A SUBSTITUTE FOR SEAKALE

Evening Star, Issue 22881, 12 February 1938, Page 21

A SUBSTITUTE FOR SEAKALE

Do you know that turnip and swede' tops forced in darkness yield a crop which is comparable in many respects to seakale ? asks a correspondent of ‘ Popular Gardening,’ London. You can easily get a , supply of this splendid substitute from your present crop of turnips and swedes without sacrificing any of them. In mild weather these crops will swell after they reach normal size, with the result that quality suffers and there is considerable risk of heart rot setting in. For this reason it is an excellent plan to lift the crops as soon as the roots have reached a suitable size for the table, and after slicing off the tops with a knife a little below the coarse part to store the roots in a heap in a dry, airy outhouse. They will keep well without any kind of covering unless you live in a very cold district and there is possibility of exceptionally severe frost, when a layer of straw or a few sacks will keep them, sound. The tops should be planted in boxes of leaf mould every fortnight from December until February (June to August in New Zealand), in order to obtain a succession. Fill ordinary seed boxes to three-quar-ters of their depth with riddle leaf mould, lay the sliced crowns on this and pack a little leaf mould among them. Water thoroughly with a rosed watering can, and throughout the forcing process keep the compost moist. Absolute darkness is essential, and. given the right conditions growth takes place very quickly. Place the boxes containing the crowns in the forcing house, underneath the draped greenhouse staging, or even in a warm room with a box of the same size placed over each.