Veggie Patch Basics - 7 (Feb-Mar)

This last article in the Vegie Patch Basics series discusses what to do in your food garden in February and March, plus what to do at the end of the season to get ready for the next one. This article completes the one-year Vegie Patch Basics series, an introductory look at growing vegetables, that started in April last year.

Veggie Patch Basics - 4 (Aug-Sep)

This fourth episode in the Vegie Patch Basics series looks at the many things that can be done in Tasmanian vegie gardens in August and September, months that on our island surrounded by southern oceans, are often dominated by an unpredictable mix of wind, cold weather, sun and rain.

Easy Leek

Looking for a vegetable that is easy to grow and that you won't find at bargain prices in the shops?  Leek, a long-term favourite of Northern Europeans, is gaining popularity in Australia.  I prefer Leek over Onions because

• Cut a Leek and it does not move you to tears like Onion does.
• You can use Leek wherever you use Onion
• Leek does not give bad breath
• Leek can be grown here in Tasmania over Summer or Winter
• You can get a lot of Leek from a small area because they can be planted densely 

As is the case with so many vegetables we use today Leek's great-great grandparents grew in the wild in the Mediterranean.  The first known use of Leek is around 4000 years ago in Egypt.  I was surprised when I found this because the Leek we use today (Allium ampeloprasum) is a vegetable that grows much better in cooler than in warm climates.

Here is a how you make the most out of Leek:

• Choose a good spot.  Leek loves soil that is fertile, but not over-fertilised, so if you have a spot where cabbages or broccoli have just been grown successfully, then that could be a good spot for Leek (see blog post 'the importance of crop rotation' for more on the succession of crops).  Leek does not need all-day sun.  It loves a fair percentage of clay in soil as long as the soil is not rock hard.  Leek does not like shallow soils.  With this in mind choose a spot, take away any weeds, add some compost, lightly dig that in, put some mulch on top and then leave that area for the next 6 weeks while you do the next step.

• You could grow Leek from seed.  If you do, you do not need to sow Leek in individual grow tubes, just put some soil-raising mix in a standard punnet, spread a good handful of Leek seeds evenly out and cover with a thin layer of soil-raising mix.  Make sure the soil remains moist, but not too wet, cool, but not cold, at all times, for the next 4 - 6 weeks and you will have plenty of Leek seedlings ready for the next step.

• You don't have start from seed, because a punnet of Leek seedlings bought from a nursery will do fine.  These little seedlings are so hardy that, if you put the whole punnet in a bucket of water, and then carefully separate each seedling from its brothers and sisters, leaving all the soil behind, you can end up with 45 seedlings from one punnet, and (I found on many occasions) if you plant all of these seedlings carefully, they will probably all survive transplanting, and thrive.

• Now comes the important bit and something a lot of people don't know.  You don't just plant these seedlings like you would any other plant.  Well, you could, but there is a better way.  You get yourself a sturdy finger-thick stick and poke a hole in the ground where the first Leek is going to go.  The depth of the hole should be just slightly less than the height of the first seedling.  Now drop the seedling in the hole. Perhaps use a slightly thinner stick to make sure its roots rest at the bottom of the hole.  What next?  Nothing.  You don't fill in the hole.  Just make the next hole about 10 centimeters from the first hole and repeat the process.  You can of course plant your Leeks further apart, but Leeks quite happily live near each other, so a small area can hold many Leeks.  When you have planted all your seedlings just give a bit of a watering.

• So here we have all these Leek seedlings almost completely burried, with only their tips sticking out of the holes.  Their roots are in the nice cool and dark area at the bottom of the holes and with  that bit of water you applied they will begin to take root in no time.  As it rains and you water over coming weeks the holes will gradually fill with soil as the seedling get used to its new environment.  The holes have another benefit.  The bottom part of each Leek stem will become white because it is not exposed to the sun. The white part of a Leek is its juiciest part and the hole means the white part will be much longer than if the seedling was planted at ground level.  There is one more benefit to planting Leeks deeply: their roots will be cooler and there is less of a chance that the soil at this depth will dry out.  All these benefits plus the fact the Leeks are very tough cookies may mean that you don't lose any of your transplanted seedlings.

• Anything else to be done while your Leeks mature for the next five months?  No and yes.  Leeks are the subject of very few pests and diseases, so nothing to take care of in that respect.  However, as your Leeks grow, and well and truly begin to reach for the sky you could from time to time push surrounding soil against their stems.  'Hilling' some people would call it.  The result will be that the white part of your Leeks becomes even longer.

• When is it time to harvest your first Leek?  When you like the size of one and you need one in the kitchen.  Don't just pull them out by grabbing the foliage and pulling.  Because you planted them deeply they may not come out in one piece if you do.  Use a fork and lift them out rather than pulling.

• Leeks will stay fresh in the vegetable cooler of your fridge for quite some time.  I tend to grow a lot of Leek and then freeze them.  I use lunch-boxes, wash each Leek thoroughly, cut the roots off, then cut the stalks into lengths slightly shorter than the length of the lunch-box.  I then freeze these lunch boxes full of Leek stalks without doing anything else.  No need for blanching or cooking before you freeze.  Easy Leek, I told you so.  I use most of the foliage as well.  After washing it thoroughly, I cut the foliage into small strips, put these strip into one-meal-size smaller containers, and freeze these.

There is another thing about Leek that I like: it can be grown over Summer (of course), but, because it loves cool weather, it can also be grown over Winter.  Some breeders have even developed 'Winter Leek varieties' and 'Summer Leek varieties'.  I have used the same variety of Leeks in Summer and Winter and have been happy with the results.

• I prefer to grow Leek over Winter because in summer I want to have so many things in my small garden that I would not have enough space to grow Leek as well.  I plant my Leek seedlings at the end of March and harvest them at the end of October when the lengthening days result in the first Leek going to seed. During Winter these Leeks may be exposed to frost, but they happily keep growing.

• Food Garden Group member Marg, with many years of experience and a somewhat larger garden, prefers to grow her Leek over Summer.  Her Leeks, when harvested, may be bigger than mine, because they grow faster in Summer than in Winter.  Advantage of growing over Summer would also be that, with days shortening at the end of the season, Marg's Leeks will not go to seed and happily survive cool weather and even frost until one day they are finally needed in the kitchen.

Some people argue that Leek grown over Winter has more taste than Leek grown over Summer.  Hard to prove that one.

Leek!  The easy hardy alternative to Onion, and it does not make you cry!

Lessons learned

I have been growing my own food for about 20 years now and grew up with a father who was passionate about his enormous vegetable garden in Bellerive. We were self sufficient in most fruit and veg during my childhood with the diet supplemented by home grown eggs and chicken meat.

However I made some stupid mistakes last year and thought it might be educational to share some for those blog readers new to food gardening.

Garlic
First mistake. I usually grow good garlic and I know the important issue is flavour not necessarily clove size. The year before I over watered.The garlic cloves were huge but the crop did not last well and some went mouldy after harvest. Last year I did not water at all but relied on rainfall and as there was not a lot of that I got very small cloves. I think there is a middle ground here and this year I will find it.

Broad beans
I wanted to have a prolonged harvest of broad beans last year and hence staggered the planting of my crop over three months. Stupidly though I planted the last lot on the southern non sunny side of the bed so the seeds germinated but never produced pods as they were oversahdowed by the main crop. A fundamental lack of planning. I will do better this year.

Brown rot in fruit
Last year when Greg Belbin demonstarted pruning for us he said he sprayed his fruit trees against brown rot every month over the winter. I was lazy and ignored his advice and due to some overwatering and lush growth in the trees I had a major brown rot problem.  I will be following the rules for hygeine around the trees and spraying regularly this year.

Some things I did well:

Leeks
I always have trouble with leeks that develop slowly over the winter and then in Septembe bolt to seed and become inedible. Last year I sowed my leeks in early December planted out in early January so now have lovely well developed leeks which will hold up well in the soil for regular harvesting over the winter when this delicious vegetable is so desirable.

Controlling white cabbage moth
I know many people don't grow brassicas as they get fed up trying to control these pests. I am happy to spray with Dipel but hate doing so when the plants are tiny. This year I copied a method from one of our garden group members. I can't remember whose idea it was but it has been hugely successful. I purchased cheap wire rubbish bins form a local discount store and placed them over my young brassica seedlings. The cabbage moths could not get through the small holes and the plants grew well and were well developed before I had to start spraying. In fact I have only had to spray three times for effective control for seedlings planted out in January. It looks a little funny but worked brilliantly. My small outlay for the wire bins will be rewarded over many years of use. Thank you to the person who suggested this.

So a couple of great benefits of gardening, firstly we can always learn, especially from each others experience. Secondly gardeners are optimistic people . Even when mistake are made we look forward to doing better next year.

Happy gardening.

Spring has definitely sprung

Lotte, chief garden supervisor and bird scarer on duty

Its Crunch Time

With warmer weather and showery days the slugs and snails are out and about so get out there in the evenings with a torch and start collecting and crunching before they get stuck into your spring plantings.

Planting and sowing

This is the time of year when most  things can be planted or sown. However there are a couple of exceptions. In most areas it is still too early for carrots, parsnips and beets. Wait another week or two. Seeds sown into damp cold soil will not germinate.

The nurseries are selling tomato plants but don't be fooled. By all means purchase your plants but be prepared to pot them up with a pinch of potash  and give them full sun during the day but indoors at night until well into October. We all love to get a head start with our tomatoes and if you do decide to plant them early give them some protection, such as a plastic sleeve.

Dwarf beans sown now will be overtaken by seeds sown in October so be patient. I am planting a few into pots hoping to get a head start.

Heeling in Leeks

From past experience I know my overwintering leeks will start to put up a flower spike in September and become hard and inedible. Last year I practiced the old technique of heeling them in. I lifted my huge summer leeks in March and with roots intact  bundled them together into another spare bit of ground. Pushed the dirt around them and there they stayed for several months. I pulled them as needed and used the last of them in June. Still in perfect condition. This technique seems to suspend growth but maintain quality.