WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 5
Welcome back to our weekly follow us! If you missed the last five weeks, the links to them are above - and as usual - the key is at the bottom: scroll down now!
This week, the crop growth in our planters slowed owing to falling temperatures. These ranged from 11oC to 16oC, consistently below the historical average temperature of 18oC for mid-May. Nighttime temperatures ranged from 5oC to -1oC, also well below the historical average of 9oC. Frosts were recorded on the 12th and 14th May and these can be considered late – particularly as (historically), the last frost of the Spring occurs (in Herefordshire) around the first week of May. No rainfall occurred during the week, extending and intensifying the period of dry weather which began at the beginning of March. The total rainfall in the first half of May has amounted to less than 4mm, with the historical average totalling 62mm! We refer to these statistics only to highlight the fact that the weather is doing strange things, and is not to be relied upon!
The plants are now sufficiently well-established not to require any supplementary watering and daily timed irrigation is adequate, providing approximately 4 litres per planter per day. For us, this is operated by a Rainbird controller which has an adjustment for rainfall.
All three radishes in Planter 1 are ready for harvesting, having taken 5 weeks (35 days) to reach maturity, which is as predicted. Radish ‘Cherry Belle’ and Radish ‘Polenza’ have produced globes up to 25mm in diameter, while Radish ‘White Icicle’ have produced tapering cylinders 40mm in length and 8mm in diameter (these ‘stand’ better and will benefit from being left for another week). Radishes can be picked as required over the next three weeks, starting with the largest. Our crops have been excellent - with no woodiness, pithiness or splitting. These are common problems when radishes are either subject to uneven watering or to drought stress resulting from high temperatures. The latter can occur even when soil moisture conditions are good but water loss due to transpiration outpaces uptake (causing temporary wilting). This is the reason why radishes are not a great choice during the summer months! A small number (<10%) have failed to form bulbs, but this is difficult to avoid when pushing the limits on spacing. The Radish ‘White Icicle’ is noticeably hotter in taste than the Radish ‘Cherry Belle’ and Radish ‘Poleneza’, but as a ‘daikon’ variety this is to be expected. If you’re an Ergrownomics owner, why not take a look at these varieties in our Crop Selector?
The three lettuces in Planter 2 have not progressed as well as would have been expected, following last week’s thinning. Notwithstanding this, the crops are in very good condition and on course to be ready for harvesting next week. The colour of ‘Red Salad Bowl’ Lettuce has changed to very deep red, and the leaves are noticeably thicker and glossier, probably reflecting improved nutrition. We’ve made the decision not to put the training system on the lettuces, as the plants appear sturdy and are hearting up.
Planter 3 contains a mixture of crops with different maturity dates. Turnip ‘Tokyo Cross’ F1 is growing well with the roots begin to bulb up uniformly, and no evidence of overcrowding. Rocket ‘Serrata’ is also growing well having reached the stage where it can be harvested, albeit lightly, 1 week ahead of time (after 35 days rather than the 42 days predicted). This does not require training. As a point of note, it is important to pick larger, prostrate leaves around the base, initially. A number of plants appear slightly redder than then remainder which is unusual, but with no obvious detriment (the plants are the same size, the leaves remain equally palatable with the same taste). Swiss Chard ‘Bright Light’ is slow with considerable difference in the size of plants along the row, although all plants irrespective of size remain in good condition.
The carrot, spring onion and beetroot continue to grow steadily but slightly slower than expected, which again reflects the cooler conditions. The beetroot, like the Swiss chard, are uneven. The spring onion has grown sufficiently for the training to be fitted and is necessary as the plants have started to “lodge”.
While radishes are great as far as they go, they don’t go very far! What makes growing radishes in the spring worthwhile is that they can be sown so early and crop so quickly, that they’ve been-and-gone before conditions are suitable for another, more productive crop. In our case, this will be the Dwarf French Bean ‘Purple Teepee’ which were sown in rootrainers at the end of April, and will be outplanted when all of the radish have been harvested!
The value of the radishes as a crop can be increased substantially by using the radish tops which are completely edible, despite their pepperiness and the prickliness of the underside of the leaves. There are some pretty good ideas on the available options, here, but we think the stand out recipe is ‘Radish Green Pesto’, (which contains some useful hints to ensure the leaves are fully hydrated before you use them, and does make a difference). This is closely followed by ‘Mulor Shaak’ (a ‘Saag-lie dish’)! As for the radishes themselves, ‘Radishes in Sour Cream’ is a good choice (Classic Vegetarian Cookery by Arto Der Haroutunian, 2011, Grub Street, London) or ‘Radishes dipped in sea salt butter’, but only as a once a year treat!