Growing your own - is it worth it?

[jean]

... I think it was on these Boards that there was a discussion, interesting as always, on the different values placed on the smaller, thinner green asparagus compared with the fatter white ones. I seem to recall that there was a line separating those preferring the latter (Germany, northern and Eastern France)... from the former (southern France, Italy... )

There is no fatter, whiter asparagus than that awarded DOC status in Bassano del Grappa!

http://www.villeagricole.com/eng/prodotti_tipici.htm

[MrGongGong]

Ein Alp, that is what I want to see in my asparagus bed, but so far, no sign. Asparagus is proving a challenge, and I dont know why. Tomorrow I shall go and have another look. If it's peeking out of the ground that far up north, down here in the west it should be all over the place. I think it must be dead, I will report back.

Asparagus is a tricky beast
After several years trying (with well drained soil, raised bed, etc etc) I finally gave up and decided to simple gorge on it when in season from the market.....

[MrGongGong]

This morning, I ordered the materials to build a wooden Canadian canoe. It would be cheaper to buy a ready-built fibreglass one, but much less satisfying.

You be careful what you do with the sea off Filey now

[umslopogaas]

With all the money I've spent on seed, crowns, replacement crowns and plants I could have bought quite a lot of spears, but its a challenge and I will keep trying. Just bought some plants to fill the gaps.

[gradus]

German white asparagus is pretty good too, they've erected a statue to it in Schwetzingen: http://www.agefotostock.com/en/Stock...ed/DES-2068254

[umslopogaas]

Amazing. Soon there will be a statue to parsnips.

I'm thinking of putting up a statue to Frivolity, but I cant get her to sit still long enough to record a decent likeness.

[doversoul1]

I’ve noticed that my garden is riddled with underground tunnels. They are too narrow for moles and besides, there are no mole hills. Come to think of it, something was eating the roots of a lot of winter crops. Anyone has any idea what it/they can be? Do mice live underground?

[umslopogaas]

I've also noticed tunnels in my veg plot. I assumed they were made by mice, probably burrowing for spuds. As you say, it isnt moles, too narrow and no molehills (though there are moles elsewhere in the garden).

[gradus]

My allotment is plagued with rodents who burrow tunnels. They seem to take up residence in and under manure or compost heaps and work outwards from there. Its very irritating as the roots of plants sometimes end up suspended in the tunnel and the plant suffers or even dies. Rat/mice poison is my solution but obviously one needs to be careful about using it. Other than poisons I don't know of any other practical solution but if anyone has one, please post it.
I don't know if this is possible but I have a theory that club root and onion white rot get spread on the fur of the tunnelers, as I have had problems with both on tunneled ground previously free of the twin pestilences.
Planting spuds today I came across several underground spaghetti junctions with branches going in several directions.

[doversoul1]

Search results:

Royal Horticultural Society
... Voles make a network of shallow tunnels in the soil and this can give lawns an uneven and soft surface.
Crocus corms and tulip bulb are often eaten, especially in the first autumn-winter after planting. Established bulbs and corms are less susceptible.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=792

Wiki
Voles will often eat succulent root systems and will burrow under plants or ground cover and eat away until the plant is dead. Bulbs in the ground are another favorite target for voles; their excellent burrowing and tunnelling skills give them access to sensitive areas without clear or early warning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole

The solution suggested by the RHS is a trap with pieces of apple as the bate but that’s no use in my garden. The badgers will have them, the cage and all.

gradus
You may be right about club root. My purple sprouting and curly kale looked perfect in summer, but an awful lot of them finished up half dead. As for the Brussels sprouts plants, I could just pull them up, as there were hardly any roots left.

I have been gardening here for over 30 years but I don’t recall anything like this before. If it’s not badgers, its voles. I don’t know why I bother.

[umslopogaas]

The answer to voles might be a cat. If you keep it hungry and put it outside at night, it will be on the prowl for food. Voles would do, if its stomach was empty. Obviously, I dont want you to maltreat your cat, but if you deny it the daily Wiskas, it will get out there after those pesky rodents.

Club root and onion white rot both get spread around in soil. In an allotment, where lots of people are tramping around in muddy boots, every soil borne disease that is present will soon be spread everywhere. The discipline to prevent this happening would be unenforceable, even if you had anyone on hand who could recognise the sources of these diseases.

Given that you are inevitably going to suffer these diseases if they are present in the allotment site, you can take some precautions. Both are specific to their crops, so if you have white rot on your onions, dont grow them on that site for as many years as you can manage, and the same principle for club root. Sadly, it takes many years for these things to die out in the absence of their host, they both have long-lived spores that remain in the soil for at least ten, possibly twenty years.

As a last and expensive resort, get the soil sterilised. This can be done chemically, with fumigants that are applied under plastic sheeting, or by steam, which is effective, but I have no idea if there are any companies out there who still do it.

There might be biological antagonists that could be applied to counteract the pathogens, but I would need to do some research on that, I have no idea if there are any commercial products available, and if there are, if they actually work.

Most of this information relates to my days working for the RHS at Wisley, so if you are a member, or know someone who is, ring them up and ask them.

[gradus]

Even with a bed system separated by paths and with no foot traffic on the beds I've had outbreaks of club root on previously clean ground so I'm still suspicious of the tunnelers.
Older generations of gardeners had quite effective chemical controls for white rot and club root but I think they were banned, probably with good reason. Heavy liming is recommended for control and some claim great success or if you are willing to use a chemical Calcium Cyanamide marketed for almost 100 years as Perlka is effective and I understand helps with white rot too. Having tried Perlka I can confirm that it supresses club root but one needs to be extremely careful in using it and on balance I think it is potentially too dangerous for the amateur to tangle with!

[doversoul1]

Cats don’t eat moles or voles, so if you have a hunting sort of cat, it will catch voles for fun but if you starve it, it will probably catch something it can eat. In my experience, not many cats are bothered with hunting wild things these days [sigh].

[jean]

Rat/mice poison is my solution but obviously one needs to be careful about using it.

If you use poison on open land like allotments, you run the risk of poisoning protected wildlife, which is illegal and could result in prosecution.

A would-be nameless person (but I know who she is) on our allotment site reported us to the council because she claimed someone was putting down chocolate-flavoured rat poison.

Chocolate-flavoured?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In my experience, not many cats are bothered with hunting wild things these days [sigh].

Try telling that to my cat.