| There is always so much to talk about during the gardening slot and I always feel that I do not get to acknowledge the e-mails that people have sent me and so I thought that I would answer some of the questions that have been sent to me.
A common request has been for a crop rotation diagram. Since the early eighties I have used a wonderful book called ‘Growing Vegetables in South Africa’ written by Capel Hemy (ISBN 0869541854). In it, he has a very useful rotation guideline that is very simple to follow. Crop rotation simply means, that as a grower, you avoid planting the same plant in the position season after season. This simply avoids the build up of soil diseases such as eel worm or nematodes. Like us, although plants may look different, they can be closely related, and so it is important to know if you are planning a successive crop then you not only not plant the same plant but also plants that are related. Considering we are coming into summer it would not be a good idea to plant your summer tomatoes where you grew your winter broccoli or cauliflowers, but you could very successfully sow carrots or onions.
I have also been asked for a ‘what to grow when’ diagram. Many city people or people who work full time tend to grow their vegetables from ready to plant seedling purchased from a nursery. This dramatically reduces the time it will take until you can harvest as opposed to sowing your own seed which means you have to be more careful with your planning.
If you are keen to grow your veggies from seed then you can sow the following in Oct/Nov
Crop damage caused by insects is a constant source of frustration in e-mails sent to me. CUT WORM are worms that live and operate just below the soil surface, literally cutting off the young seedlings just below soil level. I have found that they are problematic when people start out a new vegetable garden. As the garden matures, the soil fertility improves and diversity improves I have found that cut worm become less of a problem. Growing seedlings on in pots, before you plant the seedlings out, also helps as the older plants will have tougher stems and are less susceptible to the worms. You could also place a collar around each seedling which will physically stop the worm getting to the plant. You can cut off the bottom of either a polystyrene cup or an old plastic pot and then gently sink this into the soil around the seedling. The pot or cup must be pushed into the soil to at least two or three centimeters below soil level. SNAILS are also pains at this time of the year and can cause lacey leaves on things like spinach. Please take time to visit www.janesdeliciousgarden.com for some wonderful pictures on how to make a snail beer trap. The good old fashioned way of getting up at night and going around with a torch to physically pick off the snails still works and as a last resort you could use snail bait. I simply can not kill snails and oddly enough have never had a problem with them!
Considering that the next six to eight weeks are the most important growing time for summer veggies as we are leading up to the summer solstice it is really important to feed during the next. Properly prepared soil will pay you good dividends but supplementing with liquid foliar and soil drench feeds will help enormously. I allow nettles to grow and then place them in my water storage container and then water with this weak ‘tea’. Some kraal manure placed in an old orange bag and allowed to soak in a drum of water will also yield a valuable tea, or you can simply buy a liquid organic fertiliser from your local nursery.
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