I think everyone who knows me also knows I don't 'do' veg. growing, so I
could well be preaching to the converted here. But Ray and I were chatting
over lunch and he told me about a tip from an old chap who worked for Ray's
family back in their Essex days. Old Tom taught Ray to plant seed peas
about a month before they could be sown outside. His method was to fill a
gutter about 6' long with compost and sow the seeds in it. During that
month in a glasshouse the seeds would sprout into nice, healthy, little
plants. When the right moment arrived, Tom dug a trench and carefully slid
the entire row of peas and compost into it, well advanced over those sown
directly into the ground.
Another one of Tom's tips was from the days before fruit & veg were imported
from all over the world and he learned it from the Head Gardener on some
huge estate. They would cut bunches of grapes with a 'T' piece of stem at
the top and carefully place the 'T' in a special kind of vase filled with a
solution of water and sugar, with the grapes dangling outside. Kept in a
cool outhouse, these would last until wanted for the Christmas table.
Another one I learned from Jersey farmers was to put new potatoes into a
crock or tin and bury them in the ground. Unearth them at Christmas and you
had 'new' potatoes for the festive table. I've never tried it and I've
always wanted to - one day!
And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom used
to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards. We'll see!
I reckon that, given their combined ages, this wisdom from Tom must go back
nearly 100 years.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)