Rats

I have got rats on my allotment, which is not good. It is now time for war on rats.Trap the rats. 

I am going to use traps with peanut butter.I will not set the traps yet. I will want to bait the traps until the rats are comfortably feeding off them. The rats may be hesitant to feed off the traps and if one is killed, others won’t likely take the bait. After a few days of feeding the rats, I will set all the traps on the same night and wait. 

What happens without words?

What happens without words?

You see and hear clearly, there is no trap to be distracted.

Get yourself a garden and hear the quite!

Happinness

Everybody wants to be happy.

However, I do not think that people want to be happy so much.

I think that people want most is to believe in themselves.

Get a garden and go do that.

Asian Hornets

Asian Hornets have been seen in the south of the UK

They eat everything good in our gardens.

If you seen any report to: alertnonative@ csh.ac.uk

Where did the summer go.

Welcome to October. Summer is closing down gradually for us all up here in the northern hemisphere. The autumnal weather starts to settle in once again and, like it or not, the whisperings of Christmas and the holiday season start to creep into our lives. This time of year is about wondering where the summer went.

Test of a good gardener.

I always try to grow  vegetables in the winter. This is the test of a good gardener.  Having food from the garden in the darkest time of the year.

Having an abundance of vegetables either stored or straight out of the ground, this includes the ‘hungrey gap’ from april till june.

Not much grows in winter, but a well-organised plan may nonetheless  fill up your plot. You need to plan carefully, and well ahead (as early as spring) for sowing and planting at specific times through the year. Read this blog to learn the secrets, which will be explained thoughout the coming winter 

Frist frost last night here in Oxford.

Winter veg.

winter is coming.  The weather here in the UK has got colder and we are having the first full day of rain since early March.

It has been very warm and dry down on the allotment and a lot of work has gone into making my veg grow.

However, I am full up on both my allotments with: Kale, cabbage, leeks, chard and spinnage growing nicely in the ground.

My deep freeze is full of soft fruits and I have 48 Kilner jars of strewed apple…..So I reckon that I am all set till late May.

How do you grow winter veg. I hear you cry….it is all a question of timing of seed sowing through out the year.

Leek Pest

 At last the 10th September  has come and gone. This is the date when the moths stop laying/caterpillars stop eating and they pupate for winter.
 I only hope that the caterpillars know this 

How to grow broad beans

The first to appear 

Broad beans are the first to appear in your garden, for in milder parts of the world they can be sown in the Fall.

They are a particularly delicious vegetable when garden fresh. Just cook until tender and serve with butter for a true " taste surprises"

When the bean is no more the three inches long it has very tender pods and can be eaten whole. Older beans will need to be shelled

For most people Broad Beans are a “no goer”. In other words, they will not touch them in any shape or form. I have researched the reason for this by asking as many people as I can why they do not like Broad Beans. 99% of the time the answer comes back: “ I had them at school and hated them”

School beans are not good for many reasons; they are not fresh, they are grossly over cooked and they are covered with some foul smelling sauce. In my case the sauce used, was white and full of bits of green; upon reflection, it must have been some sort of parsley sauce. What ever it was, it put me off broad beans for at least 50 years.

My interest in Broad Beans was rekindled when I got an allotment and saw that the vast majority of my neighbours grew them with great success. I am always one to grow what every body else is growing, practically if they are doing it successfully. It means to me that the soil good for that plant and that the crop suits the local climate.

One of the attractions of growing Bread Beans, to my mind was that you can sow them in late fall and mid winter. I do like winter crops because I think that it is the test of a true gardener as to how many crops you have on offer in the winter. Broads Beans fell right into that category.

So off I set and brought some broad beans in November prepared my land and sowed them with great excitement. True to form, some ten days later on a bright November day, I have the first showing of green shots. What joy, what a disaster for the temperature dropped right down to -17c and stayed well below -10c for the next ten weeks. The broad beans were wiped out.

Since that time I have never again grown winter broad beans. However, what I have done is grown Broad Beans as early as I can in late winter( end of January) and then every two weeks till the end of July and it works a treat. You know what? I love them. They are fresh and I steam them for about a minuet; much better then the school ones.

Almost any soil will do and the only preparation necessary will be forking in composted vegetable refuse. In addition, fish manure should be added at 3 ounces to the square yard. If you do not have enough compost, you could use sedge peat instead.

When I sow, I space the rows 2 feet 6 inches apart with the bean black eye up, 3 inches deep and about 6 inches between each bean. I find that the best way to keep the black fly down is to hoe regularly. I also pinch out the tops when the bottom beans are forming. Doing this encourages early production. I pick regularly, when the pods are about 4 inches long. They are then delicious.

How to Dry Your Herbs.

How to Dry Your Herbs.

One of the best things about growing herbs is that you can grow and dry your herbs for later use. This is quite an easy thing to do, but like every thing else; it must be done right to have a product that can be used.

You should cut your leaf herbs, wash and tie in loose bunches and allow them to drip dry. Once all the moisture has been dried off put the herbs in a large brown paper bag. Make sure that you put a label on it and that the herbs are not touching the sides of the brown paper bag..Tie the mouth of the bag about the stems so that the herbs are hanging free within the bag.

Next, hang the bag with the herbs in it where it will have good air circulation. Drying your herbs this way ensures that none of the oils get absorbed by contact with the paper, as they would if you dried them in a cardboard box.

How to control insects that attack your plants with herbs:

How to control insects that attack your plants with herbs:

It is well know to growers that legumes that are planted in a rotation with wheat and other grain crops will protect those crops from corn root worm.

Goats that suffer from worms can be helped by feeding them carrots and worms in horses can be controlled by feeding them mulberry leaves; however it is to herbs that we can look to give us the greatest protection for our crops:

I do not like list as such because they can take up too much space on the lens however I will list a few of the useful one here:

Use Basil to protect against flies and mosquitoes.

Use Borage to protect your tomato plants against tomato worm.

Use Garlic to protect against Japanese beetle, aphis,weevils,sider mites and many more. In fact if you plant garlic all over your garden you will be amazed how pest free your crops will be.

The herb marigold ( yes it a herb ) is great to protecter against many pest. I grow them in pots and move them about my garden all summer long. Its the smell of them, I think that keeps bugs away.

Peppermint in pots and placed among your cabbage will keep the dreaded white cabbage butterflies away. Once again I grow them in pots and move them about. Indeed, last summer I sat on my plot and watched the white butterflies hoover over my cabbage plants and then fly off to my neighbors plot. The could not stand the smell.

A few thoughts on container grown herbs

A few thoughts on container grown herbs

Almost all herbs are hardy plants, however the savoriness and flavour of the herb will depend on sunshine.If you do not have a big plot you can grow most types of herbs in pots that are placed on a outside window-sill. A window-box is better however because you can fit more plants in along the ledge.

If you are going to go for growing your herbs in containers you will need a growing a better class of soil mixture then your normal run of the mill potting mixtures that you buy in the local store.

The best mixture is John Innes Seed mixtures which is sandier and much more suitable for herbs. Before you put it into your container water it and mix the water right through so that no part of it is dry and dusty.

For drainage, I always put a two inch layer of small gravel type stones at the bottom of the pot/trough.

Lemon balm,sage,marjoram,and thyme will all spread out to six-to-eight square of window box space.Chives and mint are much more powerful growing plants and do not like other herbs near them. On no account put mint straight into the ground because over time it will spread and take over every thing and you will find it a very hard plant to get rid off.

Useful Herbs to Grow

Use Your Herbs

I know that you can buy plenty of fresh herbs down at your local store, but it is really wonderful feeling just stepping out of your kitchen into your garden and picking your own herbs.

The flavour is best just before the herbs flower and try to pick the young leaves from the plant in the morning when the dew has evaporated.

Flavouring your food with herbs means that you will use less salt, which can only be a good thing!

Chop lots of fresh lemon thyme and mix with a little butter lemon zest and garlic and smear it under the skin of a roast chicken or halfway through cooking of your Bolognese sauce, add lots of finely chopped fresh rosemary and garlic instead of salt.

Using herbs does give your food a fresh taste and they are not beyond the reach of most people to grow.

A few easy herbs I grow are:

Mint; This is a plant that likes a lot of sun and water, according to the books but I find that mint will grow just as well in the shade and can be forgotten about in a pot and still thrive. In fact, it is one of those plants that are very hard to kill. For this reason it is not a good idea just to plant it in your garden because it can be very aversive and take over. I grow mine in pot and have no trouble with it.

There are many types of mint; spearmint and peppermint are problem what spring to mind when you think of mint both of these have a very refreshing flavour, but why not pop down to your local garden store and see what else you can pick up in the Mint line. That is what I did and now have over ten different tasting mints to use.

Mint likes a thin coat of rotted manure or compost for the winter, however a spring dressing is better late the never.

You may find that old mint plants have orange patches of mint rust on their leaves, you can cure this by digging up the plant and washing the roots in water that is 110 f and leave the roots in the water for ten minutes before replanting. But remember that well-fed mint rarely rust, so new beds or old that are dug, split and remade every fourth spring, need compost or manure. If you have neither you could use 4 oz a square yard of fish meal.

Parsley is another very useful herb that can be grown in a pot near your kitchen. This herb is wonderful for garnishes and flavouring as well as being a tasty supplement to green salads. It is not very easy to germinate, so it is best to buy a few plants from your local store. Parsley is a biennial, and so should last you for a few seasons.

Chives are another of my favorites. These can be grown in your garden or you could use them to grow along your path edges. All you have to do then is go out with your scissors and snip away as much as you want for they will soon grow back.

Your Allotment: Is It worth It?

Your Allotment: Is It worth It?

I was reading a gardening book the other day and I was astounded to see that The Royal Horticultural society do not think that it is worth having an allotment to grow your own food.

I beg to differ and there is one crop that pays my rent with very little work. And that is Rhubarb. I have a patch of about 30 Rhubarb plants that keep me going from April right up to the middle of august. That is nearly 150 days of a bowl of Rhubarb a day. If you reckon that each bowl is worth 50 pence then that is a money value of £70 odd and my rent for the allotment is £28/year.

Growing Rhubarb is very easy and takes little work once the plants are established.

1.Grow a variety of early and late season crops.

2. Mulch the crop summer and winter

3. Water and feed on a regular bases. (I use Comfrey tea to feed mine)

4. Harvest when the crop is ripe. This stops the plant going to seed.

5. Bottle your surplice so as not to waste any.

When I am not eating Rhubarb; I am eating stewed apple. Now I do not own any apple trees but I collect other peoples apples that would other wise be wasted.

In Oxford, where I live, people will put apples outside their houses for the public to pick up. I am sure that his happens in most towns. I have taken this one step further by talking to the people who do this and offered to keep their windfalls cleared and rake up leaves under the apple trees. By doing this I get free fruit right through the non-rhubarb time and also make sure my storage, bottles are in use all the year round.

But to get back to the allotment: Of course it pays to have an allotment but only if you use it with a bit of common sense and to do so there are a few thing that your must take into consideration.

1. Plan your crops. Only grow what you like to eat and try to grow as much winter stuff as you can. I believe that it is the sign of a good grower if there is crops ready fro eating in the lean time of the year. There are loads of roots/brassicas/leeks that will do for this job. Using a cold frame during this period will also give you some of the softer crops like lettuce and beans.

2. To run an allotment you must be committed. It is no good going down there once a month and doing a bit. With that sort of commitment all you will be doing is trying to keep on top of the weeds. I reckon on a well-run plot you need two/three hours per week, once you have everything all set up. That time should not be in one visit either but spread over the week. You will need to be harvesting/nurtering/cultervatomg your plot every 48 hours in the main summer season. If you cannot give, this sort of commitment then do not start; you will only stress yourself out by non-achieving.

There are a few reasons for not going for an allotment plot.

1.It will cost you money to set up. You will need to pay your rent. In addition, you will need to buy tools/seeds/plants/shed at the very least. It cost me £800 to set up my allotment. It was that much because I bought a new shed (6feet/8feet) and a small Polly tunnel (10foot/15foot). I also had to buy a second hand lawn mower.

2. If you do not have the time, do not start. If you are really keen to start and do not have the time it might be worth seeing if you could share somebody’s else’s plot.

3. Not everything will come up roses. There will be troubles and things will go wrong. Pest/diseases/weather sometimes seem to be always against you. You must be prepared for that.

4. It will take work however I never find it hard work. I use a raised bed system and never dig. My method of growing involves making compost and spreading the material on my beds. Moreover, if it is hard work, so what! Many people pay a lot of money to go to gyms and the like. By having an allotment you will be getting fresh air and excises.

The reasons for having an allotment far out way the reasons not too.

1.You will be out in the fresh air. This is worth its weight in gold. Most of us spend far too much time inside either working or living. Far better to be out breathing clear air in a semi-rural area. It will bring clam to your soul in an ever-stressful life of our modern world.

2. Allotments are great places to meet and make new friends. These will be people who are not related to your every day work or family.

3. Growing you own food and knowing how it is grown. This is very important. If you go to the supermarket: God knows where and how it was grown and more importantly, what has been sprayed on it! At least if you grow a lettuce you will know that it is clean and wholesome.

4. Learning a new skill. You might well think that growing you own food and learning and overcoming all the problems related with it are not worth the trouble when you can go down to the local store and buy what you want. Well, it might not always be so. I have lived through two wars where the only food we had was the food that we could produce ourselves. This could well happen to you wherever you live.

So the question of: does it pay to have an allotment can only be answered by yourself, all I can say is: It pays me time over.

How To Grow Broad Beans

How to Grow Delicious Broad Beans All Summer Long

Broad beans are the first to appear in your garden, for in milder parts of the world they can be sown in the Fall.

They are a particularly delicious vegetable when garden fresh. Just cook until tender and serve with butter for a true " taste surprises"

When the bean is no more the three inches long it has very tender pods and can be eaten whole. Older beans will need to be shelled

For most people Broad Beans are a “no goer”. In other words, they will not touch them in any shape or form. I have researched the reason for this by asking as many people as I can why they do not like Broad Beans. 99% of the time the answer comes back: “ I had them at school and hated them”

School beans are not good for many reasons; they are not fresh, they are grossly over cooked and they are covered with some foul smelling sauce. In my case the sauce used, was white and full of bits of green; upon reflection, it must have been some sort of parsley sauce. What ever it was, it put me off broad beans for at least 50 years.

My interest in Broad Beans was rekindled when I got an allotment and saw that the vast majority of my neighbours grew them with great success. I am always one to grow what every body else is growing, practically if they are doing it successfully. It means to me that the soil good for that plant and that the crop suits the local climate.

One of the attractions of growing Bread Beans, to my mind was that you can sow them in late fall and mid winter. I do like winter crops because I think that it is the test of a true gardener as to how many crops you have on offer in the winter. Broads Beans fell right into that category.

So off I set and brought some broad beans in November prepared my land and sowed them with great excitement. True to form, some ten days later on a bright November day, I have the first showing of green shots. What joy, what a disaster for the temperature dropped right down to -17c and stayed well below -10c for the next ten weeks. The broad beans were wiped out.

Since that time I have never again grown winter broad beans. However, what I have done is grown Broad Beans as early as I can in late winter( end of January) and then every two weeks till the end of July and it works a treat. You know what? I love them. They are fresh and I steam them for about a minuet; much better then the school ones.

Almost any soil will do and the only preparation necessary will be forking in composted vegetable refuse. In addition, fish manure should be added at 3 ounces to the square yard. If you do not have enough compost, you could use sedge peat instead.

When I sow, I space the rows 2 feet 6 inches apart with the bean black eye up, 3 inches deep and about 6 inches between each bean. I find that the best way to keep the black fly down is to hoe regularly. I also pinch out the tops when the bottom beans are forming. Doing this encourages early production. I pick regularly, when the pods are about 4 inches long. They are then delicious.

How To Use Your Compost:

How To Use Your Compost:

How to use Compost in your garden:

There are two ways of using compost in your raised beds; you can either dig it into the soil or spread as a surface mulch, which will slowly be taken down into the soil by worms and other soil-living creatures. Both of these methods have their disadvantages and advantages. The choice dependens on what is being applied and in what circumstances.

Digging the Compost in:

If you go with digging the compost into the raised bed, you should mix it with the top 20 cm of soil only. The reason is that this is where most of the biological activity goes on. 

This means that you should try not to dig too deep, remember that compost is not manure.

Your compost should be in such a state that it is ready to use by your plants right away; unlike animal manure which still needs to be broken down before your crops can use it.

The advantages of digging the compost in are:

1. Digging mixes materials in with the soil; this gives a quicker overall improvement.
2. Digging the compost into the soil puts any weed seeds that may be in your compost, below the level of germination. This helps if you sow your seeds into your soild bed.
3. When you dig your bed, often this will increase the speed at which the organic materials decomposes. But remember that this can be counterproductive if you have light soil where this operation is fast enough already

The disadvantages of digging the compost in 

1. When you choose this method, you must wait until the soil conditions are suitable. This is not a good option in a wet winter or on heavy land.
2. Digging can be hard work
3. Digging is not suitable for materials that can causes nitrogen robbery.

The alternative to digging the compost in is to spread the materials in a layer over the surface. This is sometimes known as mulching. Mulch can have a very good insulating effect on your raised bed and with this in mind, it should be applied to your raised bed when it is warm and thoroughly wet. In other words late summer and give it a good soaking.

If you mulch a cold raised bed it will tend to stay that way. That being said, I find that you have to do what you do when you can.

I put compost onto my raised beds whenever they are empty whatever the time of year. However, I do make sure that the compost that I use is very fine and almost like soil. In the main, this is compost that is two or three years in the making.

I have been doing this for years and never had any trouble of any kind.

The advantages of laying the compost on top of the soil:

1. A mulch of compost will keep the soil moist.
2. Mulch will protect the soil surface structure from damage by rain and prevents it drying out.
3. Mulch is really the only way to apply soil-building and feeding materials to your fruit and shrubs after you have planted them.
4. Mulching is a very good method of applying materials that might otherwise cause nitrogen robbery of you soil.
5. Mulching is also very helpful in control weeds.

The disadvantages of applying mulches are:

1. Compost that is full of weed seeds can be a nuisance where you sow your crop seeds. The way round this is to sow you crops in pots/blocks and let the weeds in the compost germinate. Then you hoe them before they get too big and plant you growing crop from the pots. This way you will be ahead of your weeds all the time.

2. Material applied as mulch will take a lot longer to mix through the soil, so its effects will be slower. The way round this is to apply the compost mulch every year; thus, last years compost will be feeding this year’s crop.

Three Reasons To Have An Organin Garden

Three Reasons To Have An Organin Garden 

Below are three reasons why organic gardening can improve your quality of life.

You may insist that there is no reason to spend time learning about growing your own food, because you could buy at the local store anytime that you like. But what you might not know is that the food at your local store might well of come from thousands of miles away; be at least three weeks old and more then likely be grown with many chemically aided additives that it is hardly a vergeterbal and certainly not natural.

If you want a challenge and something that will be enjoyable, why not “grow your own?

Reason 1: It will teach you to not underestimate yourself.

If you do not know anything at all about growing or soil, that does not have to be an issue. You do not have to be skilled to get things done. You will find lots of books and how-to articles on the net about growing that you could study from.

Reason 2: Challenge yourself. If other people can do it, so can you.

This simple saying can truly work wonders for anyone. Never hesitate to do things you do not believe you are capable of doing. You will never know how to grow a carrot if you do not try to. Just think of the others who have done it. If you do some research, you will come across lots of personal success stories from grower enthusiasts.

Reason 3: Here is a way for you to make the most of your free time.

What do you do on your free time? If you are quite busy during weekdays, this does not mean that you will just sit back and chill out all throughout the weekend. Reports show that the more physical activity you get, the healthier you are. You will feel and look younger too.

When you find yourself tired of watching television or going down the pub, it is one way to keep yourself occupied in the winter season. You can master new skills and develop talents that you never thought you had, by creating something useful all by yourself. Just like cooking your own food - it is much more worthwhile and you will get exactly what you would like.

How many hours are you spending time on your PC? What do you surf most of the time? Are you just chatting with friends or browsing not so sensible reports?

You can study about gardening right now on line.

It is not difficult to grow you own veg even if you are a beginner. Yes, it will be a challenge. Think positive and be patient exploring about growing and you will find what you need.

Do not let “ I do not have any land “ be a reason not to start. You can grow carrots in an old bucket…just get out there and do it.

Organic Matter For Your Garden

Organic Matter For Your Garden

Organic gardening is about working with nature: If you walk about and see what is going on in the woods and wild lands you will notice that nature does not dig or plough; she employs the earthworm and soil bacteria, together with deep penetrating roots to do her work.

Another thing, that nature does is, supply an automatic and ample application of organic matter which in the process of decay produces organic acids to act upon the soil minerals and so make them capable of absorption by plant roots.

If we fail to follow the example of nature, we will find that the soil in our care has apparently become incapable of providing sufficient good food to sustain our population in health.

Do not burdened the cost of your gardening with chemical fertilizers, but take the wise step of making compost with which to feed your soil.

The earth is the permanent possessor of everything contained in it and which grows on it; they are loaned to the human and animal kingdom for bodily sustenance for the duration of life, but nature decrees that they shall, after use, be returned to the earth. 

So, treat the earth in your care with respect and care the way that nature does. 

Benefits of Making a Compost Heap:

Benefits of Making a Compost Heap:

Benefits of making a compost heap:

The process of composting plant and animal materials is not something that people have invented or made up. This goes on in nature and it happens naturally all the time.

What people who garden have done is, taken the natural process and refined it by making it quicker and productive to suit the needs of the garden.

The first thing to do is to gather all the ingredients together into a heap, rather then just leaving them on the soil where they fall.

The simplest compost heap can be made with no more containment that an old carpet to cover it.

However, many people go to great lengths to make some form of container or bin because it will look neater and be more effect then a loose heap with the result of a better product at the end.

Compost containers can be purchased ready made but it is also quite easy to make one yourself at home

The Benefits of making a compost heap are:

1. It allows mixing of different organic materials, which will give you better and quicker compost at the end.
2. The making of a heap will keep the materials moist, which again will speed up the process.
3. It allows the heat process to build up which will kill the pest and diseases and weeds, the heat will also speed up the process.
4. Making a proper heap will make your garden look much neater and tidier.

Should you use Shaving-Based Manures In Your Garden?

Should you use Shaving-Based Manures In Your Garden? 

Many horse stables use wood shavings rather then straw to bed down their horses. This makes the manure easier to handle, but it does cause a few problems chief of which is “ nitrogen robbery”

Wood shavings and chipping are very high in carbon and contain only small amounts of nitrogen. If the material is added to the soil without sufficient nitrogen, then the microbes rob the soil of its available nitrogen so that they can get to work on the shavings.

Eventually, when the wood savings have decomposed, the nitrogen will be made available again. The problem is this, it may well take a year or two. In the meantime, your crops will be short of nitrogen and turn yellow and be stunted.

In my view, the best way to use this sort of manure for your deep raised bed deep raised bed is to heap it up for a year and let it rot down. Make sure that it is covered with a plastic sheet to stop the rain leaching out all the goodness and have a bit of patience.

Strawy Manures

Strawy Manures

Manures With Straw in:

Cattle and horse are the most commonly used manures and they are the most available. They come mixed with straw that is used as bedding.

The analysis of the plant foods in these manures contain may make them look rather useless in comparison with a bag of bought fertiliser, but this is no reason to reject them, because it is not the whole picture.

Straw manure is applied to the land at much higher rates then bought fertilisers and their value is not limited to the plant foods they contain. Straw manures are particularly good for soil structure because they add bulk.

Fresh straw manures should not be used directly on the garden for four reason:

Unless the manure is from an organic source the straw is more then likely to contain residues of week killers and pesticides.

Nitrogen and potassium are easily washed out of fresh manure. This is a waste and could cause pollution.

Fresh straw manure contains nitrogen in a forum that is instantly available to plants; so, if you put in on the ground in the winter you will lose most of the goodness.

Fresh manure contains nitrogen in a form that can burn tender leaves.

Therefore, if you can get some fresh straw manures it is best to store in a heap for a year before digging it in the soil.

Kale: Why is it good

 Kale : Why is it so good.

This hardy versatile brassica has no need to justify its self as a supper veg. It is so rich in vitamins A,C and K folate and manganese and is also a great source of calcium and dietary fibre.

The problem, one finds is how to use it.

You can use the kale raw in salads, however you must any tough stalks, then shred the leaves finely and dress in advance to soften.

The kale is just as happy when it is cooked by adding chopped leaves to sups , curries and stir-fries, or blanch in salted water and saute quickly in oil and butter for an easy side dish.

You can also make kale crisps : tear 150gr leaves and toss with 1 and a half tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt, spread over 2 baking trays and bake for 10-15 mins at 180c turning halfway through.

Enjoy.

Good Weather

Good Weather:

Every garden or plot has its own weather and a real sense of not being any where else. I always judge the weather by what I wear on my feet.

Welles: Bad weather because it is wet, muddy, cold, or flooded.

Big boots: meaning not too wet.

Light weight shoes: a perfect day.

I would never go bare foot, as I have seen some gardeners. Because you never know what is in the soil: glass, snakes etc. 

Five Points for Organic Gardening

Five Points for Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is not something that is new, it is centuries old. The important thing to remember is that it is the soil that holds the key. Feed it with bulky organic materials to keep the microscopic soil-living creatures happy and you will creative a soil to grow healthy crops without the use of chemicals.

There are a few principles that make up an organic garden and they are:

Number one; no chemicals. Everything that you use must be of an organic nature. This is not as difficult as it sounds!

Number two: only grow plants that are native to the area, or best suited to the garden. So no bananas in Canada please!

Number three: This is the important one…feed the soil and not the plant. This means supplying plenty of organic materials for the soil to make an environment that will foster the growth of healthy and vigorous plants.

Number four: return to the soil more then you take out in the form of crops. This can be done by using compost and green manures.

Number five: promote diversity among you crop by following a simple plant rotation plan.

Chard

Swiss Chard: 

I grow Swiss Chard on my allotment because it is a bit like growing two vegetables for the price of one.

Chard can be sautéed whole and when the chard is a bit older, you can cook the leaves and use the rib in a stir fry.

Although Swiss chard can be seeded straight into the ground, I prefer to so mine in plugs and plant them out after a few weeks. I sow them the first week of april and plant them out the third week of may.

I place the seedlings about a foot apart and grow four plants, this gives us enough produce for the kitchen.

Leaf miners usually show up in the first week of june and can ruin young tender leaves. I deal with this problem by removing the spoiled leaves and wait for new growth. Because leaf miners have definite life cycles.it generally means if one flush of leaves is infested, the successive ones will not be. In fact I find in some years, I have no trouble at all. 

By mid-june when the leaves reach 4-6 inches long, you can start harvesting young leaves  at the base of the plant of the ribs so that plants continue to grow. Do not forget to separate the leaves from the ribs before cooking.

You will find that Swiss chard will put up with sever temperatures, so that you can enjoy fresh chard right the winter. 

This continual harvesting of chard means that I usually avoid dealing with the huge size leaves that you will find in the supermarket. It can be, however that you sometimes end up with large chard leaves. That is fine because you can cook the leaves and ribs separately.

Chards high water content means that the crop will not store very well. So when I have some in my fridge for a few days, I thoroughly wash it by dunking it up and down in a sinkful of luke warm water. This seems to do the trick.

How I decide to use the chard depends on its age.

Chard which has rubs with less than half inch wide needs nothing more than a quick wash in water. Anything bigger than that, I cut off the stem and use separately.

When the ribs are more than one inch, I not only cut off the leaves but also trim some of the heavy ribs that run up the back of the leaves. I also peel large ribs like celery. Taking a knife, I start at the end of the ribs, cut slightly into the flesh, and pull slowly down-- the strings peel off. .

My favorite way to cook chard is to saute the whole baby leaves and ribs together. You will find that older chard seems to darken when cooked.

I nearly always steam my chard.    

How do you learn to garden?

How do you learn to garden? 

It was the custom for gardeners to invest their labors and achievements with a mystery and secrecy which might well have discouraged any amateur from trespassing upon such difficult ground. 

"Trade secrets" in either flower or vegetable growing were acquired by the apprentice only through practice and observation, and in turn jealously guarded by him until passed on to some younger brother in the profession.

 Every garden operation was made to seem a wonderful and difficult undertaking.  If you are a beginning  you will not do just as well as the experienced gardener. However, you can lear by talking to other growers.

This garden business is a matter of common sense; and the man, or the woman, who has learned by experience how to do a thing, whether it is cornering the market or growing cabbages, naturally does it better than the one who has not. Do not expect the impossible the first time, look and learn.

This time of year, you need to make a plan.

What do you want? Better food, better health, better living--all these the home garden offers you in abundance.

Write down what you eat and read about times of sowing etc and get on with it.

A word of warning: Do not grow too much...only you know how much time you have.

Summer Garden

In summer the garden is in the zenith of its glory. The geraniums and salvias blaze in the autumn sun; the begonias have grown to a small forest of beautiful foliage and bloom; the heliotropes have become almost little trees, and load the air with their delicate fragrance.

However to-night--who knows?--grim winter may fling the land with a heavy frost which will advance across the land, by every roadside and into every garden-close; and to-morrow there will be but blackening ruins with strong winds.

Our gardens are in the mid winter: bare and bleak.

So what should you do?

Jan. Send for catalogues. 

       Make planting plan.       Order seeds.

Fresh veg.

Many people are turning their backs on super-markets, homogenized and bland bread in favour of something natural and nourishing. And what can be more natural than growing your own - with seeds, water, and care. Once you've mastered the growing - the vigorous little  seeds need  a bit of tender loving care and you're well on your way to a great-tasting  supper. You'll be amazed not only by the flavour and variety of fresh veg.

Winter can be hard.

Winter can be hard, dull and cold or it can be bright. When you try to protect yourself from the cold and discomfort the winter can become an overwhelming season of resistance and complaint.

Or you can walk in the cold, turn your face to the clarity of the moment: then winter will become a great exhilaration to sharpen your life.  

I am still digging and using my mulched and covered  beetroot, cabbage  as well as stored potatoes and onions and garlic.  Leeks are still on the go,my chard keeps refreshing itself. The snow and frost did not affect the crops. 

Weeds

Weeds use two strategies to spread: by spreading out with roots or by scattering seed.

So the way to get rid of the weeds: pull off the flower heads and put them in a bucket to rood down before you add them to the compost heap.

Make sure you dig the roots out rather then just trying to pull up the weed.

Seeds can make a journey of long distances. They can be blown on  the wind or hitch themselves to a passing animal, and so  arrive without warning in your garden. 

Annual weeds rely on this method to get anywhere, while perennials can fall back to an underground approach to keep marching on. We dread this lot.

The  loathsome types are brambles (rooting stems), buttercups (runners or stolons – stems that creep along the ground), ground elder and bindweed (rhizomes – subterranean stems), dock and dandelion (tap roots), mare’s tail,  Japanese knotweed (both rhizomes) and creeping thistles (spreading roots and seed). If you  dig them out and leave bits of root behind , in all likelyhood, they will regrow.

The  only way to deal with the biggest weeds will be to  dig them out nonetheless. 

There is a form of gardening called “Lasagne gardening” – where you layer sheets of cardboard and rough biological martial  on top of the soil –  This method, they say can defeat them, however that is not so. Take away the cardboard and up they come. 

In the deep mid winter

In the deep mid-winter; there is the light, where the winter sun shines in from the north.

Lighting up corners that you never see and throwing shadows that you never see. While at night the sky is deep and clear. You can see the Milky Way splashed across the sky, guarding the blackness of the deep.

Take a moment to look up and wonder.

Where do weeds grow.

Weeds: you think that they are unpredictable and turn up anywhere, however not so. I know where they will grow and when.

This is knowledge  which means that armed with this “know how’ you can have a weed free plot.

Weeds will turn up on any bare patch of ground....how quickly depends on the season.

So armed with this knowledge: never leave a bear patch.

Cover the soil with plastic or cardboard or what ever. Do not give the weeds a new growing patch.