Screwmaster

Asparagus Beetle!!!

2011-05-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Asparagus beetle is about the only pest that affects asparagus. The beetle is quite distinctive. It has an orange body with a large black and white pattern on it's back (wing cases actually). It is approx 7 to 10 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide. It's not the beetle that directly damages the asparagus...

The adults mate and lay eggs in neat rows along the shoots. The eggs look like little black hairs/stubble, approx 2 mm long sticking out perpendicular to the stem. If nature is allowed to take it's course then the eggs hatch and tiny black grubs emerge just as the asparagus ferns mature. The tiny grubs then proceed to devour the fern and grow quickly into 10 mm x 4 mm monsters. Left to their own devices they will decimate the asparagus ferns thus weakening the crowns which won't be able to produce such a strong crop the following year.

So, how do you get rid of asparagus beetle?
My solution relates to domestic quantities of asparagus - the amount you would grow in the garden or on the allotment. I have about 16 crowns in a double row on the allotment.

The beetle spends most of its time on the tip of the asparagus. When disturbed or frightened they drop off and quickly scurry to cover in the earth. I gently bend the asparagus shoot over and cup my hand under it, that way any that jump get caught. Next I tap the stem just below the tip (in the manner of knocking ash from a cigarette). Then quickly squash them before they have time to scarper. - wear gloves if you are squeamish.

I do this as soon as I arrive on the plot, before picking the asparagus. If you pick first, the beetles will drop off when you disturb them and climb back up the asparagus that's too small that you leave for next time. If I am planning on staying longer on the allotment I will repeat the process again before picking the asparagus.

Using this method I have had grub free asparagus ferns for the last few years giving me a very healthy crop each year.

Asparagus Again

2011-05-06T02:41:00.000-07:00

40 yesterday - asparagus spears, not my age... I wish!!. I don't cut anything shorter than 10" and try not to let them get much higher than 15" (but that doesn't always work - it grows quickly!).

When I started growing asparagus I was confused as to when to pick it, which ones to pick and for how long. Much of the information I found was a bit vague. So here's my timetable for picking asparagus:

Year one: Plant the crowns according to the instructions.
Year two: Cut nothing - just let the ferns grow.
Year three: Cut the shoots, at ground level, as they reach 10" - there won't be many and they won't be very thick but they will be delicious. Do this for the first two weeks of the growing season and then leave them to grow as ferns.
Year Four: Cut in the same way for the first four weeks of the season and then leave them alone.
Year five: From now on (and for about the next 15 years) you can cut for the full season which is eight weeks - so you take everything, from when they start in mid to late April, for 8 weeks and then let the ferns grow.

More asparagus

2011-04-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

20 more spears yesterday and I'll be harvesting that sort of number every 2 or 3 days for the next two months - Yum!! I love the seasonality. We pig out on asparagus for two months and then nothing for the rest of the year. I wouldn't consider buying it out of season. That would spoil the anticipation in March and early April and the taste of the first picking at the end of April. At the end of the two months season I have had my fill - don't get me wrong, I'm not sick of it certainly not, just content, satisfied and happy to wait 10 months until it is again in season.

OMG the Asparagus!!

2011-04-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last year the asparagus started at the end of April...
This year with Easter so late we have only just got back from snowboarding/skiing so I thought I'd better go and see how the asparagus was getting on, see if it had started. Well, it certainly has. I picked about 60 edible spears and threw away (composted, obviously) all those that had grown too tall - gone ferny and munched my way through all the small shoots of those in between 'til I could eat no more.

So, with the asparagus season started, that means I have to go to the allotment at least every 2 to 3 days to pick it. No bad thing for somebody as undisciplined as me. Each time I go I'll do a little bit and gradually get the plots into shape. Today was a bit of a marathon as I was playing catch up so, apart from picking the asparagus I weeded the asparagus bed, the chard and the leeks and watered the stuff I'd planted/sowed a few weeks ago all of which has come up.

Back on the Allotment

2011-04-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I started sowing this year's crop.
Three varieties of spuds:
Red Duke of York - approx 1 row
King Edwards - 2 or 3 rows - can't remember now
Charlotte - 1 row

Broad beans - I like them but the family aren't too keen so I have never bothered with them in the past but a neighbouring plot holder said I should give them a go and thrust a handful of beans at me - so two rows of broad beans.

...and two rows of Garlic - I was too late to plant them in the autumn due to directing 'Beauty and the Beast' at The Questors Theatre

How to fit Heavy Duty Cabinet Hangers to kitchen wall units

2009-01-13T03:45:00.000-08:00

These fitting instructions are specifically for the heavy duty cabinet hangers shown in the following picture:

These are heavy duty cabinet hangers with a maximum loading capacity of 260kg shown with wall plates.

1. Establish which end of the cabinet is the top.
2. Take the plastic cover caps and place them, in turn, in their respective top corners with the flanged face against the back of the cabinet and the tapered end pointing towards the front of the cabinet. (This is what the fitted hangers will look like when the cabinet is hung.)

3. With a pencil draw around the flanged face of each cap marking its position on the back of the cabinet.
4. Draw another similar line ¼” inside this line (nearer the corner).
5. Cut out the small corner bounded by the smaller line, the top and the side of the cabinet. Repeat in the opposite corner.
6. Position the left hand hanger (stamped with the letter ‘L’) against the left side of the cabinet and pushed up tight against the top and back of the unit. (The hanging arm will protrude through the hole you have just cut in the back of the unit and the two adjuster screws will be pointing towards the front of the unit.)
7. Mark the two screw holes on the side of the cabinet.
8. Drill a small hole at each of the marks – just enough to break through the surface material of the cabinet side. This makes starting the screws very much easier. The screws do not need a pilot hole – they are designed to be driven directly into the chipboard or MDF and provide a firmer fixing in this manner.
9. Using the screws provided, screw the hanger firmly into place being careful not to over tighten the screws.
10. Repeat points 6 to 9 on the right side and in all cabinets to be hung.

Your cabinet is now ready for hanging on the wall.

Cold kitchen in the morning?

2007-11-25T04:49:00.000-08:00

Is your kitchen cold in the morning?

Draughty round the ankles?

No time to wait for the heating - often we don't even have a radiator in the kitchen - no space!

Wouldn't it be nice if we could warm our tootsies - NOW!?

But how? You've already said there isn't space! I can't put a heater on the floor - that's dangerous, I could trip over it.

Ah! But there is space! Lots of it! Unused, Wasted Space!

Where? I have a fully fitted wall to wall, floor to ceiling kitchen - you couldn't squeeze a fag paper in!

OK - sorry to drag it out.

It's not very useful space, it's under your units, behind the kick board or plinth.

Why not fit a Plinth Heater in there. It's out of the way. It provides heat where you want it, where the air is coldest - by the floor. This warm air then rises warming the whole kitchen. Switch it on only when you need it. Switch it off once the kitchen has warmed up from the cooking heat.

Fan heaters are an efficient means of getting instant heat. No heat up time.

Switch it on, have breakfast in comfort, switch it off and dash off to work.

The Plinth Heater is very simple to fit to your existing kitchen.
Remove the plinth board.
Cut a rectangular hole for the plinth heater.
Fit the plinth heater to the hole and secure with screws.
Fit a 3 pin plug to the lead.
Plug in to an existing socket. (Most kitchens have sockets for appliances behind the units.)
Re-fit the plinth.
Switch on for warmth. (The Plinth heater has a foot operated switch so you don't have to bend down)
The heater doubles as a fan for the summer months.