Own seeds of portuguese kale

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This year we will enjoy the old spindly kale to sow seeds of their own. After all, we have the seeds ... and is simple to remove the small pods after completely dry. If we succeed, we will of course do our own crops.

Has always been our option to purchase these vegetables to plant in the garden here, to private producers in the area.

They can have larger stalks, be more open or closed, with leaf more or less dark ... I believe that much of the population does not exempt the Portuguese kale, above all, cooked with cod.
To protect the kale seeds from the wind we involve the pods with a kind of net so they don't be destroyed.

Tomatoes beds

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There are two ways to get the tomato plants needed for planting: acquire in any store dealing with farming products and usually are already highly developed, bringing the roots wrapped in a piece of substrate which doesn't interrupt the development process for being transplanted, or alternatively, you can acquire initially seeds, which are also available in these establishments, in small packages, which can be seen the reference range and the description of their characteristics.

Small tomato seeds, also can be obtained, if desired, from some previously selected tomatoes, leaving them ripen until they are soft, juicy and red. Faced with the possibility of inclement weather will be advisable to harvest them, to avoid rot because of the rain and leave them a few more days in a dry and airy environment so that the maturation process is completed fully, but only if it is quite mature already. Next, cut them to remove the tomatoes pulp which lodges the seeds, spread it on a plain place, allowing it to dry in the sun, one or two weeks or in a dry and ventilated place, then keep it in a dry closed container.

Seeding the beds of tomatoes, the sooner it are done, the sooner the plants will be available for planting, usually they're done at the beginning of February to be available for transplant at the beginning or at the middle of March, and we can make a small bed rich of substrate moistened with a little water on a sheltered location with good sun exposure or using a small box-shaped tray made of styrofoam, because the thermal properties of this material, by covering with a little plastic allows to develop a greenhouse while maintaining a temperature inside, which it's an advantage to adequate germination and plant growth.

Planting lettuce

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The planting of lettuce can be done throughout the year. Its seeds, because they are too small, can be mixed with fine sand and spread best if sowing in beds.

The germination takes 4 to 6 days. The lettuce prefers sandy-clay soils, rich in organic matter. When they are 6 to 8 leaves and 8 to 10 cm, they must be transferes to well fertilized plots, so that the plant keep the neck above the ground and distance between plants of 30 cm. Only the seedlings more developed, strong and healthy should be planted . Another important is that we must be careful is to plant the seedlings with roots tangled or bent and they should not be planted too deep.

The fertilization of the beds can be made ​​only with organic fertilizer, which is made with animal manure. When the bed is ready, we put a layer of manure evenly distributed over the surface, on the basis of 20 liters per square meter, spread it well and mix it at the surface layer of the soil, leaving her in planting conditions. To prevent the lowering of the land due to irrigation and rain, the soil should be slightly compressed, avoiding the vegetables from having their roots out of the ground.

The crop must be be cleaned, watered and irrigated as needed. All weeds that grow between the vegetables should be torn with their roots, with one hand or a hoe. This is necessary because they compete with the planting, stealing nutrients from the fertilizer and shading, avoiding vegetables receiving the amount of sun required.

Bordeaux mixture preparation

The formulation below is to make 10 liters, to make other quantities just keep the proportions between the ingredients. The "bordeaux mixture", calda bordalesa, is made of a dissolution of copper sulphate and lime water.

a) Dissolution of copper sulphate(1 liter):

The day before and four hours before the mixture’s preparation, dissolve the copper sulfate. Pour 100 g of copper sulfate within a cotton cloth, tie and dive into a plastic container with 1 liter of warm water;

b) Lime water:

Pour 100 g of lime in a bucket of 10 liters capacity. Then add 9 liters of water slowly.

c) Mixing of the two ingredients:
Add gradually and always stirring, the copper sulphate solution (1 litre) into the lime water bucket.

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d) Test of the knife:

To see if the final mixture is not acidic, we dive a clean knife made of common steel for 3 minutes in the final mixture.

If the blade is dirty, which means it acquired a brown color when removed from the mixture, indicates that the solution is acidic. It should be added more lime in the mix, but if not dirty, the “bordeaux mixture”(calda bordalesa) is ready to use.

Sowing coriander

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Each region has its most appropriate time, but it is recommended to be done in the early spring. Sowing should be programmed so that the harvest does not coincide with periods of heavy rain, which damages the crop. You should avoid sowing on the winter period, mainly due to the risk of frost. For crops in commercial scale due to rapid ripening of fruit, it is suggested that seeding must be carried out gradually, in steps. Avoid harvesting the entire cultivated area being performed only once, because it cause losses during harvesting. If you don’t do so, the dry mature seeds fall into the soil, reducing the yield.

Preventing fungus attack

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The potatoes are really pretty now. About two years ago we weren't cautious and the potatoes foliage was attacked by the mildew and all the harvest was burnt.

This year we are being very cautious. We already have give them twice the bordeaux mixture (portuguese "calda bordalesa") which is a natural fungicide, made from copper sulphate and slaked lime, to prevent the attack of fungus, specially the mildew.

First meal of broad beans

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Yesterday I had my first meal of broad beans (fava beans) of the first broad beans harvest. Nothing like a meal of fresh broad beans from which we can feel them full of taste. Of course we usually freeze them to have full year of eating, but like any kind of food if it's fresh it tastes much better. It's a vegetable we really like because it gives us a good feeling of being well fed. The sowing was not different from the potatoes, they were sown just before the potatoes, in the last half of November, and in the same way. Even the fava bean seem to be more stronger against diseases than the potatoes and more stronger against the frost. The only problem now is they are too tall and the wind is taking them down. The lucky thing is that they already have pass the "flower" stage and they all already have at least little fava beans. It doesn't seem we would take much advantage from putting stakes into the ground at this time, now that were waiting for more two weeks to take the full harvest. 

Want to read about seeding potatoes?

So read and enjoy the following article

Preparing potatoes for seed