Ask John?
Do you have a question regarding vegetable or fruit varieties, planting and growing your own produce……….ask John?
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Farmer Direct, Cold Climate, Seasonal, Certified Organic, Chemical Free, Conventional
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I’m very excited about this little section of your blog!
Yes – I do have a question as a matter of fact. I grew some of my own garlics last year. When I pulled them up they were disappointingly small. Any tips on getting those nice fat bulbs with lots of cloves? (last year they only had a few cloves each).
Ta
Barb (Marrickville Customer)
Hi Barb
It is always best to start with healthy seed and not just bought from unknown source. Let us know if you need some good quality seed and we can dig some up for you?
Then, garlic loves to be fed potash, which is basically fine fire ash, the more the merrier. Feed a nitrogen fertiliser now, but then no more. Water constantly but do not overwater. I believe the early application of nitrogen and then followup with regular potash is perfect for size and clove numbers.
An old wives tale is plant on the shortest day and pull out on the longest day….this is a good guide…….and don’t forget, start with a reliable seed.
Hope this helps
John (JR)
Hi Barb and John, Love this blog!!! With garlics, what are the relative benefits of garlic seed versus garlic cloves. I bought some garlic [red Italian] from you guys at Marrickville farmers market. I stuck some cloves straight into the ground [with their pointy ends facing upwards]. They took off like a rocket. I was very impressed. So far no sign of any actual clove production. But I am fascinated by the tremendous growth.
Gayle
Hi Gayle…ok..let me explain…’garlic seed” is actually the garlic cloves that you have already planted. So you are on the right track…Now you must wait…and wait…and then wait some more…….your garlic bulbs will start to form in approx 3 months from shooting…..In spring time the increase in day length will trigger the sizing mechanism in the young garlic bulb and the bulb will increase in size quickly. You must wait until the garlic plant starts to turn yellow and fall over…then the bulb is ready to pull from the ground…So you have approx 6 months to wait from start to finish.
Many people advocate planting on the shortest day of the year and harvesting on the longest day of the year…..
We have planted this year 5 varieties of garlic with a total of 45,000 in the ground. We plant by hand and to get all of this garlic into the ground and harvest when it is at its best, we must stagger our plantings over a six week period. The green garlic that Katie and Beau are selling at the moment was planted approx. 10/12 weeks ago.
The majority of our plantings are the Italian Red which most believe is the best flavour.
I hope this helps you to grow your garlic…John Reynolds
Thanks for those tips John.
I’ll be collecting some potash to put on my garlics. Can I just put ash from a fire place on them or should I get something proper from a nursery?
I did I stupid thing and in my enthusiasm to plant them put them in a bed that really should have something pretty due to being right beside a little paved sitting area. So, I have to make sure the sacrifice of a pretty space is worth it by producing great garlic!
I bought garlic from the diggers club and planted cloves. But thanks for the offer of digging some up. I’m sure I’ll be at you guys for seeds at some point.
Thanks for the tips
And if you have any tips for rats burrowing in wherever I bury my compost that would also be appreciated. I am using the bokashi system and got rid of both the compost bin and worm farm due to rats eating through the plastic to get in. (No. There was no meat or dairy in either – they just eat everything). They don’t break into the bokashi bin itself but just go underground when I bury the pickled compost. I have a garden full of collapsing earth where it has been dug out underneath by rats. Ergh! It’s a long standing garden battle. The dog is useless. I’m sure he invites them to share his breakfast every time we feed him! The buggers also started eating my eggplant straight off the plant once they had munched through all the buried compost. Nasties. It’s a shame, because in the few patches where they didn’t get to it, the bokashi has made great soil and there are stacks of worms.
I am reluctant to use baits due to the stinkiness of dead rats in unreachable places and I’d prefer not to put poisons into the food chain.
So – shoo-ing rats away, or better still, eradicating……….
Ta
Barb
Geez Barb sounds as if you certainly do have a problem with those rats. We have problems with rabbits, but luckily no rats. Actually we did have a problem with rats last year..now that I think about it. We had rats getting into the storage shed when their outside food was scarce. We had to bait them..no other solution, although Lil (Katie and Beau’s dog) is a great hunter. I used these great sticky pads available from the hardware shop. The rats would walk on the sticky pads and then instantly stick. The only problem was then having to relocate them and buy more pads.
I have no easy solution for rats..sorry…..JR
Hello, John. Frist of all, your blog looks great. Good job!!..I read the article about you having produced 3 tones of garlic last year. I am wondering if you have heard about ‘black garlic’.
Wow..never heard of the black garlic…What can you tell me about it?..John R
Hi, John. I’m sorry to reply you late…
Black garlic is actually ‘permented garlic’. It doesn’t grow ‘balck’. You can even make them yourself with Japanese garlic. After it’s been permented, it turns black and has almost no scent of garlic. A lot of European or Western people don’t like garlic because of the special scent of garlic. However, thanks to balck garlic, now it is used variety of gourmet food in Europe.
I can also give you a receipe for “pickled garlic” if you know about it or if you are interested . I guess Katie can easily make it, if and when she has time!!
Becky.
Dear John,
I bought some absolutely delicious mandarines at the Penrith Growers market yesterday. I think they had heritage written on the sign. Could you possibly tell me what is the name of them and could I possibly purchase 2 young trees for my backyard. I have an early fruiting tree so would love one of these late fruiting varieties so that mandarine season would be prolonged.
Regards
Carole.
Hi Carole…yes,aren’t they a beautiful mandarine. They are actually grown by Phill and John Ramm up at Maroota. Phill and john are 2 lovely blokes, that grow mainly stonefruit and tomatoes. They do have a few citrus trees on their farm and they ask us to sell their mandarines for them each year.
Now we are not certain of the name of that particular mandarine. We know it is an old heritage type that has been passed down. If you want, I can get some grafting buds from Phill and john and grow some for you.
I will tell you something interesting, actually very frustrating. We have a little trouble selling these same mandarines. We have trouble because people are scared off by the “hit and miss” mandarines that they buy in the supermarkets. These mandarines from Phill and John look different to the normal fruit shop mandarine and,as you now know, taste just superb….but…we still have trouble convincing customers to try them.
Anyhow, lets see how I go getting the budding wood for you…
I hope I have been of assistance.( We will have these same mandarines at the CastleHill Farmers market on Saturday or at The Windsor Mall Market this coming Sunday)
kind regards and thank you for your email..John Reynolds
Dear John,
You are worth your weight in gold. Thank you for being so pro active in helping me. Your information was most interesting. Good luck with the budding wood and I have my fingers crossed that you can get it to grow. I hope to get to Windsor on Sunday.
Regards,
Carole.
Hi John
It’s Barb again. – And by the way, my garlics are looking great.
This time I was wondering if you could help me with my eggplant. It’s beautiful lush leaves and prolific flowers – but no fruit. I had a few small fruits form early but they fell off before maturity.
It’s not a new plant, it was in the ground last year and I got some lovely fruit from it. Does that make a difference? Also, it has a nifty little worm bin under it in which I put kitchen scraps and then worms come up from the ground through the holes in the bottom and eat it. I was wondering if this would change the ph of the soil. I looked on the internet and it said worm castings were ph neutral but I know compost is acidic.
Any ideas?
Barb..I actually have never grown eggplant…so my comments are based on experience from other crops. ..The first thing that i would do is dig a little lime in around the eggplant just to sweeten the soil. I don’t believe eggplants are perrenial….so the fact that your plant is 2 years old could be influencing the fruit development. Plants are really clever and often control their own crop load depending on how the plant views it’s own health. One trick that we do on the orchard is stress the trees just to the point where they feel they need to put in a little bit more effort to produce fruit. So what I’m saying is , perhaps your eggplant doesn’t see the need to develop the fruit to its maximum because it is so lush and producing many flowers. Perhaps even try pruning a third of the foliage off the plant..With all pruning, you should have few cuts with maximum foliage removal. Don’t fall into the trap of making many small cuts as this will just encourage more growth.
If I can come up with other suggestions i will let you know…John R
Hi John
My family and I are trying to eat as locally as possible, but find it difficult to locate local produce. I’ve been looking for a producer that does CSA veggie boxes in Sydney, but I couldn’t find any. Do you guys put together veggie boxes?
Cheers
Fouad
Hi Fouad
We do put together fruit and veg boxes but at this stage we just do this locally, in Orange, with a local store, A Slice of Orange.
Hi John,
In a few pictures I have seen the nylon mesh you are growing your beans on. I have been looking for something similar, I saw in a video clip, that can also be used for growing Cucumbers, melons etc. which can take heavy weight. I have only found it on http://www.johnnyseeds.com which is in the USA. I contacted my local greenhouse supplies (Silverwood) and they have a similar mesh which is used for keeping flowers straight and when I asked about weight bearing ratings they said “I doubt it has a rating”. Can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks
Daniel (from Glenbrook market)
G’day Daniel…the nylon mesh you are talking about is handy for any climbing plant. The strength of the mesh is determined by the distance between your support posts. In the photo of the beans we placed the posts too far apart and we had some problems when the vines were fully grown.I have no idea of the rating, as such, on the nylon mesh, only to say it is strong when correctly erected.
I have a large roll of this mesh( somewhere) if you require some…John
Dear John
I hear you have some russet apple trees! wow! I really miss the apples I ate in Canada. I live in the Blue Mountains. Do you think it would be possible for me to grow an apple tree or do they need a lot of care? and how do you stop the possums and birds from eating the apples?
sorry to ask a beginner question.
(and when will you harvest your russets and will you sell them at the markets?)
thanks so much for your wonderful fruit and veg stall, which absolutely reinspires me to cook and enjoy fresh healthy food.
Claire
Hi Claire..thank you for your email. It is always a good feeling to feel appreciated.
Did you know there are many “Russet’ varieties of apples. Do you know which one you enjoyed in canada.
Last year our fuji crop was devestated by a late snow storm which settled in the flowering bud. The result was fuji apples with severe russetting. We thought we would have trouble selling them because of their appearance…but…no, customers were returning many times and buying with their taste buds..not with their eyes.
Could you grow an apple tree in the mountains/yes and no depending on your location and soil type. An apple would struggle in sandstone soil but grow well if the soil is right. We have young apples trees that will be ready for sale in June. One of the multi grafts…Pink lady/Gala on the same tree might interest you.
We have one variety of English Russet apples remaining on the trees. It ia Egmont Russet. We are currently picking Fuji and will do so for some time. There are some Russetted fujis towards the bottom of the orchard. They will be delicious. They are the “ogora” variety of Fuji.
Perhaps it is best to call me on my phone if you need additional info…kind regards..John Reynolds.. 0418639985