Written for  America’s Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Kaufman’s article puts an alternative spin on the concept of sustainability by looking at how large-scale monoculture farming (in this case, Frank Muller’s uber-tomato farm which, last year, supplied 60,000 tonnes of tomatoes to Unilever) might actually be part of a green farming solution rather than wholesale contributor to its problems.  The article looks at ways in which high-precision management, a focus on productivity and spot-on book-keeping can be part of a green farming solution.

Counter-intuitive, but plenty of food for thought….

On this particular front, I can only really speak from my experiences growing vegetables in Cape Town, South Africa. If you’re really worried about cold-hardiness, waiting until late-August/September before sowing your favourite vegetables should see you right. Here are some ideas for the next week or two’s sowing…

Broad beans: Also known as Fava beans, these tend to be expensive at the South African supermarket – assuming you can ever find them in the first place. As one of my all-time favourite veg, their relative rarity in South Africa sent me out into my garden, packet of seeds in hand.

Sow now at intervals of about 20cms between seeds/70 cms between double rows – the double rows will help the growing beans to support each other, but you might still find it a good idea to stake your plants, especially if you’re in windy Cape Town. Water regularly, pinch out the growing tip when enough pods have set on your plant and you should be harvesting your crop 10-12 weeks from now. Varieties you might want to try include Aquadulce (known for its hardiness if you’re still not sure about the weather),  Karmazyn (for its unusual, pink beans) or Witkiem Manita for early maturing.

Peas: Not being big fans of hot weather, peas are best sown in cooler temperatures, making now the ideal time to kick things off. Sow into small pots/toilet roll inserts/seed trays and transplant into the ground/container about 3 inches apart. If the weather in your area is still very cold and wet, don’t sow directly into the soil now – the seeds are likely to simply rot. Once your seedlings have reached about 3 inches in height, you’ll see tendrils beginning to show – that’s a good time to put in some support in the form of small branches/stakes or netting to give them something to clamber up.

Peas take about 12 weeks to grow. The more you pick, the more will grow, so harvest regularly for a good crop, starting with the pods at the bottom of each plant and working your way up. Peas are excellent nitrogen fixers for soil, so rather than pulling the plants up once you’re finished with them, cut them down to the base, leaving the roots to rot back into the soil and add nutrients for your next harvest.

Aubergine/Eggplant/Brinjal: Sow now in full sun and expect your crops about three months later. Starting out in trays, allow a good 70cms between plants when transplanting into soil, or one plant per 33cm container if you’re patio growing. Check my earlier posting on growing aubergines for more details on the ins and outs of successful growing.

Beetroot: Another home-growers’ favourite, beetroot is really easy to grow. The spiky-looking seeds are actually made up of clusters of three or four seeds joined together – this means you’ll have to thin out the seedlings when they begin to grow, leaving only the strongest ones in place for your harvest. You can start beetroot off in growing trays, but you’ll have more success if you sow directly into the soil – wait until all chance of frost has passed before doing this, though.

Beetroot likes sun, although partial shade is all right too. Sow about 10cms apart and expect to harvest about three months after sowing.

Whether it’s Spring or Autumn in your neck of the woods, there’s plenty for you to plant now…

As September approaches, southern hemisphere grow-your-own-ers are looking forward to a summer filled with the sort of produce those of us in the northern hemisphere are eating the last of. Regardless of where you’re living, the good news is that there’s plenty to do on the grow-your-own front in September. Here are some ideas, split between those of us heading into spring and those of us wondering what we can eak out of our gardens in the leaner autumn and winter months. Today, it’s the northern hemisphere…

Plants for your Autumn garden

For late August/September in the northern hemisphere, try these…All of which will crack on just as happily in a container as they will sown directly into the ground.

Garlic: Sown in autumn, overwintered garlic will usually produce a bigger, better crop than anything you plant in the spring. Simply sow individual cloves, unpeeled and pointed end up, directly into the ground or a container. Harvest in the summer, when the leaves have largely turned yellow/brown – and keep back a few bulbs for sowing later in the year. Which reminds me – don’t plant the garlic you bought at the shops, it’s usually treated to stop it from sprouting. Buy from your local nursery or order online – try Purple Wight, Sicilian Red or Ilico for a more colourful result than your usual plain white bulbs. Slightly useless but interesting piece of information: those giant “Elephant Garlic” cloves are actually a type of leek.

Swiss Chard: Like spinach, chard prefers cooler weather, so now’s a good time to sow for cropping all the way into winter. Because it’s a fast-germinating plant, it’s easy to keep growing in succession. Apart from bringing a welcome kiss of green to your garden, you can brighten the darkening days with an extra splash of colour by sowing the “Bright Lights” variety, which offers green leaves with orange, red, yellow and other brightly coloured stems and veins.

Oriental leaves: Fast-growing, hardy oriental leaves cost a small fortune in salad mixes in the shops -amazing, considering how easy they are to grow.  Try Pak Choi, Mizuna, Mustard Greens such as Komatsuna and any of the seeming legions of Chinese cabbages to keep you in salads through the colder months. Make your own salad mixes by picking the leaves young on a cut-and-come-again basis or use in stir fries.  Rocket and Butterhead lettuce are also generally hardy enough to last the winter pace, although you might need to cover them with a cloche or fleece when things turn icy.

Spot the corn on the cob, aubergine, runner beans, tomatoes...

It’s been a long time since I last posted. That’s got quite a bit to do with me upping sticks and moving to France. I’ve spent the past few months with no access to a garden or any space to grow my own, although I did manage the obligatory radishes along with a few tomato plants, an aubergine and a squash in among the flowers in the small bed at the front of the first house I stayed in. Given that almost all the locals have their own potager positively teeming with everything from tomatoes to artichokes, potatoes, cabbage, courgettes, salad leaves, onions and everything in between, I’ve been gazing longingly over the walls of my new-found neighbours since I got here.

Among the most beautiful sights are the rows of Marmande, a French heirloom variety of tomato that forms deep, deep red fruit in heavy clusters so heavy the plants have to be trimmed back and supported with sturdy stakes. The tomatoes themselves are meaty and full of flavour and well worth considering for next year (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) or the coming summer in the south. They seem to tolerate cooler weather (having thrived in the hit-and-miss conditions I grew them in in Normandy) as well as the hotter, sunnier climes of their native Provence. They didn’t seem that fussed by my claggy, hard-baked and heavy soil, either – as long as they got a regular, deep watering.

The British may well have the reputation for being a nation of gardeners but it’s hard to drive past plot after plot of beautiful vegetables outside people’s homes and not conclude that the French must be the grow-your-own champions of the planet. Autumn may well be on its way, but now that I’m living somewhere with a small garden, I’ve decided there’s still plenty of time to get stuck in with my own mini-potager, starting with radishes…

Free courses with the Soil Association this winter.

What you need to serve six:
8 medium-to-large carrots
1 large onion, chopped.
4 cloves of garlic, crushed/chopped
1 400g tin of butterbeans
1 litre vegetable stock
Salt/pepper to taste
Olive oil

Method:
Scrape and chop the carrots roughly into small-to-medium-sized chunks. Sweat the chopped onion on a medium heat in a large pan/pot (i.e. One that’s big enough to ultimately take your soup). Add the garlic (you can use less than I’ve suggested, but I really like garlic) and continue frying until lightly coloured.

Add the chopped carrot and fry gently – if you’ve got the patience, turn the heat down low and put a lid on the pot, allowing the carrots to steam gently and release their own water (it really does taste better), checking regularly to ensure they don’t burn. Once the carrots are softening, add the stock, keep the heat low and simmer until they’re nice and soft.
Personally, I prefer to add the stock about 500mls at a time, first using a hand blender to get the soup to the texture I want before deciding on how much more liquid I want to add. I like a velvety texture rather than a baby-food puree style. Once you’ve got the required texture, empty in the drained and rinsed butterbeans and let them heat-through in the hot soup before serving. Add a swirl of cream with some chopped sundried tomatoes and chives to finish.

Landshare.org is a British initiative that looks to re-think the way we produce and grow food. The community puts people who have land in touch with people who want to produce food and encourages people to get talking and working together. The idea is that people with a bit of spare space can offer it to a would-be grower in exchange for some of their harvest. The British TV station Channel 4 has set up a web site and forum based around the aims of the organisation. If you’re looking for some inspiration and would like to get involved, why not check it out.

www.landshare.org

http://landshare.channel4.com

]]> http://homeharvester.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/landshare-org/feed/ 0 Pamela wheelbarrowsmall http://homeharvester.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/food-inc-documentary/ http://homeharvester.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/food-inc-documentary/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:27:33 +0000 Pamela http://homeharvester.wordpress.com/?p=230 ]]> If this doesn’t get you out into the garden and growing your own, nothing will. Writers Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser are involved in this documentary about everything that’s wrong with the American (and, consequently, global) food system and what we can do to change it.

Today, carrots come in all shapes, sizes and colours as diverse as purple, white, yellow and red. If you’re thinking of growing your own, maybe opt for the less common varieties – the regular kind are readily available in the shops and cost very little, so you may as well reward yourself with something a little bit different for all your efforts. Here’s how to grow your own carrots. And yes, if you do eat too many of them your skin really will begin to turn orange… 

To start:

Sow pretty much all year round. The world’s largest carrot was grown in Alaska, so there’s hope for everyone, regardless of the weather.

The most important thing to get right with carrots is your soil. Well-dug, light-textured and not recently manured is ideal; make sure to remove as many stones as you can before forking and raking to a nice tilth. If your soil is heavy, don’t worry about it – there’s a variety of carrot for pretty much every occasion and you can choose one that doesn’t form a deep root/a miniature variety. If you’re growing in containers, this won’t be much of an issue.

Too much manure or compost that’s high in nitrogen and you’ll get hairy, misshapen carrots – good for a laugh, for

Tom thumb carrots grown in a container

sure, but a pain to peel! Carrots don’t take kindly to being transplanted, so sow where you want them to grow.   Sowing carrot seed can be a bit of a patience tester, because the seeds are miniscule. Try to sow as thinly as you can, about 1cm deep, in rows about 30cm apart. If you’re having trouble with the seed, try mixing it with some sand, or even a little flour – at least you’ll be able to see what you’re doing.

Cover lightly – the little darlings don’t have a lot of get up and go in the early stages and won’t be able to push through encrusted soil. For the same reason, use a fine rose on your watering can or a spray gun to mist them lightly rather than a full-on watering or you’ll wash the seeds/seedlings away. Avoid the temptation to go for long rows and rather sow blocks at two-to-three-week intervals for a continual supply.  

Day-to-day care:

Once the first seedlings are well underway, it’s time to thin them. Don’t see this as a waste – you’ll get a better quality, less misshapen crop if you give your food the room it needs to grow. Once the seedlings are about 5cm tall, thin to around 2.5cms between them; give them a couple of weeks growing before thinning again to 7-10cms apart.

Carrots, like most vegetables, like a consistently moist or damp soil rather than sporadic floodwaters. If you go away for a few days and the soil dries out, play catch-up slowly or your carrots will crack. As your carrots grow, you can avoid the tops going green by gently pushing soil up over the emerging crowns.  

Harvesting your carrots:

Depending on your variety (and the information on the back of your seed packet), you should be ready to start pulling your carrots about two or three months later. If you’ve opted for the baby or golf-ball-shaped varieties, they’re unlikely to put up a fight. Longer, bigger specimens will thank you for loosening the soil a few inches away from them with a fork first before pulling them out by hand.

Only pull what you’re going to use at the time – carrots keep freshest in the ground (at least when it’s not rainy). Alan Titchmarsh suggests pulling alternate carrots in a row to leave more room for the ongoing growth of the remaining ones. When it comes to storage, let your crop dry out in the sunshine for an hour or two before brushing off the dirt, cutting off the green tops and storing in a cool dry place. Don’t wash them.  

Choosing varieties:

There seems to be a carrot for every gardener. Nantes or Imperator are probably the ones that look most like what most people would call to mind when thinking of carrots. The former are sweet, crisp and ideal for home growing in the soil. The latter are long and pointed, meaning you’d really want ideal soil to avoid heartbreak. Tom Thumb is perfect for container growing – as the name suggests, they’re a miniature variety, as is Little Finger. If you want something exotic looking, try the deep red, almost beetrooty Healthmaster – it’s not just good looking; it contains 30-odd% more beta carotene than other varieties. Thumbelina produces ball-type carrots.

Pests, diseases , solutions:

Your biggest problem is likely to be carrot fly, the larvae of which tunnel into the roots. The best organic solutions to this include covering your crop with a fine mesh fabric to ensure the flies can’t access your crop. If you can’t or don’t want to cover them, try surrounding your crop with a 40cm+ high mesh attached to sticks – the flies can’t generally fly higher than 30cm. Carrot flies are extremely sensitive to the smell of carrots and will be attracted by the aromas released when you thin out – so any extra time you spend sowing at the ideal gap will pay off in reducing the opportunities you have to release the aroma. You can also try companion-planting strong-smelling plants such as marigolds, chives or spring onions near by.

Speaking of companion planting, after your initial sowing, try double-cropping by sowing some radish seeds in between rows – the faster-growing radishes will help break up the soil, will keep weeds down and also give you a nice bonus crop while you’re waiting for your carrots.

The UK’s Soil Association has announced that if all British farmland was converted to organic farming, at least 3.2 million tonnes of carbon would be absorbed by the soil each year – the equivalent of pulling almost 1 million cars off the roads.

Research undertaken by the association (available for download here), further suggests that a worldwide switch to organic farming could offset 11% of all global greenhouse gases. Among the other findings: widespread adoption of organic farming methods in the UK would offset 23% of the country’s agricultural emissions through soil carbon sequestration alone – significantly better than the UK government’s current target of 6-11% by 2020.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that 89% of agriculture’s global greenhouse gas mitigation potential is from carbon sequestration. In addition to helping to counter climate change, soil carbon also helps improve soil structure and quality, reducing the impact of climate-related problems such as flooding or drought. One of the main causes of low carbon levels in arable land is intensive, overly specialised farming.