Homely Capers

Transplanting Seedlings

Ben — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:30:17 +0000

A Biodynamic gardener once had a row of broccoli plants. Only two plants had aphids, but both were quite infested. The two plants were dug up, and the gardener discovered that the plants had experienced root damage during transplanting. The healthy broccoli, which had experienced uninterrupted growth, were untouched by the insects, while nature eliminated the unhealthy plants.

When transplanting, it is important to handle the seedlings gently and to touch them as little as possible. Plants do not like their bodies to be handled, though they do like to have human companionship and to have dead leaves removed from their stems. You should hold them only by the tips of their leaves (if the plant must be touched) or by the soil around their roots. If you have grown the seedlings in a tray, use a hand fork to gently separate a 4-inch-square section of soil and plants from the rest. Using the fork, gently lift that section from the flat and place it on the ground. Then carefully pull away one plant at a time from the section for transplanting. If it is particularly dry, hot, or windy, place the section on a wet towel. Always keep as much soil around the roots as possible when transplanting. If the seedling has been grown in a pot, turn the pot upside down, letting the plant stem pass between your second and third fingers, and tap firmly on the bottom of the pot with your other hand. Or tap the lip of the pot on something solid.

In all cases, if the plants are root bound (the roots being so tightly grown together from having been kept in a starting tray or pot so long that with the soil they constitute a tight mass), gently spread the roots out in all directions. This process is important because the plant should not spend critical growth energy sending out a new, wide-ranging root system for eating and drinking when a good root system has already been produced. Instead, the plant’s energy will go into the natural flow of continuous growth.

Be sure to place the seedling into a large enough hole so that the plant can be buried up to its first set of true leaves. Water the seedlings after transplanting to help settle the soil around the roots, to eliminate excess air spaces, and to provide an adequate amount of water for growth. As the soil is packed down under the pressure of watering, the final soil level will remain high enough to cover the upper roots. The plant’s roots need firm contact with the soil to properly absorb water and nutrients. Press the soil firmly around the seedling, if necessary, but not too tightly. Tight packing will damage the roots and will not allow the proper penetration of water, nutrients, and air. Soil that is too loose will allow air and moisture to concentrate around the roots. This will cause root burn and decay.

Transplanting seedlings up to their first true leaves prevents them from becoming top-heavy and bending over during their early growth period. (This is especially true for members of the cabbage family.) If a plant bends over, it will upright itself, but will develop a very “tough neck” that will reduce the quality and size of the plant and crop. Onions and garlic, however, do better if the bulb does not have much soil weight to push up against.

Optimally, transplanting should be done in the early evening so the seedlings get settled into their new home during more moderate weather conditions. If transplanting is performed during the day some temporary shading may be needed. In our hot, summer weather, we shade newly transplanted seedlings with 30% shade netting or Reemay, a “row cover” cloth, for several days to minimize transplanting shock and wilt.

Transplanting is preferable to directly sowing seeds. More importantly, transplanting improves plant health. Beds become compacted as they are watered and the soil will not be as loose for a seed that is planted directly in the bed. Some compaction will have occurred by the time it is a “child” a month later and, in some cases, so much so after 2 months, when it is likely to be an “adolescent,” that its “adulthood” may be seriously affected. If, instead, you transplant the 1-month-old “child” into the growing bed, a strong adult root system can develop during the next 2 months, and a good adult life is likely. In fact, a study at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1950s indicated that a 2% to 4% increase in root health can increase yields 2 to 4 times.

Rum BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ben — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 07:51:29 +0000

Fancy adding a little spice to your steak? This is one of my favourite sauce recipes and it’s so easy to make.

I try to make this sauce at least once a year, making a couple of litres at a time. The key is to let it cook for at least 12 hours. Makes 3 cups.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 red onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of dark rum (I use Bundaberg Rum)
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon hot chilli powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Peel and crush the garlic, set aside for 5 minutes. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat; add the diced onion and garlic and sauté. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar and all dry ingredients. Stir and simmer for at least one hour, the longer the better!

Sterilise jars and lids. Add hot sauce to hot jars and cap immediately. Allow to cool and store in the refrigerator.

Pineapple propagation at home

Ben — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 11:21:51 +0000

Pineapples or Ananas comosus is one of the edible species of over 2000 that make up the bromeliad family. Originally grown in the warm tropics of the Caribbean, pineapples can be grown almost anywhere there is warm weather.

Many people may think that they are a difficult plant to grow, but in reality they are very hardy and will tolerate little water and care. Should you find a pineapple for sale with a full top, have a go at propagating it.

Steps for Pineapple Propagation:

Take one pineapple, cut the top off about 2cm beneath the leaves.
Start pulling the small leaves away from the base of the stem. Keep pulling the leaves until the bottom 2.5cm of stem is exposed, this is were the roots will form.
Stand the pineapple vertical and cut any remaining fruit away. Leaving fruit behind will cause the stem to rot, resulting in a dead plant.
Leave your prepared top on the kitchen bench for a day to allow the base to dry, this will help prevent rotting.
When planting out, dip the stem in water and then into rooting hormone powder, this will help the base callous up and roots to form. Insert the stem into potting mix on an angle with part of the stem exposed at the top so as to reduce the chance of rot.
After 3 weeks check to see if any roots have formed, if not leave the pineapple stem for another two weeks. Once roots have formed the plant can be repotted into a vertical position for the roots to form.

Where to plant Pineapples:
When planting out into the garden pineapples prefer a well drained soil that does not get boggy and stay wet, planting the pineapple on mound will help with drainage. Any position in full sun or very light shade will suit your new pineapple, providing that the weather is warm as Pineapples do not like frost.

Fruiting and when to pick Pineapples:
Plants can take up to 24 months to fruit, yet in the meantime you will be rewarded with a relatively large lush green plant.

When your plant has flowered and the fruit has grown, the fruit will begin to turn a slight shade of yellow / orange. At this stage the fruit can be picked and taken indoors to prevent sunburn or pest attack, otherwise the fruit can be left on the plant to ripen.

Preparing soil for Passionfruit

Ben — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 07:27:07 +0000

You could say that this applies to all plants, but the key to a successful passionfruit plant is great soil.

Starting with any old soil is fine, but the key is to change that soil into living soil. Preparing the soil to hold moisture and nutrients while harboring millions of beneficial bacteria and bugs will make the soil alive.

Currently the yard which we own consists of red sandy loam. Over the course of the next three months I plan to dump large quantities of compost and manure around to turn it dark brown and almost black with organic matter. This will create a perfect soil for the fruit trees I plan to grow, especially the passionfruit.

Step one:
Thoroughly dig the whole garden bed to a depth of 30cm or one shovel depth. This breaks any compacted surface layers and allows for moisture to enter.
In the areas where you intend to plant out passionfruit vines, dig a 30cm deep hole and put that dirt aside. Inside the hole loosen the dirt to a depth of 30cm, then fill the hole back in with the dirt you removed, this should bring the garden back to the original level. By loosening the soil deeper where you intend to plant, water will naturally migrate to that area giving your plants extra water they can access.

Step two:
Find a source of manure. Sheep, cow, horse, goat, donkey, chook, in fact any manure from a grass eating animal is good (dog and cat manure can spread disease and smells awful). My preference is horse or cow mostly due to its availability, your best bet is to make friends with a local farmer or race horse owner.
* Chook / Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and needs to be composted with straw for a couple of months so it does not burn your plants.

Step three:
Spread your manure in a thick layer (150mm /6in) across the garden bed and lightly fork in.

Step four:
Apply mulch. An easy and cheap mulch is grass hay, this can be obtained from your local produce agency or local farmer for a reasonable price. A round bale covers all of my garden beds (and then some) and it looks great.
Spread the mulch out in a thick layer across the manure to prevent any rouge seeds from germinating, and to keep the moisture in.

Step five:
Water well, possibly put the sprinkler on for a good hour each week to soak the mulch and the soil below. This will give the bugs a nice humid environment to grow and breed in.

Step six:
Wait three weeks for the manure and soil to settle and plant out your passionfruit vines.

By following these simple steps, your passionfruit or other crops will have the best start to giving you plentiful amounts of fruit.
Strawberries are another great plant you can plant around the base of your Passionfruit vine while it develops. The grass hay will protect the fruit from being spoiled by touching the ground.

Whats in your freezer?

Ben — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:04:48 +0000

It wasn’t anything to do with global warming and it is winter here, but today we had the big thaw. The frost build up on our chest freezer was getting too much, so out came all of our frozen goods and in came the ice scrapers.

In the aftermath I found that we had quite a lot of food that was not accounted for and had fallen out of memory of being bought. After a quick stock take there appears to be at least 15-20 meals that could be had, all that needs to be added is a few veggies or some salad. The menu could go on all night, 8 pieces of rump steak, 3kg of mince beef, chicken mince, meatballs, sausages, lamb chops, bacon, hash browns, pork chops… How much of this food could go to waste if left sit for too long to get frost bite.

All of that meat would come to around $150 if we were to buy it from the butcher now, so as not to be wasteful we now have a push to eat our way through the freezer before buying any more meat. Sitting beside the freezer is a list showing each of the items that were ‘discovered’, as we go through we’ll cross them off.

How much good food is lurking in your deep freezer?

Why I don’t use weed mat

Ben — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:38:40 +0000

After moving into our new house, we spent a couple of hours over the weekend looking around my new garden. What we found was a lot of poor soil and what seems like an acre of weed mat in the garden beds!

My past experiences with weed mat have not been good, and this one is not much better. What I find funny in this situation is that there was quite a collection of weeds growing on top!

- Poor water infiltration / increased runoff
With all of that synthetic material on top of the soil, all it can be doing is blocking water and any added nutrients from reaching the roots of your prized plants.
- Lower oxygen levels in the soil
Funnily enough, healthy soil & plants need oxygen to grow to their potential. A layer of plastic, even woven plastic, prevents the natural passage of oxygen from the air to the soil.
- Discourages worms
The gardeners best friend will be driven from or discouraged from tending your garden for you.
- Strangles trees
When removing the weed mat from the front garden bed it was apparent that the trees had grown significantly since the installation. What was troubling was the difficulty and potential damage being caused by the removal of the weed mat.

Although there are a number of different weed mat products on the market, including organic weed mat, I am a firm believer in a good thick layer of mulch and a little weeding will be better in the ling run.

New House – time for a new garden

Ben — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 07:49:10 +0000

What a big fortnight it has been!
Moving house has really taken it out of R and I, but the enthusiasm to garden is coming back. Below are some photos of our new back yard, there is some framework for a huge tropical oasis garden. I think I counted 11 palm trees in the yard!

What was a kids sandpit area will now be extended and made into a dirt vegetable garden to supplement my aquaponics system. I look to grow the bulky or large quantity vegetables such as pumpkin, onions, tomatoes etc and leave the AP for herbs, lettuce and other nutrient hungry plants.

Zero garden down the side of the entertaining area. Will be filled with horse manure and planted with large shrubby palms and hibiscus.

Shot of the entertaining area.

An existing garden bed with a huge Cycad and cardboard palm.

Back door garden. Needs some tidy up and a prune back.

This is going to be a great adventure for us both, now to get back to work!

Potato Tower: Harvest

Ben — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:38:08 +0000

After watching the tops go yellow for a week, today was the day to do the big harvest. Who would have thought that four months had passed since the build stage of the potato tower?

Above you can see the yellowing stalks and leaves, a sure sign that things are coming to an end inside the bin.

A gentle shove, and a few potatoes spill out onto the ground.

My total harvest, not as big or as productive as I had hoped.

A whopping great 1.5kg of potatoes…

What a learning experience this has been, I have a long way to go before I catch up to my grandfather who grew bulk potatoes for wholesale. Not bad for a half arsed first try.

While the total cost to produce these potatoes was $12/kg (not too bad considering they can be as much as $6/kg in the supermarket), there are some simple things will do next time to increase my yields:

More dirt / compost in the bottom of the bin
Water more regularly
Fertilise more regularly (including seaweed extract)
Put straw on top in small regular amounts instead of 1ft every three weeks
Build the bin higher as the leaves grow
Insulate the inside to prevent too much heat transfer

This was a really worthwhile experience that I would recommend to any one, especially people with young children. I did get a tad excited picking them and I’m well over half way to 50, must be a big kid at heart.

Heirloom vs Hybrid

Ben — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:29:09 +0000

In December I started two tomato plants growing as seeds in Jiffy pots. After having them crop prolifically for many months, they were left to the elements and mealy bugs. They haven’t had any water, love or attention since March, and now being the end of July there are two distinct differences between them.

One is a heirloom tomato called Principe Borghese I got from Diggers Garden Club, the other is a Yates hybrid called “Small Fry”.

^ Principe Borghese

^ Yates “Small Fr”

This makes me wonder, not only do heirloom varieties taste better than hybrids, but they do not require as much water and chemicals as the hybrids that are so readily available.

Have you had any experiences with heirloom varieties?

Garden Update – July ’09

Ben — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:00:59 +0000

We are now half way into the dry season in the top end of Australia. Even though we have not seen a cloud for months, growth in the garden has slowed significantly due to the shorter days and lower sun intensity. The arrowroot received a severe pruning after the caterpillar infestation over the wet season. They have come back slowly but will need another prune before the big summer growth appears.

The potato tower has grown really well, although I have been lazy and not built it as high as I would have liked. Next year I may opt for a round bird mesh bin.

My aquaponics setup has cycled, which in short means that there is enough bacteria converting Ammonia from the fish into Nitrite, and from Nitrite into Nitrate. So far we have been able to make 4 salads from the Cos lettuce. I am still having some trouble with the pH being too high for the plants to absorb Iron, so I have been dosing with vinegar to bring it down.

The rhubarb and garlic are coming along slowly, possibly due to being in the shade most of the day over the winter months. Living in a climate that does not get below ~5 degrees C, the rhubarb will have to come out of the ground each year and be put in the freezer for a couple of weeks. Doing this encourages growth during the warmer months.

A lime tree has been planted, with the hope of enjoying some Vodka Lime and Soda drinks at some stage. The lemon has been dug up and put into a pot as the tree was not growing. Soil pH is fine, maybe some time in a pot with some TLC will bring him along!