Weeding the Web

Tomato blight samples wanted for research

At the end of last week I had my first Smith Period of the year. I know this because I'm signed up for Blightwatch. A glance at their chart today tells me that I'm already halfway into another SP. A glance at my tomatoes tells me that one fruit has already succumbed. Sigh!

Still, blight strike is not in vain. I've been secretly hoping for a touch, so I could do my bit for science. James Stroud at Bangor University would love to receive leaf samples from anyone whose tomatoes or potatoes have been affected.

James is conducting research in a collaboration with the Sarvari Research Trust, the not-for-profit company that researches late blight and has given us the blight-resistant Sarpo potatoes.

There are various strains of blight and preliminary studies have suggested that some prefer to lodge in tomatoes, others in potatoes. "Understanding which strains predominate on tomato," says James, "may help plant breeders develop tomato cultivars with better resistance."

Send James an email ([email protected]) and he'll send an info pack and mailer for your samples. Blighted potatoes on the same site are also of interest.  Packs come with pictures to help ID the disease, but if you're not sure that what you've got is blight, James still wants to hear from you. He'll be in touch with everyone who sends something.

So, I'm off to snaffle my leaf sample. Isn't it satisfying when you can wrest good out of bad?

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Florid but fabulous

Begonias are divisive: people seem to love them or hate them. I hadn't really considered them at all until I was given some Fragrant Fountain this year by Thompson and Morgan. Can't say I've noticed a huge amount of scent, but they're close to the ground and I'm not (very), so it's not fair to judge. These cascade, so wouldn't be much good in a border, but in a contrasting pot I've really enjoyed the splash they've made in the garden. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm taking part in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted at May Dreams Gardens. Pop over and see what other bloggers are enjoying in their garden.

Easy potatoes

Does it ever strike you that we gardeners actually feel better for working too hard?  I put it down to some deep-seated Protestant Work Ethic. If it's not hard work, we don't think we deserve any reward.

I'm gradually working my way down the potato bed, harvesting no-dig Sarpo Mira as required. I've grown no-dig potatoes in the past but, even then, it was more labour-intensive than necessary. I buried them under 6 inches of straw - straw that needs covering with grass clippings to keep it from blowing away and that needs a fair amount of watering in dry weather.  You can leave the straw in place to rot down after the harvest, but it was pretty messy.

This year I've been thinking of creating a bed for espalliered fruit, but haven't fancied clearing the turf. So, inspired by Naomi Schillinger's no-dig experiment last year, I clipped the grass short, piled on compost, nestled potatoes into it, covered them with more (the whole compost layer is about 5 inches deep) and left them to it.

No, I didn't earth up. No, I haven't found any green potatoes. No, there's no slug damage.

I suspect that the yield isn't as great as it would have been if they'd been buried 6 inches deep, but it's possibly not that different. When I grew them under straw and made a comparison, the difference in yield was very small.  The huge pluses are that I haven't had to dig (for which my back thanks me) and it takes moments to pull up a plant and sift through the compost for the potatoes.

And, with future plans in mind, I haven't had to clear the grass. So, I'm wondering: when potatoes are described as a great crop for clearing the ground, do you think that has always referred to the digging involved, and the leaf canopy restricting weed growth? Or have we forgotten how easy it is just to throw on compost and get a harvest while we wait?

Heritage Weekend 2013 - East Malling Research open day

The choice of what to see this coming Heritage Weekend is akin to turning over gems in a jewellery box - so much temptation. But I'd heartily recommend, if you can, that you hie down to the Open Day at East Malling Research in Kent this Saturday.  

2013 is their centenary year and Husb and I recently rolled up for one of the tours that they've been running twice monthly throughout the summer as part of the celebrations. We were lucky that our tour was taken by Ross Newham, Head of Communications, which meant we were treated to at least one place that other, less august, tour leaders couldn't reach.

It's difficult to over-estimate the impact that, without fanfare, East Malling has had on the modern garden. It's given us dwarfed fruit trees, disease-resistant strawberries, Malling raspberries, garden-sized hop plants, even decorative elderberries such as Black Beauty.  But it's an unassuming place to visit.

If you enjoy 1950s British "boffin" movies. the site feels delightfully familiar. The buildings spread haphazardly across the site, dating variously from Arts and Crafts Edwardian to spanking new, housing different departments. It's not pristine. You're just as likely to find a corner filled with brambles as lawn.

Begun on only 23 acres in 1913, the whole estate now covers 580, so, despite being only 10 minutes' drive south of the M20, it feels as if you're in the depths of the country. Of course, when the land was first leased from Kent County Council at a peppercorn rent, it was, indeed, deep in the country.

One could easily imagine Barnes Wallis bouncing ball-bearings here in The Dambusters (going by Wiki, he was at Hersham), and indeed, the Ditton Laboratory, which conducted pioneering research into low-temperature storage of fruit, was used for secret experiments to reduce ice formation on aircraft wings during WW2.  The lab is now being sold off for housing, which is a shame because I'd love to have seen the full-size replica of a ship's hold at its centre.

Beyond my obsession with black and white films, there was plenty of interest. Last used in the 1980s and only recommissioned recently is the underground root laboratory, where they'll be looking at root growth on modern varieties and the sequestration of carbon.

And although research here concentrates on rosaceous fruit (which includes raspberries, blackberries, plums, strawberries etc) it is the apples that are most in evidence. The long drive from the entrance passes acres and acres being grown on various root-stocks and we were awed to hear that it takes 25 years to get a new apple cultivar to market.

Much of the research takes place in glasshouses, which makes things considerably easier. When research was conducted into pests and diseases in the field, one year of bad weather could put a project back by a year.

And what exciting place did Ross take us that we wouldn't have seen otherwise?  The fruit storage labs. Must admit, the two people at the benches weren't looking too enthralled by their job of sorting plums, but the place is not without its dangers. Here they have vaults to experiment with reduced oxygen conditions to preserve fruit. They look harmless, but enter when oxygen levels drop below 17% and you'll die. Quickly.

The open day, on Saturday 14th September, from 10 till 4 (£3 entrance, cash only) has plenty more going on apart from tours of the farm and laboratories. You'll also find interactive science displays, a pest and disease clinic, fruit variety advice, and plant and produce sales.

There's also a cafe which does snacks like baked potatoes and sandwiches, although The King and Queen pub in the village looked tempting, and there's a decent looking curry house, too.

Travel alert: if you're driving from Surrey along the M25, be warned that signage at the roadworks before the junction of the M25 with the M26 is extremely poor. Stay in the middle lane. If you keep left you'll end up heading north on the M25 and will either have to continue to the M20 junction, quite a detour, or turn around at the next junction and leave the M25 to join the A21, where you'll turn left onto the A25 and travel parallel with the motorway the rest of the way. Astonishingly, it is not possible to turn left onto the M26 from the southbound M25 (as we rather heatedly discovered).

And finally... Well, what would you expect, with all that fruit?

Does making pickle make you ill?

I fear you're going to think my query quite bizarre, but if I don't ask, I won't find out. 

Here's the course of events. On Sunday, pickles proliferated. While the preserving pan percolated under the weight of Hot Indian Chutney*, thanks to Good Housekeeping, vintage c. 1960 (simmer for 8 hours!), the biggest saucepan was producing Spiced Plum Chutney in considerably less time (WI Jams, Pickles and Chutneys pub. 2002). 

Monday, I knew I was going down with something. Tuesday, I pondered my future. Would I die right now, or in, perhaps, 40 minutes' time? Every joint ached, my temperature sizzled, my lung condition is best left unmentioned, and I could barely lift myself from the bed.

In the midst of misery, a thought surfaced. Surely, I've been ill after pickle-making before? Not this badly, I'll admit, but certainly with the catarrhal cold variety.

Husband has suggested Pickle Fever and, after what I considered somewhat unnecessary hilarity, a rational explanation. Hours of breathing in acidic vinegar fumes might, perhaps, affect the chemistry of mucous membranes, weakening defences and letting a bug thrive.

I'm fairly sure that a less scientific, more New Age-y point of view would be that vinegar - anti-bacterial, cleansing - could make the body detox and fight off a bug that's been lurking within. 

Conjecture aside, my question is this. Have you also gone down with something immediately after making pickle?  (Not a scientific survey, I know, but it would be fascinating if we found a possible link.) I'd love to hear your experiences, so please leave a comment below.  

* The recipe is very similar to the Hot Indian Chutney described in the Winnepeg Tribune in 1938, and includes the overnight maceration with salt and sugar.