Busy times

As the temps are building the prep and tidying up contines. I,ve turned the wood shed into the potting shed and am slowly getting through cleaning all the pots and trays.  I,m using hot water with washing up liquid.

I got of lightly I expect after last saturday nights winds. I use blocks and slabs to keep these in place but will never buy this type of enclosure again.

The new raised bed area is finished now. Each bed is about 20 foot by 4 foot. The back bed is against a west facing brick wall. Have planted elsanta and symphony strawberries to the front( to hang out over the top).from englishes fruit nursery. Against the back wall we are fixing up the wires for nectarines and peaches.

I,m very interested in testing this square foot gardening method popular in the states so have a small testing area setup. The basic principal is that you plant a differnt type of vegetable or flower into each square and rotate on the micro scale. In one square a small cabbage, 16 radishes , 16 carrots, one tomatoe plant (side shooted) etc etc. The guy who came up with this system Mel B. says its good for small gardens or where space is at a premium. He fills his raised beds with 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat and 1/3 perlite ( i think) but here its just into deep soil enriched with compost. Looking forward to this one.

To help make the rotations as clearly set out as possible I have started using batton to divide the raised beds in two. Each student has 2 raised beds so its easy to set up a 4 year rotation. Potatoes are grown separately in a larger rotation.

The new strawberry alley., 2 strawberry plants per 5 litre pot. Mypex covered ground, crates and will possible get the drip irrigation rigged up soon. We also have strawberries planted into the ground indoors.

Today we planted some asparagus crowns. They arrived looking like face hugging aliens.These plants will live for up to 30 years and are part of the the new perrenial vegetable plan. To plant these we dug a 200mm deep trench and 300mm wide. The width of the bed is about 1300mm. In the bottom of the trench we emptyed a bag of compost and dug this through the soil. We then made a little ridge  inside the trench using hands, rakes etc about 3 or 4 inches high. The crown roots were then spread out atop the ridges in the trench about 1 foot apart. We used a tarpauline to mix plenty of compost through the existing removed soil and carefully covered the crowns. It will take 3 years for these plants to establish and they will not be cut untill 2017. The trenches are 600mm apart ( 2 foot) and we have 3 short rows.

Early potatoes and carrots in polytunnel

In the tunnel this week we sowed a small area of early nantes carrots. We prepared the bed by lightly flaming a few weeds adding some weak compost and leveling the surface. We spaced the seed two inches apart sowing 2 seeds at each station. If both germinate one will be removed. As carrots take a few weeks to get going we sowed a few radish seeds along the rows about every 4 inches. These should germinate quickly and mark out the rows so hopefully we will avoid weeding out our seedlings. We used a 200mm spacing between the rows and covered the soil with a protective fleece.

To prepare a bed for the first early seed potatoes “home guard” we forked in some compost into the existing soil. Forking not turning the soil allows for aeration with minimal disturbance.The sets were then layed out at 250mm spacings in the row and 500mm spacings between rows.

With the soil now uncompacted to plant the spuds we simple plunged one hand into the soil as deep as we could go about 6 inches or so and used the other to place the potatoe at the bottom of the hole. The hand in front places the potatoe as the other retracts. Point the strongest ” eye” upward if possible. A good watering 10 litres ( i can) per 1m2 and your done. Water once a week untill the temperature picks up in mid March. Cover with fleece once stems appear if frost is expected. .

This is a quick and easy method of sowing potatoes quite different to creating drills. It avoids digging and soil disturbance, it can be used outside also. The holms can be earthed up as normal to supress weeds and blight is not a problem for earlies as they are out by May.

The remainder of our potatoes will remain ” chitting” in egg cartons untill atleast March 17 and weather permitting be planted outside after this date. If you have seed potatoes delivered long before intended planting it’s really important to “chit” them meaning leave them in a bright place. This helps to control Phototropism where by the stems will seek out and find light sources. Think of that lost spud down the back of the cuboard. The weak stem can more easily break if planted.

And sow it begins

Had a very interesting few days both here at the home garden and in work. I had recently been researching Rock Dust and its ability to re-mineralise soils, providing many of the minor but necessary elements to plant health. Rock Dust is a by-product of quarrying and can be sourced cheaply if directly. The best types are Volcanic based rocks eg. Basalt and it’s best to avoid granite. John who presents “Grow your Greens”, a U.S. based youtube channel is a big advocate of using rock dust. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYV_HK0cTFc. He explains the benefits in more detail. Nearer to home its use in Scotland and just look at the resulting ” taties”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=163n2n7Bm5I. Interestingly I think they have managed to grow tomatoes on the same ground for 8 years with no ill effects and put the sucess down to the presence of the rock dust. Worth a look!

I,m not saying this is sustainable practice( bringing in this stuff), i,m just interested to know if there is something to it as there is a logic as to why it should work in principal. If you think about it we’re all growing on a bed of rocks and plants with deep taproots can do our mining for us on site as happens in nature.

This little tub was from Quickcrop.ie and is supplied to them from Rockdust.ie ,costs about 33 euro including shipping.

The recommended application rates from Scotland and the U.S. are 445grams per square foot,( 1 pound) approximately 20 tonnes per acre. This initial application lasts up to 10 years as rock dust does not easily wash out of the soil like seaweed dust etc. It could be very expensive covering a large area buying in small buckets but not necessarily so. This 20kg bucket for example will cover 4.16square meters or a little over 2 ( 4X8) foot beds. It is possible to order by the tonne or mixed with compost at a rate of 9kg per tonne.

In the end I applied the dust at 100grams per square foot to the tunnels and some raised beds, lightly forking it in.This is just under a quarter pound and enough for this year. If it goes well then I will apply a full re-mineralising application. It will take some time to take effect so ideally apply in the Autumn.

The Chitted First Early seed potatoes were planted in the small greenhouse over the weekend at 1 foot spacings and 500mm between the short rows. The varietys are Land leaguers and Home Guard. I’m planning on following these quick croppers with tomatoes.

Mid Febuary is about right for sowing, tomato, peppers, and aubergines those plants that need a long growing season. This year I’m planning on growing about 50 tomato plants at 500mm spacings covering just under 1/4 of the large polytunnel in work. We have sown 10 seeds to each 3 / 4 inch pot at about 2cm spacing. It really doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s all we need. When the seedlings are big enough to transplant (when the leaves begin to touch) they will be re-potted and sideshoots taken using willow water or rooting powder to pot up. These trays have been placed on a sunny sill indoors with good heating, watering from below using the trays and draining after 20 or 30 mins.

Most of the seeds are open pollinated varieties sources from seedsavers, brown envelope seeds and other Irish suppliers. It’s really important to support these guys. I’m Looking forward to the brandy wines and mexican midge this year. I usually record the date sown, variety and method of sowing eg. Tomato Moneymaker 9×1 in 3 inch pot . This way you can monitor the viability of older seed and adjust the sowing method or other variables if there is poor germination.

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As well as onion sets we are trying some onions grown from seed. I’ve read they taste better, grow better etc etc but we shall see. Its hard to get good onion sets with a round shape as descibed in books, most are elongated, too big or too small (rubbish)

In general there’s a massive cleanup on site in preparation for the growing season. Here we cleaned up a small potting area in the polytunnel.  We put down mypex covered with wood chips. I think this is better than dry dusty bare soil Bit by bit the work is getting done..

We decided to dig in the green manure in preparation for  planting some first early potatoes. For a later sown crop we could have simply covered and waited longer. The sets arrived today and are chitting awaiting planting on Thurday.

Pruning out the last of the Autumn raspberries. This should have been done in the Autumn after fruiting but better late than never.

I,m learning the basics of pruning on a variety of apple trees, cordons, espaliers and free standing. My little fruit trees back home are all on dwarf and extremely dwarfing root stocks so it’s a treat to be able to work on these trees. Again a bit late.

Apart from tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, early potatoes, onions and shallots and early carrots i,m gonna hold off sowing or planting any more “annuals” untill March. The reason is that we have quite a bit of over wintering salads in the tunnel and their will be nowhere to move them onto indoors.The last thing we need is leggy plants needing to move on and it’s still too cold outside. The main sowing will be done in March. In the meantime we are setting up an outdoor perennial area to include strawberries (Elsanta), asparagus, rhubard, and lots of other goodies in time.

pat

Mulching and raised beds

With the rising cost of fuel those of us living in urban areas can benefit from free woodchips from tree surgeons operating in our area. The transport diesel costs make it more advantagous to offer this resource for free to those close by.

This is the remains of the second delivery we have taken for free from a tree surgeon who dropped by recently. We are distributing on the paths between raised beds etc.

There never seems to be enough time to weed so minimising the weeding to begin with seems the best solution. The great thing is that we are all the while feeding the soil beneath the paths, ,minimising compaction and soil loss and over time the material will compost. This will take longer than bark mulch which is already partially decomposed.

I like very much the principal of never leaving the soil bare or uncovered and in this way we are mimicing a forest floor with its fallen leaves and rotting timbers.

The great thing about mulching is the consistency of the aestethic and the ease which this newness or freshness can be renewed by topping up.

Back at the house I have been muching all the paths between the raised beds at the rear of the garden. In an area with some overhanging trees and receiving plenty of leaf fall in the autumn. I had considered using this in other grassed areas but for now will monitor the effect on slug populations etc. I also want to leave grassed areas for the ducks. The timber board shown above is used to collect slugs. I turn this over and the Ducks follow behind.

In this pic we are preparing an area with raised beds. Last year we grew potatoes here so will hopefully follow this with Legumes. We are making beds 20 foot long, 4 foot wide and with 2 foot paths. By digging out the paths and being careful to not dig into subsoil we are moving the topsoil onto raised beds creating  a greater growing depth . Previousely this area was paved and we found a gravel layer approximately 3/4 foot below the surface when making a potato clamp last year.

To lay the bark mulch we used two boards in the foreground to direct the drop. When the mulch paths are fairly level we will use timber ( recycled decking) to make an edge to the beds and prevent the soil spilling out onto the mulched paths. We considered using concrete slabs which are in abundance but this may make thing more difficult to reverse in the future as to be layed aesthetically would need bedding in gravel and sand etc.

We skimmed the top sods for a new paved walkway and set aside the sods to rot under plastic

I personally like a rougher aesthetic using what’s to hand rather than shiny new.

A new post and rail fence being constructed with a 3 foot bed. We are using the compost from the corner heap to build up soil quality as its very sandy and gritty. from previosly being graveled. Shrubs and climbers requiring free draining will do well here.

Taughts:

Experiment with mulching on raised beds with no dig,growing throught the mulch.

Look carefully at the source of the mulch material as this I have heard can effect soil ph if conifer predominates expecially on the beds. Ph can be monitored and adjusted however.

Integration of ducks to reduce slug population may be necessary.

Early Feburary at Home

The garden is relatively sheltered so over the last few days I,ve been bringing in compost and topping up the beds.I may have to lay down some stepping stones as Ive a track worn across the grass.

 

I,m very much trying to build up the soil fertility by adding organic matter.

This bed had parsnips which I finished lifting today. I topped up the bed with compost and will cover with cardboard from the local bike shop.Work great provided its weighted down a little.

I moved the strawberry runners to pots and composted the older plants ( greater than 3 years) that were woody.Topped up this green house with about two barrow loads.

The L-shaped overwintering garlic and onion bed got a topping up.

The dwarf kale got a top up. Below a lemon balm recently planted near the rosemary. I will be dedicating one of the timber raised beds to herb growing this year.

French Lavender which was sown last year. It’s taken many months to get this far and needs pricking out soon when the first true leaves are formed. I started the tray inside a sealed clear plastic bag.

Some bulbs ( tulips I think) starting to emerge. Must Label and mark position next time.

I,ve been layering cardboard within the duck enclosure to see how it would fair as a ground covering. This has since been abandoned as it prevents drainage even when pierced. I am trying a mixture of wood shavings and straw to try and keep the ground a little dryer for the ducks. I may try covering a portion of the dome to reduce rainfall inside.

The compost is located within the drip line of a Monteray Cypress or Macrocarpa. I recently started covering with heavy black plastic to reduce the moisture. Normally this is a reasonably dry area. 

The polytunnel got a careful topping up with compost. I have had a bit of damage caused by mice and have tried humane traps, traps and now poison. I did catch a mouse using a trap baited with honey.   

This is the worst of the damage and I am reluctant to repair as ,this may encourage more openings. I have positioned traps and bait nearby. I may use repair tape to tidy up the edges to prevent further widening but if this is where they want to enter then its pointless covering untill the the risk has been minimised. I believe they may be moving through the 4 inch gap between the raised bed and outer baserail. If the problem persists I may have to come up with a way of eliminating the gap. I do not store parsnips ( just drying) in here, only onions.

The Brussell sprouts are coming along,

I,ve been stopping the peas again.

Chitting a few seed potatoes

and saved Sarpo

Looking forward to trying oca this year.