Page 58 - Simply Veg 3.21

East Yorkshire District Association
Besides the impact of Covid on our daily lives, what a topsy-turvy year this has been so far for weather. Because of the continual frosty nights here in Yorkshire, I delayed planting my potatoes and carrot barrels until yesterday when the sun was shining and now, as I write this at the end of April, it has started to hail. Never has the saying Ne’er cast a clout till May be out seemed more appropriate than this year!
Like everyone else, I guess, plans for restarting our DA activities are still on hold until we receive further lockdown release instructions from those in high places. We remain hopeful of holding our delayed AGM in July and our DA Show at the end of September but we will just have to wait and see what the future holds and whether we will all need further vaccination boosters before winter returns.
As reported last time, the free BT website service offered for charities and community groups is being rescinded from 24 May 2021. To continue using the BT service through its partner hosting company would cost approximately
£75 per year. Whilst this may not
sound like an unreasonable amount,
the promotional budget available to
most small organisations is insufficient
to justify this ongoing cost, especially if they are unable to generate advertising income from their website activity. At
the time of writing, I am looking at creating a free Wordpress website but, as a fallback, I have also created a
dedicated East Yorkshire DA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ natvegsoceyda
Hopefully, I will have more enlightening news to report in the next edition of Simply Vegetables but, in the meantime, here are some gems of wisdom from
a bygone age. I recently found an
old book in my loft entitled Practical Gardening and Food Production which, according to a hand-written footnote, appears to date from 1944.
The To Do list for April includes the following advice - Showers with a good prospect of sunshine and mild open spells. Beware of too much haste in setting out plants that are not quite hardy. Main crop potatoes are planted now. Reduce the number of sprouts on each tuber to one or two strong ones and then set the tuber carefully in the open furrow. A little extra care such as the amateur gardener can well give to the work of planting will make considerable difference to the crop. Slugs on the food plot can be fought with slug killers from the sundries shops. Sage, mint and chives can still be planted. These will be found specially (sic) useful in the wartime garden, as flavourings for meatless meals. Use derris dust on vegetables
to prevent attacks of caterpillars. Under glass – sow runner beans, cardoons (original form of globe artichoke), marrows and ridge cucumbers for the food plot. Plant out frame cucumbers on a hot-bed.
May is even more exciting! Onion
and carrot flies come this month
to lay their eggs. Soot and lime or whizzed naphthalene (now banned as
a carcinogenic chemical!) dusted along the rows will keep the flies away. Black fly on beans is likely to come too. Spray to prevent its appearance using derris
in liquid form. Derris insecticide is also useful to keep green flies away from peas and other crops; it is harmless
to animals and can be used freely in
the food garden (but banned now and possibly linked to Parkinson’s disease!). Sow now french, runner, waxpod and dutch brown (apparently, good for soup,) beans in the open garden. Sow more peas, beet, endive, radishes, sweet corn, chicory and summer spinach on the plot. Plant out colewort (possibly kale) and cauliflowers from the nursery beds.
And finally, in June - Use one-three- one (NPK ratio?) or a good general fertilizer. It can be used anywhere. Put scrap (sic) of annual weeds unseeded, grass clippings, vegetable parings from the house on the compost heap. A dusting of sulphate of ammonia over organic matter will accelerate decay. Move from frames to the open: outdoor tomatoes, leeks, couve tronchuda (Portuguese cabbage), aubergines, celery and celeriac. Use derris powder feely against caterpillars and green flies. Hoe! Hoe regularly! Hoe everywhere!
So, science may have moved on, but some things appear not to have changed that much in the last eighty years!
Paul Neve FNVS
North Yorkshire and South Durham
As I write this at the end of April the North Yorks and South Durham DA would usually have just returned from the Harrogate Spring Show, however because of COVID the Spring show has been pushed to the end of May. This has obviously caused some issues to us, as we normally sell large numbers of tomato plants, but by the end of May most people would have all of these plants they want, so it would have been a waste of time trying to sell them. This may have been a blessing in disguise, because we’ve experienced deep frosts on 28 of the last 30 days, and the last thing tomato plants need is frost. And as there isn’t the volume of heated facilities, we would have needed to keep them in tip-top condition we might have avoided significant losses.
This year’s Harrogate show will run over 4 days (20 to 23 May) and have a reduced number of visitors, our stall will be outside and limited in size, so we’re hoping the weather is kind to us and the visitors. Our presence at the show this year will be largely on promoting the NVS rather than trying to raise funds for the DA. With the
new web site and a positive feeling across the Society, it’s an important time to fly the flag and promote the organisation at every opportunity.
This past year has been a challenge and the DA has been unable to meet since February 2020, hopefully by the June or July this year, restrictions on meetings will have eased and we’ll be able to meet once again. The Trustees and the Northern Branch have been able to keep business running by using ZOOM to hold meetings, and this has allowed us to see the benefits of technology to the NVS, and there are things that will need to change without losing the spirit
that the NVS was founded on, but change must be embraced. We are in a time of unprecedented technological growth which shows no signs of slowing down. As with any technological revolution, in order to avoid being made obsolete, existing organisations will need to ensure they take advantage of these new opportunities to improve their business, products or services. If they don’t, newer and more consumer-friendly options will be chosen by the customer.
The growth of the personal computer
and the use of the internet have forced a shift in society that will never look back. Developments throughout history have happened to ultimately make life easier for ourselves. Tools to help cut and shape or
lift and move to make certain work more efficient. However, the focus has shifted to tools that do not just make physical labour easier, but tools that “classify and modify information rather merely transmitting it or preserving it. Laptops, tablet computers and even mobile phones can provide answers
at the tap of a button, a disease on plants
or an insect that has appeared, all can
be identified by checking the internet and not only identification, the internet will also suggest ways of dealing with the issue. I mention this because I see ZOOM meetings, for instance, becoming a crucial part of the infrastructure of the Society even when we are all able to meet again. We have to be all aware of ways the Society can change to keep pace with the modern age.
Stay safe and hopefully it won’t be long before the meetings can resume.
Geoff Wilson, Secretary,
North Yorkshire and South Durham DA
58 Simply Vegetables