Scented Fruit and Veg
Q
I have a Philadelphus Mock Orange that smells divine. Can you recommend some similarly scented bushes? (From Gardeners Question Time 20.12.13)
A
Why not try growing a real orange tree and luxuriating in the scent of real orange blossom? There are numerous varieties of oranges, lemons and limes and they are almost all suitable for pot growing. Citrus will need extra protection in the winter time, but most will survive a light frost, so they will overwinter easily in a cool greenhouse. Because they are a tropical plant they flower all the time in good conditions, so the heavenly scent can be around almost all of the year. An added bonus is that the leaves can be used in cooking, so if the citrus crop is slight (it sometimes is in the UK) the leaves are always present and aromatic.
Dealing with slugs
Q
Is there anything I can do in the winter time to reduce slug damage next spring? (From Twitter Jan 2014)
A
There are a couple of things you could be doing now. The first is to clear out any damp and shady places, like under decking or below pots. Slugs love to hide and overwinter in such spots. In addition, I often leave my lettuce beds fallow at this time of year. A combination of winter drought, bare clean earth and frosts will send the slugs scurrying off elsewhere. At the moment I am putting out bird seed - crushed peanuts. I've noticed that the slugs seem to like this feed too. I'm rather hoping that the birds will eat the slugs as well as their feed.
When it gets a little warmer, in the early spring, I shall try watering in slug nematodes. These are insects that eat slugs. They are supplied direct from the nursery in a plastic container. The critters are watered onto the soil. However a frost would kill the nematodes, so I won't order until March, and if we get a late frost I would have to re-apply.
Know your Onions
Q
Tony Hennessy asks from Ballyhack Co Wexford (via GIY)
Vidalia Onion I think are Granex Yellow. Also Florida are sweet onions that you can almost eat as an apple. Is anybody growing them and where can I buy sets or seed (which is recommended) in these islands. I think I grew then a few years back but cannot recall.
A
Dear Tony, all onions can be eaten raw and they are supposed to be very good for you in their crude state. The variety does make a difference. Thompson and Morgan have two mild seed varieties in their catalogue, Ailsa Craig and Doux des Cevenne. I would go for the French variety as the habit of eating raw onions is a French and a Spanish trait. I seem to recall that Don Quixote de La Mancha's favourite packed lunch was an onion and a piece of bread. The perfect portable meal!
However the way the onion grows affects its potency as much as the variety. I find on my light, well drained soil that my onions grow very spicy, so perhaps you would need to sow them on a richer soil and water copiously? You probably get enough rain where you are anyway?
Do Chickens and Veg Mix?
Q
We've been having an interesting twitter conversation generated by @J3mma1983 regarding chickens. She has some lovely chicks and now wants to start a veg plot. She was hoping that she could let the chicks scratch around the plot. What would they eat and what would they leave untouched?
A
I didn't know the answer to this one, having never kept chickens. But fortunately messages came in from all over the world. The answer seems to be that they eat everything - including fairy cakes! But, I still keep seeing images on the internet of happy chickens rootling around in the vegplot. I think that it might be fine to let your chickens wander - supervised- during the day. That way, you can shoo them out of the cabbage patch of they start nibbling at cabbages rather than slugs!
Late Tomatoes
Q
Heather Boyde asks,
I am planning to grow a bush variety of tomato (maskotka) hoping that if I sow seed in February I might have tomatoes by end of June, so then I got to thinking could I grow this early variety to extend the tomato season, by growing in pots could I bring them into the house to ripen. Has anyone done this and if so when would I need to sow the seeds for the late tomatoes?
A
Last year my growhouse grown tomatoes continued to crop until December. I then picked all the unripe ones and brought them inside to ripen up. I planted the seeds in late February - but it was a dreadful spring so they cropped rather later than expected. It meant that we had a small salad of our own produce on Christmas Day!
This year, I'm planning two sowings. I've already sown the early tomatoes. Later - probably March or even April - I will sow another crop, but this crop will live in a heated greenhouse.
You would do better to grow later tomatoes inside I think, or at least cover them with a plastic growhouse in the garden when the weather gets bad. From September onwards here in London it gets a bit chilly for outdoor tomatoes. If you have a sunny spot in the house it might work. Tomatoes are not day-length sensitive- they are a tropical plant - so don't mind short days. But they hate cold or too much dryness. It is difficult to keep tomatoes cropping in a dry home atmosphere. They need a bit more humidity than we do!
I enclose a picture of the last tomatoes still on the vine 14th December 2013. But you will see that the vine itself is on its last legs. We had not yet had any frost and the vines were inside an unheated growhouse against a south wall.
Choose a very reliable variety for your area. If the tomatoes are formed but not yet ripe you can pick them and bring them inside to ripen. You dont need to bring the whole plant inside at that stage. I never use the paper bag method, I'm worried that they will start to rot. I just pop them into a fruit bowl in the kitchen. They need light, but not necessarily sunshine to finish ripening.
