Jargon words are very handy for those 'in-the-know' because one word can describe a concept that otherwise might take several sentences. For newcomers, however, jargon words can be very off-putting. Below is a handy list of words and explanations that might help you understand more food garden jargon.
Is there a word or term that you would like to know the meaning of, and it is not in the list? Please email Max at foodgardengroup@gmail.com and the word or term will be added to the list.
Acid
A soil with a pH of less than 7.0 is 'acidic', also called ‘sour’.
A soil with a pH of more than 7.0 is 'alkaline', also called ‘sweet’.
For more info see blog post Acid or Alkaline.
Aerial layering is the technique of encouraging roots to grow from a scarred branch by bringing soil to the branch rather than bending the branch to the ground (hence the word 'aerial'). It is used for a wide range of plants. For a good example see Aerial Layering ABC Gardening Australia
Alkaline
A soil with a pH of less than 7.0 is 'acidic', also called ‘sour’.
A soil with a pH of more than 7.0 is 'alkaline', also called ‘sweet’.
For more info see blog post Acid or Alkaline.
Biochar
Biochar is made by taking charcoal left over after burning a wood fire, crushing it fine, and then adding nutrients by immersing it in a bucket of nutrients (such as water + seaweed extract or worm casting or fish emulsion). The biochar is then spread over, or better still, dug into soil. Over time soil structure will improve, and beneficial micro organisms will feed on the nutrients and multiply.
Charcoal is used as the means for delivering the nutrients because it has many small cavities in which the nutrients gather when the charcoal is immersed in a fluid nutrients. The cavities then make very inviting 'food stores' for micro organisms, and provide attractive spaces for them to develop further.
For more info see the end of this blog post: Start of Season Workshop 2018
Charcoal is used as the means for delivering the nutrients because it has many small cavities in which the nutrients gather when the charcoal is immersed in a fluid nutrients. The cavities then make very inviting 'food stores' for micro organisms, and provide attractive spaces for them to develop further.
For more info see the end of this blog post: Start of Season Workshop 2018
Brassicas
Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mustard, Kale, Asian Greens, Radish, Turnip and Swede and many other commonly used food plants are all Brassicas.
Bokashi
Bokashi is a Japanese term for 'fermented organic matter'. It is often referred to as a type of composting, but it is actually 'a facultative anaerobic fermentation process', that is a fermentation process that does not use air. It results in a much different product than that produced via composting. People like bokashi because it is very easy, generally free of bad odours and incredibly beneficial to soils. Find out how to make Bokashi at blog post Microbes in your Soil.
Bolting
A plant is 'bolting' when it stops its growth stage and focuses on the production of flowers and seed. Often plant stems and leaves become more woody. If the plant was grown for their stems and/or leaves, this means they become tough to eat. Plants may bolt earlier than normal when growing conditions are less than optimal. 'Bolting' is the same as 'going to seed'.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is an old-fashioned copper-based fungicide used to prevent Curly Leaf on stone fruits. It can be cheaply made in whatever quantity you like at home. For more info see: Controlling Curly Leaf.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the process of random scattering seed on the surface of seedbeds by hand or mechanically. This contrasts with dropping seeds in holes.
Chill factor
Many berries, fruit and nut trees have a chilling requirement. This requirement varies between varieties. The chilling requirement for a variety is defined as the number of hours in winter that the variety needs below seven degrees Celsius in order to be productive the following season. There are many berry varieties that are successful in Tasmania, but not on the mainland, because of the chill factor. We need to hope that the Tasmanian winter climate will not change too much because many of our successful crops need the chill factor. For more info see for instance Chill factor fruit and nut trees and Chill Hours Guide
Chitting
Chitting means encouraging seed potatoes to sprout before planting. The seed potatoes are placed in a tray (for instance an egg carton) in a light and cool place until sprouts emerge and grow.
It is not essential to chit potatoes before putting them in the ground, but they will take less time to emerge above ground if you do.
Be careful when planting because the shoots break off easily.
For this reason some people deliberately don't chit. In areas where a late frost might set an early planting of potatoes back, chitting tubers before the last frosts can be a great way to get a head start on your summer potato crop. Other seeds can be chitted too, ie. sprouted and then planted.
Crop rotation
Crop rotation means not having the same plant variety in the same spot for more than a year. It also means not having other members of the same plant family in that same spot either. Rotating crops is important because by rotating crops .....
- You do not allow soil-borne pests and viruses associated with a crop to get established.
- You avoid depleting your soil of nutrients that a particular crop uses.
- Plants can derive maximum benefit from each other.
- You can more deliberately apply compost and organic fertilizers to certain crops and withhold them from others.
Cross-pollination
Cross-pollination is the process whereby pollen is transferred from the stamen of a flower of one plant to the pistil of a flower on another plant. This can be done by insects, by the wind, or by you. For more about this read blog post Successful Seed Saving
Cucurbits
Cucurbits are a plant family (Latin name Cucurbitaceae) that consists of many species. The best known Cucurbits are squash, pumpkin, zucchini, watermelon, cucumber.
Cultivar
Cultivar means cultivated variety. A cultivar is a plant variety that has been cultivated for desired traits by selective breeding. When cultivars are propagated they retain their traits. Methods used might be division, grafting or carefully controlled seed production.
Determinate
Determinate tomato varieties (as opposed to indeterminate varieties) become a low bush, and most of them produce their ripe tomatoes all at once and not much thereafter. That is very convenient if you grow tomatoes to make tomato sauce. Farmers that grow ‘field tomatoes’ will do so with determinate varieties. Most determinate tomato varieties are hybrids and were developed for growers, so they can grow tomatoes with a minimum amount of work and harvest them all at the same time. Determinate tomato varieties are also called 'bush tomatoes'.
Dibber
A 'dibber' or 'dibble' or 'dibbler' is a pointed piece of wood for making holes in the ground for large seeds (for instance broad beans, peas), seedlings (for instance leeks) or small bulbs (for instance garlics).
 |
| A 'dibber' or 'dibble' or 'dibbler' |
Division
Division is the process whereby one plant is made into two or more plants by separating the plant's root ball, suckers, bulbs, tubers or rhizomes and planting them away from the parent plant.
Dormancy
Dormancy is the state in which many cold-climate plants spent winter. When temperatures at the end of autumn go down the sap flow in these plants slows. They stop growing. Deciduous trees lose their leaves. This state of hibernation ends when temperatures go up again at the end of winter. Plants that go dormant in winter are best transplanted when they are dormant.
Espaliering
Espaliering is a technique that encourages trees to grow flat along wires or along a frame. Trees are espaliered so they take up less space, for ornamental reasons and for easy handling.
Foliar feeding
Plants are able to absorb nutrients through their leaves. Foliar feeding is feeding a plant through its leaves by spraying the leaves with a mix of water and fertiliser. The fertiliser can be seaweed solution or any other plant fertiliser that is water-soluble. Foliar feeding can be an effective additional way of feeding plants. Foliar feeding can not completely replace the need to feed plants through their roots.
Fish emulsion
Fish emulsion is an organic garden fertiliser that is made from fish leftovers. Fish emulsion feeds soil microbes resulting in an increase in the activity and diversity of the resident microbial communities in the soil which make nutrients available to plants.
Glyphosate
Glyphosate is the active element in commonly used weed killers such as Roundup and Zero. There is a lot of controversy around Glyphosate as producers claim it is harmless, but good evidence is emerging that it is harmful, especially when used by farm workers over a long period of time.
On this blog the subject was discussed here: What is the fuss about Roundup?GMO
GMO means Genetically Modified Organism. The DNA of plants can now be genetically modified in a lab to improve or add useful characteristics.
One can argue that there is nothing wrong with mankind changing the DNA of plants. For many centuries hybridisation, spontaneously happening in nature or done by mankind, achieved the same.
GMO technology, however, goes a step further than hybridisation. It allows mankind to add to DNA 'bits' that are not part of the genus of the organism, and that therefore can't be added through hybridisation.
This is where problems can occur. For example, the DNA of many food plants has been modified so these plants do not die when they are sprayed with Glyphosate. Farmers using these GMOs, can pray Glyphosate on them to kill weeds. The plants don't die, but the weeds around them do. As a result many GMO food crops contain considerable amounts of Glyphosate residue, and so do the soils where these plants grew. The availability of these GMOs encourages the use of Glyphosate, no worse, the liberal use of Glyphosate, with many consequences (see Glyphosate above). This example illustrates why GMOs have become a contentious subject.
Tasmania has just adopted another 10-year moratorium on the use of GMO crops. The fact that Tasmanian produce continues to be GMO-free is very attractive to many consumers worldwide
Going to seedOne can argue that there is nothing wrong with mankind changing the DNA of plants. For many centuries hybridisation, spontaneously happening in nature or done by mankind, achieved the same.
GMO technology, however, goes a step further than hybridisation. It allows mankind to add to DNA 'bits' that are not part of the genus of the organism, and that therefore can't be added through hybridisation.
This is where problems can occur. For example, the DNA of many food plants has been modified so these plants do not die when they are sprayed with Glyphosate. Farmers using these GMOs, can pray Glyphosate on them to kill weeds. The plants don't die, but the weeds around them do. As a result many GMO food crops contain considerable amounts of Glyphosate residue, and so do the soils where these plants grew. The availability of these GMOs encourages the use of Glyphosate, no worse, the liberal use of Glyphosate, with many consequences (see Glyphosate above). This example illustrates why GMOs have become a contentious subject.
Tasmania has just adopted another 10-year moratorium on the use of GMO crops. The fact that Tasmanian produce continues to be GMO-free is very attractive to many consumers worldwide
A plant is 'going to seed' when it has stopped its growth stage and is now focusing on the production of flowers and seed. Often plant stems and leaves become more woody. If the plant was grown for their stems and/or leaves, this means they become tough to eat. Plants often go to seed earlier than expected when growing conditions are less than optimal. 'Going to seed' is the same as 'bolting'.
Graft union
A graft union is the spot on a stem of a plant where a cut has been made to add plant material of another variety.
Grafting
Green manure
A graft union is the spot on a stem of a plant where a cut has been made to add plant material of another variety.
Grafting
Grafting is adding a growing part of one plant to another plant of the same family. It is done to combine the good characteristics of one plant with the good characteristics of another. In case of fruit trees grafting is done to combine the vigorous growth and good quality fruit of one variety, with the vigorous root system and disease resistance of another.
For more info about grafting see blog post A Look at Grafting
For more info about grafting see blog post A Look at Grafting
Green manure
One technique of improving soil in food gardens is to grow plants from seed, then cut them up and dig them in. The young plants are 'green' and digging them in will improve the soil, so in that respect they can be seen as a 'manure', but the term is rather misleading because animal manure is not part of this process. When legumes, grains and even common weeds are used this way soils will benefit.
For more info about green manure see blog post Why Green Manure?
Hardening off
'Hardening off' is the term used for gradually making plants used to outside temperatures after they have been grown inside or in a hot house. Plants are hardened off by putting them outside for a few hours when light, wind and temperature are not extreme.
It is important to harden off plants so that they will not suffer after being exposed to their new growing conditions. Commercially grown seedlings may need hardening off more than your own seedlings, because they may have been forced on with heat and nutrients to make them look good, but they may in fact be 'weak and sappy'.
Heeling in
Heeling in a plant, for instance a bare-rooted fruit tree, is making a shallow hole in the ground, putting the roots of the plant in it, and covering them with moist soil or mulch. Ideally plants are not heeled in, but properly planted straight away after coming from the nursery. However, if you don't have the time to immediately give a plant or tree your full attention, heel it in to make sure it is 'stored safely'. Upon bringing home a bare-rooted dormant fruit tree it can be heeled in for up to two weeks. If you make sure the soil or mulch remains moist, not sodden, then it will survive this period.
I found a good blog post on the subject here: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/heeling-in-plants.htm
Heirloom
We have all heard the word heirloom, but what does it really mean? The term heirloom seed has never been clearly defined, so anyone can call a seed heirloom, but in most cases a variety will be called heirloom if it is an open-pollinated variety and was developed before 1951. Many heirloom varieties for sale today predate World War 2. Many were family heirlooms that a seed company obtained. Some are hundreds of years old. For more info see blog post Heirlooms and Hybrids.
Hybrid
Hybridisation is the process whereby pollen is transferred from one plant to another, and the two plants belong to the same species, but they are not the same variety within the species. Hybridisation is a natural process that has taken place in nature for as long as there have been flowers. Hybridisation can produce seeds that are not viable. In other cases plants grown from this seed will be weak. Sometimes, however, a better-adapted plant is the result and a new variety is born. Hybridisation is the trial and error method that nature uses in the evolution of species. Seed of a hybrid plant will not be 'true-to-type', in other words, it will differ from its parents. For more info read blog post Successful Seed Saving
Indeterminate
Indeterminate tomato varieties (as opposed to determinate varieties) go tall like a vine, need support, and produce ripe tomatoes a few at the time for a long period of time. This type of tomato suits people who use tomatoes in their meals throughout summer. Most old varieties (= heirloom varieties) are indeterminate. Indeterminate tomatoes are also called ‘vine tomatoes’.
Layering
Layering is a means of plant propagation whereby part of an above-ground branch is bent down to the ground, covered with soil, and kept there for several months. The part of the branch that is in contact with soil may grow roots. After a while the branch can be cut off and it becomes an independent plant.
Legume
A legume is a plant in the Leguminosae family that fixes nitrogen in root nodules that add nitrogen to the soil when the plant dies down, if the roots are not removed. Legumes are also used to feed livestock. Beans, peas, lupins, lentils, Acacias (Wattles) are all examples of legumes.
 |
| Broad beans are legumes |
The term liquid fertiliser is used for mixes of water and soluble fertilisers that are poured over the leaves of plants. It is an important way of feeding plants to supplement nutrients that come from the soil. An example of liquid fertiliser is liquid manure, which is a mix of water and manure. Add a bucket of manure (cow manure is best) to a 44-gallon drum of water, and mix thoroughly. The mix will be quite potent. Add a cup of this mix to a watering can, and make sure the colour of the mix is not darker than a cup of tea. Foliar feed your plants with this once a fortnight.
Microbes
Microbes, or micro-organisms, are the microscopic life forms in the soil in which you grow your vegetables and fruit. They are hardly ever mentioned in gardening books, magazines or TV gardening programs, yet their presence, absence or abundance makes a major difference in the health of the fruit and vegetables you grow. This is because healthy plants have a close relationship, a symbiosis, with the microbes around their roots, a relationship that is beneficial to both plants and microbes. For more info see blog post Twelve Simple Food Garden Practices.
Moon planting
'Moon planting’ is a term used for gardening in accordance with various natural rhythms. It is gardening in accordance with daily rhythms and monthly rhythms that arise with certain lunar cycles. For more info see blog post Gardening with Natural Rhythms.
Nitrogen fixing
Nitrogen fixing is the process by which nitrogen in the air is converted by a legume (see above) into nitrogenous compounds in nodules that form along its roots. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants and this helps to fertilise the soil.
Open pollination
Open-pollination is the process whereby, if a variety only receives pollen from plants of the same variety, it will produce seed that is 'true to type'. The seed of the plant will result in a plant that is very similar to the parent. For more info see Heirlooms and Hybrids on this blog.
A pathogen is a micro-organism that can cause disease. They include fungi, bacteria and viruses, some species of protozoas and nematodes. Pathogenic organisms are usually a normal component of the soil population and naturally exist in relatively low numbers. Some pathogenic species only cause disease in one species of plant, but others can cause disease on plants that are not closely related to each other.Pathogens can exist in the soil for long periods of time without causing an outbreak of disease in plants. Disease outbreaks are either caused by an increase in the population of the pathogen or by an increase in the susceptibility of the plant.
Permaculture is a set of design principles centered on 'whole systems thinking', simulating or directly utilising the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. The term permaculture was coined in 1978 by David Holmgren, then a graduate student at the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education's Department of Environmental Design, and Bill Mollison, senior lecturer in Environmental Psychology at University of Tasmania. Mollison said 'permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against, nature'. For more info see for instance the Permaculture Australia web site.
pH
pH stands for 'potential Hydrogen', which in my opinion explains nothing whatsoever.
The pH scale goes from 0.0 (extremely acid) to 14.0 (extremely alkaline). A soil with a pH of less than 7.0 is acidic, also called ‘sour’. A soil with a pH of more than 7.0 is alkaline, also called ‘sweet’. The pH value of your soil tells you how acid or alkaline your soil is. It's important to know the pH of your soil because your plants won't be able to access all the nutrients that are available in your soil if you don't have the correct pH. Different plants, require a different pH, but many vegetables are happy in a soil with a pH between 6 and 7. To find out more about pH, testing it, and what pH various plants need read Acid or Alkaline?
Pricking out is a term used in the horticultural industry. It means transplanting from little pots or punnets or trays into bigger pots or into the ground.
A good first step, before you start pricking out, is to thoroughly water the seedlings with a solution of water and seaweed-extract. The solution may result in more soil clinging onto the seedlings when taken out of their pot or tray, and the seaweed extract will help them recover better from the transplant-shock afterwards.
With an old blunt knife or little scoop make a vertical cut, a circle or rectangle, through the soil around the seedling, so when you lift it out, it will come out easily. Then insert the tool under its root system, and gently lift it up without pulling the stem of the seedling.
Now put it in its new spot, arrange soil around its stem, and gently push the soil down to get rid of air pockets. Once more gently water with a water and seaweed-extract mix.
Pricking out is best done when it is cool, on a day that is not going to be hot and sunny.
A good first step, before you start pricking out, is to thoroughly water the seedlings with a solution of water and seaweed-extract. The solution may result in more soil clinging onto the seedlings when taken out of their pot or tray, and the seaweed extract will help them recover better from the transplant-shock afterwards.
With an old blunt knife or little scoop make a vertical cut, a circle or rectangle, through the soil around the seedling, so when you lift it out, it will come out easily. Then insert the tool under its root system, and gently lift it up without pulling the stem of the seedling.
Now put it in its new spot, arrange soil around its stem, and gently push the soil down to get rid of air pockets. Once more gently water with a water and seaweed-extract mix.
Pricking out is best done when it is cool, on a day that is not going to be hot and sunny.
Propagating
Propagating is the term used for taking a cutting from a plant and putting it in soil or some other medium in order to create a new plant. The new plant will be genetically identical to the plant you took the cutting from. It is a no-cost or low-cost way of creating new plants from plants you already have.
With some plant varieties propagation is the easiest way or only way to create more plants of the same variety. With other plant varieties propagation is impossible and new plants are achieved only by sowing their seed. More info about propagation can be found in Propagation in the Food Garden
Rhizome
A rhizome is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Another word for rhizome is root-stalk.
Rooting hormone
Cuttings can be encouraged to form roots by dipping them in rooting hormone. Some rooting hormones come as a powder, others as a liquid. They can be bought at nurseries and hardware stores, but you can also make rooting hormone yourself at no cost. For more info see Propagation in the Food Garden
Scion
A scion is a detached living portion of a plant (a bud, or a twig) that is grafted onto a plant of a different variety within the genus, with the aim of using the root system of that plant for the production of different or superior fruit or seed.
Self-pollination
Self-pollination is the process whereby pollen is transferred from the stamen of a flower to the pistil of the same or another flower on the same plant. For more info read blog post Successful Seed Saving
Setting out
Setting out means transplanting seedlings from their pots or punnets or trays into the garden. As a general rule seedlings should be set out when they have one set of mature leaves in addition to one set of 'baby leaves'. You can wait longer but seedlings definitely need setting out when roots begin to grow through the bottoms of their containers. Setting out is the general term used for planting out seedlings, whereas pricking out is the actual process of lifting them out of their container.
Sucker
A sucker is a new shoot that a tree has produced below its main graft union. Above the graft union is the variety that you hope will produce good quality fruit. It will use the vigorous root system of the variety that is below the graft union. Suckers, if nothing is done, can take a lot of energy away from the grafted variety. Suckers can begin to dominate a tree if not removed. If they produce fruit, it will be of low quality.
Spur
A spur is a short branchlet that grows on fruit trees like apple, pear and stone fruit. If all goes well it will produce fruit. See the photo below.
True-to-type is the term used for a plant when it is very similar in looks and characteristics to the parent plant that produced the seed the plant was grown from. For more info see Successful Seed Saving
Vigour
Some varieties of a plant species will grow slowly. Others will grow rapidly. Vigour is the term used for the rate at which a variety grows. When grafting one variety of fruit tree onto another one, it is best to choose varieties of the same vigour, so you don't have one variety completely out-growing the other(s). For more info see A Look at Grafting
Wicking bed
A wicking bed is a raised bed that has a water reservoir below its soil. Through capillary action the soil above the reservoir is kept moist by water from the reservoir. The reservoir is replenished by putting a hose in a refill pipe. Refilling is stopped when water begins to come out of an overflow pipe. Wicking beds are very water-efficient because water will not evaporate from the reservoir. They are also time-efficient because you may not have to refill the reservoir more than once a week. For more info see How to Build a Wicking Bed
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.