Vasili's Garden Episodes
Digger’s Club with Clive Blazey
As we near the end of summer, most of you would have picked a decent crop by now, I know I did although some of my plants did suffer extreme heat exhaustion from the hot summer sun, scorched leaves and fruit that practically boiled on the plants.
Do you ever think about what sort of crop you will have next year?
I know I do, and I always hope that I’m more successful as each year goes by. But it’s always a hit and miss when it comes to growing vegetables in the garden and it doesn’t just depend on the weather either. Soil conditions have to be right with the right amount of water and most importantly the love and care we give the plants too.
First things first, before we get into the nitty gritty, I need to ask what type of plants you are growing?
No, I’m not asking whether they are tomatoes or cucumbers, but rather if you are growing Heirloom or Hybrids.
If you don’t know, here’s a simple explanation.
Hybrids are plants created by us wonderful humans through genetic modification for the simple purpose of being able to grow these plants in many different environments, so that the produce can tolerate long distance transport, have an increased shelf life, appearance and offer a distinct lack of flavour.
Whereas Heirloom plants are all edible and ornamental varieties, created by nature but haven’t been tampered in any way or form by humans, except for the fact that we enjoy their wonderful distinct flavours, colours and enjoy the challenge of shipping their seeds to Australia in our underwear.
Well I know which ones I prefer… Heirloom of course, but preferably not in my underwear!
But my good friend Clive Blazey from Diggers Club can supply you with all the Heirloom seeds you want, and no, they weren’t transported to Australia in his underwear either.
Clive who founded Digger’s Club out in Heronswood Dromana started about 30 years ago wanting create a display garden to show people how to grow various plants, ornamental and edible, but about 15 years ago he became more and more obsessed with Heirloom varieties.
Today, Digger’s has hundreds of heirloom plant varieties which anyone and everyone can purchase and enjoy growing in their own garden. The best part about these heirloom seeds is that you can actually collect seeds from the plants you grow and plant them again the following year and expect to have the same quality of produce and flowers.
Whereas if you tried to collect seeds from the F1 hybrids and plant them the following year, what you will get is something totally different from what you grew the previous year.
So you have to constantly go back to seed supplier and buy more seeds, this is great business for the stores but not for you.
Stick to the traditional varieties and rest assured that you will always have the same quality growing each year, and don’t forget to share some seeds with your friends and neighbours too.
Maresi!
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