Many people hear of strange things being
done to grow the vegetables we buy off our
supermarket shelves, such as having to peel
carrots thickly to avoid the hormones that
are sprayed on them, to make them grow faster
or lettuces that are sprayed four times
a week to combat diseases and to make them
grow faster. The list is endless. Then there
is the new GM vegetables such as tomato
plants with a gene from the Atlantic salmon
to help them to survive at lower temperatures,
and vegetables grown to be immune to weed
killers.
So its no wonder that people turn to growing
their own vegetables, and those without
gardens can ask the local council for allotments,
with visions of row upon row of succulent
vegetables they arrive at the allotment
site, to look over their plot, only to be
dismayed at an overgrown area of land with
every type of weed known to man, and a few
more besides growing on it. A few start
to try their hand at clearing it up, one
or two make a go of it but most give up.
Now the plot is clear, divide the plot into
3; so you have A. B. C. this is so you can
practice crop rotation, as you should not
grow the same vegetable in the same plot
year after year.
As an example if we were to grow Brassicas
in plot A we would need to lime unless the
soil was alkaline, then rake in a general
purpose fertiliser two weeks before planting
or sowing.
In plot B if we were growing Beans, Pea,
leek, lettuce, onion, spinach, sweet corn,
we need to add liberal amounts of well rotted
manure or compost at digging time, rake
in a general purpose fertiliser two weeks
prior to sowing or planting. In plot C we
use for roots, beetroot, carrots, parsnips
and potatoes, do not add lime, manure or
compost, rake in a general purpose fertiliser
two weeks before sowing or planting.
When one starts to clear a plot ready to
cultivate it, the first thing is to decide
how this is to be done. First cut back all
weeds to ground level with a sickle or better
still if you can borrow or hire a strimmer,
this makes the job easier and quicker.
Then you have to decide which is the best
way to turn the plot over, by digging it
by hand or by machine, machine is quickest
but digging by hand allows you to remove
perennial weeds, as only a small piece left
in the round, can soon start to grow again,
but with a large plot this can take quite
a long time, but in my opinion its the best
way.
With machinery, first one must weed kill
the plot with a translocated weed killer,
after spraying, the plot is left alone for
10-14 days to give the weed killer time
to work, then you go over the plot with
a rotavator which can be hired from a tool
hire firm, they are quiet reasonable to
hire for a day. After rotavating over the
plot, rake any perennial roots off the top
of the soil and remove them and burn them.
Tomatoes
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Kale
Leeks
Garlic
What are Western Brassicas ?
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