APRIL HAS almost passed us by and delivered a little rain, not as much as we need, but better than nothing.In Monchique the weeds have still managed to grow a metre high in some places (my vegetable patch) so there is obviously moisture around. Anyone contemplating growing vegetables for the first time would do well to get started now, while nature still meets a little of the crops’ water requirements.
An experiment with Mulch
Mulching is the process of covering the soil in a layer of something natural or artificial with the objective of suppressing weed growth. It also helps to warm up the soil quicker and to conserve moisture. A mulch can be made of leaves, compost, sawdust (not chemically treated), bark or even plastics or old carpet.
A quick look around other people’s vegetables in the Algarve indicates that mulching is not particularly popular here. For me this sounds off alarm bells because very often if something is not done here, it’s not done for a very good reason. Most people I talk to do not consider mulching as necessary, mainly I believe because they spend so many hours on their vegetables each day that weeding for them has become second nature. The need for warming up the soil is not as vital as in the UK and one person has suggested the roots may get too hot in the summer. What about water conservation? There must surely be a benefit from that.
Given all this I have done some experimentation this year, using a man-made woven plastic fibre, which allows the water through but suppresses weeds. The fabric, known as ’tela’ comes in varying widths and is sold by the metre. It is laid across the soil and holes are cut in it for plants or sowing seeds. I have used it since February for lettuces, Chinese leaf, swiss chard, potatoes, beetroot and tomatoes. So far it has been an overwhelming success, with the need for watering reduced and the need for weeding completely eliminated. The comparison between lettuces planted under the tela and those in the open soil is very noticeable. Like a true scientist I shall continue my experiments and feedback my findings throughout the year.
Vegetable of the month – Sweet Potato
(ipomoca batata)
Sceptical as we are, those not brought up with sweet potatoes can be wary of trying them. They look odd, they are a vegetable but sweet and to make matters worse we then find out they are completely unrelated to the potato being from the same family as Morning Glory! The Portuguese use them in a great number of cakes but for me they are best with a roast dinner cooked like parsnips. They should be cut small, lightly sprayed with olive oil, salted and given a good covering of black pepper. They are then baked almost fat free for thirty minutes or so until they begin to caramelise – the flavour is divine. Buy a kilo today, cook one as described and I guarantee that by tomorrow you will be planting out the rest.
Sweet potatoes originate from central and South America as well as the West Indies. Their botanical name, Ipomoca batata, was derived from the native Americans of Louisiana who were growing them as early as 1540. Columbus and other explorers brought them back to Spain and Portugal. The Spanish relished them and began cultivating them immediately. Soon they were profitably exporting them to England where they were included in spice pies to be devoured at the court of Henry VIII. It was the Portuguese who carried sweet potatoes to Asia and Africa where they have become an important staple food there to the present day.
Nutritionally, sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of potassium and vitamin C, B6, riboflavin, copper, pantothetic acid, folic acid and beta carotene.
There are two major varieties of sweet potatoes, the yellow, drier, more mealy kind with lighter beige coloured skins, and the orange, more moist, sweeter ones with reddish skins, sometimes mistakenly called yams. The yellow ones are the best to grow here. As they are less sweet they are more versatile and can be stored for about a year.
Growing them
Sweet potatoes are grown in two stages
Stage One – slips
Smallish sweet potatoes are planted to a depth of about 6cm anytime in March or April, leaving a gap of 20cm between tubers. They should be in a sunny site with well drained soil and kept lightly moist, the soil does not need to be particularly fertile. In a few weeks shoots should emerge. Allow to grow until each potato has a number of strong growing tips, each about 30cm long – these are eventually cut off and referred to as slips. If you wish you can miss out this stage and grow slips ready to plant from the various monthly markets in the Algarve.
Stage Two – roots
Prepare beds in a good sunny site some time in June, taking into consideration that the plants will remain in the ground well into October. You need to dig rectangular beds with raised edges, so that the beds can be deeply flooded every four days or so. Cut the stems so that you have a number of slips each about 25cm long, keeping about half of the leaves on. These are then pushed into the raised ridges and the bed soaked. The water should seep through moistening the bottom of the slips.
My neighbours insist I only water every four days, no matter how droopy or forlorn the slips look, and I obey religiously. Within a month all the slips will have grown roots, new stems will appear from the ground and your field of sweet potatoes will look lovely. The four day watering system carries on until cold nights threaten sometime in October or November, when the huge crop is dug out.
Storage
Do not clean the potatoes, just brush off the excess soil. For two weeks keep the potatoes in boxes in a warm, moist, environment (25 degrees). Then they can be put away in a cooler place (around 10 degrees). Unlike ’normal’ potatoes they do not go green in sunlight and somewhat incredibly, they can store for about a year or longer. They will begin growing roots in the spring and can be used to begin all over again next year.
