Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The texture of the flesh deteriorates a little in the freezing process, so it is best to
serve the melon when it is only just defrosted. Don't be tempted to use overripe
fruit for this purpose as it thaws to mush.
Problems
Mice
,
slugs
and
woodlice
. A bottle cloche or a bottle ring (see Chapter 10, page
170) will defend the plant until it's growing away strongly.
Moulds
are a perennial problem with cucurbits, so keep the leaves and stems dry
when watering and make sure that the inside surface of your cover is washed
with a soap-based organic cleaner each spring. Spent male flowers should be
removed as soon as they shrivel up, and not allowed to lie on the leaves.
Onion, bulbing
Varieties:
'Senshyu Yellow', 'Electric' (Red)
Onions have been part of our diet since the Bronze Age and are a vital ingredient
of innumerable dishes. The bulk of the crop is grown outside and left to ripen or
'cure' in the late summer sun, although the polytunnel is a wonderful place for
this if the weather won't play ball. By the end of the spring, however, rising air
temperatures will cause the remainder of the stored bulbs to sprout or rot, leaving
an awkward 'onion gap' of two months or so between the end of the old harvest
and the beginning of the new.
Traditionally this gap was filled by spring onions, but these are milder-flavoured
and not as versatile as bulbing onions. Early overwintering onion types (often
called 'Japanese' onions, since this is where they were first developed) are now
available, but, although these can be used to shrink the onion gap, winter losses
can be high and since they typically do not ripen until July, it does not solve the
problem entirely. Overwintering early onions in the polytunnel means fewer
losses and bigger, better bulbs - which is why many exhibition growers use
polytunnels.
The great dilemma for onion growers is whether to grow from seed or sets (imma-
ture bulbs). Sets are comparatively expensive but more reliable; seeds take
longer and are more work but give better bulbs that keep longer.
