lime. This will affect (most likely raise) the pH of your garden. With a few exceptions, therefore, ash can go into and on top of vegetable gardens and flower beds. The additive is especially beneficial in areas where you have deciduous trees and shrubs, including fruit trees, vegetables (root crops), bulbs, annuals, perennials and deciduous vines.
Plants and places to avoid? Any acidic soil-loving plants as rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas, junipers and conifers. Also, stay away from your potatoes and blueberries.
On the other hand, tomatoes seem to benefit especially from soil that has been mixed with a small quantity of wood ash. I have been the beneficiary of bags and bags of Harriet’s home-grown tomatoes, so if this is her secret, I plan on stealing it for next year!
Francesca Biddle Weston
