This is my second year of veg growing. I grew broccoli, swede, sprouts and kale from seed for the first time. The broccoli grew well but became very tall. Is this 'Bolting'? Also the heads were very small and went to seed /flower very quickly. Did I do anything wrong? Everything else is doing ok although some of the swede are still very small while others are rounding out nicely. I would be greatfull of any advice. I am growing in raised beds in my back garden.
I find it helps me organise my time better when I do follow it but sometimes I just go with the weather and hwat is urgent and that's especially so this year as I was unable to do anything at all from January to late June and just had to sit and watch the weeds grow.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I was gardening by the moon, this morning. Seriously, I was.
I went outside about 6.15am. First light is a good time to check for any slugs, and I also put out bird food. The robins round here are very demanding and like their breakfasts early.
The moon was right overhead, and what made the sight more spectacular is that right beside the moon was a bright planet. Nothing else was visible in the sky. It was impressive.
Oh dear. Talking to my Husband about this, and now he's started playing REM at me. I HATE REM. I'm off to wage war on the mass of weeds that's my back garden.
I mentioned that the moon and a planet were a notable spectacle in the sky this morning. The planet was Jupiter, and there's actually an item about this event here, under 'highlights of the month (Sept 8th)':
So, this morning something significant was happening between the Moon and Jupiter.
The position of the moon, and the planets were considered to be very important to gardeners, in the 16th and 17th centuries (and possibly before).
There's a lot of information about sowing and planting according to these criteria in very old gardening manuals. Here's a tiny sample (transcribed into a modern typeface)...
gardening by the moon was done in bygone days.(I have a book that tells the ways yesterday).Whether it works or no I cant say but the pull of the moon does effect tides.
We have tides because of the gravitational pull of the moon. It is also known to affect human behaviour - hence the term lunatics - so why would it not also have an effect on water tables in the earth?
Whether it does affect gardening activities will never be resolved scientifically as there is no commercial interest in any of the big agri firms in doing so. We thus have to rely on anecdotal evidence form those who practise it over long periods and there is a wealth of old and new literature on the subject dating back to ancient Egyptian texts.
I suspect it's of importance to farmers and peasants with limted resources of machinery, fertiliser, weed killer, water for irrigation and so on who need to maximise their crop fertility but of far less import to those of us who garden in the developed world with plenty of resources. I would remind you though that our climate is changing, that population pressures, particularly in the south east, make water an increasingly precious and expensive resource. Unusual floods and droughts around the world mean this year's harvests are poor so fruit, corn and veg will be more expensive to buy and I suspect that one day rather more of us will be embracing old and new methods of making the most of our crops whilst limiting our impact on the planet's resources and ecology.
After all, it's not so many years ago that everyone thought going organic was bonkers and just look at how many of us avoid chemicals on our food crops and flowers for our own sake and for wildlife.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
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Sorry couldn't resist silly comment
hehehe
This is my second year of veg growing. I grew broccoli, swede, sprouts and kale from seed for the first time. The broccoli grew well but became very tall. Is this 'Bolting'? Also the heads were very small and went to seed /flower very quickly. Did I do anything wrong? Everything else is doing ok although some of the swede are still very small while others are rounding out nicely. I would be greatfull of any advice. I am growing in raised beds in my back garden.
Here's a simple on-line calendar that can help with moon gardening - http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk/Moon_Planting.asp
I find it helps me organise my time better when I do follow it but sometimes I just go with the weather and hwat is urgent and that's especially so this year as I was unable to do anything at all from January to late June and just had to sit and watch the weeds grow.
I was gardening by the moon, this morning. Seriously, I was.
I went outside about 6.15am. First light is a good time to check for any slugs, and I also put out bird food. The robins round here are very demanding and like their breakfasts early.
The moon was right overhead, and what made the sight more spectacular is that right beside the moon was a bright planet. Nothing else was visible in the sky. It was impressive.
Oh dear. Talking to my Husband about this, and now he's started playing REM at me. I HATE REM. I'm off to wage war on the mass of weeds that's my back garden.
I mentioned that the moon and a planet were a notable spectacle in the sky this morning. The planet was Jupiter, and there's actually an item about this event here, under 'highlights of the month (Sept 8th)':
http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/
So, this morning something significant was happening between the Moon and Jupiter.
The position of the moon, and the planets were considered to be very important to gardeners, in the 16th and 17th centuries (and possibly before).
There's a lot of information about sowing and planting according to these criteria in very old gardening manuals. Here's a tiny sample (transcribed into a modern typeface)...
gardening by the moon was done in bygone days.(I have a book that tells the ways yesterday).Whether it works or no I cant say but the pull of the moon does effect tides.
We have tides because of the gravitational pull of the moon. It is also known to affect human behaviour - hence the term lunatics - so why would it not also have an effect on water tables in the earth?
Whether it does affect gardening activities will never be resolved scientifically as there is no commercial interest in any of the big agri firms in doing so. We thus have to rely on anecdotal evidence form those who practise it over long periods and there is a wealth of old and new literature on the subject dating back to ancient Egyptian texts.
I suspect it's of importance to farmers and peasants with limted resources of machinery, fertiliser, weed killer, water for irrigation and so on who need to maximise their crop fertility but of far less import to those of us who garden in the developed world with plenty of resources. I would remind you though that our climate is changing, that population pressures, particularly in the south east, make water an increasingly precious and expensive resource. Unusual floods and droughts around the world mean this year's harvests are poor so fruit, corn and veg will be more expensive to buy and I suspect that one day rather more of us will be embracing old and new methods of making the most of our crops whilst limiting our impact on the planet's resources and ecology.
After all, it's not so many years ago that everyone thought going organic was bonkers and just look at how many of us avoid chemicals on our food crops and flowers for our own sake and for wildlife.