GREEN TEA – NATURAL PROTECTION AGAINST LUNG CANCER?


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A research team from Shan Medical University in Taiwan have released the results of their study on whether drinking green tea could help prevent lung cancer in smokers. Releasing the details at a US cancer research conference, it showed that smokers and non-smokers who drank at least one a cup a day cut their lung cancer risk significantly, however the protection was greatest for people carrying certain genes.

Headed by Dr I-Hsin Lin, the team found that among smokers and non-smokers, people who did not drink green tea were more than five times as likely to get lung cancer than those who drank at least one cup of green tea a day. In addition, smokers who did not drink green tea at all were more than 12 times as likely to develop lung cancer compared to those who drank at least a cup a day.

The researchers then analysed the DNA of people in the study and found that certain genes appeared to play a role in the risk reduction. Green tea drinkers, whether smokers or non smokers, with certain types of a gene called IGF1, were far less likely to develop lung cancer than other green tea drinkers with different types of this gene.

Although human studies on the effects of green tea on cancer have had mixed results, it doesn’t detract from the fact that green tea is drunk widely across Asia and the rates of many cancers are much lower in Asia than in other parts of the world

Yinka Ebo, a spokesman from the Cancer Research UK, said the findings should not be used as an excuse to keep smoking.

‘...smoking tobacco fills your lungs with around 80 cancer-causing chemicals. Drinking green tea is not going to compensate for that. Unfortunately, it's not possible to make up for the harm caused by smoking by doing other things right like eating a healthy, balanced diet. The best thing a smoker can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer, and more than a dozen other cancer types, is to quit...'

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HOW TO GROW SWEET POTATOES IN POTS OR CONTAINERS



Although the sweet potato is an exotic, tropical root crop from South America, it is becoming an increasingly common sight in our local supermarkets. Nutritious and easy to grow, you can plant it just about anywhere so long as the soil is free draining and the plant gets plenty of sun.
Generally pest free in the northern European countries, the only problem that you likely to get with growing sweet potatoes is slug damage, and this is why the practice of growing them in containers is becoming a far more popular method.

Being grown in a pot has other benefits too because not only will it provide better drainage than it would otherwise get in the ground, it will also afford warmer soil temperatures as the pot can transfer heat from the sun directly into the root environment. Both of these factors help to create improved growing conditions.

To make the most of the growing season your crop can be started off indoors by planting slips (rooted sweet potato cuttings) or tubers into as large a pot as you can physically move around. This will need to be done approximately 3-4 weeks before the last frost - which in the United Kingdom will mean planting from the beginning of April onwards.

They will require a rich, free-draining compost and you can create this by using good quality garden topsoil, horticultural grit and well rotted farm manure mixed together using a 1:1:1 ratio. Slips should be planted at the same depth that they were lifted from, while tubers should be planted on their side at a depth of about 6 inches. To give you a rough idea of spacing you can plant 3 slips/ tubers in an 18 inch diameter pot.

Being a semi tropical plants they require at least 110 days to mature. They are vigorous, and once they start growing, will readily spread. You can choose to control the vines by growing them vertically up a wigwam or trellis or allow them to trail naturally along the ground.

They can be lifted from the end of August, but it is usually better to leave them until the leaves begin to yellow and die back. In fact, you can leave them in the pot for as long as you can so long as they are not damaged by early frosts. Once lifted, the new tubers will need to be allowed to mature for a week or so in the warmest area you have in the house - something like the airing cupboard will be fine. This will allow the skins to ripen and the flavour to sweeten and become true to type. They are now ready for use in cooking and will store quite happily in a cool dry place for a month or so.

For more information on Sweet Potatoes click onto:
How to Take Cuttings from Sweet Potatoes

For more information on growing edible crops click onto:
Artichokes
Banana Plants
Chitting Potatoes
Garlic
Growing Mushrooms
Growing Parsnips from Seed
How to Compost
How to grow Allium Giganteum from Seed
How to Grow Artichokes from Seed
How to Grow Asparagus Plants
How to Grow Asparagus from Seed
How to Grow Autumn Sowings of Broad Beans
How to Grow Basil
How to Grow Butternut Squash from Seed
How to Grow Broad Beans from Seed
How to Grow Broccoli
How to Grow Butternut Squash in Pots or Containers
How to grow Cauliflower from Seed
How to grow Cilantro from Seed
How to Grow Citrus from Seed
How to grow Cucumbers
How to Grow Courgettes
How to Grow Garlic
How to Grow Garlic in Pots and Containers
How to Grow Greenhouse Tomato Plants from Seed
How to Grow Jalapeno Peppers from Seed
How to Grow Leeks from Seed
How to Grow Lettuce From Seed
How to Grow Mushrooms
How to Grow Onions From Seed
How to Grow Onions from Onion Sets
How to Grow an Orange Tree from Seed
How to Grow Outdoor Tomato Plants from Seed
How to Grow Peppadew Peppers from Seed
How to Grow Peppadew Peppers from Seed
How to Grow Peppers
How to Grow Plants
How to Grow Potatoes
How to Grow Potatoes in Pots or Containers
How to Grow Pumpkins from Seed
How to Grow Radish from Seed
How to Grow Strawberries from Seed
How to Grow Sweet Potatoes
How to Grow Tomatoes
How to Grow the Autumn Broad Bean 'Aquadulce Claudia'
How to Grow the Autumn Fava Bean 'Aquadulce Claudia'
How to Grow Giant Onions
How to Grow Okra
How to Grow Potatoes
How to Grow Pumpkins from Seed
How to Grow Radishes
How to Grow Raspberries
How to Grow Runner Beans from Seed
How to Grow Strawberries
How to Grow Tomatoes
How to Grow Tomatoes
How to Grow Tomatoes - Growbags or Soil?
How to Grow Watercress from Seed
How to Grow Winter Lettuce from Seed
How to Make and Prepare an Asparagus Bed
How to Plant and Grow Artichokes
How to Plant and Grow Strawberries
How to Plant and Grow Blackcurrants
How to Plant Garlic in Containers
How to Make and Prepare an Onion Bed
How to Grow Potatoes
How to Propagate and Grow Sweet Peppers from Seed
How to Propagate and Grow the Bell Pepper from Seed
How to Propagate Strawberries
How to Protect and Over-Winter Bananas
How to Prune Blackcurrants
How to Prune Raspberries
How to Recognise Potato Blight
How to Tell when Pumpkins are Ready to Harvest
Mexican Jumping Bean
Is a Peanut a Nut?
Mint Tea - the Latest in Pain Relief?
Organic and Cultural Control of Potato Blight
Organic Control of Aphids on Lettuce
Organic Control of Grey Mould on Tomato Plants
Organic Seeds with the Royal Connection
Plants
Potagers
Potato
Potato Blight
Salad Crops for Late Summer/Autumn Planting
Slug and Blight Resistant Potato Varieties
Starting Tomato Plants From Seed
The Peanut
The Mushroom
The Secrets to Growing Bonsai
The Snake's Head Fritillary - Fritallaria meleagris
Watercress - Nasturtium officinale
Watercress - The New Superfood
What is an Artichoke?
What is the Difference between a Turnip and a Swede?
What is the Difference Between Fruit and Vegetables
What is Butternut Squash?
What is a Peanut?
What is a Pumpkin?
What is Quinoa?
What is a Vegetable?
When are Potatoes ready for Harvest?
Where do Peanuts come from?
When to Harvest Potatoes
Why and How to Chit Potatoes

Photograph by courtesy of One Green Generation.
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FALL IN HONEY BEE POPULATIONS LINKED TO DECLINE IN PLANT BIODIVERSITY


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A research team from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) may have inadvertently discovered a major cause behind the dramatic falls in Honey bee populations - also known as CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder.

Headed by Cedric Alaux, the team has managed to trace a possible link between the diversity of bee diets and the strength of their immune systems. Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the INRA team has stated that bees need a fully functional immune system in order to sterilise food for the colony.

Cedric Alaux had this to say on the matter:

'...we found that bees fed with a mix of five different pollens had higher levels of glucose oxidase compared to bees fed with pollen from one single type of flower, even if that single flower had a higher protein content. Bees make glucose oxidase to preserve honey and food for larvae against infestation by microbes - which protects the hive against disease. So that would mean they have better antiseptic protection compared to other bees, and so would be more resistant to pathogen invasion...'

In addition to this research it was also discovered that when bees were fed on a five-pollen diet they were able to produce far more body fat when compared to a group of control bees eating pollen from only a single plant species. This evidence further indicates the importance of a more robust immune system as the insects were then able to produce more of the vital anti-microbial chemicals within their bodies.

David Aston, who chairs the British Beekeepers' Association technical committee, described the finding as "very interesting" - particularly as the diversity of food available to UK bees has declined.

He said,

 ‘...If you think about the amount of habitat destruction, the loss of biodiversity, that sort of thing, and the expansion of crops like oilseed rape, you've now got large areas of monoculture; and that's been a fairly major change in what pollinating insects can forage for. As a consequence, bees often do better in urban areas than in the countryside, because city parks and gardens contain a higher diversity of plant life...’

Two years ago, scientists in the UK and The Netherlands had already reported that there was a relationship between the reduction in the diversity of pollinating insects and a decline in the diversity of plants that they fed on. This is a particular problem in the countryside where agricultural crops are grown predominately on mono-cultural production systems.

The commercial value of bee pollination is huge, in fact recent figures show that it is worth an estimated at £200m per year in the UK and $14bn in the USA and governments are already investing huge sums in research to find out what is behind the decline. So while Colony Collapse Disorder has been blamed on various factors such as the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), the varroa mite, pesticide use, climate change and the loss of genetic diversity among commercial bee populations, perhaps the best way forward is to allow native wild flowers back into the landscape by the better management of our field margins, hedgerows and ‘set-aside’ farm land.

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NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES – The Harlequin Ladybird


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The United Kingdom - as well as almost every other country on the planet - has often suffered from the effects of environmental damage through the proliferation of non-native species. For millennia, mankind has travelled the world, followed quickly by the establishment of trade routes and the movement of valuable animal and plant commodities. Unfortunately these routes have also brought their fair share of problems such as the globalisation of small pox, influenza and the infamous ‘black death’.

Today similar problems exist and while modern medicine had made great strides in the prevention of such epidemics there is still an on-going problem with the deliberate and accidental introduction of non-native plant and animal species into sensitive environments. Recent history has already shown us the terrible destruction that can be reaped through the experiences of Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand.

Invasive non-native plant and animal species are now the second greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide after habitat destruction. This is because they can have a negative impact on native species, as well as for the damage caused to the environment, and as a secondary issue - local economies.

A more recent visitor to these shores is the Harlequin ladybird, also known as the as Asian lady beetle, or Japanese Ladybug. It has a voracious appetite and was introduced into continental Europe and North America as a biological control for insect pests. Although it prooved effective it unfortunately also has a taste for the larvae of native ladybird, butterfly and moth species.

Originally from Asia, it was first discovered in Essex in 2004, and was quickly classified as a major threat to the UK's 45 native ladybird species. Unfortunately recognising the harlequin ladybird is not as easy as you might think as their colouring is variable ranging from pale yellow-orange to an orange-red or even black. Their spot numbers and distribution will also differ too although in the UK you will commonly see Harlequin Ladybirds which are either orange with between 15 and 21 black spots, or black with two or four orange or red spots. Check out the above image - courtesy of the Harlequin Ladybird Survey - for an idea of their variability.

The following article is based on a press release issued by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for the year 2009/2010.

Scientists from the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition believe that the harlequin ladybird is likely to threaten over 1000 native species in Britain. The harlequin has spread from Essex to Orkney in only four years and is now one of the fastest spreading non-native insects in Europe and the most invasive ladybird on Earth. Scientists from across the UK have been working to monitor its spread and impact. They are also seeking inventive methods of control, some of which will be presented at the Exhibition.

Project leader Dr Helen Roy, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said: “We believe that the negative impacts of the harlequin on Britain will be far reaching and disruptive, with the potential to affect over 1000 of our native species. In the United States, where the harlequin arrived over 20 years ago, it has been associated with severe declines in native species."
The researchers’ first step has been to understand how the harlequin has spread. The public has played a key role in monitoring the invasion through the Harlequin Ladybird Survey, which was launched in 2005, and has now received over 30,000 online records.

"Invasive alien species are one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity," says co-investigator Dr Remy Ware from the University of Cambridge. "Using data from the Harlequin and UK Ladybird Surveys, we have a unique opportunity to study the early establishment, spread and adaptation of an invasive species."

The research team are now exploring how the few native enemies that do exist could be used to control the harlequin invasion. One of the most promising ideas is using a sexually transmitted mite, which makes some ladybirds infertile. If the transmission of these mites could be encouraged, the harlequin population could become greatly reduced. Other possible control options are through fungal disease, male-killing bacteria, a parasitic wasp and two species of parasitic fly.

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WHICH VEGETABLE SEEDS CAN BE SOWN IN JANUARY?


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Although it may seem a little premature to start on your seeds when your plot is probably still under a thick layer of snow, it is well worth starting a few things off before the sowing madness of February arrives.

Of course you are going to be limited as to what you can grow this early on but indoor sowings of onions and pepper varieties are just the thing for getting your eye back in.

Onions

January is the ideal time for growing onions from seed. Sow them into either plugs or a seed tray containing a good quality John Innes ‘seed’ compost. Give the seeds a light covering of the same compost and gently water them in. Germination of onion seeds will take between 14-21 days but they will need to be kept at a temperature of about 19-21C during this period. This is important as higher temperatures can inhibit germination.

Once the seedlings get to about 1 ½ inches high they can be transplanted into individual 3-4 inch pots, but make sure that the tiny bulb is not covered by the compost. In a couple of weeks - once the new seedlings are well rooted into their pots - they can be moved outside into a cold frame to harden off. A few weeks more and they will be ready for planting out into their final position.

Plant the seedlings in early spring into a sunny position that has a rich, well drained soil - preferably it would have had plenty of well rotted compost dug in to it the previous autumn. Keep them at about 5in apart and add a dressing of general fertiliser just before planting.

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Peppers

This covers most of the varieties for northern Europe if you wanted to grow them outside. Starting them off early as a protected crop is essential because if you waited until after the last frosts the resulting summer season will neither be long or warm enough for them to crop decently before the onset of winter.

Sow your pepper seeds - adequately spaced - into either plugs or a seed tray containing John Innes ‘seed’ compost. Top them off with another 1/2 inch of compost then gently water them in. It's important that the seeds remain moist until they germinate and as such will require adequate ventilation to prevent fungal rots. If ventilation is poor you may need to spray your newly germinating seedlings with a liquid fungicide once a week to protect them.

Once germinated – this will be normally between 7 and 24 days - pepper seedlings will require plenty of light, in fact for optimal growth they will need between 12 to 16 hours of light a day. If the weather isn’t yet suitable for planting outside then they will need to be placed onto a south-facing windowsill but remember to turn them daily to keep them from acquiring a permanent lean.

Once the seedlings have produced four leaves they will be ready to prick out into individual pots, but you need to be careful so as not to damage the fragile root system. The safest way is to gently hold onto one of the sturdier leaves while using either a pencil or slim dibber to lift the roots as intact and undisturbed as possible. When re-potting, use either a standard multipurpose compost or John Innes ‘No.1’ or ‘No.2’ potting compost.

Grow them on for another couple of weeks and they will be ready for either the greenhouse or for planting directly outside into open ground once the threat of frosts is over. Make sure you choose a location that is in full sunlight and - if you have it - mix in some mushroom compost or other organic compost to help keep the soil fertile and moist.

For more information on growing peppers click onto:

For more information on vegetable propagation click onto:
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HOW TO COLLECT AND PREPARE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SEEDS FOR PROPAGATION


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To begin with - if you get a choice - choose the largest, healthiest specimen that you can find, discarding anything that is showing signs of disease.

When it comes to harvesting squash seeds, you must wait until the fruit is ripe and ready for eating. To be on the safe side you can leave them indoors on a warm windowsill for day or two to allow the seeds to develop further.

Once you are happy that the squash is ready, cut it open, scoop the seeds out into a sieve and rinse them under a running cold tap. This will wash off most of the fibrous, jelly like coating which covers them – this is there to prevent germination while they are still in the fruit.

Once clear of the fibrous jelly, spread the seeds out onto a china plate to dry - then after a couple of days turn them over. It is important to allow them to dry out thoroughly although this can a few weeks. This is important because you do not want the seed to rot while they are in storage.
.Once properly dry, store in an air tight container and place in a cool dark place where they can remain viable for up to five years.

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HOW TO GROW BUTTERNUT SQUASH FROM SEED



Originating from an area around Mexico, the butternut squash has proven itself to be a popular vegetable with both chefs and gardeners alike. Roasted, toasted or mashed into soups, casseroles or breads the butternut squash is extremely versatile, and so it’s no wonder that it is becoming an increasingly common find in our vegetable gardens and allotments.

Growing butternut squash from seed is a relatively simple affair as the resulting seedlings are normally quite vigorous. You could of course prepare and save the seed from supermarket bought specimens but if you live in a northern European climate you will need to grow varieties that can cope with our comparatively shorter growing period.
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In recent years there have been several trials to find out which varieties perform best with regards to vigour, flavour, and cropping. In fact the Royal Horticultural Society have completed their own trials and have recommend the AGM (Award of Garden Merit) to the cultivars ‘Hunter’, 'Cobnut’, ‘Harrier’ and ‘Hawk’.

You should begin sowing in May using 3 inch pots filled with the bottom inch or so filled with in a good quality John Innes seed compost, but if you have a tendency to over-water then you may wish to add a handful of horticultural grit to the mix to improve the drainage. Take one seed and place it either on its side, or with the pointed end down, then fill the pot to within 1 inch of the top with more of the compost mix.

Water in and then place your pots onto a warm, sunny windowsill. The seedlings should emerge within 7 – 10 days. Now these new plants will grow pretty fast from this point and so it’s important that they don’t dry out – they will probably need watering every 2-3 days, but make sure that they don’t become water-logged otherwise fungal rots could appear. Even at this stage you can consider feeding ½ the recommended dosage of an appropriate liquid fertiliser.

After about four weeks on from sowing, your squash seedlings should be ready to go outside, but they will need to be hardened off for a week or two before being left in their permanent position. You have two choices at this point. So long as the threat of late frosts are over you can either plant directly into the ground or – if you are short of space – plant into large containers, but when it comes to butternut squash, the larger, the better!

For more information click onto:
How to Grow Peppers from Seed
How to Grow Peppadew Peppers from Seed
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HOW TO TAKE CUTTINGS FROM SWEET POTATOES




Producing slips from sweet potato tubers is relatively easy, but to make the most of your growing season you will need to start propagation 3-4 weeks before your last frosts which - in the United Kingdom - can mean starting anytime from the end of February.

To begin with you will need a good free draining compost, and this can be made by taking standard seed compost and adding to it an equal part of horticultural grit to give you a 1:1 grit/compost mix. The next thing to do is to take this new mix and add it to a deep and reasonably wide pot or seed tray.
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Take your fresh, disease-free sweet potato tuber and plant it on its side in its container before giving it a good water.

Keep the planted container in a warm location - such as a windowsill above a radiator - preferably at a temperature of between 20- 25 degrees Celsius. Keep the compost watered during this growing period but take care to make sure that it does not become waterlogged. New shoots, known as slips, should appear in two to three weeks, and as soon as they are showing three to four healthy-looking leaves they will be ready to be separated from the parent for use as propagation material.

Using a sharp and sterile knife, carefully remove the slips from the main tuber. Each slip will have its own set of roots attached and these will need to be kept as intact as possible.

If there is no longer a threat of frost then you can plant these rooted slips outside once soil temperatures reach over 20 Degrees Celsius, ideally, plant under a cloche or fleece tent for that little extra protection – but this can be removed after a few weeks.

They will require a very fertile but light, and preferably sandy soil. If your soil is not naturally free-draining, then it is worth planting your slips into ridges 6-12in high, with 2-3ft between each row. Each plant should be spaced 12-18in apart on each ridge.

Alternatively you can try using longer 12 inch slips, removing all but the tiny leaves at the very tip. Plant the cutting by covering the whole length with soil, only the leaves of the tip should stick out of the ground. The cuttings will root at every leave node. Not just the leave nodes under the ground will root. A sweet potato also grows roots from every leave node that develops as your cutting grows. This time leave 2-3 ft gap between slips.
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Once the newly planted slips begin to take off keep them well watered and feed weekly with a high potash fertiliser.

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Ficus elastica
The Hardy Begonia - Begonia grandis
Hibiscus
How to Grow Artichokes from Seed
How to Grow Asparagus from Seed
How to Grow Autumn Sowings of Sweet Peas
How to Grow Basil from Seed
How to Grow Basil from Seed Indoors
How to Grow Broad Beans from Seed
How to Grow Butternut Squash from Seed
How to Grow Citrus from Seed
How to Grow Garlic
How to Grow Greenhouse Tomato Plants from Seed
How to Grow Jalapeno Peppers from Seed
How to Grow Hardy Passion Flowers from Seed
How to Grow a Lemon Tree from Seed
How to Grow Lettuce From Seed
How to Grow an Orange Tree from Seed
How to Grow Oregano from Seed
How to Grow Outdoor Tomato Plants from Seed
How to Grow Parsley from Seed Indoors
How to Grow Parsley from Seed in Outdoor Beds
How to Grow Peppadew Peppers from Seed
How to Grow Pumpkins from Seed
How to Grow Radish from Seed
How to Grow Roses from Cuttings
How to Grow Strawberries from Seed
How to Grow Sweet Potatoes
How to Grow Sweet Potatoes in Pots or Containers
How to Grow the Autumn Broad Bean 'Aquadulce Claudia'
How to Grow the Autumn Fava Bean 'Aquadulce Claudia'
How to Grow Watercress from Seed
How to Grow Winter Lettuce from Seed
How to Plant and Grow Artichokes
How to Grow Autumn Sowings of Broad Beans
How to Collect and Prepare Butternut Squash Seeds for propagation
How to Plant Potatoes?
How to Propagate and Grow Sweet Peppers from Seed
How to Propagate and Grow the Bell Pepper from Seed
How to Propagate Strawberries
How to Take Cuttings from Box Hedging
How to Take Cuttings from Clematis
How to Take Chrysanthemum Cuttings
How to take Cuttings from Fuchsia
How to Take Cuttings from Lavender
How to Take Geranium Cuttings
How to take Cuttings from Rosemary
How to Take Hydrangea Cuttings
How to Take Hardwood Cuttings
Monkey Tree
Plants
Potato
Potato Blight
The Banana Tree
The Lemon Tree
The Wollemi Pine
Walnut Trees
What is Lavender?
What is Lobelia?
When are Potatoes ready for Harvest?
When to Harvest Potatoes
Images care of http://homeplaceearth.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/grow-your-own-sweet-potato-slips/ and http://tinyfarmblog.com/sweet-potatoes/
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