Root Veg
Now is a good time to have a thorough weeding and tidying session in amongst the root veg, which is what Dirty Nails has been busy doing this week.
Parsnips
Parsnips are growing nicely, making good growth despite heavy losses to badgers in July. Dirty Nails has been using his own urine as a repellent, which seems to have done the trick. He has weeded and hoed through the crop, taking care not to damage the parsnip tops. Browned-off leaves have been thrown onto the compost heap. This not only keeps the crop clean, but also removes slug and snail hidey-holes.
Swedes
Swedes are beginning to fatten up. Some are cricket-ball sized. The odd plant has not grown and the small roots have turned to mush. Whilst weeding in the swede bed Dirty Nails has taken out all of these bad ones, as well as leaves from others that are yellowing. Keeping the crop healthy in this way is important, to keep the good swedes in peak condition. Being a member of the cabbage family, they are attractive to both the large and small white butterflies as food plants for their caterpillars. Dirty Nails checks for eggs, which he crushes, and caterpillars, which he carefully removes to nasturtiums grown as an alternative food plant elsewhere on the plot.
Scorzonera
Dirty Nails is pleased with his scorzonera. Judging from the lush crowns of long, spatula-shaped leaves, their elongated thong-like roots should be going down deep. Some scorzonera are sending up flower spikes. Dirty Nails cuts out these flowers. They resemble beautiful, ragged dandelion heads on 2 foot (60 cm) stalks. Severed low down, this concentrates the plant’s energy into the roots.
Natural History In The Garden: House Martins
House martin numbers increase in August as fledglings take to the skies. Just sitting in the garden of a peaceful evening and gazing skywards provides stunning viewing of these lively, aerodynamic black and white birds. Their flight is both dashing and playful. Listen out for the house martins communicating with each other mid-flight, by way of a distinctive and friendly bubbling squeak.
Salsify
At this time of year, rows of salsify look similar to leeks. They are a highly rewarding, low maintenance crop. Their tussocks of grey-green leaves are so massed that they are smothering out most weeds. The odd rogue thistle can be teased out by hand, or chopped off with a long handled hoe.
Root Care
All these roots require little more than a watchful eye, and to be kept moist and weed-free throughout the coming autumn.
Vegetable Snippet: Out-Of-Season Parsnips
It is not just foraging badgers that like to enjoy parsnips out of season. The home-producer can, too. For something different at this time of year, and as a taste of things to come, he might lift a bunch or two for a roasted treat. To give them that special sweetness, which only comes as a result of the first hard winter frosts, Dirty Nails pops the pale roots into his refrigerator for a couple or three days prior to cooking them up.