The Silent Killer – Crown Rot
by Leslie Cox; Thursday; November 23, 2017
I wrote about crown rot in a previous blog…sometime last year. But I believe, because this fungus has such a horrible impact on the longevity our plants, it warrants bringing it front and centre again.
Crown rot a deadly disease which is caused by a number of different pathogen species in the Phytophthora genus. It is also known as Phytophthora rot, for obvious reasons. Once a plant is infected with this disease, it will succumb.
Teaser Tuesday
by Leslie Cox; Tuesday; November 21, 2017
Cannot wait for the helleborus blossoms to make their appearance.
Some varieties should start blooming in December.
This is one my mom gave me, called ‘Pink Frost’.
This week in the garden…
by Leslie Cox; Sunday; November 19, 2017
Besides being an exceptionally busy week…not the least of which was setting up our Christmas Village scenes…it has been a week of mixed bag weather. Bits of sunshine, lots of clouds, torrential rain, howling winds, and more than a couple of frosty mornings. Weather like this really encouraged us to start decorating the house for Christmas a little earlier than usual…if only for the “cheering up” factor. Typically, our daily Sadie walks provide us with our dose of happy. But who enjoys getting soaked to the skin on days like we have had this week?
New Vegetable ID Posted
by Leslie Cox; Sunday; November 19, 2017
This one is for kale lovers…and even those who might not like kale quite so much.
We grew ‘Scarlet Curled’ for the first time this year and fell in love. Its gorgeously dark red, frilly leaves were a delightful asset in the vegetable garden. So much so, I will be growing extra seedlings next season to incorporate into my ornamental garden. Do not know any landscape design which would not benefit from this colour and leaf form addition.
It certainly added a new dimension to our kale salad! And did I mention taste? Oh my goodness. Literally.
We highly recommend this kale cultivar. If you need another reason…it appears to be decently resistant to the small white cabbage butterfly larvae. Experts do claim female small whites avoid laying their eggs on the red varieties of kale and cabbage. They are right about ‘Scarlet Curled’ at least.
For more information about this deliciously healthy vegetable, click here.
Kale ‘Scarlet Curled’
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Brassica oleracea var. acephala ‘Scarlet Curled’ (BRASS-ih-kah oh-ley-AY-see-ah variety ah-SEF-ah-lah) Family: Brassicaceae Common name: scarlet kale, curly scarlet kale |
| Description: An open pollinated, tall, ultra-hardy plant with large, frilly leaves. New leaves are blue-green in colour, maturing to a vibrant deep purple-red. Biennial.
Special Notes: This is a relatively new variety from the UK. As with other kales, ‘Scarlet Curled’ is full of healthy nutrients and anti-cancer properties. But do not limit this one to the vegetable garden! The gorgeous frilled leaves on this cultivar add a delightful splash of sensuous red tones to the ornamental garden. Just be sure to place it where you can still easily harvest a few leaves for the morning smoothie or dinner salad.
How to Grow: Kale prefer humus-rich soil, although they are decently tolerant of almost any soil conditions. Soil acidity is another matter…preferring a pH of 6.5 – 6.8. Targeting this range will greatly benefit the plant’s abilities to draw up necessary nutrients from the soil. Here in the Pacific Northwest, timing for direct seeding kale in the garden is early March…so as soon as you can work in the garden, work lime into the designated spot in the vegetable garden where kale will be sowed or transplanted. This should be done 2 – 3 weeks prior to seeding. Soil temperature range for kale seed germination is 10 – 30 °C (50 – 85 °F), but they have been known to germinate at low soil temperatures of 5 °C (41 °F). At the other end of the scale, being a cool season crop, seed germination is very poor at temperatures nearing 35 °C (95 °F). If you are itching to get growing before March, you can start kale seed indoors under grow lights. I typically start a few kale varieties around mid-February to transplant out in mid- to late March. Direct sow seeds about a half inch (1.25 cm) deep and space 8 inches (20 cm). Rows should be 24 inches (60 cm) apart. Thin seedlings to a spacing of 18 inches (45 cm). It is possible to transplant the thinned seedlings, if you want lots of kale. This is best done when the plants are at least 8 inches (20 cm) tall and have three or four leaves. Bury the seedlings a little deeper than what they were initially. It won’t hurt the plants. To harvest, pick 2 – 3 lower leaves from each plant. Do not cut the developing bud in the centre of the plant or you will stop its growth. For a fall and winter crop of kale, sow seeds in pots or starter trays in mid-July to early August. Sowing in pots or trays allows you to keep the seeds out of the hot sun of high summer. Transplant seedlings into the garden or cool frames when they are tall enough. Be sure to water young seedlings regularly in dry weather. Cover or mulch heavily when fall temperatures threaten to dip to freezing range. This will ensure a harvest of leaves through the winter months.
The cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae, can also be a real pest. Keep a close watch for these as you do not want them to get a foothold on your plants. Because of their incredible reproduction capabilities, one cabbage aphid can produce up to 41 generations in a single season…depending on how long your growing season is. If you see any, hit them with a strong jet of water from the hose to knock them off. Or you can use a soap spray of 1 – 2 teaspoons (5 – 10 ml) dish soap diluted in 4 cups (1 litre) of water. Whichever method you use, be sure to repeat the treatment every 7 days to catch the ones you missed and any new ones which have been born in the meantime.
In our Zone 7a garden: We grew ‘Scarlet Curled’ for the first time this year and were very pleased with its performance, overall health, and taste. However, the jury is still out on its winter-hardy capabilities. Early indications are favourable, though. Two nights of -8.0 °C and -8.5 °C temperatures only caused the leaves to droop very slightly…and lasted only until the temps climbed back to -5 °C and above. In the kitchen, we really enjoyed the addition of deep-red ‘Scarlet Curled’ leaves to our kale salad. Combined with the dark grey-green leaves of ‘Lacinato’, the blue-green of ‘Dwarf Blue Scotch Curled’, the bright green of ‘Scotch Curled’, and blue-red of ‘Red Russian’ definitely brought the salad to life.
Posted on November 19, 2017
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