Page 39 - Simply Veg Issue 1 2016

I will write more about this next month. I have an electronic pH meter which gives an accurate reading but you can buy cheaper kits at garden centres. They are not quite as accurate but good enough for most purposes.
This is the time of year when I wash
all my seed trays and plant pots ready for the coming season. This ensures there is no carryover of pests or diseases in the containers as well as it always looks better.
If you have any stored veg such as potatoes you need to check them regularly through the winter because one bad one could affect them all.
This is also a good time to plant fruit trees and bushes, both top fruit and soft fruit if
you haven’t already done so. They can be planted any time between November and March. If they arrive from a supplier when the ground is either frozen or too wet just heel them in temporarily till the ground is t for planting. Top fruit is normally grafted onto a rootstock. You can see where the union is so plant the tree so that this is at or just above ground level. Put in a tree stake when the
hole has been dug and incorporate organic material in the planting hole.
Apples, pears, blackcurrants, red and white currants, gooseberries and autumn fruiting raspberries can be pruned this month. Pruning can be a bit complicated
but here I will just outline the very basic details. Apples are either “spur bearers”
or “tip bearers”. You should be able to tell which type your trees are. With spur bearers remove any crossing branches and any growing towards the centre. Then prune the laterals (side branches) to three buds. With tip bearers remove crowded branches as before then just prune back branches that don’t have fruit buds. Pears are pruned in a similar way to apples. Red and white currants and gooseberries are pruned the same way. Cut out all branches growing towards the centre then prune the others back by half. With black currants cut down to ground
level half the shoots that have fruited which allows room for others to grow. In the case of autumn fruiting raspberries the canes are cut down to ground level to allow new canes to grow.
Sprouts doing well this year
Empty allotment 2009
Dahlia tubers growing
Manure barrowed onto veg plots
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