I’ve been catching up with Klaus Laitenberger from Milkwood
Farm this week. Klaus found this year one of the easiest gardening years he
remembers. Most gardening jobs,
especially hoeing and weeding was so much easier and more pleasant, mainly
because it was such a sunny year. I asked Klaus which of his crops turned out
especially well.
His first success was the humble spud.
Potatoes
Klaus tells me “This year I grew only the reliable potatoes
– Orla (early), Sarpo Mira (main) and Bionica (main). All three have excellent blight resistance
and are - in my opinion - quite delicious.
Sarpo Mira was bred in Hungary by the Sarvari family and is now
maintained and tested by the Sarvari Research Trust which is based in Bangor,
North Wales. They do amazing work in
breeding blight resistant varieties.”
Klaus also has a tip about Sarpo Mira potatoes and says to leave them
until after Christmas as they improve with storage.
Klaus also really like the The Bionica main crop potato.
“This potato was bred in Holland and was developed by an organic farmer (Niek
Vos) who I recently met at the organic farm walk in Thornhill Farm in
Skibbereen. Dutch researchers found
blight resistant strains of potatoes in the Andes Mountains in South America
about 35 years ago. These were then
crossed with common Dutch varieties using traditional breeding techniques (not
GM).”
Trust Klaus on this:
“When all other maincrop potatoes have collapsed with
blight, both the Sarpo Mira and Bionica will still stand strong. They are well worth trying out to see if you
like them even though the Irish taste leans more to the floury Queens or Kerr’s
Pink potato which are very susceptible to blight.”
I ask Klaus what else has done well.
Garlic and Onions
“It was a great year for garlic and onions. I was very impressed with the Casablanca
garlic which produced delicious large white bulbs that keep extremely
well. Thanks to the dry summer, it was
quite easy to dry the onions and garlic.
They safely hang in bunches in the kitchen.”
Carrots
Klaus’s carrots were massive this year. “The reason is that I probably gave them too
much space,” he tells me, “but they still taste nice and keep well in a soil
clamp in the tunnel. Apart from my
old-time favourite variety ‘Rothild’ I grew a new this year which is called
‘Sweet Candle F1’. I was really blown
away by it. I never had a carrot that
was so sweet and delicious.”
Parsnip and beetroot
The root vegetables were good in my garden this year too and
I aske Klaus how his parsnips and beetroots got on. “ The parsnip ‘Javelin’ is as good as ever
but I had a slow start with my beetroot.” I agree with Klaus on this as mine
are just ready. He continues “The first sowing failed. I sowed it during a dry
spell and didn’t water the beds. The second sowing was made only in late June
and only produced tennis ball sized roots.
I usually get much larger beetroot “ Klaus laments. He then tells me
that size doesn’t matter. “It’s a myth that large beetroot is not as nice or
even woody. The ‘Pablo’ beetroot never
turns woody at any size. The beetroot
mix I grew was also good fun and tasty.”
I tend to grow smaller vegetables in the tunnel in winter
such as peas and broccoli as they are really good in the blender for smoothies.
Klaus agrees and has actually started selling the seeds. The plants anow have a
name. They are called “microgreens.”
Klaus tells me a bit about the varieties
Microgreens
Klaus tells me “Microgreens have stormed the world in the
last few years. They are featured in
cookery programmes, gardening magazines and newspapers. Microgreens are so easy to grow and you don’t
even need a garden. A shallow seed tray
or a pot with drainage holes, a little compost (around 5cm/2inches deep) and a
sunny windowsill is all you need. Sow
the seeds thickly and cover them with a tiny bit of compost. The seeds will germinate within 7 to 14 days
(depending on the mix and room temperature) and will be ready for harvesting
2-3 weeks after germination. You’ll have
delicious microgreens for Christmas.
Apparently scientists have found that microgreens contain up to 40 times
more vitamins than the “adult vegetable”.
Klaus has a few mixes to choose from and they contain: broccoli,
kohlrabi, red cabbage, kale, leaf radish, and cabbage in the fast growing
mixes. Then there’s the hotter mix of mizuna, mibuna, mustard, rocket, Pak Choi
and rocket.
The slower growing Gourmet Micro Mix contains dill,
beetroot, amaranth, basil, rocket, coriander, silver chard, orach .
Packets are €1.80 for
5g from Klaus’s website: greenvegetableseeds.com
