August 2015 Kitchen Garden Guide

 

Like many others, I was out early on Monday morning, taking photos of the snow and enjoying the rare treat. Many plants were weighed down with snow but this is nothing new for most of vegetables and fruit trees we grow this time of year as they hail from climes more severe than ours.

 The Chill Factor

In fact, the cold can add sweetness to vegetables such as chicory and will ensure a good crop of apples, cherries and pears which have a chill factor which means they require a certain number of hours below 7C to ensure an even bloom period. During mild winters the chilling requirement may not be met and will result in uneven bloom, and hence uneven pollination and less fruit set. The table below suggests the chill hours required by various fruits. Of course within, for example, apples, there are hundreds of varieties, each differing slightly in its requirements but this table gives a general guide.

Apple 300 - 1200	Chestnut 400 - 750
Apricot 300 - 1000	Almond 400 - 700
Cherry – 500 - 800	Walnut 400 – 1500
Fig 100 - 500	Avocado NONE
Grapes 100 - 500	Citrus NONE
Kiwi 400 - 800	Pear 150 - 1500
Peach 150-1200	Persimmon 100 - 700
Pecan 150 - 1600	Plum 275 - 1000
Nectarine 150 - 1200	Quince 100 - 500
Pomegranate 100 - 300	Olive 400 - 700

Now is your last chance to buy and plant out bare-rooted fruit trees this year.

Tomatoes

It seems ridiculous to be thinking of tomatoes while it is snowing but August is the best time to start tomatoes from seed. Basically, fruiting plants like tomatoes, capsicums and eggplants need the longest growing season as they have to first get to a good size, then flower, then the fruits must grow and finally they need time to develop flavour and to ripen.

 Many of us have fires going all the time right now and setting a tray of sown tomato seeds on the mantel is perfect for germination but immediately you see green shoots emerging, they must be given full sun or you will have spindly seedlings, with no strength from which they struggle to ever recover.

Bottom heat is best for germination and I always put a sheet of glass over the tray to increase humidity and to stop mice from eating the seeds (if they are in a hothouse) as late winter is a hungry time for mice as they prepare for litters of babies. Into my little green house is where the germinated seedlings go in order to get enough sunlight. I use a 6m long, 50 watt, thin, flexible, silicon cable taped to the underside of a 3 shelf, metal rack from the tip-shop. The metal shelves ensure good heat transfer to my seed trays and 50W just keeps the soil at a nice temperature, without costing a lot to run.

Contrary to some advice, it seems to me that it is perfectly possible to grow excellent crops of big, delicious tomatoes, as we did last summer at the Cygnet Community Garden. Now is the time to begin soil preparation. We chose a sunny spot, covered in horrid grass. About this time last year we laid a sheet of weed mat over the area and threw prunings, weeds etc on top. Then we left it for a month or maybe 2, after which we dragged off the whole lot and put in a couple of concerted human sessions to remove the couch runners. Once spring leapt into action, huge amounts of runners shot again so then we put the chooks to work, digging and scratching. Late October-ish we went over the whole area, loosening the soil to a good fork’s depth. After more runners shot, we could then easily pull them as we saw them and by mid- November we had a beautiful bed into which we dug our favourite 5-in-1 organic fertiliser mix and a heap of our home made compost.

By now our seedlings were well established in the poly tunnel and some were flowering so they were put out to harden off, after all reasonable chance of frost had passed. We also bought some unfamiliar varieties from the Botanic Gardens Spring Sale. We laid out the plants, leaving 1m between each, which seems like a lot but which is so important. Remarkably we had a few ripe tomatoes by Christmas! We supplied all of us for months, with the best tomatoes I have seen or eaten in Tasmania!

I hesitate to mention varieties as every variety has its qualities, climatic preferences and variabilities. So these are my suggestions, with which many may not agree J….. Early: Kotlas, Flavour: Black from Tula (large and dense), black cherry (small) Reliability: Marmande (medium, plentiful), Mama Mia (constant supply, lovely shape) Cooking: Italian gold (large roma, very prolific, long season). Of course there are many others. We saved seed from the best plants with the best tomatoes and will be sowing them soon.

Oxalic Acid

Many leafy vegetables have large amounts of oxalic acid in them, rhubarb being the highest concentration and everyone knows not to eat rhubarb leaves or to give them to your chooks. Next comes anything related to beets; silver beet, rainbow chard (which is multi-coloured silver beet) and beetroot, for example. My mother always told me that these need to be cooked in lots of boiling water and drained well. If I want some greens to put in soup or to stir fry etc, I use leaves from the brassica family such as kale, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, or radish leaves or chicory. I eat a lot of greens so I like to vary what I eat. This table explains what I mean.

Raw Vegetable	Oxalate content milligrams per 100 gram serving
Spinach	750
Beet greens	610
Okra	146
Parsley	100
Leeks	89
Brassicas	74

 

Jobs for August During early August it is important to spray Bordeaux or Burgundy mix, before bud burst, on: All peaches and nectarines, for curly leaf prevention. Repeat in 2 weeks. Apples which had scab last year Raspberry canes which had leaf rust

 

Plant and sow in August   Plant or divide rhubarb, strawberry runners, raspberry canes, asparagus and get all deciduous trees and shrubs in before they leaf.   Start sowing summer vegetables with bottom heat: ·         Tomatoes ·         Capsicums ·         Chillis And while you are waiting for them to mature, why not grow some sprouts in the kitchen for a nutritious and delicious treat for your taste buds and body!   Sow now in trays to plant out later: ·         Onions including red, salad, spring and most others ·         Broad beans (it is not too late) ·         Coriander ·         Brassicas ·         Asian greens ·         Lettuces ·         Peas (sow direct and protect from birds and snails)