Get the spacing right with these veggies
When planting any pumpkin, marrow, gem or other Cucurbitaceae, it’s important to get the spacing right. Get it wrong, and you could lose 50% or more of your yield.
Learn how SAB’s hops is grown
Only a small amount of hops is needed to make beer, about 40g of the dried product for every 100l, but beer would just not be the same without it....
Fix the basics – please!
I’m sure most readers find it perplexing if the management of a business spends precious money on ‘beautification’ when the basic infrastructure is crumbling into non-existence.
Things to think about when going under cover
It’s extremely risky to plant tomatoes in the open in areas where hail and three-day spells of rain are common.
Bacterial diseases in tomatoes
Bacterial diseases are extremely difficult to control and can be very destructive in tomatoes (and other crops).
Protecting farmers
One of the stipulations of Act 12 of the 1992 Agricultural Produce Agents Act is that a market agency must comply with the requirements of the Agricultural Produce Agents Council...
Breaking the trust between Producer and Market agent
The other day, a market agent told me about a supposedly ‘loyal’ producer who had decided to bypass him and supply directly to an unnamed buyer in the same town,...
Other tomato wilts
We have already discussed bacterial wilt which sees the leaves and growing tip of an apparently healthy plant hanging due to lack of water.
Ceres fruit farmer’s journey to success
From humble beginnings, Walter Williams has grown a business that today has three farms as well as a fruit packing business in the Ceres Valley. He spoke to Denene Erasmus...
Mini-tubers for the seed potato market
On top of the Piketberg, Advanced Potato Propagation propagates mini-tubers in specially adapted greenhouses. Jay Ferreira speaks to APP’s manager, Ferdi Breytenbach.
A look at the South African Apple industry
The eastern Free State’s apple orchards are doing well with a small edge in marketing time over the more established orchards of the Western Cape. Lloyd Phillips talks to Charles...
What is ‘VAC’?
‘VAC’ is my acronym. It stands for ‘visibility, availability and credibility’, and refers to the need for a market manager (MM) to be on the market floor as frequently as...
