How Do You Harvest Crops In The Winter?… With An Ice Sickle!
This last Saturday at the Lumby and District Public Market we held our annual Butter Tart Festival and again it was a huge success. Instead of being there to enjoy the show and all the people I was on cattle round up as an uprooted tree opened up a gap in the fence allowing the cattle to go on a walk about. Now as a rule cattle (being not overly smart) are ruled by their appetites and can often be herded home using their love of grains mixed with molasses. These more social cattle of mine have certainly proven that they are happier visiting several neighbours having found an abundance of grass and a source of water they have managed to put a fair distance between them and home. I have now to ponder other methods of retrieving them as they have obviously outsmarted me. Funny thing though is I only had four animals and now there is five of them so someone else must be experiencing the same issue as me. We should get together to discuss this.
Many people have contacted me regarding the fact that a lot of their Tomatoes are not ripening. At this time you should remove all the flowers as they will not have time to be productive and are stealing energy from the plant that would be more useful in ensuring size and ripening of the fruit that growing. A lot of the leaves and many of the smaller Tomatoes should be removed as well for the same reason. I have read and have mentioned in one of my previous articles that you can use a spade on one side of the plant at a foots distance to cut down into the soil and peripheral roots then gently lift the plant a few inches. This too will shock the plant and force ripening. I grow my Tomatoes in pots in the greenhouse giving me a bit more time then if planted outside and so the spade is not an option but if the pruning I’ve done shows too little success over the next week I will push wooden stakes into the soil and see if this speeds up the ripening process. I prefer to let the Tomatoes ripen on the vine but once they show some signs of ripening and the weather turns too cold I will harvest them and after washing them in a sink of water with a drop of bleach I will let them air dry and place them in a box covered with newspaper to ripen over time. The bleach kills any surface bacteria and I find I don’t loose many to rot.
Now is the time to get the fall yard work done. Spring blooming bulbs like Daffodils,Tulips, Allium and Hyacinth and you should be good to plant now until mid to late October. The soil temperature should be around 55 degrees. Soak these bulbs in water then plant the next day for best results. This will allow for good root development but not vegetative growth to appear. Garlic should be planted soon as well as some perennials like Astilbe and many of the trees and shrubs that you are going to plant. Any perennial plants that you are growing in pots can be lowered in the soil inside the pots so you can lift them again in spring. Be sure to give your trees and shrubs plenty of water at this time of year and when the leaves begin to fall collect them for mulching to protect other plants as well as suppress the weeds which will continue to grow well into fall and will start early in spring. Evergreens, Rhododendron and Box Wood should all be planted in spring as root development is slow and critical to prevent dehydration form wind and cold. Peonies as well should not be planted at this time and you should wait well into spring before dividing and planting them. Using wire mesh like chicken wire will help deter rodents from chewing on the roots and bulbs that you have planted as well you can use minced Garlic and ground Chilli Peppers to discourage them.
Happy Gardening
Samantha Nason
BS Ranch & Greenhouses
250 547 6567 • samanthanason@hotmail.com
