Food Growing Q&A

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Comment by Shona Cullen on April 27, 2012 at 12:19pm

 Can anyone tell me the easy way to clean cruched shell, my garden surounds are a mess and to dont know how to tidy it up for the winter?

Comment by Richard Watson on December 1, 2011 at 5:31am

yes for cooking it doesn't matter if they are not a 100% ripe but for us we leave ours till they turn a yellow colour and slightly soft

Comment by moggy on November 30, 2011 at 5:58pm

there are different varieties of gooseberries, some turn reddish, some do not. It does not matter if they are 100% ripe or not, all recipes usually call for the addition of sugar anyway. Gooseberry and elder flower fool is delicious

Comment by Matt Moir on November 30, 2011 at 4:12pm

Thanks for the memories Josephal I fondly rember my grandfathers gooseberrys from back in Dunedin in the late 60s early 70s with that red tint on them when they were ripe for picking he regreted showing me the ripe ones after that but because I always beet him to that bush never left any for anyone else.

Comment by josephal on November 30, 2011 at 3:04pm

From my childhood, I remember gooseberries with great affection. When they get a slight red tinge and go a bit softer they are ok to eat. Green ones are super sour eaten raw! My grandmother would use them green and make gooseberry pies.

Comment by Yvonne Symons on November 30, 2011 at 2:48pm

Question, when do you know gooseberries are ready for picking?

Comment by Jane Maarie on March 3, 2011 at 9:02am

Thanks for that Richard. I have some Pukekohe Long Keeper seed which I got from Koanga, I will give that a go. :O)

Comment by Richard Grevers on March 2, 2011 at 12:48pm

Hi Jane,
Onions are more or less biennial: if you plant "sprouted" onion bulbs, they will develop seed stalks. Onions are day-length sensitive - bulb growth only happens above a minimum number of daylight hours (depending on the variety) - so you won't get winter growth. 180 - 240 days to maturity. You can plant seed densely in trays any time between now and July (September in cool climates) and will have seedlings to plant out in after 6 weeks. However, it is said that onions direct-sown then thinned are better keepers than those grown from seedlings. Last spring my onion patch got overgrown and I actually transplanted a second time to clean up - it worked. They are gross feeders but not too much nitrogen.

Comment by Jane Maarie on March 2, 2011 at 10:02am

I so hope these are not silly questions but....... I want to grow big red onions & brown onions as I have never done so before.

How do I start? Do I buys some onions, wait for them to sprout then plant?  Do you take off all the outer skin or leave it on? Do they take as long as garlic? I have read that it is a long process growing it from seed. Is this the right month to plant them or am I too late? Please help anyone. Thanks in advance.

Comment by Kiwi Lover on January 28, 2011 at 11:52pm

This is what I found after a bit of googling - seems quite good!

 

Watermelons: It is extremely difficult to tell if a watermelon is ripe by just looking; it must be examined. Watermelons will not continue to ripen after harvest. Hold the harvested fruits at 50 degrees to 60 degrees F. Here are indications you can look for: 

1. Thump it. If the watermelon sounds hollow (if you hear a dull thump/thud), the melon is usually ripe. This is difficult for less-gifted ears. The unripe melon will have a tighter, metallic ringing or hollow sound. This technique is not perfect however, because the dull sound you hear doesn't indicate if the melon is overripe. 

2. Use the criteria of approximate size for variety,

3. Ceasing of growth. 

4. Look at the color on the top. The watermelon is ripe when there is little contrast between the stripes. Another indication is when the surface color of the fruit turns dull. 

5. Look for the spot where the melon rested on the ground; a yellow-white, yellow or a cream-yellow color spot suggests ripeness and a white or pale green spot indicates immaturity. A green watermelon will have a white bottom; a ripe melon will have a cream- or yellow-colored bottom. Those fruit that show a change of color from green or olive-grey to yellowish brown should be considered ready to harvest. Also look for a breakup of green bands at the blossom end of the fruit. For best quality, walk the patch daily. 

6. The rind at the soil spot should toughen and resist denting with a fingernail when the melon is ripe. Scratch the surface of the rind with your thumbnail. If the outer layer slips back with little resistance, showing a green-white color under the rind, the watermelon is ripe. Feel for development of ribbed indentations that can be felt with finger tips. It should be firm but not a rock. If soft or soft spots it�s too far gone. Sponginess is bad.

7. Press on it. If the watermelon sounds like it gives a little, it's ripe. (This method can also ruin the quality of the fruit.)

8. Check the tendril. If the tendril is green, you should wait to pick the melon. Harvest when the curled tendril near the stem, the "pigtail" or tendril closest to the melon on the vine begins to shrivel and dry up. If it dries while the leaves and rest of the vine looks good, the melon should be ripe.

9. Harvest when a small crack appears in the stem just above the melon indicating the melon is ripe. If it's half-dead, it could mean that the watermelon is nearly ripe or ripe. If the tendril is fully dead, it could mean that anthracnose or some other fungus killed the melon, or that it's ripe or overripe. The drying of the stem tendril nearest the attachment point and green color tone are also indicators of ripeness. Sign vary with cultivars. 

10. Count the number of days from anthesis (flowering) or the number of days from planting. This works pretty well if you know the variety of watermelon and how many days it's supposed to take for that variety to ripen under normal temperature and fertilizer regimes.

11. The slipping of the stem from the melon with slight finger pressure is an excellent indicator of melon ripeness in the field. 

Hold a melon up to your ear, if you can feel it squeeze and hear a slight mush instead of a crack it is ripe. 

7 Check the size. It's not necessarily true that when a watermelon is big enough, it's ready; but under good conditions, it should be normal size. If it's not, you're probably too anxious.

8 Crack a few. You've got a whole field of watermelons, and you can practice a little, right?

9 Is the vine dead or dying? Well, the watermelon is not going to get any riper, so you might as well pick it

10. Rely on your nose, and look for a melon with the strongest fragrance, for this will most likely be the best tasting. Breath deeply and follow your nose to the sweet ripe melon. Sniff the aromatic one out. Next, look for a melon that is heavy for its size, because if you have two melons of equal size, the heavier one is almost assuredly the riper and better tasting melon. Smell is something you learn with experience.

11. Still confulsed? Guess. All indicators will not always work. Take your best shot and go with it.��

 

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