Archive for 'Gardening'
Alpine Strawberries
Posted on March 2, 2009, by admin, under Organic Gardening.
There are many varieties of strawberries. Below are a few choice varieties of compost growing of strawberries that gardeners usually plant.
They can be transplanted in rows roughly 18 inches apart, allowing a one foot space between the plants. The fruits are tiny and reproduction can be achieved by deviding the clumps after fruiting has ended in the late fall. About fifty plants are needed for a normal family. This type of strawberry will thrive on a partially shaded border rich in compost or sedge peat. You can raise plants from seed and buy them from your local nursery in early September. Remove the first few blooms for prolific cropping that will last through to October, when the regular varieties are done.
It pays to mulch the ground mid July with sedge peat so as to keep the berries from touching the ground. There seems to be no clearcut end to a truss of flowers which may continue to bloom until it is about 20 inches long. The planting should be done in rows 2 feet apart, allowing 18 inches between the plants. Again, remove the first few flowers for prolific cropping that will last from August to October, when the ordinary varieties are over.
Hampshire Maid if deblossomed in May or June will bear fruits from July through November. The plant is dense, the trusses appear all round and the fruit can be located at the edge of the foliage. The berries are rounded-conical, sturdy and dark red. These heavy croppers are excellent for making jam.
Charles Sinnen is a hard variety to get your hands on due to the fact that it does not bear any runners and must be reproduced in very late fall by dividing the crowns. I’ve included it here because it is admired to be one of the most delicious berries. These come from the United States and are only offered by one or two British nurserymen. It is easy to grow and produce dark red juicy berries with dark green foliage. It is an excellent grower and a prolific cropper which will form runners.
Royal Sovereign can be compared to the Cox’s Orange of apples. Mouthwatering when well grown. It’s also good for heavier soil. The fruits are flush, very big and of premium quality. Rather leafy for growing under ganwicks or cloches. An excellent variety for the small garden. Cambridge Rival is a marvelous variety for the damp parts of Great Britain and during rainy seasons. It produces low trusses, with added foliage that are on long stems clear of the fruit. It is also a good variety to grow in sandy areas which may be low in potash. The flavour of the berries can be enhanced under ganwicks or frames. It is very rebellious againts Red Core Root Rot. Fruits are large, conical, firm and crimson. Season early as they do not travel well.
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Growing Peach Trees
Posted on March 1, 2009, by Austin Thomas, under Gardening.
It is useful to have the tree planted in a lawn because then sheets or clothes can be laid under the tree on to which the fruit can drop when fully ripe.
It is important to mulch where the drainage is perfect, because one cannot water once the fruit is set or split stones result. Those who dislike straw mulching, or grassing down, do so because it increases the frost risk. It is curious the way that damage can be done to peaches early in May by frosts, though the peaches normally flower early in April.
Bushes have been grown in large tubs or pots in a cold greenhouse so as to get fruits of good quality which are easy to pick.
Opinions differ greatly as to whether it is better in this country to grow trees on their own roots, on peach stocks or on plum stocks. The latter were, of course, used for many years by the nurseryman for trained trees which were to be planted in greenhouses. It is said that the Brompton Stock produces the largest tree whereas the Common Mussel Stock produces a much smaller tree. The truth is that we don’t know enough about stocks at the moment, especially as different varieties undoubtedly behave differently on the various stocks mentioned.
If a fan-shaped tree is to be planted against a wall or a fence, the base of the tree should purposely be planted 6 inches away from the wall and the half-circular hole dug out to a depth of 8 inches should be arranged so that the bulk of the roots can be spaced out properly. Should it be necessary to cut back some of the broken roots, the cut should be at an angle of 60 degrees, facing upwards. This encourages more fibrous roots to be produced.
A series of wall trees should be 15 feet apart from one another. Wall trees are best mulched after planting with sedge peat to the depth of an inch placed on the ground for a width of about 3 feet in a half-circle.
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Top Fruits
Posted on February 26, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
Trees planted in an already established orchard are curiously enough slow to make headway, and therefore in such cases I always advise grubbing.
The black parasitized bodies of the aphides are fairly easily seen and this circumstance makes collection not at all difficult. In the spring the shoots must be taken out of the straw and tied on to the branches in the orchard early enough for them to do the work. Actually woolly aphis activity may commence in early April in some seasons.
A sensible scheme is to remove alternate trees diagonally in the rows, as shown in the plan.
The work should be done in May or early June, if possible, and if the tree is seriously affected with silver leaf, it may show some sign of the disease next year. In this case, the bark should be re-split from top to toe and that should do the trick. In very bad cases one may have to continue this bark cutting for four years.
Soft fruits, however, grow comparatively quickly and come into cropping in the matter of a year or two. Apples, pears and plums, on the other hand, often take six or seven years to settle down before they start fruiting seriously.
Therefore, it is worth while tackling neglected trees carefully and gradually getting them right. The only exception to the rule, perhaps, is in the case of an orchard where there are gaps which amount to 25 per cent.
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Picking Fruits
Posted on February 26, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
In the case of top fruits the whole process changes. It is very often necessary to gather pears, for instance, when they are quite unripe, and they ripen up perfectly in the store.
Commercial growers have such containers strapped to the body of the picker so as to leave both hands free for harvesting. This makes it easier, too, for climbing ladders where the trees are tall.
With the summer or early varieties, which are going to be used in the home, it is important to pick when the fruits arc just ripe, and the date will vary from season to season. It is inadvisable to pick dessert apples too early in the summer or autumn as they may be tough. Late-keeping apples when picked too early often shrivel in store.
As the baskets are weighed, then they are taken to the packing table, it will he as well if the foreman examines them to see that the picking has been done correctly and that a whole lot of unripe fruit has not been included. Bad picking will be pointed out.
The stalk then separates from the spur on which it is growing quite naturally and without having to do any tugging or pulling at all. Most people fail to realize that the skins of apples, pears, plums and peaches are very delicate. They have only got to be slightly bruised and they are seriously damaged. Furthermore, fungus spores may easily enter such a wound and rot will set in.
They can be easily moved about from one tree to another and the fruit can be harvested without pulling down the branches dangerously or overreaching and doing damage. When picking or rather when transferring the fruit from the container to the orchard box, some sort of grading is necessary, in order to save time later.
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Fruit Tree Mechanical Aids
Posted on February 26, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
When it comes to the question of mechanical aids, the door is thrown wide open for the purchase of dozens of machines whose makers claim that they will do this or that. In the small garden, of course, the great bulk of the work will be done by hand.
It must be remembered that varieties are always a matter of opinion. One man prefers a hard crisp variety and another a soft mealy type. It is always better to get the trees planted in the autumn or early winter. This gives the root the chance of getting established before the spring. It is possible to plant, however, at any time during the dormant period, say up to the end of February. The compost fruit grower, however, should plant about early to midNovember-while the soil is still warm and as soon as all the leaves have fallen.
It is obviously better to plant a very young tree and allow it to become established in the place where it is to grow and crop. The amateur seems always to want an old tree because he thinks it will crop quicker.
An old tree, however, has undoubtedly been stunted in the nursery where it has never had a chance. The compost fruit grower will buy the trees for bushes, pillars, spindles and cordons two years old; half-standard and standard trees three years old; and trained espaliers at four years of age.
Some, like Cornish Gilliflower, Worcester Pearmain, and St. Edmund’s Russet, produce fruit buds on the tips of laterals and when these are cut hard back, as in normal forms of pruning, the fruit buds are removed.
The great advantage of the Clifford is that one can attach behind it a spraying machine with a 30-gallon tank and thus with two good lances, the trees can be sprayed in a minimum of time. The Clifford moves forward with the tank; it needs one person to guide it with, say, two women operating the spray lances and so circling the trees.
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Harvesting Fruits
Posted on February 26, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
A neglected orchard may easily be growing trees which are stunted because of waterlogging. The natural drainage of the water is impeded in some way and thus the lower roots may be killed each winter, while this is followed by a summer drought when, because of the dead roots, the trees cannot get hold of the moisture they need.
With raspberries, it is a question of cutting out all the old wood and retaining the new, though, if the canes are stunted, one can suspect virus troubles, and then it will be best to scrap the rows and start all over again.
They can then go into a refrigerator for an hour or so before serving if it is a hot day. They then may be served with crushed ice plus the usual sugar and cream!
Draining is quite a technical job but, generally speaking, the agricultural drains are laid no deeper than 2 feet 6 inches and no farther apart than 15 feet.
White currants never grow pure white: when they are ripe they are a sort of dirty- white colour. Nectarberries go almost purple before they are ready to pick, whereas blackberries are jet black, and loganberries dark red. Mulberries are almost black before they are ripe. Blackcurrants can be deceiving in that they turn black before they ripen fully, and many is the amateur who has picked them too early in consequence.
The commercial growers, who market their soft fruits, have of course to pick on the unripe side, for ripening continues even after the fruits have been removed from the plants or trees. He has also to study the question of varieties, for there are some kinds which keep whole and travel long distances far better than others.
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The Storehouse
Posted on February 26, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
A good storehouse is a storehouse that is constructed above ground level. The floor was of soil, and wire netting was buried a foot below so as to prevent rats and mice from burrowing in. The earth was them rammed down tight and was watered with a 2 per cent solution of formaldehyde so as to kill any disease spores that might be present.
When properly bottled and wrapped in blue paper it is possible to keep plums perfectly for twenty years or more if need be, and the author has actually done this with success.
Before bringing the apples and pears into the store, it is a good plan to leave them out of doors in their boxes overnight so that they are exposed to low temperature and thus themselves will chill down. It is when they are at a low temperature in the morning that they can be brought into store.
At the opposite end of the store to the doors a window was made which opened into the room and a wooden shutter which slides was fixed to the far side of the wall. Thus even here there is a 6-inch buffer of air between the shutter and the window when both are kept closed. Air, incidentally, is a very good insulator. The inside of the store was faced up with concrete so that it could be whitewashed over and kept absolutely clean. The match-boarding roof was painted with a white glossy plastic paint which made it easy to wash down or dust. Electric light is fitted in the store so that it is possible to work there during the winter with the doors and windows kept closed to keep out the frost.
It is never worth while fitting a store with slatted shelves, as was done in the Victorian days. It is better to use what are called orchard boxes which contain a bushel of apples or orchard trays which contain exactly half a bushel. These orchard boxes, which can be obtained from a firm like Messrs.
George Monro, Ltd., Waltham Cross, Herts, are made in such a way that the air can circulate easily and the strips of wood forming the boxes have rounded edges, so that there are no sharp corners or edges to injure the fruit. The orchard boxes or trays are stood on top of one another and thus take up a minimum of room.
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Tips for Mulching Fruit Trees
Posted on February 25, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
In some gardens raspberries, currants and blackberries these have to be grown in a wire-netting cage because of birds. When this is so it is as well to have the base of the cage made of wood to a height of, say, 18 inches and then, having planted the canes and the bushes shallowly but firmly, the straw will be applied all over the ground to the depth of a foot. This straw will mulch the ground, smother the weeds and, of course, make it very pleasant for the gardener to walk on - especially at picking time. The worms will pull some of the straw into the ground in time and when this happens a top dressing of more straw may be given to keep the level constant.
Of course, as the worms start to pull the straw into the ground and at the end of the first season it may be necessary to top up with another 3 inches of straw. The initial cost, therefore, is far greater than the annual cost.We have had soft fruit growing in this method for nine years, with great success, and during the whole of that period the land has not had to be dug, forked or hoed. It is undoubtedly the cheapest form of soft fruit culture-and the best.
Remember, however, that during the whole of the life of the plants there will be no forking or hoeing to do, but occasionally a little hand-weeding may be necessary because seeds may have blown on to the peat and germinated.
There may be gardens situated in our cities or towns where it is not easy to get hold of straw or where this commodity is extremely expensive, and I am therefore asked what the ideal substitute might be. Some have used old sawdust for the purpose. This should be stored for about a year in the open before using, preferably in a three-sided bin made of planks of wood. It could be 4 feet by 4 feel or as big as 8 feet by 8 feet.
A layer of sawdust should be put into position at the bottom of the bin, 8 inches deep. This should then be sprinkled with fish manure at 4 oz. to the sq. yard. Another layer of sawdust should be put on, another sprinkling of fish manure, and so on, until the required height is reached.
I must stress this regular cutting and the non- carting away of the mowing, for during a damp summer it may mean mowing eighteen or nineteen times from the beginning of May to the end of October - and perhaps more. Once again, the regular mechanical mowing saves hoeing, forking, weeding and the like. The organic fertilizers needed can be applied each January or February and subsequent doses given in the summer if the leaves seem to indicate that this is necessary.
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Pruning Fruit Trees with Knives
Posted on February 25, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
For years I carried a non-clasping knife in a sheath on my belt because I found it steadier. After a number of years the knife with a closing blade is apt to get loose at the rivets, and then it wobbles. The blade should have an overall length in either case of 7 or 8 inches.
Narrow blades are provided for getting in between V-shaped crotches formed by two branches growing out of the main trunk close together. It is also possible to buy a saw with a slightly curved blade which acts chiefly with a downward pull. For renovating neglected orchards, these curved blades are often fitted to a long handle, so that a pruner can use them when standing on the ground, and thus saw off a branch some way up.
If the maiden has produced side shoots the previous season just below this cut, these are pruned back by about a quarter so that during the following spring and summer the leaves they produce can manufacture plant foods to feed the roots. This will help in thickening up the main stern.
There are two main kinds of long-handled pruners. The first consists of a pair of Rolcut secateurs fixed to the end of a long, light, smooth pole, with a suitable wire operating one of the handles. A movable wooden handle is then fixed near the base of the pole, with the result that it is possible to cut off a shoot quite high up while the pruner is standing on terra firma. It is often used for pruning half- standard trees.
The second is the normal long-handled tree pruner with a hooklike end. A blade is fixed to one side of the curve of the hook by means of a bolt. Then at the tip of the wedge-shaped blade a wire runs down to a handle a foot away from. the bottom of a 6-foot-8foot even 10-foot pole.
The pruner hooks the end of the apparatus over the end of the branch or shoot and then, by pulling down the handle, the blade passes through the wood and cuts it off at the desired place. It takes a certain amount of skill and experience to ensure that the cuts are made in exactly the right place.
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Top Fruits
Posted on February 25, 2009, by admin, under Gardening.
Trees planted in an already established orchard are curiously enough slow to make headway, and therefore in such cases I always advise grubbing.
The black parasitized bodies of the aphides are fairly easily seen and this circumstance makes collection not at all difficult. In the spring the shoots must be taken out of the straw and tied on to the branches in the orchard early enough for them to do the work. Actually woolly aphis activity may commence in early April in some seasons.
A sensible scheme is to remove alternate trees diagonally in the rows, as shown in the plan.
The work should be done in May or early June, if possible, and if the tree is seriously affected with silver leaf, it may show some sign of the disease next year. In this case, the bark should be re-split from top to toe and that should do the trick. In very bad cases one may have to continue this bark cutting for four years.
Soft fruits, however, grow comparatively quickly and come into cropping in the matter of a year or two. Apples, pears and plums, on the other hand, often take six or seven years to settle down before they start fruiting seriously.
Therefore, it is worth while tackling neglected trees carefully and gradually getting them right. The only exception to the rule, perhaps, is in the case of an orchard where there are gaps which amount to 25 per cent.
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