6. Fruit, Leaf and Root Vegetable Guidelines
A) Beetroot - Surface Composting Technique
Beetroot is regarded as a source of excellent nutrition by dieticians, with high percentages of anti-oxidants and minerals. The leaves can also be eaten like spinach, bringing a versatility to the crop which is quite unique in cases where other leafy greens are temporarily unavailable in the garden.
Beetroot has a similar growing period to carrots, ideally in temperatures between 15-24°C, but can tolerate hotter temperatures up to 35°C. Plant beetroot from spring through autumn.
Layout
If you are planting on field scale, then prepare double rows 20cm apart to allow enough space for access. In a small home garden, widen the band to 45cm and plant triple rows 20cm apart to make best use of your limited space.
Lay Strings for Planting Band
Place a top string or measuring rope from one 75cm permanent peg to its adjoining peg on the opposite side. Next place temporary pegs 25cm down from the permanent pegs and place another string there to establish the surface composting band. Make sure both the ropes are taut and straight by lifting and dropping them.
Remove God’s Blanket
Move God’s Blanket downslope of the 25cm planting band, to ensure none of it gets buried. If you bury the blanket which has not yet decomposed, it can cause the soil to go through a negative nitrogen period and reduce crop yield.
Soil Fracturing
Push the fork 30cm deep and pull it backwards a little, until you see the soil loosen or fracture. Remove any stones or rocks that you feel with the fork, but don’t be tempted to lift or turn the soil, you should be merely fracturing it. Keep on repeating this every 10cm along the row line.
Correcting Acidic Soils
To correct acidic soils in the 25cm wide band evenly sprinkle one handful of woodash per meter.
Surface Composting
Beetroot are light feeders so place a 2cm layer of surface compost on top of the 25cm wide band. It is not necessary to work the compost in to the soil. This system of surface composting is following exactly what the Lord of all Creation has shown us since the beginning of all time, where He designed for plants to feed from the top.
Furrowing and Planting Seed
Press a 2cm deep furrow into the prepared 25cm wide band and repeat again for each 20cm row down the slope. Plant beetroot seeds 2cm deep and 5cm apart. It is very important to get good beetroot seed to compost contact, so cover the seeds by pinching the furrow closed and then firming up lightly. After emergence, thin Beetroot down to 10cm intervals between plants.
Don’t put the blanket on top of the planted band until after germination has taken place, whereafter the blanket can be brought up against the plant bases. Ensure the blanket in the walkways is at 100% cover and 2.5cm thick to suppress weed growth and conserve moisture.
Seedlings
Beetroot can also be planted from seedlings, giving a quick and easy homogenous stand. In this case, put the blanket on top of the surface compost then use a dibble stick with a depth marker on it, twisting it through the blanket and pressing it into the surface compost band, to the required depth. Push these holes in at 10cm between plants and 20cm between rows.
You must ensure the seedling roots are not bent into a J shape which will adversely affect the plants growth, so make sure the dibble stick hole depth is sufficient but not too deep either.
If the hole is too deep, it will cause there to be an air space under the roots which is not desirable. To ensure you don’t have that, hold the seedling in place and press with the dibble stick or your fingers at an angle, pressing the compost gently around the seedling roots. This ensures the seedling roots have no bend and ensures that there are no airspaces around the root zone
B) Beetroot - Manure Technique
Beetroot is regarded as a source of excellent nutrition by dieticians, with high percentages of anti-oxidants and minerals. The leaves can also be eaten like spinach, bringing a versatility to the crop which is quite unique in cases where other leafy greens are temporarily unavailable in the garden.
Beetroot has a similar growing period to carrots, ideally in temperatures between 15-24oC, but can tolerate hotter temperatures up to 35oC. Plant beetroot from spring through autumn.
Layout
If you are planting on field scale, then prepare double rows 20cm apart to allow enough space for access. In a small home garden, widen the basin to 45cm and plant triple rows 20cm apart to make best use of your limited space.
Lay Strings for Shallow Planting Basin
Place a top string or measuring rope from one 75cm permanent peg to its adjoining peg on the opposite side. Next place temporary pegs 25cm down from the permanent pegs and place another string there to establish the shallow basin. Make sure both the ropes are taut and straight by lifting and dropping them.
Remove God’s Blanket
Move God’s Blanket 10cm downslope of the planting basin, to expose the soil.
Soil Fracturing
Push the fork 30cm deep and pull it backwards a little, until you see the soil loosen or fracture. Remove any stones or rocks that you feel with the fork, but don’t be tempted to lift or turn the soil, you should be merely fracturing it. Keep on repeating this every 10cm along the row line.
Preparing Shallow Basins
Due to the closeness of the 20cm row intervals, it is very difficult to dig furrows for these narrow row crops. Instead, prepare a shallow basin by digging out 5cm of soil in between the 25cm strings and place it downslope.
Correcting Acidic Soils
To correct acidic soils in the 25cm wide basin evenly sprinkle one handful of woodash per meter.
Manure
Skim a 1cm layer of manure into the bottom of this shallow basin and rake it in lightly.
Seed Depth and Soil Separation Layer
Cover the manure with soil making it level once again. This will ensure a good separation layer between the seed and manure which is vital to avoid seed burn.
Furrowing and Planting Seed
Press a 2cm deep furrow into the prepared basin and repeat again for each 20cm row down the slope. Plant beetroot seeds 2cm deep and 5cm apart. It is very important to get good beetroot seed to soil contact, so cover the seeds by pinching the soil closed and then firm up the soil lightly. After emergence, thin Beetroot down to 10cm intervals between plants.
Don’t put the blanket on top of the planted basin until after germination has taken place, whereafter the blanket can be brought up against the plant bases. Ensure the blanket in the walkways is at 100% cover and 2.5cm thick to suppress weed growth and conserve moisture.
Seedlings
If you are planting Beetroot seedlings, cover the inputs with soil from the downslope heap levelling the basin and replace the 2.5cm layer of blanket. Use a dibble stick with a depth marker on it, twisting it through the blanket and pressing it into the prepared basin, to the required depth, with 10cm between plants and 20cm between rows.
You must ensure the seedling roots are not bent into a J shape which will adversely affect the plants growth, so make sure the dibble stick hole depth is sufficient but not too deep either. If the hole is too deep, it will cause there to be an air space under the roots which is also not desirable. To ensure you don’t have that, hold the seedling in place and press with the dibble stick or your fingers at an angle, pressing the soil gently around the seedling roots. This ensures the seedling roots have no bend and ensures that there are no airspaces around the root zone.
