The new website makes for an interesting read
It’s been a while since we have heard from the pioneering
gardener Klaus Laitenberger from County Leitrim. You might remember Klaus has
written two bestselling books on getting the best from our Irish gardens and
has spent the last fifteen years learning the art and craft of vegetable
growing and experimenting with different plants and techniques. Klaus has
mastered the vagaries of boggy soils, high rainfall and the most common pests
and diseases. This research has now been
put into his new website specializing in seeds that will flourish in the Irish
garden. The new greenvegetableseeds.com
website is now stocking over 100 varieties of vegetable seed varieties.
I spoke to Klaus this week who was hard at work preparing
his own garden for the winter months.
“I only stock the highest quality seeds of the best
varieties of vegetables. All of the seeds
are particularly suited to Irish growing conditions and have the best flavour
and the best resistance to pests and diseases.” He tells me.
Klaus feels that if we put so much effort into growing our
own food, we may as well grow the most reliable varieties with the best flavour
possible. He continues “Having spent the
last 15 years in Ireland I have experimented and trialled thousands of
varieties and these seeds on the website are my favourites!”
Random Selection
I’ve picked these plants at random from Klauses collection
of seeds he has in stock and are beautifully presented on the website. I’ll definitely be choosing the tomato
varieties Sungold F1 Sweet Aperitif next year as these will be perfect for the
tunnel.
Klaus loves his beans and has a great selection of broad, runner
and dwarf varieties. Most of the beans can be planted now in late autumn for an
early crop Klaus also likes his cabbage and has 5 types of those too and as well as bean planting at this time of
year he stocks a great range of oriental
brassica salad which can also be planted
out now.
Most of the seed varieties are very reasonably priced at
just €1.80 up to €2.80 for the more expensive to produce F1's .
Time for reflection
I couldn’t leave Klaus without getting a few pearls of
wisdom, so I asked him what he is doing in his garden this week. “I’m reflecting on the current gardening year
and to make plans for next year. The
more I plan, the easier it will be. Some
vegetable varieties do better than others; there is quite a difference between
varieties in terms of taste, reliability, disease resistance and yield. Some varieties also seem more suited to
different gardens and growing conditions. I’ll start making my choices now.”
Klaus is also busy composting and covering problem areas
with old compost and black plastic to kill the weeds and retain the
nutrients. I asked him if he had any advice
for us about the issue of feeding the soil, it’s a fine balance between under
and overfeeding and wondered if he could give me a few tips.
“How well did your vegetables grow overall?” he asks me. “Was there lots of leaf growth and small
roots? That means that too much nitrogen
was added (probably in the form of farmyard manure). Were your plants stunted? The reason could be a lack of fertility or
alternatively waterlogged soil.” Klaus wisely says that “We should always try
to learn from bad years.”
He continues “Vegetables are certainly hungrier plants
compared to flowers. The reason is
simple: you want to eat a cabbage or tomato for example and thus remove
nutrients from the soil as we take vegetables into the kitchen. So we need to replace these nutrients back
into the soil and the best form is compost, composted manure and seaweed. One of these will provide the mainstay of
your soil fertility. The advantage of
these bulky organic fertilisers is that they do not only add nutrients to the
soil but they also improve the soil structure.
They improve drainage, water holding capacity, prevent erosion and compaction. The nutrients are also released in a slow
release form. You couldn’t wish for
more!”
I ask Klaus when is the best time to do this “Now is a good
time to get some manure and either compost it with your own compost or
separately. I would strongly recommend
that you cover the heap to prevent leaching of nutrients. Alternatively you can spread it straight onto
the vegetable beds, cover it up with soil which has washed onto the paths and
then make sure that you cover it all up with black plastic for the winter.”
Claus concludes “You can also start planning next year’s
cropping plan.” Which brings me back nicely to Klaus’s seed website greenvegetableseeds.com. All the seeds you need for next year in one
handy place.
