Cinderella's wheels...

Cucurbita maxima, moschata and pepo make up the pumpkin family, within the family are many siblings. There are Grey ones, Orange ones, Green ones, long ones, lobed ones, tiny ones and huge ones... Cucurbita pepo is the scientific name for the Zucchinis also, so many of the growing techniques used for the production of Pumpkins are the same as for Zucchini. The seed (pepita) is elliptical, about 10mm across, and should be sown (with the flat sides up and down) about an inch deep after the last frost or early to mid spring.



Pumpkins require a long growing season so in cold areas they will benefit from being sown early in a propagator and transplanted when the soil has warmed. Pumpkins like to be planted in a mound of earth well enriched with compost. They grow quickly and appreciate regular water. The leaves and flowers look almost identical to Zucchini, they mostly grow as a sprawling vine rather than a large bush though. The vines love to have room to ramble so planting them well away from each other (1-2m), or training the vines will help.



Pumpkins also have tendrils (left) like
peas, beans, etc. for climbing, and can be grown up a trellis or over a garden structure (you can support developing fruits in string or net bags).



Early in their life Pumpkins predominantly produce male flowers (right), which have no embryonic fruit behind the flower, female flowers (with fruit, below) come later. Pinching out the growing tips can force the vine to send out side shoots which will usually produce more female flowers. Hand pollinating may increase yield in areas with poor pollinator activity. It is quite common to get 4-6 fruit developing on a plant, but if you want larger fruit thin out a few, If you want competition sized fruit thin to only one fruit per plant and watch 'em go.




Wait until the vine withers and dies, the fruit has developed full colour, and a hollow sound is produced when you tap the fruit before you harvest. When you harvest ensure you get a good (10-15cm) length of stem on the fruit and allow the fruit's skin to harden in the sun before storing for up to 6 months with some cultivars. Seeds can be saved when you prepare the fruit for eating for next years pumpkin patch, or you can throw them in you compost and watch them take off. Powdery mildew is the major threat to your crop (look at my post on Zucchinis for a milk spray recipe) and, less commonly, mosaic virus.

Fire in the belly...

As far as I'm concerned there is no savory dish that cannot be improved by the addition of two ingredients, one is the tang of a squeeze of lemon juice and the second is the bite of a finely sliced chilli. So that brings us to today's post, chillis.



Chilli was one of Columbus' gift to the world from the Americas, although there are suggestions of a pre-South American history of chilli in Europe. It is a member of the Solanaceae family with tomato, eggplant, capsicum, potato, etc.



The heat in the chilli is provided by 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide or capsaicin, and I reckon I can taste every one of them 6 nonenamides. Heat, or quantity of capsaicin, is measured in scoville units which I think tells you the number of sips of icy water you need after a hot one (not the best solution, try dairy). Most people erroneously believe the Habanero to be the hottest, and although it is about 100 times hotter than a Jalapeno, the Bhut Jolokia or "Ghost Chilli" is about three to five times hotter then the hottest Habanero.



Chilli seeds (left) are about 2-3mm across and need to be propagated in warm (18-21C) soil. The usual rule of thumb of planting a seed applies - bury the seed 1.5 times its width, deep in a good seed-raising mix. Once up and running, chillis need very little special attention. Apart from some water and the occasional feed, the most important variable for success is temperature; they are a very warm-season crop.



Chillis make beautiful container plants, with the added functionality of being able to move them under cover if the nights turn cold. As the plants mature and you see the first suggestion of flower buds, you may want to give them a little extra potassium. An easy way to do this is to add some rotten banana skins to the soil or potting mix before transplantation.



Setbacks may include aphid attack (left), red spider mite attack, whitefly and/or verticilium wilt - but these are nothing pyrethrum, soap/oil spray, crop rotation or companion planting won't manage.



Seed saving is easy, let the fruit ripen, open it up and voila! **BEWARE though that if you plant hot and mild together the gene for heat is dominant so the progeny of your mild chillis may yield a sharp surprise!**



Depending on your taste, one to two plants is often said to yield enough for a family. As far as I'm concerned they can stuff that advice in their Scotch Bonnet, I go for six to eight plants for Sarah and I with a mix of Thai and Jalapeno (right).

Zuck.. Zuchin... Zukee..... Courgettes!

Hello again! This post will be necessarily short on account of the chappy (shown left) who's taken up residence above the computer... Another argument for getting a laptop.


This post is on my favourite Veg to grow, Zucchini. The Zucchini plant (shown right) is a member of the Cucurbit family, same as pumpkins, melons, cucumbers etc. and is a beautiful, fast growing, summer plant, that produces masses of delicious fruit. It will grow to need an area of about a metre and responds well to some good compost incorporated into the soil.


There are several different types, my fave is the Black (beauty) Zucchini (avoid hybrids such as the F1 Black jack if you want to save seed). The seeds are large, about 10mm in length, and disc shaped. Please note I am not sponsored by the seed company shown left, however if they ever read this, leave a comment we'll sort something out ;0) Basil would also like it known that she is not yet sponsored by any dog food companies-->



Zucchinis grow as a short vine (shown left), if you are wondering if that's a pot around the base of the plant, in the soil, it is. One of the wonderful things 'bout living in a multicultural suburb like Brunswick is you pick up tips from the European gardeners around. Cutting off the base of a large pot and half burying it allows you to deliver water, compost, organic fertilisers etc. straight to the root zone and stops invasive plants, mint etc. from spreading.



As the plants grow you'll notice two different kinds of flowers. The male (shown right) has a single, pollen covered anther on the stamen, no embryonic fruit behind the flower, loves football and does not clean up after itself.


The Female flower (shown left) has a more complex ruffled stamen, an embryonic fruit behind the flower, lots of shoes and navigates poorly. Transferring the pollen from the male to the female is the job of Mr. Bee, or you and a paintbrush (see tickling tomatoes post).


The result of successful pollination is a swelling fruit (shown right) and a plentiful harvest (shown left). Both images here show fruit that would have been tastier when picked at about 15cm, however, once they start, you also will struggle to keep up with the harvesting and eating. The flowers are also a bit gourmet.


Zucchinis can suffer from several different issues. The most common I see is mildew, (shown right) which appears as a fine white powdery deposit on the leaves (be careful not to mistake dried shaving foam for mildew when using your grey water on the plants.... Hi Dad). Mildew can be avoided by not crowding your plants together (thus avoiding a humid micro-climate), keeping them healthy and well fed, and spraying fortnightly with a 1 to 10 full fat milk to water spray. If it does strike, bin the leaves affected (don't compost), spray with the milk solution, and wash your hands before touching any other leaves/plants. If you have to remove an entire plant, so be it, they will lose their vigour anyhow. Fortunately they grow quickly so you may get another in in time. Another problem to look out for is blossom end rot, look it up and make sure you don't get it confused with unpollinated fruit. It is usually caused by inconsistent watering.

I wonder if there is a recipe coming that involves Zucchini.....

Aldrum

Tickling Tomatoes

What do you do when there ain't all that many pollinators around?
Well you try and rectify the situation by planting all those lovely plants that attract the pollinators, flowering species that are indigenous to the area is a good start, buying a beehive and a trainee queen is also a great move. If you don't have the room or knowledge or just want a tomato or two on your balcony then you may have to do some of the dirty work yourself. Every flower on a tomato, or eggplant, or pepper etc. is the precursor to a fruit and when the flower is pollinated the flower dies off and a fruit forms in its place (left pic of new Turkish orange eggplant fruit with dried up flower on end), quite simply the more flowers pollinated the more fruit you'll get. The pollinator, i.e. Mr Bee, transfers pollen from flower to flower thus pollinating the flower and allowing the fruit to form. So enough about the birds and the bees, ART or Assisted Reproductive Technology for plants involves a fine little paint brush (top right pic) and fine motor skills. All that needs to be done is a gentle brush of the stamen (bottom right pic) of each flower, moving from plant to plant, flower to flower doing Mr Bee's job for him. I find that making a soft buzzing noise as you do it helps also...

Cheers Aldrum