Carrots

The carrot derived from Afghanistan. Earlier the most popular carrots was the purple, white or red. Now the most popular variety is the orange.

Carrot is a swollen peel root. It contains about 8% sugars, which give it a mild and slightly sweet taste. The yellow color is due to the substance carotene,which is converted into vitamin A in the body. There are various varieties, of which some (carrots) are small and almost spherical.

Why eat and grow carrots.

Carrot is one of the most versatile vegetables found. Solid, crispy, super healthy, and then a carrot tastes great in everything from soup to juice, raw food and cake.

Carrot are rich in both potassium, iodine and dietary fiber, which promote digestion, regulate your blood sugar and prevent cardiovascular disease.

If you eat 2-4 carrot daily, it can help against bowel cancer. Carrot contains substances that can reduce tumors by 80%, shows experiments with rats.

Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, enhancing your eyes.

Carrots vary greatly in size and thus also in weight. A small carrot can weigh 45 grams, a medium-sized approx. weighs 65 grams and a large one can weigh up to 145 grams. There are only 25 calories in a medium-sized carrot.

How to keep.

New carrots are available in summer and autumm. Stored they are available all year.

Keep your carrots in cool environments, so either store them in refrigerators in a cool room. In addition, if you place the carrots in a plastic bag with holes in it, you can increase the shelf life of the carrots so that condensation can escape. Carrots can stay 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. Maximize the carrots crispness by sipping the top off before placing the carrots in the refrigerator. Revitalize carrots that have lost their brittleness by putting them in a bowl of cold water.

Cooking and use.

New scrubs, older ones scraped or peeled. Loss: about 15%.

If the roots are small and new, tyou can eat them directly, or cut into bars (if they are little older).

But they can also be switched, baked, fried, steamed and cooked – and they spice up everything from exotic food to European classics. Due to the juiciness and sweetness of the carrots, they are also wonderful to put in both buns and cakes.

Freezing: Cut into cubes or slices and blanched for approximate 2 minutes. They lose the brittleness after thawing.

Some recipes.

Cultivation of carrots

  • Planting distance: 5 cm.
  • Row spacing: So wide that you can remove weeds between rows
  • Depth: 1-2 cm.
  • Sowing time: Spring

Four tips when you grow carrots

  1. Thin out your carrots
    It can be difficult to sow carrots at 15cm intervals. Alternatively, sprinkle the small seeds into the row and thaw as they germinate.
  1. Remove weeds around your carrots
    Of course, you can only hatch when the small green peaks are big enough.
    However, then it is important to hatch, so that the weeds do not take the nourishment.3. Saw carrots early in the season
  1. Saw carrots early in the season
    The carrot fly is malicious. Its larvae gnaw itself into the carrot and make ugly rings around your otherwise lovely carrots. You can avoid it by first doing so early in the season.
  1. Move your carrots every year
    Also, make sure you first sow carrots in the same place four years after. Then you avoid the carrot fly larvae in the ground next year.

Compost

You can easily turn your garden waste and green kitchen waste into finished compost in 1-2 years. You use the compost as soil improvement and to fertilize the plants in the garden.

The contents of compost.

Compost is degraded organic matter. You can make compost from your garden waste, which can consist of finely divided branches, leaves and perennials. You can also use green kitchen waste. The garden waste becomes compost by a microbiological process where microorganisms such as fungi break down the dead organic matter.

Completely degraded compost is a dark brown residue that is relatively rich in potassium and phosphorus, but relatively poor in nitrogen. When the compost encounters the soil, it becomes what we call humus.

The main advantage of retaining as much garden waste as possible on your own land is that you can make a good and nutritious compost that you can put on your garden soil to improve the soil. If you make soil improvement with compost will the soil structure and micro-life improve.

There are other benefits:

  • You save money for fertilizer.
  • You do not have to bring the garden waste at the recycling site.

How to make.

In nature, dead plant parts are decomposed where they fall to the ground.

Of course, you can leave withered plant parts in the beds and let them broke down there. You can cut small branches, plant stems into smaller pieces, and put them on the soil. The soil cover retains moisture in the soil and it will eventually decompose into compost, which improves the soil.

But, it is better if you collect the garden waste in a compost pile or compost bin.

Here you can also compost your green kitchen waste. It will increase the nutrient content of the finished compost.

At the same time, it allows you to apply the compost exactly to the places in the garden where you want to improve the soil.

There are two ways to compost:

  • Cold composting
  • Hot composting

Cold compost: 

  • Lay a layer of smaller branches and twigs in the bottom of the compost bin / pile.
  • Mix garden waste and kitchen waste well and place it on top.
  • You can keep adding new green waste until the container is full. Remember to mix the different types of waste.
  • Water the pile through well.
  • Tires if applicable the pile with a tarpaulin so you keep moist and the nutrients do not wash out when it rains. Remember to water the pile if it is covered.
  • The decomposition is faster if you occasionally turn the compost around, mixes the material or moves it into a new pile.
  • After 1-2 years, the compost is finished. You can also use the partially ground compost for ground cover.
  • All green kitchen and garden waste can be used on the compost pile.

Hot compost:

Hot composting requires large amounts of garden and kitchen waste and a little more effort, but has more advantages than cold composting:

  • Disease germs, pests and weeds are killed, as the compost material becomes approx. 60 degrees hot during the breakdown.
  • Revenue goes faster. Already after 2-3 months you have semi-processed compost. It is fully traded in ½-1 year.

You must have a large pile of garden waste, at least 1 m3 and preferably more, to be able to heat compost. It is necessary for the temperature inside the pile to rise sufficiently during the decomposition.

The pile should be covered with a tarpaulin, an old rug, a thick layer of straw or the like to keep the heat inside.

If you want to be sure to kill germs and weeds, you reshuffled the pile after a few weeks when the temperature inside the pile begins to drop. That is, with a grip you move around the compost material so that the outermost material comes inside and vice versa.

If you choose heat composting, you cannot use compost worms that thrive best at a temperature of about 25 degrees. Compost storms die if the temperature drops below freezing point or above 28 degrees.

What to use and not to use.

You can use this in the compost pile

  • Withered flowers and stems
  • Cut flowers
  • hedge clippings
  • Remains from vegetables and fruits
  • Fallen leaves
  • Falling Fruit
  • Discarded potted plants
  • Fertilizers from rabbits, chickens, horses, etc.
  • Twigs and branches cut into smaller pieces¹
  • Eggshells¹
  • Coffee filters with coffee¹
  • Tea leaves and filters¹
  • Paper towel¹
  • Orange Peel¹

¹ Can be composted but takes a relatively long time to decompose.

Do not use in the compost pile.

  • Stinging plants, such as roses, thistles, tar, barberry, as they are unpleasant to handle.
  • Meat and remnants of prepared food as it smells and can attract rats and foxes.
  • Fertilizer from cats and dogs as it may contain parasites that infect humans.
  • Shells from sprayed bananas and citrus fruits as the sprays can inhibit degradation.
  • Ash from the stove as it contains many toxic heavy metals.
  • Pressurized wood, newspapers, and magazines with ink as they can contain toxic substances.
  • Weeds – especially weeds in flower and roots from perennial weeds such as squash cabbage.²
  • Sick plants, for example, plants with radiation spots, mildew or the like, and plants that are attacked by pests.²

² Applies only to cold composting. Plant diseases such as cabbage herb, potato mold or rust diseases you must be careful with. But it assumes temperatures will reach about 50 degrees inside the compost.

How to use.

Fully processed compost

Completely composted compost is similar to light and porous mud soil. Fully converted compost is used as fertilizer as the plants can immediately absorb the nutrients in it. Therefore, you should also use only fully-grown compost in the garden in the spring. In winter, the plants do not absorb the nutrients and therefore do not use because the nutrients are washed away by the rain.

It is very different how much nourishment is in compost. It depends on what you threw on the compost pile. Ordinary garden compost can usually meet the plants’ needs for phosphorus, potassium and lime, while it may be necessary to give the plants extra nitrogen fertilizers, especially the very nutrient-demanding and fast-growing plants such as vegetables and summer flowers. If you use only compost to fertilize your plants, nitrogen deficiency will develop over time and your plants will slowly gain yellowish leaves and lose some of their growing power. Nitrogen acts as fuel on the plant engine.

You can increase the nitrogen content in your compost by adding animal manure, such as the waste from chickens or some other form of barnyard manure.

As a rule of thumb, add a layer of compost of approx. 4 cm in the beds every 3-5. year or approx. 1 cm every year. If the compost is very nutritious, for example because it contains animal manure or larger amounts of green kitchen waste, you need to use half as much – i.e. only approx. 0.5 cm per year. Mix the compost into the upper soil layer with a grip or similar.

You will benefit most from your compost if you put it out in the early spring when the plants start to grow.

In the kitchen garden and in beds with summer flowers you can mix the top soil layer with 4 cm garden compost before planting or sowing. You should never sow in compost as the seeds can then have a hard time germinating.

Semi-processed compost

Semi-digested compost is coarser, smells a bit acidic and still contains residues of not fully digested plant parts.

Semi-processed compost you can put in the beds on top of the soil. Here, the compost eventually forms completely and the nutrients are released at the same time so that the plants can absorb them. Semi-digested compost also improves soil structure and retains moisture in the soil.

You can put semi-processed compost in the beds in the fall. The nutrients are not washed out during the winter. They are bound in the compost and are released only when the temperature rises in the spring and the decomposition starts again.

Problems

The compost is too dry

The compost must not become too dry, as the decomposition of organic matter then stops. In dry weather, it may therefore be necessary to water the compost. The compost is moist if you can squeeze a few drops of water out of a handful of compost material.

If the compost is covered with a tarpaulin or similar, it may be necessary to water it with 10 liters of water 1-2 times a month during the summer months. Some times, more often if the weather is very hot and dry.

The compost smells ugly

A compost pile will only smell ugly if it does not work properly. Compost should smell of forest floor debris.

If the compost pile smells very ugly, it is because there is not enough oxygen inside the compost material for degradation. Instead, the garden waste is starting to rot. If the pile is very wet, it is easier to decay.

You can avoid this by mixing the garden waste well. Mix the moist garden waste, eg grass clippings, leaves and vegetable residues, well with more dry and coarse garden waste such as branches, twigs, dry plant stems and the like. That way more air enters the compost.

If things go wrong and the pile stinks, you can solve the problem by flipping the whole pile on the ground, mixing it well and throwing it back in the compost bin. You can also mix in more dry and coarse garden waste if the pile is very wet.

Read more:

Compost: Accelerate the process and Compost bins.

Compost: Accelerate the process and Compost bins.

Acceleration

It usually takes 1-2 years for a pile of garden waste to convert into finished compost. The decomposition is most rapid if the pile is suitably airy and humid and if the garden waste is well mixed. There are several ways to speed up the process:

  • Cut the garden waste into smaller pieces so that nothing is longer than 20-30 cm.
  • Reposition the compost pile by mixing the compost with a grip. A few times a year is sufficient.
  • Mix a bucketful of finished compost in a new compost pile. This way, you add some of the worms and microorganisms that are important for the degradation.
  • You can use compost worms. However, they cannot be used in hot composting as they cannot withstand the high temperatures. You can buy compost storms in some garden centers and on the internet.
  • When you stir the compost, you can add 1 handful of limestone and 2 handfuls of organic fertilizer.
  • If your compost pile is completely dead, you can kick start it with a handful of nitrogen fertilizers that you water into the pile.
  • Animal manure also promotes degradation (though not from cats and dogs). Alternately, put 1 layer of garden waste and 1 layer of animal manure in the compost bin. The nitrogen in the manure nourishes the microorganisms that cause the breakdown into compost.

Compost bins

You can compost in an open container, a closed container or in a pile on the ground. In any case, the container must have openings at the bottom so that earthworms can enter the compost and water and compost fluid can run away.

An open container you can build yourself. For hot composting, it is better to buy a container.

Follow this link: The Best Compost Bins, According to Environmental Experts

A compost pile

You can easily compost in a pile on the ground. Then it is easy to refill garden waste on the pile and it is easy to refit it. However, laying tiles on your composting site can be an advantage so that you do not risk pigs and other pests.

It is a good idea to cover the container with a tarpaulin or similar, so that the pile does not dry out so easily and the nutrients do not wash out when it rains.

An open compost bin

An open compost bin fills less than a compost pile and are better fitted into a smaller garden. You can buy various models, but you can also build one yourself.

There must not be too large gaps between the boards in the sides of the container as it must be able to retain moisture. The space between the boards should therefore not exceed 0.5 cm. On the other hand, air should be able to enter the compost, as oxygen is required for the decomposition.

It is an advantage if you can remove one side of the container so that it is easy to re-compost. It is optimal to have a large compost bin that can be divided into two chambers. This makes it easier to re-pile, as well as allowing you to have two compost piles running offset.

You also need an extra container or pile where you can collect the garden waste for later composition.

If you need to compost hot, the container must be at least 1 x 1 x 1 meter.

Compost: How to use.

Fully processed compost

Completely composted compost is similar to light and porous mud soil. Fully converted compost is used as fertilizer as the plants can immediately absorb the nutrients in it. Therefore, you should also use only fully-grown compost in the garden in the spring. In winter, the plants do not absorb the nutrients and therefore do not use because the nutrients are washed away by the rain.

It is very different how much nourishment is in compost. It depends on what you threw on the compost pile. Ordinary garden compost can usually meet the plants’ needs for phosphorus, potassium and lime, while it may be necessary to give the plants extra nitrogen fertilizers, especially the very nutrient-demanding and fast-growing plants such as vegetables and summer flowers. If you use only compost to fertilize your plants, nitrogen deficiency will develop over time and your plants will slowly gain yellowish leaves and lose some of their growing power. Nitrogen acts as fuel on the plant engine.

You can increase the nitrogen content in your compost by adding animal manure, such as the waste from chickens or some other form of barnyard manure.

As a rule of thumb, add a layer of compost of approx. 4 cm in the beds every 3-5. year or approx. 1 cm every year. If the compost is very nutritious, for example because it contains animal manure or larger amounts of green kitchen waste, you need to use half as much – i.e. only approx. 0.5 cm per year. Mix the compost into the upper soil layer with a grip or similar.

You will benefit most from your compost if you put it out in the early spring when the plants start to grow.

In the kitchen garden and in beds with summer flowers you can mix the top soil layer with 4 cm garden compost before planting or sowing. You should never sow in compost as the seeds can then have a hard time germinating.

Semi-processed compost

Semi-digested compost is coarser, smells a bit acidic and still contains residues of not fully digested plant parts.

Semi-processed compost you can put in the beds on top of the soil. Here, the compost eventually forms completely and the nutrients are released at the same time so that the plants can absorb them. Semi-digested compost also improves soil structure and retains moisture in the soil.

You can put semi-processed compost in the beds in the fall. The nutrients are not washed out during the winter. They are bound in the compost and are released only when the temperature rises in the spring and the decomposition starts again.

What to use and not to use in your compost.

You can use this in the compost pile

 

  • Withered flowers and stems
  • Cut flowers
  • hedge clippings
  • Remains from vegetables and fruits
  • Fallen leaves
  • Falling Fruit
  • Discarded potted plants
  • Fertilizers from rabbits, chickens, horses, etc.
  • Twigs and branches cut into smaller pieces¹
  • Eggshells¹
  • Coffee filters with coffee¹
  • Tea leaves and filters¹
  • Paper towel¹
  • Orange Peel¹

¹ Can be composted but takes a relatively long time to decompose.

Do not use in the compost pile.

  • Stinging plants, such as roses, thistles, tar, barberry, as they are unpleasant to handle.
  • Meat and remnants of prepared food as it smells and can attract rats and foxes.
  • Fertilizer from cats and dogs as it may contain parasites that infect humans.
  • Shells from sprayed bananas and citrus fruits as the sprays can inhibit degradation.
  • Ash from the stove as it contains many toxic heavy metals.
  • Pressurized wood, newspapers, and magazines with ink as they can contain toxic substances.
  • Weeds – especially weeds in flower and roots from perennial weeds such as squash cabbage.²
  • Sick plants, for example, plants with radiation spots, mildew or the like, and plants that are attacked by pests.²

² Applies only to cold composting. Plant diseases such as cabbage herb, potato mold or rust diseases you must be careful with. But it assumes temperatures will reach about 50 degrees inside the compost.

Compost: Problems

The compost is too dry

The compost must not become too dry, as the decomposition of organic matter then stops. In dry weather, it may therefore be necessary to water the compost. The compost is moist if you can squeeze a few drops of water out of a handful of compost material.

If the compost is covered with a tarpaulin or similar, it may be necessary to water it with 10 liters of water 1-2 times a month during the summer months. Some times, more often if the weather is very hot and dry.

The compost smells ugly

A compost pile will only smell ugly if it does not work properly. Compost should smell of forest floor debris.

If the compost pile smells very ugly, it is because there is not enough oxygen inside the compost material for degradation. Instead, the garden waste is starting to rot. If the pile is very wet, it is easier to decay.

You can avoid this by mixing the garden waste well. Mix the moist garden waste, eg grass clippings, leaves and vegetable residues, well with more dry and coarse garden waste such as branches, twigs, dry plant stems and the like. That way more air enters the compost.

If things go wrong and the pile stinks, you can solve the problem by flipping the whole pile on the ground, mixing it well and throwing it back in the compost bin. You can also mix in more dry and coarse garden waste if the pile is very wet.

The compost attracts iberian (killer) snails

An open compost heap attracts snails, including killer snails. The snails overwinter in the compost pile and lay eggs here. However, it should not discourage you from having a compost pile in your garden. When the killer snails are lured to the compost pile, it becomes easier for you to fight them.

Storages of vegetables

Crop General Conditions Temperature, °C Temperature, °F Relative Humidity, %
Apples Cold and moist. Do not store with vegetables. 0 to 5 32 to 40 80 to 90
Beans, Cool and dry 0 to 10 32 to 50 60 to 70
Beets Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Brussels sprouts Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Cabbage Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Cabbage, Chinese Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Carrots Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Cauliflower Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Celeriac Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Celery Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Garlic Cool and dry 0 to 2 32 to 35 60 to 70
Horseradish Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Kale Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Leeks Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Onions Cool and dry 0 to 2 32 to 35 60 to 70
Parsnips Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Pears Cold and moist. Do not store with vegetables. 0 to 5 32 to 40 80 to 90
Potatoes Cold and moist 3 to 5 38 to 40 80 to 90
Potatoes, Sweet Warm and moist Not below 10 Not below 50 80 to 90
Pumpkins Warm and dry 10 to 13 50 to 55 60 to 75
Radish, winter Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95
Squash, Winter Warm and dry 10 to 13 50 to 55 60 to 75
Tomatoes Warm and moist Not below 10 Not below 50 80 to 90
Turnip Cold and very moist 0 to 5 32 to 40 90 to 95

Leeks

Leeks are originally from the Mediterranean countries. From here the Romans spread it to Europe. Today it grow most on our latitudes.

Why eat and grow leeks

Leeks is healthy because of their content of important nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Leeks have a high content of dietary fiber, which ensures a long-lasting feeling of satiety and strengthens your digestion.

The leeks also have a high content of potassium, which helps regulate fluid balance and at the same time counteracts accumulated fluid in the body. At least it strengthens the immune system, and can help lower your blood pressure.

Leeks are one of the vegetables that it really pays to grow and it is nice to harvest one or two perfectly healthy leeks most of the year.

If you want fresh leeks all winter, choose varieties that can withstand frost and winter’s changeable weather. I would suggest that you choose:

  • An autumn variety that provides a high yield of early, long-handled leeks of fine quality
  • A winter variety – they are fairly short-shaven and slightly more coarse, but provide a safe yield of fresh leeks throughout the winter.

Cooking and use

There are thousands of different ways to prepare leeks. You can eat them raw, baked, fried, steamed and boiled. The white part is the mildest in taste, but the green is richest in vitamins and minerals. 

Always remember to clean leeks thoroughly.

Some recipes

How to cultivate

Leeks is easy to grow as it can grow in any area and in different soil types. However, it is important that the soil is free of stones and weeds. You can harvest leeks from the end of July

Leeks do not require as much care. However, it is important that you keep the weeds away from the plants, as it steal the nourishment. Initially you can keep the weeds away by turning the soil, later you apply a layer of cut grass or, plant ground cover to keep the weeds away.

Leeks and seed change

Leek is good for blending culture, as it first needs a lot of space at the end of the season. It thrives well between carrots, celery and broccoli.

This allows you to make the most of the space  garden and at the same time to prevent a number of diseases.

Pre-cultivation of leeks

You can germinate the leeks and then transplant them. You can also sow them directly on the open field in April, but they do not grow as large as they transplanted.

The best part is that you pre-cultivate the leeks inside or in the greenhouse. It gives them more months to grow. You can start pre-cultivating them as early as January and until April.

You sow the leeks in boxes with a good compost soil at the bottom. Lay a layer of soil over where you sow the seeds. Cover with ½ – 1 cm of soil. The soil should be suitably moist, and give a slight sprinkling after sowing. Leeks should have sufficient space, so thin to 2 cm distance between the plants. You can move the boxes outdoors in May for curing one to two weeks before transplanting.

Planting

Leeks do not hurt to stand in the boxes, so wait until planting until the danger of night frosts is over.

You should dig an approximately 10 cm deep groove into which you plant the leeks. The deep groove will make it easier for you to later hyperlink the leeks. The hip gives the leeks the white piece at the bottom for which they are so well known.

You can plant leeks at different distances. If you want them thick, they must stand at a great distance (50 cm between the rows and 15 cm distance in the row). You get thinner leeks about 10 cm between the plants.

You can choke the weeds by loosening the soil between the rows and gently chopping some of the loosened soil into the grooves. You can also keep the weeds away by covering the soil with co

mpost. This holds on to the moisture and fertilizers. You must continuously fertilize with compost

In November, it is a good idea to put a thick layer of leaves between the leeks so that they will not lack water in freezing weather as it can damage the leeks. It also ensures that you can pick up leeks in freezing weather.

Recipes with onions

Baked onions

Ingredients

  • Four large onions
  • 2 tbsp. of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. of wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. of syrup
  • Salt
  • Thyme

Cut the onions on the long joint and then gently peel the outer layer of the onions, but do not cut off the ends.

Grease a fireproof dish and place the onions in the dish with the cutting side facing up.

Mix olive oil with balsamic vinegar and light syrup, and brush the onions on the cutting surface.

Put a lid over the dish and now place the onions in a preheated oven at 2000 Celsius

Remove the dish from the oven and turn the onions so that the cutting surface faces down. Then brush again, sprinkle with a little salt and bake for another 30 minutes without a lid.

Take the prepared onions out of the oven and now you can season with a little freshly chopped thyme.

Recipes with leeks

Steamed leeks

Ingredients.

  • Eight leeks (6 if very small)
  • 5 deciliters of water
  • 50 gr. butter
  • Salt

Start by cutting the top and bottom of the leeks. However, do not cut more of the top than necessary. Then make a small cut at the top so that you can wash the leeks thoroughly. Keep your leeks under running cold water and flush out any soil.
Cut the leeks into smaller pieces.
Put the water in a saucepan and add the butter and salt. Let the water boil, and put the leeks into the water and put the lid on.
Steam the leeks for 3-4 minutes – it depends on the size.