Beans
Beans and cabbages, along with tomatoes and lettuce are the staple food for the majority of home growers.
Emerald acre is the only cabbage you really need to plant, and it tastes good too. It is called a mini cabbage.
It matures in only eight weeks from transplant, and has the advantage of not splitting so fast. In more temperate climes
you can grow these all year round.
Harvest Emerald Acre fifty to fiftyfive days from transplant to harvest.. This cabbage gives a 1.5 kg (3.4lbs) head and
will out perform most cabbages. You can plant five mini emerald Acre cabbage plants in the same space you would
need to grow a larger type cabbage. ie: 30cm x 30cm. (11.8inches x 11.8inches)
You can buy your seeds by mail order from: Kent Whealy @ SSE 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, IOWA,
USA 52101 Fax: 319 382 5872, There is a us$25.00 subscription fee.
In New Zealand and Australia you can buy your seeds by mail order through 'The Diggers Club,
105 Latrobe Parade, Dromana, Victoria, 3936, Australia. ph: 03 5987 1877, fax: 03 5981 4298,
You have the option of becoming a member or buying your seeds at retail.
Another great vegetable to grow is the 'Premium Late Flat Dutch Cabbage'
As an example the above cabbage which is also an heirloom takes 100 days from transplant to harvest.
Giving a cabbage approximately 7inches deep by 12inches in diameter.
While most of the Heirloom vegetables I recommend can be found at the above clubs, other than buying seeds from
them I have no connection with them at all.
This spring I am going to plant the dwarf, 'Dragon's Tongue' bean which is a wax, stringless variety with purple streaks
over a yellow backround, there are very few types that taste as good, they are delicious.
My main crop will be the heirloom variety 'Lazy Housewife' this would be the most prolific bean on the market.
It is a green stringless variety which you can harvest in approximately 85 days giving a yield of one half kilogram
(1.1lb) per plant.
You should keep picking these beans all the time, the more you pick these vegetables the faster they will grow..
If you get too many beans blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute and then cool with cold water. Then put them in
the freezer. It does not pay to keep beans in the freezer for longer than twelve months, so put the date on them.
If you read both my blogs on tomatoes and lettuces you will have a green thumb before you know it.
Remember most plants fail through infrequent watering.
But most of all...have fun and remember a garden can be very forgiving.
All the best
Gordi
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