Features
What Do Organic Growers Do About Choosing Varieties?
A common misconception regarding organic gardens is that they are more susceptible to pests and diseases. In a well-managed organic garden the opposite is often the case. Prevention is the secret of disease free gardens and prevention begins with choosing suitable seed varieties.
While there is no such thing as a completely disease resistant plant, some varieties have a stronger tolerance for disease than others. This is particularly important in poor seasons. For example, organic potato growers find that in wet years, blight resistant varieties such as Cara, Home Guard or Croft generally perform better than less resistant varieties.
Old varieties
Organic gardeners usually favour the old established varieties. The fact that tomato varieties such as 'Alicante' or 'Moneymaker' have been around so long demonstrates their ability to grow in all kinds of summers. In good years they may be overshadowed by modern f1 hybrids for both yield and earliness. Averaged over the good and bad years they produce a consistently good yield and display a remarkable tolerance to many tomato troubles.
Some other varieties that are popular in organic gardens are: french beans 'The Prince', sweetcorn 'Kelvedon Glory', parsnips 'Avonresister', leeks 'Autumn Mammoth Verina', lettuce 'Avondefiance' and 'Little Gem' An extensive list of vegetable varieties suitable for organic growing is available from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. However if you've never experienced a particular disease in your garden then there is no need to scan the catalogues looking for a variety resistant to that disease. Especially when some organic gardeners claim that grown organically, all plants have a greater immunity to disease.
Local conditions
Perhaps the first thing gardeners should take account of are the varieties that grow well in their own particular area. Some varieties that thrive in one part of the country will fail completely in another. Much of the need for chemicals comes from growing varieties unsuited to an area or soil type. Those who have changed house and garden but not their varieties will have many examples of this. The advice of experienced local gardeners will help to avoid disappointments.
Taste
There are many other considerations when selecting varieties. For the home vegetable grower, taste is probably top of the list. It's pointless growing insipid tasting vegetables just because they are disease resistant. One of the joys of growing your own is being able to produce something better than the frequently tasteless supermarket varieties. So although the potato variety Cara is grown because of its high resistance to blight many vegetable connoisseures consider it's flavour poor and prefer to take a chance with the more popular British Queens despite its low blight resistance.
Flavour improver?
If a particular disease is prevalent in your area and your favourite variety just can't be grown successfully why not try adding an organic flavour enhancer? A number of organic gardeners claim that the spraying of liquid seaweed enhances the flavour of any fruit or vegetable. They spray their plants regularly from first flower till the end of the cropping cycle. While taste is a very personal concept making this claim difficult to measure, it might just be worth a try?
Well known organic goat’s cheese makers, Inagh Farmhouse, have launched two new products in the St. Tola range. Named ‘Divine’ and...
