Seed Guide 2007 pgs 01/41 - McKenzie Seeds

G R O W I N G I N F O R M A T I O N
Harvesting should take place about 60
days from an early sowing and 40 days
from a mid-season sowing. Start at the
end of the row and cut only as much as
you need each day, bearing in mind that
freshly harvested vegetables lose a lot of
their vitamins very quickly after being
harvested.
If you wish to make two harvests from the
bed, the plants should be cut at about
1/2-1in (1.25-2.5cm) from the ground.
Afterwards the area should be cleared of
debris and the soil watered. Regrowth
from the stem bases should occur in about
one or two weeks. It is best to use only
the leaves from one regrowth as the old
stumps may harbour pests and diseases.
Leaf lettuce production can be tailored to
your weekly requirements, there will be
no waste from bolting and less ground is
used. Only 10 sowings should be required
to produce crops ready for harvesting at
weekly intervals from early June to late
October.
Peppers
Another crop that has been developed by
plant breeders with great benefit to the
amateur gardener, because now very
acceptable crops can be produced outside
in growing bags, large pots or other
containers. Peppers are rich in vitamin C
and can be used in salads either raw or
cooked and cooled when they retain their
vivid green, orange, red or purple skin
colour.
Sow the seed as for tomatoes (see page
33) and move the young plants into 3in
(7.5cm) pots at the four-leaf stage. Plant
out after hardening off when all danger
of frost has passed.
Peppers are particularly suited to
production in the unheated greenhouse
which should be kept well ventilated and
sprayed regularly in hot weather as an aid
to pollination and a deterrent to red
spider mite.
Radishes
These are particularly easy to grow and
can be intercropped with rows of lettuce
or beets or broadcast in patches to take
up a minimum amount of space. The
32
earliest sowings can be made in a cold
frame or under landscape fabrics in late
winter with successional sowings
following at about three-weekly intervals.
Choose a sunny, sheltered position in soil
that is well fed with organic matter. Sow
the seed thinly, evenly and shallowly in
rows 4-6in (10-15cm) apart and thin out
early to 1 in (3cm) apart. Water the soil
thoroughly before sowing and after the
seeds emerge.
Spring or bunching onions
These are specially bred for use in salads,
having rapid growth and a milder flavour
than bulb onions. Sow the seed thinly
1/2in (1.25cm) deep in short rows 8in
(20cm) apart from early spring through to
early autumn, allowing about a 4 week
interval between each sowing. Through
the summer they can be selectively picked
leaving the final plants to mature in
autumn when they will be the size of
leeks.
Spinach
A highly nutritious and easily grown crop
for use throughout the autumn, winter
and spring.
Sow perpetual spinach in spring in drills
lin (2.5cm) deep 6in (15cm) apart, in rows
18in (45cm) apart, preferably In a wellmanured
organic soil in partial shade.
Pick young leaves regularly, starting late
summer; and give some protection against
frost to enable picking throughout the
winter.
Summer spinach is treated in the same
fashion and takes almost 9 weeks from
sowing to picking, provided that the soil
doesn't lack moisture. So make
successional sowings at 2-3 week intervals
until mid-summer.
Sweet Corn
We offer the latest hybrid varieties that
are far earlier and sweeter than traditional
ones, moreover the cob quality has
been substantially improved to make this
a most attractive and rewarding crop for
the amateur gardener.