6/16

Question 1

Reasons for providing shelter for an outdoor food production area.

Answer 1

Wind damages branches of fruit trees.
Wind blows over tall crops and their supports.
Wind blows fruit from trees.
Wind can uproot trees.
Shelter helps create a micro climate.
Shelter prevents soil erosion.
Shelter encourages pollinators to fly which increases the potential for pollination.
Shelter increases vegetable crop production.

Question 2

Plants suitable for use as a living windbreak.

Answer 2

Fagus sylvatica.
Carpinus betulus.
Taxus baccata.

Question 3

Types of non-living windbreak.

Answer 3

Paraweb.
Trellis.
Woven hurdles.
Hit and miss fencing.
Open patterned brick walls.

Question 4

Ideal time to cultivate sandy soil.

Answer 4

Sandy soil can be cultivated all year round due to its free draining properties.

Question 5

Ideal time of year to cultivate clay soil.

Answer 5

Clay soil is best cultivated in the autumn to allow the frost to break down the clods.

Question 6

Methods used to extend the productive season of outdoor food crops.

Answer 6

Cloches, cold frames, low tunnels, black polythene and horticultural fleece. They are used to protect crops from the wind, allow the sun to warm the soil, enable earlier sowing/planting of crops and act as barrier to pests.
Also raising crops under glass and then transplanting.

Question 7

Raspberry cultivars.

Answer 7

‘Autumn Bliss’
‘Glen Ample’
‘Glen Moy’

Question 8

Harvesting raspberries.

Answer 8

Harvest raspberries every few days.
Harvest when they are dry.
Harvest by hand.
Should have good colour and de plug easily.

Question 9

Storing raspberries.

Answer 9

Store in a refrigerator.
Freeze.
Make into jam.
Bottle.

Question 10

Plum cultivars.

Answer 10

‘Victoria’

‘Czar’

Question 11

Harvesting plums.

Answer 11

Harvest by hand.
Harvest when dry.
Fully coloured and just soft.
Gently lift fruit so that the stalk is left in tact.
Do not twist.
Pick fruit over several sessions.

Question 12

Storing plums.

Answer 12

Frozen.
Bottled.
Made into jam.
Stored in refrigerator.
Do not store diseased and damaged fruit.

Question 13

Sowing carrots.

Answer 13

Feb/Mar - sow under cloches
April/June - sow main crop.
Sow in drills, water drills. Drills should be 15 to 30 cm apart.
Sow thinly, mix with sand to enable thin sowing.
Sow 1 to 1.5cm deep.

Question 14

Thinning carrots.

Answer 14

Early carrots thinned to 3 - 10cm intervals.
Main crop carrots thinned to 5cm intervals.
Keep thinning to minimum to avoid carrot root fly.
Thin in the evening and remove all thinnings immediately.
Avoid bruising foliage.
Water carrots after thinning to re-firm remaining plants.

Question 15

Watering carrots.

Answer 15

Water evenly at germination stage.
Afterwards water regularly to avoid soil drying out and root to swell.
Excessive watering causes too much leaf growth at the expense of root growth.
Irregular watering can cause the roots to split.

Question 16

Successional cropping.

Definition.

Answer 16

Sowing of crops at regular intervals to ensure the continuity of supply of a crop eg. Carrots, lettuce and radish. It is also when different varieties of the some crop eg. Potatoes, are planted to mature at different times to extend the cropping season.

Question 17

Crops suitable for successional cropping.

Answer 17

Beetroot.
Carrot.
Lettuce.
Pea.
Radish.
Spinach.
Spring onion.
Potatoes.

Question 18

Apples.

Formative pruning.

Answer 18

On a bush tree the aim is to create:
an open-centred ‘goblet’ shaped tree.
a well balanced framework of strong main branches capable of carrying heavy crops of fruit.

If formative pruning is not carried out the tree will tend to be weak, poor she with drooping branches and bare wood.

Question 19

Apples.

Maintenance pruning.

Answer 19

Controls shape.
Remove dead, diseased, crossing and congested branches.
Remove branches growing into the centre of the tree.
Can also control tree size and vigour - important for trained forms.
Important in maintenance pruning to promote fruiting Spurs/growth as this affects yield.

Question 20

Effective of formative pruning on yield.

Answer 20

Carried out in the early years to produce a strong framework of main branches to support future heavy yields of fruit.
There is little or no yield at this stage of growth.

Question 21

Affect on yield of maintenance pruning.

Answer 21

Aims to improve air circulation and light penetration to ripen wood and encourage fruit bud production.
A well pruned tree will produce regular crops of good quality fruit with a higher yield.
Promotes development of fruiting spurs and fruit growth.
Thinning the fruits spurs will result in fewer but larger fruits.