The First of Mr Veg's Wise Pages

Posted for Mr.Veg

Many people ask me - What is the secret of gardening success? Or How do I get green fingers? There is no simple answer to either of those questions I usually reply "little and often" which some people maybe surprised at my answer expecting me to speak at length of constant study, then reading dozens of gardening books and many years of experience, which all can lead to enlightenment but then I've know many allotment holders who have never had any formal qualifications in horticulture, only occasionally glance at a text book and get their experience from other allotment holders, learning by other peoples methods and avoiding making mistakes.
I won't recommend rushing to the bookstore to buy a plethora of different gardening tiles although having a preferred reference book is when growing and consuming your own produce I feel is a must. Obviously eating vegetables is good and healthy but certain parts of some plants will make you ill and anything diseased or showing signs of disease should not eaten.
One easy example is Rhubarb, the stems are eaten but the big broad dark leaves are highly poisonous and could be fatal if consumed but thankfully parts of many plants that could do you harm are few.
This is a book title that I feel is not over technical, clear and easy to read with many good colour pictures, sketches and diagrams, covers everything from getting started, crop rotation, sowing seeds, different types & varieties of veg, salad crops, common pests and diseases that affect each plant, sections on usage - in the kitchen, storage and further sub-sections regarding looking after the crop, cloche's, watering, mulching plus many others.
The name of this wonderful book! The "Expert Series" by Dr. D.G. Hessayon, in this case - The Vegetable Expert, costs about £8 but you maybe not have to buy your own copy perhaps you could share the cost of the book between other growers.
There are many others in the "Experts Series" fruit trees, flowers, lawn and roses there is about 12 books now in the expert series. This book which I've used since they first came out in the eighties will save you money and heartache. When your lovingly cared for crop of say potatoes is eaten away from ground dwelling bugs and believe me there are armies of creep crawlies just waiting for the unsuspecting grower to provide them with a ready instant meal, why dine on bread when there is best steak available! Fortunately with the expert book in hand you'll be ready with some defences.
So where does the "little and often" phrase come in then you may ask,
Well it relates to many horticultural activities but is more highlighted in growing veg and salad crops but can also refer to fruit crops.
Growing any thing should be a fun and rewarding experience but crops can soon fail for a variety of reasons, weather changes, pests or diseases even animals, cats and dogs digging up the ground or herds of sheep breaking through fences and eating everything in sight.
If any of these things happen and depending on the severity, plus with some crops it could be some weeks or months before you harvest, it can be easy to think - Why do I bother? When all of your hard work is ruined.
If it's animals you can erect or repair fences if the weather is the problem then putting up defences, wind breaks or covering crops with cloches to protect can also be done but there are many threats to the grower from un-seen enemies, pest and diseases which in a matter of hours could eat or infect your crop with destroying the affected plants the only option.
Vigilance is the answer to these problems hence the little and often you might not have to do a lot, spray an odd plant or cover to protect or even pull up the odd weed but by doing these simple tasks will help you make a success of the growing experience and if you can check on the progress of your crops frequently perhaps on a twice daily basis you can save yourself the heart ache of wasted time, money and effort.
MR VEG