questions

[hiyatim]

ive managed to walk around the garden today and found the following questions...

1. ive a beetroot there at the size of a small tennis ball, id say this is a good size but the rest arent nearly as good, i dont want t harvest and process one beet so can i leave it where it is until the rest catch up or will it go bad???

2. ive 3 spring onions which look ready to me, when they look ready are they ready??

3 my beans keep reaching the top of their canes, must i keep extending or can i pinch off the top of them to stop them growing up?

4.my brocolli has started flowering, im sure ive read somewhere u can take some off and use it but i dont want to wreck my harvest, yet im really worried as i have no clue how much actual brocolli i should get from each plant that i will leave them too long and ill get nothing

5. ive harvested 2 courgettes so far but now one developed to 3 inchs then went yellow and died..any ideas??

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, don't let the beetroot grow too large or else it can go 'woody' and split in the centre. Keep it well watered and hang on until you have at least three beetroot to throw into the pan.

Spring onions?? - Eat them!!

I never bother pinching out the top of bean plants but you can do if you wish. I use 7 foot cane sticks, which is one foot in the ground and six foot for the plants to grow up. (I couldn't pinch out the tops if I wanted too as I can't reach!! )

What variety of broccoli are you growing?

The courgette will not have been pollinated which causes these small courgettes to rot.

Next??

[hiyatim]

hi lesley thanks again for the answers, the broccoli is green calabrese (or something like that )

with regards to the springs, can i harvest them say over the course of 10 days or do they go bad once they have past ready? im just not sure i can eat them all

[Hollie the Wollie]

Lesley, just on the beetroot - what is too large? My have started to shoot but I've pinched that off. Should I cut them down lower?!

Thanks

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by Hollie the Wollie

Lesley, just on the beetroot - what is too large? My have started to shoot but I've pinched that off. Should I cut them down lower?!

Thanks

Hi Hollie, what do you mean by "shoot"???

Eat your beetroot when the size of the roots is what you want. If you brush the soil away from one beetroot you can see what size the root is across (width). Then when you have lifted the crop, sow some more as they are quick growing. As for what is too large - I wouldn't let them grow bigger than a tennis ball - I have grown them larger but that was to put on the show bench and thankfully when the judge cut one in half it hadn't split! (1st Prize)

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by hiyatim

hi lesley thanks again for the answers, the broccoli is green calabrese (or something like that )

with regards to the springs, can i harvest them say over the course of 10 days or do they go bad once they have past ready? im just not sure i can eat them all

Hi Tim, you can leave the spring onions in the ground as long as you like. The only thing that will happen is that the onion bulbs will grow larger.

You say that your broccoli is flowering - do you mean that the heads are forming or that the flowers on the broccoli heads are starting to open?

[hiyatim]

heads are forming, about the size of a golf ball right now

[Lesley Jay]

It depends what you are growing Tim. If you are growing the broccoli / calabrese that you buy from the supermarket that is a large head of broccoli then you need to let it grow more. After cutting the main head the plant should grow some extra side shoots of broccoli. If you are growing a sprouting broccoli where the plant produces many small heads then maybe let the small golf ball heads grow a bit more - but not much - before cutting. Again more side shoots will grow.

[Hollie the Wollie]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi Hollie, what do you mean by "shoot"???

Eat your beetroot when the size of the roots is what you want. If you brush the soil away from one beetroot you can see what size the root is across (width). Then when you have lifted the crop, sow some more as they are quick growing. As for what is too large - I wouldn't let them grow bigger than a tennis ball - I have grown them larger but that was to put on the show bench and thankfully when the judge cut one in half it hadn't split! (1st Prize)

Thanks Lesley. Well, some of the tops started to get little bud like things on them. The greens must be a foot tall now I think. We pulled up one a month ago and there was nothing there, just a root, no round veg.

I was told they would not be ready, even though sown in March, until end of Aug/Sept. They look an untidy mess aswell, with lots of brownish leaves!

[hiyatim]

hi lesley, ive no idea which im growing other than what ive told you already sorry, althou i will add they seem to have a big main flower which is more like the size of a fist now, so im guessing im growing the big head type? how big can this grow without risk.

also can i ask about cabbages, im growing greyhound cabbages which are nice and big, im pretty certain the hearts arent full enough yet so am not wanting to harvest them, but maybe to take the odd outside leaf is this acceptable to take one or two of the large big outside leaves to make a meal with ???

finally a question regarding parsnips...they say to plant seeds until end of may, im going to plant some today and try my luck..what im wondering is ... if they get sweeter with a frost and take 36 weeks to grow then i assume they overwinter quite well so why do they say to stop planting after may, why cant we keep planting right through the year??

thanks

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Hollie, the little bud things sound like the beetroot has gone to seed which can be blamed on the unusually cold spring that we had. The very cold weather will not have helped the beetroots develope either. Normally if vegetables send up a flower stalk they are past it and the taste can be affected. The only thing you can do is to try them! You can eat the leaves, that aren't brown, like spinach.

Beetroot can be harvested any time from 10 weeks onwards - it all depends on the size you prefer the roots to be. Once you have pulled up your current crop then sow some more seeds straightaway because fresh beetroot really is gorgeous!! Next year try the variety Boltardy.

[Hollie the Wollie]

Oh thanks Lesley! I think they may need pulling up then by the sounds of things. The leaves look horrid, I actually think that we may have had some bug attack or something that may have affected the root itself aswell.

When I get home I will pull some up and see.

You said sow some new seeds straight away... I just put a threat on here earlier about just that... sowing the same seed in the same place.

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by hiyatim

hi lesley, ive no idea which im growing other than what ive told you already sorry, althou i will add they seem to have a big main flower which is more like the size of a fist now, so im guessing im growing the big head type? how big can this grow without risk.

also can i ask about cabbages, im growing greyhound cabbages which are nice and big, im pretty certain the hearts arent full enough yet so am not wanting to harvest them, but maybe to take the odd outside leaf is this acceptable to take one or two of the large big outside leaves to make a meal with ???

finally a question regarding parsnips...they say to plant seeds until end of may, im going to plant some today and try my luck..what im wondering is ... if they get sweeter with a frost and take 36 weeks to grow then i assume they overwinter quite well so why do they say to stop planting after may, why cant we keep planting right through the year??

thanks

Hi Tim, firstly parsnips. Parsnips can stand in the ground over winter and they are supposed to taste sweeter after a frost. If you want parsnips for the Christmas dinner be sure to dig them up in advance if heavy frost is forecast. First year I didn't and the ground was frozen solid! The reason why you can't sow them all year round is because they need such a long growing season, much of it being the summer and autumn months when they will put on most of their growth. Parsnip seeds sown outside in October (for instance) would have to spend months sitting in freezing cold, wet ground which would stop them growing.

Your broccoli / calabrese would seem to be the single head variety. Fist size doesn't sound quite big enough but don't let the heads go passed it. Broccoli heads are made up of loads of tiny flower buds and you want to harvest it while the buds are closed and the head is green. As the flowers start to open you will see yellow bits on the broccoli heads. They are still fine to eat and taste great but don't let the flowers open any more than that. Use the freezer!

Give the cabbages a gentle squeeze and you will know if the heart hasn't filled out yet. If you have plenty of cabbage plants you could always harvest one to 'test drive' for size and flavour. Cabbages can look lovely one day and a few days later the heads split because they are past it. If you mean picking the really big outer leaves (not the ones on the outside of the heart) then I normally throw these on the compost! But I would pinch them off if they were being eaten by slugs etc. Minicole is a good variety to grow as it isn't too large and can stand in the ground for three months without spoiling.

Hope that will help!

[hiyatim]

hey lesley,

your response is as ever greatly recieved and very helpful. yeah i was talking about the huge outer leaves on the cabbage, they are all ok not damaged or anything i was just hoping to make a meal out of them now while the heart is filing out

the parsnips ive just planted i may be pushing my luck then, they are in now so we will see and hope the summer in a nice long one

the info about the brocolli is perfect and requires no follow up questions

on another point... i harvested a lettuce just by cutting it off at the stem, now there are 5 new lettuces growing from the step...will this give me edible leaves??

[Hollie the Wollie]

I was very surprised at my beetroots when I got home! I have added pics to my Harvest post!

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by hiyatim

hey lesley,


on another point... i harvested a lettuce just by cutting it off at the stem, now there are 5 new lettuces growing from the step...will this give me edible leaves??

Yes Tim, it sure will.