Suddenly I'm concerned about potato blight...

I'm growing potatoes for the first time in my life. I have no earthly idea what I'm doing, which is mildly amusing considering I'm Irish, my parents own a garden centre and I have eaten what must be thousands of them in my lifetime.

So far, I have planted a handful of seed potatoes and they seem to be doing beautifully, but I'm not sure what to do next. Do I need to feed them, water them more or less than other veggies, worry about particular pests? What about that scourge; potato blight? It hasn't been raining much here for the last few weeks, so I'm guessing this isn't a real issue yet, but it might be... I think a consultation with my Garden Guru Dad is in order. Watch this space!

Elsewhere in my veggie patch everything seems to be coming along nicely. Mountain Man is trialing a very clever solution to the slug and snail problem. All of my veggies are in bags/belfast sinks/raised beds so are relatively easy to control and contain. About a week ago that very clever tall man in my life decided to put out a low pile of salt in a ring around all of the pots and bags, in the hope that it would slow down the slippery veggie munchers. I suspect he may also have been trying to reduce the amount of time I spend slug hunting before bed. I haven't been out there for the last few evenings and so far, there are no nibbles in my rocket, mustard or potatoes! We'll need to keep it topped up, but I'm feeling very optimistic. Fingers crossed it will continue to work.

I have had some amateur questions for my Garden Guru Dad, as I really am winging it with this veggie growing lark and don't have lots of time to devote to proper research. It does feel a little bit like cheating but by asking him hopefully I can save myself lots of grief. Here we go...maybe it will help someone else out there?

1. Do I need to worry about leggy seedlings? My beetroot are coming along nicely, if a bit slowly...but they are quite leggy. Does it matter? If so, what should I do?
2. What pests do I need to worry about and what can I do now to make sure the fruit of my labour doesn't get munched by outdoor critters?
3. Roughly how long will it take for my carrots and radishes to grow ready to eat roots? I can't see them, obviously, so how can I tell if they're ready?

I'll get back with the answers soon. Happy Easter.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb!!!

It's Rhubarb season don't you know. Have you had any yet? It's the most delicious fruit, so early in the season. Rich in magnesium, calcium, potassium and vitamin K it's wonderful for bone health, gut health and stress. It's also a great source of fiber, so doesn't send your blood sugar levels soaring. Yum

I bought some in my local Super Valu last week, then received a beautiful bunch in my Home Organics delivery, followed by another bunch from Super Valu, purchased by the fabulous Mountain Man. So...a glut of rhubarb. I love crumble and tart, but I wanted to avoid lots of pastry and sugar. So, I decided to bake it. Yes, bake...not stew. A rather lovely guesthouse in Wexford called McMenamins served it as part of their breakfast buffet to me some time ago and since then I have wanted to reproduce it. So...here you go. It's incredible with fruit and granola in the morning, or with porridge, or just eaten warm with some ice-cream as dessert.

Baked Spiced Rhubarb
You will need:
4 sticks of rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into 4cm pieces
Zest & Juice of 1 orange
1 Star Anise
1/2 tsp nutmeg (fresh if possible)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)
1 dsp Rapadura sugar (or Xylitol if you prefer, Rapadura is one of the least processed sugars)

• Turn on the oven to 190C
• Put everything except the rhubarb in a saucepan and gently heat for 5 minutes. If it comes to the boil, just reduce the heat and simmer gently.
• Put the rhubarb into an oven proof dish, approx 25 x 25cm
• Pour over the spicy orange juice mix, making sure the rhubarb is well coated.
• Put the dish in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
• Check it every 10 minutes or so and give it a stir.
• Remove from the oven, leave to cool slightly and enjoy any way you fancy.
  

Snail hunting after dark

I just finished watching Julie & Julia, a movie about Julia Child and Julie Powell. Julie Powell decides to cook her way through Julia Child's book, 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. It made me want to do the same. I laughed my behind off, screeched with hilarity (worried that my nieghbours might think I was being murdered) and cried my eyes out. It's so beautiful; those two women, devoted to food. Cooking, cooking, cooking...always cooking, always pushing, sticking to a plan they had and not allowing anything to derail them. Inspiring...

Once I had dried my eyes, I thought I had better go slug hunting. Dedicated to the cause, me. I have no idea if there is a better way to do this, but I refuse to use slug pellets. I know there are 'organic' ones, but I haven't gone down that road. Maybe it's stinginess, but my solution to slugs is to go out after dark, preferably after a rainshower. Slugs love damp darkness. They don't love me, with my headtorch on, jar of salty water in one hand.

It truly is disgusting, but I seek them out and grab them between two fingers. They tend to curl up, probably hoping for invisibility. I often have to make several grabs, but eventually they make it into the jar. Sometimes they sort of, hiss...sometimes they die silently. They usually leave a slimy layer on my fingers, which I really hope isn't snail poo, but it does wash off with soap and a nail brush. I know it's cruel, but they've already munched my beautiful red tulip leaves to pieces and I refuse to allow them to do the same to my seedlings.

There are a few other barriers to snails, like copper wire which they struggle to cross. You can wrap it around the top of planters to slow them down. Borage is another good one, they hate furry stems and leaves and borage is wonderfully sticky and hairy. My Dad, the Garden Guru, reckons you need more than one method to really keep them under control. I haven't managed to get my hands on borage yet and the copper wire is waiting on Mountain Man.

My first real veg garden

I am so excited, I'm not sure I have the words to describe it. I have never really made a proper effort at 'growing my own', but this time it's for real. The first thing I do now when I get home from, well, anywhere, is to check my veg garden for seedling progress. Even blogging is a distraction from watering and snail hunting!

So, what have I done so far? Well, I have planted the raised bed with all manner of seedlings, I have some fabulous canvas planters filled with lovely organic Westland veg compost which I've planted with 2 variety of carrots and some seed potatoes.

Last week I had the first of my seedlings nudging through the soil and in just 3 weeks from sowing I have seedlings that have gone from cotyledon leaves to proper veggies! My radish have little furry radish leaves, my mange-tout look ready to start scaling the trellis!

From sowing to first sighting of green it was less than a week. Imagine, some soil, water, warmth and maybe a bit too much love and hey presto - life! Note to self - don't love them too much, over watering is the veggie seedlings worst enemy.

I have been consulting my Dad, Mike McKenna; gardener extraordinare and Garden Guru at Blackwater Garden Centre about all things veggie, so watch this space for tips when I get stuck!