planting tips from munty

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muntjac

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planting tips from munty
« on: August 04, 2007, 22:21 »
ok here,s how i plant n grow my stuff you can make what of my ideas you wish everybody does stuff thier ways but it gives me good results and isnt my gospel but a life times collection of oldies tips and tricks and also some of my own . i may as well start it alfabetickly. so here we go with

ASPARAGUS.

types of asparagus can be early mid or late cropping  so choose what you want n then decide if you want to use my planting method

in feb start by digging a 3 ft wide by the plots width trench filling it with good extremly well rotted manure .in mid april  place the crowns in on top at least 3ft apart in the centre of the manure trench  now pile the soil back over the crowns and pull more soil from the outside  to make it level  if needed, now lime the surface with 1oz to the yard , harvest only the first 5 spears from each crown in the first year , in the second year crop from when they appear til june 21st ,stop and leave alone till spring .in jan cut down the sprays and remove all rubbish and spray all weeds with roundup ( DO NOT SPRAY IF THE SPEARS ARE THROUGH )  hand weed only  . you can carry on cutting for 20 yrs or more if you feed them properly . after 4 yrs in put manure on top of the mounds in winter after cutting the sprays down in november .this will give the sparrowgrass a new boost for the next spring .lime before the spears start to appear each year.

BEANS all types  are the same in my book and need no different measures except in climbing frames for the climbing varieties

method, dig a trench 18 by 18 inch deep .fill with rotted manure  not compost as this doesnt hold anywhere as much nitrogen as muck does . pull the soil back over and leave to sink about a month is great ,when your ready to think about beans start em off in a greenhouse or cold frame  or even ya window sill in april , plant em out in may . sow some extra seed  4 -5 to each plant  and they will come later you can leave them to get on with it .this gives an extended growing season to near end october .pick all beans before they become stringy and do not allow any to set seed unless you want it to at the last of the season. water in the morning before the sun gets to high if possible ,and then again in the early evening ., do not spray the flowers with water from the HOUSE hose as it contains chlorine and other nasties and may affect the pods setting let nature and the bees do the job with just a helping hand from you . always plant beans from east to west even if this means you have smaller rows . for climbing beans see my frame this can be applied to all climbing varieties  and you can interplant both french climbing with ya runners if you so wish conserving ground :wink:

LEEKS

you can plant em straight out as they are,i sow the seed in april in a small bed in the garden . preparing the ground  a top dressing of lime 1/2 oz to square yard will help along with a dressing on potash and superphosphate ,both available from garden supplies 1/2 oz per . the dibber hole is a trried and trusted method from generations of gardeners i personally dont use it i use the spade dug in deep and then levered back and forth to form a slit, i find this leaves a soft loose spot in the soil in which the roots can spread .if you come across a broken fork / spade shovel handle then have its end made to a blunt point this will then be fine for your leek dibber .rake the top dressings in lightly, mark the line and then go down the line with the dibber a foot apart placing holes ,the depth of the hole is determined by the leeks length i grow mine to about pencil thickness before planting out in a final  "seed " bed in the garden. place the leek in the hole twisting it down as you go to make sure the roots all go down . turn the leek so that the leaves fall left and right of the line now pour the water in ,i prefer to use water from cans that i have warmed up in the greenhouse or in the sun for a couple of days ,this has the effect of not shocking the roots and also i believe in reducing the chlorine from tap water ,if you have rain butts use that water , plant the rows 2 ft apart ,hoe when needed water every other day in dry weather feed one lot of potash same as before to the leeks in end week october , hope that helps
still alive /............

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muntjac

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BEETROOT
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2007, 22:07 »
BEETROOT

  this is a funny crop well not so much a crop but a seed as it is several seeds in one cluster . well how i grow them is as simple as putting them in the soil with a raked in prefeed of potash 4   oz to the whole row this should be about 15 ft . draw a shallow drill ( line in the soil ) 1/2 inch deep  . now sow your seed every 10 inches  this allow the beets to have space to spread . now feed them potash about 4 weeks later  make sure they haver plenty of water , when the first of the beets are golf ball size thin them out by taking a penknife and cutting through the individual root of the one your picking dont pull them up as this causes the soil around the remainder to become loose . as they grow pick them until you have 1 left and let this get to tennis ball size .  you can sow more beetroot a month after the first row  to have a sucession of roots .

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muntjac

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brassica's
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2007, 10:23 »
BRASSICA'S

this includes all the cabbages .brocoli ..cauliflowers ... sprouts ....etc
sow the seed in a seed bed  dug n lightly limed and allowed to settle .you can sow all of these in a bed a yard by a yard ,sow in rows as and when the pack says so.remember if in the south 2 weeks ealier even a month sometimes .n the further nth 2 weeks later , take the humber as a middle ground. allow seedlings to grow to size stated on the packs . by now your main growing ground wil have been dug and manured from last Christmas .plant out in the rows but i dont follow the packs directions here i add 6 inches minimum to all the planting distances especially with spring cabbage which i plant 2 ft apart .this allows for greater acces when hoeing and also allows a larger amount of air to circulate in among the crops . plant them in holes dibbered if you want but i dig a hole with  trowel and disturb the soil at the base of it and then plant it with a good stomp on the ground around it .a sprinkling of lime around each plant and a water and  thats it ,you need to keep an eye open for flying cabbage crunchers spray when they are seen not after they have started eating your stuff.those who grow in fruit cage type affairs can dispence with this but watch for slugs and snails. a feeding of sulphate of ammonia & potash ( teaspoon of each  )will bring cabbages etc on very fast so if you want you can sprinkle some around the spring cabbages after Christmas .and the summer cabbage and have bigguns you can its best not to over water these plants unless they are in a critical condition if normal weather is about then let nature do its thing.droughts well i dont need to say

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muntjac

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CARROTS
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2007, 14:12 »
now my favourite veggie after sprouting broc is carrots ...
my top tip is this .dig / rotavate heavily  til your soil is a good 18inches deep of real open soil .now mound it up a yard wide raised and the width of the plot .make the mound 9 inches tall do a couple of these beds just rake the soil up in a mound dont go fannying around with boards and all that rubbish .this is the proper way to get real carrots .get the  packs of the carrots you like .mine are  CHANTENEY RED CORED  .also an autumn one for storage FLAK, for succesion growing of carrots divide a bed up by 4 and sow the first lot in a premarked bed .use a cane as a border marker. laying them across the shortest span of the bed. sow a pack of chantenay in the first bed . then wait 2 weeks and sow another pack then continue to the last small bed .( you can divide the bed up into more smaller beds if you wish starting in april you can sow right through to sept in the south, sow the longer growing autumn carrots in another long bed .plenty of potash for both long beds  will give great results..harvest the red cored when they reach 4 inches  , the flak will grow to 12 inches and still be great for storage in peat / damp sand over winter , .note parsnips  wil be grown like this as well for excellent results .
after you have harvested the carrots leave for next spring after digging it over and clearing any rubbish ....... these beds can now be utilised to grow early potato's the bed can be split down the middle and then planted .soil raked over into a mound and your ready to let them grow . a feeding of potash in the soil raked in after digging wil boost the crop :wink:

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muntjac

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marrows n courgettes
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2007, 23:58 »
ok some folks have a problem with these others dont .i grow them as courgettes and finish the season with marrows for winter storage .
ok rule one dont plant two plants close together...if you get mould  or blight on one it will soon go to the other one  now i start by making a hole a yard  square .a good foot deep /dump in loads of well rotted manure and then put on a layer of fresh straw about 4 inch deep this will bring the level higher than the depth of the hole  now put all the soil back over the lot   allow a week or 2 to settle ,water well the day before planting out .of course you will make 3 or 4 of these beds if you want to grow lots of courgettes like i does .i love em cooked and raw in salad. put the plants out when they have 4 main leaves  make a small mound around the stems to drain water away from the crown of the plants . water well all through the growing season .cut courgettes when they are 6 inch long before they start to harden up .for marrows allow only 2 marrows to form on each plant  cut the smaller courgettes as they come to size .look to cut the marrows when they are about 15 inches long  and still a dark green .changes in colour will show them getting to ripe for storage .  a good feed of potash and sulphate of ammonia will give a long lasting supply of  fruits  do this about july's end . remember the courgetes are 90% watere so give them plenty

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muntjac

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SOWING PEAS
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2007, 11:11 »
Now i love nothing more than popping a few fresh peas from the garden n eating em as is .loverly .n jade my grand daughter left alone will clear a whole row in no time .so u will understand why i have to plant a lot of them . so here we go on my tips for growing peas ..
after growing whatever on previosly manured soil last year i dig the ground over extremly well and then rake it fine and level .now drawing a shallow trench about 1 inch deep and 1ft wide 15ft long ( or the width of the plot ) i sow packets at a time ,probably 5 packs to the row  i dont aim to sow em the same distance apart or any of that rubbish i want masses so the more that go in the better  complete the sowing of the rows before puling the soil back over the row .mark the edges of each row so you dont walk on them or anything else . and thats it they grow so dense they support themselves . now heres a tip for those who have peas grown in the countryside around them .try to find out when the peas are being sown and go down to the field and watch them being sown .oh wow its exactly the same as munty does it  :lol:  but thats not why ur here... watch where the guys are filling the hoppers with the pea seed .now when they are done ask the guys  :shock: if you can have the spillage .its well worth handing them over a drink £ for a carrier bag of seed . what you cant plant that many peas ?  :roll: course ya can .... see what ya do is this you sow a row wait a week to 10 days n sow another row right through to august :wink: you can have peas for ages if ya clever .loike wot i am  andddddd get this you can save the rest till next year .wash ya hands after sowing as they have a pink cover to stop the moulds etc  :wink: .oh yeh i do feed them during the growing period .sulphate of ammonia and potash in dilute in a watering can put 2 teaspoons of each n dont get it on the leaves  :wink:

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muntjac

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onions from sets
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2007, 23:24 »
i dont mess about with seeds why bother when you can get em started off well already for about £2. 99p a hundred  so heres how i grow mine .the starting point for good onions is the soil .dig it deep well manured from the previos year ,add some  potash 2 oz to the square yard to the soil after you have raked it down fine and level  mark the first row 6 inches in from the border of the plot  now using a trowel put each set in the soil upto its neck firming gently so you dont bruise them .space them 12 inches apart  along this row .then the second row will start 12 inches from the 1st row , yes about a foot apart in all directions ,this allows you to get into the rows to weed and feed sucessfully .allow them to grow with good watering and protection .i like to string a bit of fishing line over mine this stops the blackbirds pulling them out .when they start to root they sometimes lift themselves out in harder ground .by digging it well and raking it fine and level without tramping on it to much .... use a scaffold board if you can or a couple pieces of pallet wood to spread your wieght .if some of the sets pop up ,do not pull on them .just put more soil around them .water them in  and just let them be .now when they really have started to grow about golf ball size feed them again with potash 90% 10 % superphosphate  mixed well in a container .put half a teaspoon around each set and water in the next day ( if it rains you will of course not need to water )  when they have reached serios sizes like tennis balls feed again the same amount and ratios . do nothing but water and weed till they start to turn .if you want to about august/sept ( if they ripen earlier then lift them earlier ) you can start to plan the lifting by just putting a fork under the roots and loosening the soil under each one lifting it up , bending over the tops at the stem base also helps ready them for lifting after a couple weeks the leaf tips will turn yellow  now you can lift them completly and lay them down to dry . after a couple days in the sun shake off any soil sticking to the root haulm and put on a rack of some making to dry off completly .a hammock is a great feature for drying them so work on improving this idea . after a few weeks i leave mine for 8 wks at least to completly dry, i  then store by hanging in bunches in a cool windy place .use any that look to have rot in iether the stem or the root first .oh and i grow sturton

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muntjac

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LETTUCE
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2007, 21:46 »
probably the first thing most folks grow first when they take thier pinkies into growing thier own food .nothing can be easier to grow than lettuce . until everything goes wrong and they rot or blow to seed or theslugs wreck them or you end up with 50 lettuces that are all ready to cut at the same time. so how do we grow a perfect head of lettuce worthy of putting on the table on a summers day with other salad stuff

first the soil you can use last years manured soil as this will give the best results dig it over and allow to settle down for a couple weeks then rake it level now second  rake in some superphosphate about an oz to a square yardnext start with the variety of lettuce you like to buy  be it a closed type ( iceberg ) or an open leaved type . here's where we all start to go wrong by sowing loads of seeds at the same time .. sow about 10 plants only in single cell pots you only need to have them in the smallest of the cells  just fill with soil press down witha pencil and water then sow the seed place on ashelf or the greenhouse to germinate . sow another 10 plants every 2 weeks till your fed up eating it . end september for me .this will give you lettuce for the table and also a couple for those invited guests who know you grow your own stuff .looking for " free samples ". all you need to do is water them . watch for slugs  pellet them before they attack  try not to hose them when you water as this bruises the leaves and they soon rot .i put my hose on the ground and allow it to soak the soil not the plants . now the planting out should be a foot between each plant to allow for maximum growth and no crowding or hidey holes for pests etc . cut lettuce  before the sun is ful as this means they wil ahve a supply of water in the leaves and look and last a little longer if they are cut in full sun they soon wilt . grow radish between rows of lettuce  as they will be ready at tha dame time as the lettuce starts to crowd them out so you can cut lettuce and harvest them

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muntjac

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Swedes and Turnips
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2007, 23:24 »
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 6:33 pm    Post subject:      

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i find the third year after manuring best for swede when the nitrogen is at its lowest but still rich in humus etc i then add suplhate of potash to the soil at 10 to sq yard when i am forking the soil over before sowing rake it level ,thats way they dont get masses of leaf on them but the root grows well .to many folks let their neeps grow too big before pulling em you really wanna pull em when just above tennis balls sized .they do badly if they suffer a stop to the growing like drying out or a cooking from the sun
i grow one called bora its a tasty little begger i get it off the farm.,make sure the ground is totallly stone free cos they will chop into the skin if not .sow each seed 18 inch wide and in rows the same and place a wall of fleece around em to stop any flea beetle getting to em when they sown i use hutch wire in rolls with the fleece wrapped over it to make my wall .dont put any fertiliser on the surface at all when you dig and prep the ground put it in then, potash like i said and then rake in 1/2 0z growmore , if a seed fails to come up just chuck another another in its place .

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muntjac

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Making your own liquid fertiliser and its ORGANIC
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2007, 21:57 »
Ok so now its winter time not a lot to do in the garden now the weathers taken a turn for the better  ( ok its my own opinion alright  not my fault if i like the blooming cold  )  :roll:  so lets take a bit of time to think about the spring and summer when plants need a bit of extra feed supplying . and it is organic i can say so all you " funnny folks " :wink:  can do this , try and get a hold of any plastic barrels you can the bigger the better and with a tap if possible .store them on a few bricks on the allotment try and have rain water run into them if ya can off the greenhouse or shed .when its full take the spout away so you dont flood it . now around the houses in your area you may have some who race pigeons , well believe it or no they are great sources of great manure .ask for the loft scrapings and supply them a nice bin with a top you can seal if possible .let them fill it for ya and arrange a time to collect it .when you have the stuff ,get hold of some onion type sacks . hessian ones are great. now half fill a sack with pigeon poop and tie a lump string around the top sealing the bag and making sure it dont slip completly inside the barrel .now drop it in the barrel and forget about it ,put a lid of some sort on the barrel .now come the summer when your cabbages are looking like they need a kick up the roots  :shock:  take some out in a watering can and pour it around the cabbages ,but not on them .water them as normal with more wet stuff  and this will dilute it . you can use this on all ur plants  but brassicas reallly do well on it . you can also collect cowpats from the field or a farm yard .just ask for it  ,or use chicken poop thats in your coop its does'nt mater if its got feathers or straw in just bag it the same ,.then take the bag out allow it to drain back into the barrel and replace with fresh poop  when the barrels half empty  fill with water again and you can go again ,or have a trio of barrels as i do .its better than tomorite if you use cow poop. now you may have a load of this  poop given .just compost it in ya bins in layers ,put straw and other stuff inbetween each layer of pigeon poop . hope that is a little task for you ..... " werks for me "



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