VEG GEEK

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Wednesday, 8th June, 2022

The Day’s hand-picked ideas, tips to better grow Vegs, and meet people you should know.

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1

Organically off-target

"IFOAM Organics Europe, the umbrella organization for organic food and farming, is calling for massive investments in the sector to achieve 25% organic farmland by 2030. As of now, most countries are off-target, and without investments, there is a very real threat of losing some of the current organic farmland. […] The organic trend is largely impulsed by Millenials, as one of every three consumers that say to follow an organic diet have between 26 and 35 years.” — That’s not a surprise. There are choices you can make now though and it’s your responsibility: you can wait for Governments and organisations (whether in the EU or elsewhere!) to put in place what is really needed; or you can start educating yourself and start growing more Vegs for you and your family, at home, organically, with less water, less food miles, no chemical pesticides that aren’t good for you and our planet. All while developing the critical skills to pass to your children to build the soils and protect the environment for the future. Which will it be?

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2

Tomato precision planting

"One of the greatest concerns of many to create the best quality tomatoes is how far apart to plant tomatoes. When properly grown, tomatoes will reward you with plenty of healthy and delicious vegetable." — Consider Julia’s guide on spacing your tomatoes to cover challenges with ground coverage, tomato variety, soil, the effects of spacing on tomato growth. Alternatively, another consideration: grow Tomatoes in containers (with a twist) or vertically, soil-less, with the smart aquaponics greenhouse to save you those worries!

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3

Chelsea controversy

"Well, it all got a bit interesting when the awards were handed out at Chelsea this year. Golds were given to Sarah Eberle, Chris Beardshaw, Ruth Wilmott, Andy Sturgeon, Joe Perkins, Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt – which all seemed about right – but Best in Show went to the last of these two designers, for their ‘Rewilding’ garden. Was a recreated beaver habitat really a garden? Even Monty Don publicly questioned this, whilst declaring rewilding the antithesis of gardening." — Monty (love him!) did call this out quite clearly indeed: you can’t rewild by adding beavers in your allotment. Go back to the discussion with Bill Reed about the need to re-forest (rewild) 12-15% of the land (that is leave it alone) to help our environment, it does support Monty’s argument. Maybe it wasn’t the best example, but the direction of travel is clear and Chelsea did call this out rightly: we need to rewild (significant land surfaces).

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4

People you should know

Meet Shaun: "I have been growing chillies since 2006, and been experimenting with spicy recipes for even longer! I have been sharing my adventures on YouTube since 2016." chillichump. — You don’t know how exciting growing Chili can be until you try it. (I’m French from the west so we don’t have much Chili in our food! but Shaun’s knowledge and tips for automation, vermi-composting, and importantly how to use Chilis did turn me into another Chilichump! Check out his great site!

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5

Never a dill moment

London sky’s as grey as powdery mildew: "Powdery mildew on rosemary leaves can be treated with a variety of remedies, including neem oil, milk spray, baking soda, and compost tea to stop the fungus from growing." — Mediterranean natives like rosemary are certainly lacking their Vitamin D in the UK at this point! Check out how you can make and use natural fertilisers not only to grow more nutritious Vegs but also treat diseases.


World Ocean Day : "Today is World Oceans Day, a special day to celebrate and appreciate the world’s oceans. The day also highlights the importance of ocean conservation. There are many ways to celebrate World Oceans day" — You might know the ocean is one of the reason I got (back) into Gardening so it’s still important we each do our bit for the oceans: first learn more about how that ecosystem, help to clean up beaches, educate others, donate to ocean conservation, reduce plastic use. They forgot one: stop using chemical fertilisers.


Turkey in your basil: "Culinary herbs are increasingly popular among consumers. As a result, commercial producers are increasingly growing containerized herbs. Additionally, since herbs are consumed, the value-added organic market poses additional opportunities for producers. While there are a wide variety of organic fertilizers available, finding a fertilizer source that is consistent, uniform, and easy to incorporate into production makes producing an organic crop much easier. Suståne is an organic fertilizer utilizing turkey poultry litter with a 45-day release period available in fine- and medium-grade particle sizes with a guaranteed analysis providing all primary and secondary macronutrients and iron. Given the nutrient analysis, release period, and availability in a fine-grade particle size, Suståne is an excellent candidate for a slow-release fertilizer to incorporate into organic culinary herb production." — I have used this one successfully for a few years, introduced to me by a very wealthy (in knowledge!) farmer Leon - who became a Youtube “star” at least in our gardening world! I watched every one of his videos, multiple times.

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6

Bottom of the compost pile

Regenerative growing works: "Regenerative farming boosts soil health, yielding more nutritious crops: “It was very difficult to find studies that had explicitly looked at soil health and how that affects what gets into food,” lead author David Montgomery, a professor of Earth and space science at the University of Washington, told Mongabay. “We did the experiment that we wished was out there. […]Across the board we found these regenerative practices imbue our crops with more anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants, Montgomery said.” — this research continues to support that feeding your soils (rather than your plants) has sustainable and positive impact not only on soils but to produce more nutritious Vegs. At home, you can follow those practices, organic fertilisers only (and vegan if you want to!)


+ Newspaper to control weeds "For some of us, a Sunday morning ritual we’ve practiced for years has not yet been disrupted by the internet: reading the Sunday newspaper. Along with that hot mug of steaming joe, we spread out the sections and choose our favorite one first.  With today’s recycling push, many of us go through the chore of sorting the paper when we’re finished and getting it into the recycle bin. Some of us must drive it to a recycling area. But what else can you do with the large volume of newsprint? Have you considered… Newspaper to Control Weeds? The avid gardener is always looking for new ways to control those pesky weeds that sprout in our lovingly laid out flower and vegetable beds. Did you know newspaper kills weeds? When spread out around our sprouting seedlings, sunlight is unable to reach those weed seeds that always germinate to perturb us and […]" — yes that’s an effective mulching method (or to start building new beds, raised beds, feeding your worm farm). Before you do that, do check what ink they use (and if glossy papers, likely this won’t be good news…

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Keep Growing-

Anthony - Veg Geek