| Week 42 | October 13, 2014 | October 19, 2014 |
1. Preamble:
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
We are now midway in the month of October and celebrating one last autumnal hurrah before the black and white silence of winter sets in. As the night time temperatures are now dipping below 15 C, our quilts and blankets for the nights are out but the woollies for the day time are just but out (max day time temperature: 25 C). The garlic scars (cloves) having been planted (last week of September) their green shoots have just appeared. The marigold flowers, the saplings of which too were planted in mid September have started flowering. It is now time to plant spring flowering bulbs and cool season vegetables. This issue of our blog covers just that.
2. Fall Flowering Marigolds (Tagetes Erecta):
The Marigolds (annuals) are great plants for cheering up any garden. Broadly there are two geniuses which are referred to by the common names, Marigolds (Tagets) and Calendula. While Calendula. (October Birth Flower) can be grown in spring, the marigolds are grown in autumn. The Tagets include African Marigolds and French Marigolds. Some of the largest marigold flowers are varieties of the African, or Aztec, species (Tagetes erecta). Although native to Mexico and Central America, this species is most often commonly called African marigold (Aztec marigold, American marigold and big marigold are also sometimes used). Big marigold may be the best descriptive name because plants are noted for their large flower heads.
The marigolds planted at our farmhouse are of the African variety, the flowers of which are double petals with blooms that can be 5 inches across, but generally are 3 1/2 inches. The plant grows to a height of 12 to 14 inches.
In India and Sri Lanka bright yellow and orange Marigold flowers are used in their thousands and placed in garlands and to decorate religious statues and buildings. They are also used as offerings and decoration at funerals, weddings and other ceremonies.
Read more:
http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Marigold_Flowers_6604.php
Read more:
http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Marigold_Flowers_6604.php
3. Sowing for Cool and Spring Season:
3.1. Spring Flowering Bulbs and Cool Season Annuals:
3.2. Cool Season Vegetables:
3.1. Spring Flowering Bulbs and Cool Season Annuals:
Spring-planted bulbs produce some of the most dramatic garden colours with minimal effort. Tuck them among your perennials for a traffic-stopping summer display, or create a special bulb corner like ourselves. Many of these bulbs are ideal in containers, where they can be used to liven up porch. Among the flowering bulbs we have just sown are the Tulips, Lilies, Irises, Gladioli, Daffodils, Hyacinths and of course Narcissuses. While Irises can be planted in sunny locations, others like Tulips and Hyacinths prefer shady corners. To avoid strong direct sun, we have sown them under a tree covered corner, where we succeeded to find them blooming last spring. Some of these specially tropicalized bulbs were brought to us from Holland Others were sent to us by our relatives in Canada. We will remember to thank them all when they bloom this spring.
In addition to bulbs, the seeds for cool season annuals e.g., Pansy, Viola, Calendula and Dahlia too were sown for growing saplings before planting out in the open.
Read more:
3.2. Cool Season Vegetables:
During September cool season seeds for such vegetables as radish, Spinach and Turnips were sown of which red radish are just ready to be pulled out. The Peas were sown this week and they have just started sprouting. We will sow seeds of lettuce, parsley, cauliflower and Cabbage soon.
4. Khanpur Blood Oranges:
In the previous weeks we started talking about still to mature citruses. We have already introduced grape fruits and mandarins. This week we will introduce Khanpur Blood Oranges. Some 20 odd trees of these oranges were planted by us soon after we moved into our farmhouse 5 years ago in September 2009. These trees have started bearing fruit since last year but still have a long way to go before they produce fruit full to the capacity. The oranges are still green and would take about 3 months to mature and ready to be plucked.
The blood oranges tend to be a bit smaller than regular oranges, with a thick, pitted skin that may or may not have a reddish blush but generally looks like a regular orange from the outside – until, that is, it is cut open. The inside flesh of a blood orange is brilliantly dark pink, maroon, or even dark blood red. Hence, their name. Along with their lovely red colour, blood oranges tend to have a noticeable raspberry edge to their flavour.
The red colour in blood oranges is the result of anthocyanin, which develops when these citrus fruits ripen during warm days tempered with cooler nights. Anthocyanin is an antioxidant, and starts to develop along the edges of the peel and then follows the edges of the segments before moving into the flesh of the orange, so blood oranges can be lined or streaked with red instead of fully blood colored, depending on the season, when they were harvested, and their particular variety.
Read more:
october in islamabad is really awesome ...
ReplyDeletethankyou for reminding us the blessings of october through this blog.
what can be better than mouth watering khanpur oranges!!
Yes, Sahar October is the month which makes the spring look glorius
DeleteAnd it is because we sow the flowering bulbs and seeds for spring flowers during October.
DeleteAgain October makes the autumn look glorious too as the brightest red and purple colors appear when autumn days are bright and nights are chilly but not freezing, because these conditions increase production of the red and purple pigments. Orange and yellow colors tend to be fairly constant from year to year because the orange and yellow pigments are always present in the leaves.
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