Food garden fabulous

Published : 20/10/2011 | Author: The Gardener

Your food garden is now into its peak growing season and if the first sowing was done in September you should be harvesting your first crop of bush beans, spinach, lettuce, baby carrots and beetroot this month. Other tasks will be to continue succession planting according to your plan, renewing the mulch on the beds and watering, which is critical both inland and at the coast, especially if you haven’t had regular rain in the summer rainfall areas. In most of the Western and Northern Cape, it goes without saying that as the summer days become longer, drier and hotter, daily watering becomes essential if you want a successful harvest.

By November your tomatoes, brinjals, peppers and chillies should have started flowering. If they are not well watered at this stage they will drop their flowers. Vegetables planted in well prepared soil generally don’t need fertilising now but observe their growth and if a plant is not growing well or its colour doesn’t look good, give it a foliar feed with a kelp based plant tonic. Home-made compost or green teas, as well as worm tea, can also be applied as a soil drench to feed the soil life. They should not be used as a foliar feed because of the possible bacterial load.

Bring in the bees

It is a good idea to think about attracting pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds for the fruiting vegetables that need to be pollinated. Flowering herbs and other flowers can be planted in or close to the food garden. Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) is a good choice. You can also try planting perennial basil, feverfew, fennel or dill, mint (that is allowed to flower), catmint and alyssum, all of which are loved by bees. Dill and fennel are good trap crops as well because they attract many insects during their life cycle making it easier to control or eradicate them.

Take out the weeds

Weeds compete for water, food and space and they can bring insects and disease into your garden. There is a difference between annual and perennial weeds. Annuals can simply be hand-hoed and left but perennials must be removed by the roots. If you are unsure which is which treat all weeds as if they are perennials and make sure they are removed before they flower or set seed. The best way to remove weeds is by hand, using a sharp implement to get the roots out. Weed killers must not be used in a food garden.

Weed PREVENTION strategy

It is possible to have a weed-free food garden and food gardener Di-Di Hoffman has a four-part strategy to achieve this.

Keep the perimeter of your food garden free of weeds so that seeds don’t drift into the garden.

Plant quick growing barrier crops such as yarrow, comfrey, berries, including gooseberries, or mint that out-grow the weeds and also shade them from the sun.

Keep all walkways free of weeds.

Keep the spaces in-between rows of vegetables free of weeds and in-between the vegetables themselves.

His advice is to weed on a daily basis. If you see a weed, pull it out. It doesn’t take long for it to spread and create an even bigger problem. Weeds that have been pulled out should not be put on the compost heap. An option is to cut off the aerial parts, throwing that away and leaving the roots to dry out before adding them to the compost. Even weed-infested gardens will be weed-free after three years if this program is followed diligently.

Preparing for the holidays

Being away from home when your vegetables are ready to harvest can cause huge wastage in your food garden. Ideally, when planning the garden in June and July, the sowing and planting times should be scheduled so that crops are ready for harvest either before or just after you return from holiday. This is particularly critical for short harvest crops like bush beans that only have a two week window or baby marrows that can quickly grow into monsters if not picked. Root crops can survive an extra two weeks in the ground but be sure to pick the bigger specimens before you leave. The other challenge is watering and if there is no one coming in to look after your vegetables it is a good idea to switch over to an automatic watering system. Also make sure that the beds are well mulched to reduce heat stress on the roots and soil life. If there is a house-sitter ask them to come in a week earlier and show them how and what to water and how to harvest. Finally, clean and weed the food garden before leaving and cover any bare ground with mulch or shade cloth.

Vegetable of the month

Gem squash is a uniquely South African vegetable that was hybridised here many years ago. Gems are easy to grow. They need full sun and rich, well composted soil that drains well. They also need plenty of space because of their spreading growth habit. In smaller gardens the long vines can be trained up a trellis or along a wall. The stems are quite brittle so they need to be handled carefully and the fruit also needs to be supported. Sow the seeds in rows 1m apart. Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged as this will cause the seeds to rot. One or two plants are all that is needed for a family of four. It is a good idea to pinch off the growing tips to contain the growth. This is particularly advised if the soil is poor. Reducing the size of the plant also results in better quality fruit because the root system is more able to sustain the plant. Be careful of overwatering and getting water on the leaves because the plant is very susceptible to mildew. Watch the growth and fertilise if you feel it is necessary. The plant will benefit from a kelp-based tonic which can be watered over the leaves early in the morning so that they dry quickly. The growing season lasts 70 - 90 days and the fruit is harvested in early autumn. The fruit is ripe and ready to pick when the skin is too hard to pierce with a fingernail. Gem squash can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to three months.

Herbs and vegetables to plant in November

Leaf vegetables

Spinach and Swiss chard in cooler areas
Loose-leaf lettuce in cooler areas, but not lettuce that makes heads
Rocket

Root vegetables

Carrots – only in the Western Cape
Beetroot – except in hot, subtropical areas
Radishes

Fruit vegetables

Brinjals – last sowing
Sweet peppers and chillies – last sowing

Beans (bush and runner)
– except in hot, subtropical areas

Tomatoes – last sowing
Cucumbers – in cooler areas
Green mealies and sweet corn
Pumpkin and hubbard squash – except in hot, subtropical areas
Bush and trailing squash – except in hot, subtropical areas

Shoot crops
Asparagus – except in hot, subtropical areas

Celery – only on the highveld

Herbs

Basil, coriander, dill, nasturtium, Italian parsley (flat leaf parsley), chives and sage.

From harvest to table

Pattypans

Patty pan squashes are easy to grow and prolific producers. They are members of the Cucurbit family of vegetables which includes pumpkins and cucumbers. They can be called ‘summer squash’, ‘scallop squash’ and sometimes ‘flying saucers’ – mainly by children. They grow into large bushy plants producing fruit with soft skins and the pretty scalloped edge for which they are known. Different varieties produce yellow, white or green fruits that are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals and can be prepared in various ways including steaming, roasting, stuffing or being made into a tasty soup. The flowers are also edible like those of courgettes or zucchini.

Sow seed in trays or directly into the vegetable garden in an open, sunny to semi-shaded area. Add plenty of organic matter during soil preparation and dress well with mulch. Plant out tray seedlings when they have three or four true leaves. Germination will take about 5-10 days with fruits forming from about 50 days. Water regularly, especially during flowering and although they don’t require much fertiliser, feeding will increase yields. Avoid fertiliser high in nitrogen as this will promote leaf rather than fruit growth. Harvest the young fruits when they are about 10cm long. Try ‘STAR 8081’ (yellow) and ‘STAR 8080’ (green) squash varieties from Starke Ayres. Both have a dense growth habit in a medium-sized bush plant with high yield potential and excellent fruit uniformity and quality.