Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

It’s already getting dry in Canterbury, and I still need to do a lot of planting in order to save us from starvation. Juuls has planted Christmas spuds. Seed potatoes: “chitted” (meaning the “eyes” have started to run out) and the plants are doing well – shooting up in their large tubs on the deck. Every week or so we carefully add some soil on top of the stuff that’s already there, so that the main stem will produce more and more potatoes.   This is Julie’s “spud race” for the spring challenge at her work.   Potato fertiliser always has a bit more “P” (Phosphate) in it to encourage root growth and tuber growth. Jersey Bennes and such early varieties are probably the best to use before Christmas.   Potato-Tomato Psyllid   I don’t want to play Russian Roulette with this pest: it damages potatoes and tomatoes, so I prefer to keep potatoes well away from my tomato tunnelhouse.  It’s called Biosecurity!  Tomatoes   Should have been sown now in seed-raising mix and transplanted