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Organic Vegetables

The vegetable plants we supply have been grown using organic methods. To continue growing your plants organically is fairly straight forward but you will need to avoid using harmful sprays and manufactured fertilisers. Greater benefits are also achieved if you apply organic growing principles to the rest of your garden as it not only helps keep your garden healthy, but also provides safe habitats for wildlife.

On arrival

•	Unpack your plants as soon as they arrive and check that everything you expect is enclosed.
•	Water any plants that have dried out in transit.
•	Ideally your plants should be potted up within a day or two or planted out immediately, providing the weather conditions are suitable, but they should stay in good condition for a week or so if well-watered and fed every few days with a liquid plant food. Plants should be left in a light, sheltered, place such as a greenhouse or cold frame until you are ready to plant them out or pot them on.

Potting on

•	Before potting up, thoroughly water your plants and leave to drain for half an hour.
•	Select your pots, which should be at least twice the diameter of the plant roots. If re-using old pots wash them first in a mild disinfectant solution and rinse well.
•	Handle your plants carefully so as not to damage the leaves and stems.
•	Use an organic potting compost with a balance of nutrients to reduce the need for additional feeding.
•	Put enough compost in the bottom of the pot so that the top of the roots are about 1cm (1/2") below the rim of the pot. Fill in around the roots with compost and firm gently.
•	Water well.
•	Grow on for a few weeks in a light sheltered frost-free spot out of direct sunlight, preferably a cool greenhouse or cold frame.
•	When your plants are large enough and have produced enough roots to hold the compost together, they should be planted in their final position in a greenhouse or hardened off ready for planting outside. To harden off simply put your plants outside during the day and bring them in at night, and after a week or two they can be left outside or planted out.

Planting out in the soil

Different vegetable plants can require different soil conditions but nearly all do best in a sunny spot where there is well-drained, but moist soil to which some form of organic matter such as garden compost has previously been added. Planting distances vary depending on the plant variety and where they are to be grown but the guidelines below should help.

•	Get together all the things you'll need: Trowel; Planting compost; Plants.
•	Make a hole large enough to accommodate the roots. If you haven't already dug compost or manure into your soil you should mix an equal amount of planting compost with the soil and add a general-purpose organic fertiliser such as fish, blood & bone or chicken manure. Place your plant in the hole to check it is big enough.
•	Tap the plant out of its pot.
•	Place in the hole, ensuring that the top of the compost is just below soil level and then fill in with the soil mixture and firm down by pressing the soil gently around each plant.
•	Water well.

Planting in containers

•	Get together all the things you'll need: Container; Good quality organic potting compost; Plants.
•	Place broken pots in the bottom of your container to help with drainage.
•	Fill your container with potting compost so that the level is about 5cm (2") from the top.
•	Plant by scooping out a hole just large enough for the roots and so the top of the root-ball is at compost level and firming in around the plant.
•	Top up with compost if needed to about 2cm (?") below the rim of the container.
•	Water thoroughly and place in a greenhouse or sheltered spot for a week or so before placing in its final position, which should be protected from cold winds.

Aftercare

•	Water frequently even if it is overcast and breezy outdoors.
•	Liquid feed plants in containers or the greenhouse about once a week using an organic plant food.
•	Keep an eye out for Red Spider Mite on Chilli Pepper and Tomato particularly in the greenhouse. Don't let the soil or compost become too dry and keep the atmosphere in the greenhouse moist. The biological control agent Phytoseiulus can be introduced into a greenhouse or treat with insecticidal soap.
•	Greenfly may affect Chilli Pepper and Tomato and may be treated with insecticidal soap or biological control agent Aphidius matricariae or Aphidoletes aphidimyza in the greenhouse.
•	Whitefly may affect greenhouse crops in particular and can be controlled with sticky yellow traps, the biological control agent Encarsia formosa or insecticidal soap.
•	Slugs can be a problem with Beans and other soft leafy vegetables in their early stages of growth. Prevention is best and helped by watering young plants in the morning. Slug traps are also available.

Planting distances and specific growing conditions

•	Chilli Pepper - Plant 45cm (18") apart. Best grown in a greenhouse or conservatory.
•	Courgette - Plant 60cm (2') apart. Harvest regularly to encourage more fruits.
•	French Bean - Plant 22cm (9") apart. Add lime to acid soils before planting.
•	Runner Bean - Plant 22cm (9") apart. Add lime to acid soils before planting. Grow up 2.4m (8ft) canes, loosely tying in to encourage the stems to climb up on their own. Remove the growing points once the plants reach the top of the canes.
•	Squash - Plant 90cm (3') apart.
•	Sweet Pepper - Plant 45cm (18") apart. Best grown in a greenhouse or conservatory.
•	Tomato - Plant 45cm (18") apart. Some varieties are best grown in a greenhouse or conservatory. Plant out when the first truss of flowers are formed. For upright varieties tie the main stem loosely to a cane and remove any side shoots (growing where the leaf stalks meet the main stem) when they are 2.5cm (1") long. When growing outdoors pinch out the growing tip at two leaves above the third or fourth truss of fruit/flowers or the seventh when grown in a greenhouse. Bush or trailing varieties do not require pinching.

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