Floods

Things are not good on my allotment. We have had so much rain here in the UK that the river Thames is in flood. My plot is under 64cm of water. What I am worried about is my fruit tress and fruit bushes. I do no know how long they can survive with their roots under water. The cabbages and roots will be allright. When the floods gone down I will hang my cabbages upside down in my shed. They should last for weeks like that.

Voting For Mr Obama

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been warned about Hurricane Sandy. It seems to me that the BBC went to inordinate length to make sure that I was safe. As I live in Oxford UK, I did not feel the need to do any of the suggest actives; like leave home or climb onto the roof. The storm came and went and much the same thing happen with the American election, which in my opionn was an open and shut case and nowhere near the cliff-hanger that it was billed to be. (I am very please that Mr Obama was re-elected) However, what does concern me is the trouble that we are facing here in the UK with Ash Trees. It appears that we are going to lose all our eight million Ash trees in the next few years. Does this matter? Of course it does. Everything hangs together; if one thing falls who knows what the outcome will be. The UK is an surrounded by water, at least it was the last time I looked. So why are we getting loads of 'nastiest' arriving on our shores? What can we do about it? Not much you might think but you are wrong. Voting for our leaders is the main thing that we can do. I am very shocked when I hear people say on the TV " I am not voting, it’s not worth it ". People have died for the right to vote (and still are). My father fought a war for five years for the right to vote. What is the matter with people, do we not realise that that the next 50 years are more then likely the most important fifty years of humankind’s history. Just look at us! We need leaders to stop the mess we are getting into. Thank God for Mr Obama and people like Malala Yousafzai, (schoolgirl shot by Taliban). Go out today and do something to change the world for the better. Grow your own veg. or do not buy strawberries imported from far afield. It is nearly mid-winter for heavens sake. We do not need strawberries now.

How to take care of your border plants

Nice sunny November day and wondering what to do in the garden? Just take a pair of secateurs to your perennials that have now gone past there best. Numerous plants with structural seed heads will by now, 0f started to fade or collapse due to rain and wind. Many of the taller shrubs may well be rocked by strong winds, which will damage the roots by allowing excessive moisture and frost to get down there. You can prevent this problem now by firming the soil around the base of the plant and reducing the height of deciduous shrubs. This is also a good time to look to your secateurs: get them sharpen and oil up. Secateurs and shears do no last forever…if you need new ones why not put them on your Christmas list; got to be better then another hand knitted woolly jumper from Auntie!

Another Reason to Eat Organic

The other day, I was watching a programme on TV about growing peppers. I know, I should get out more but it was raining at the time. The peppers were being grown in a glasshouse the size of 22 football picthes. Everything was automated and there was not a bit of soil in site. There were two guys pouring chemicals into a vast vat of water, stirring it up and piping the mixture to the plants which were being ‘grown on rockwool-type material' No wonder the peppers that I grow on well-composted soil taste better!

I like Raspberries because they are an excellent crop for the organic grower to grow. They are very easy to establish and will crop very heavily producing up to 1.5kg of fruit per cane for upwards of 10 years. Make sure you choose a good sunny spot and feed well. I only go for late fruiting verities because the birds do not seem to go for them. My favourite is Autumn Bless and right now they are fruiting very well on my plot.

Grow your own lettuce

There is one crop that most of us can grow what ever our circumstance as well as grow it nearly all year round. That crop is lettuce, which can be grown in a big garden or in a bucket as well as everything in-between If you are really organized and you have a greenhouse or polly tunnel, you can grow your own lettuce pretty much all year round. Lettuce is are quite a bit hardier than you might think and you can get special winter varieties to see you through the colder months. In the winter time they slow right down (they can take up to ten weeks) though so you have to be patient and sow well in advance of when you hope to harvest. What you need is to be patient and organised – then you can be sure of having your own lettuce on the table and what a treat it is. Unfortunately the lettuce is prone to all sorts of pest and diseases which means the lettuce that you buy in the local store can be sprayed as much as eight times in its short life. The growers want a fast turnaround and high yields so the plants are grown very close together with lots of extra nitrogen and often under plastic, which makes them prone to fungal diseases. In addition, because it is grown fast commercial lettuce is often rather tasteless. Many of these pests can be over come if you leave space round each plant so that there is plenty of air. In addition, there are many ways to keep slugs away from you crop You might want to try different varieties for taste and seasonal growth. Even an everyday variety like Little Gem has more taste and texture when it is grown slowly. Lettuce seeds will keep for a year or two. One of the secrets to growing lettuce successfully is to sow the seed little and often. It is far better to sow a few plants once a week than a big batch once a month. You are much more likely to get a steady supply of tasty salad rather than a boom or bust glut. It also pays to grow several different varieties. It makes your salads more interesting and because different varieties grow at different speeds, your harvest will be more spread out. You can get packets of lettuce mixed seed now, which are handy, if you have limited space. I have found these to be very handy and use them all the time. What you get is an interesting and well-balanced blend.

Book Review For: Make Your Garden Feed You

Book review for “ Make your garden feed you: This is a very small book, having only just over 100 pages. There are no photos however the book does contain a few helpful drawings. “Make your own garden feed you” was written in 1940 when the world was at war; however, we are still at war only this time it is an economic world war with most counties struggling money wise. So it really is true to say that this little gem of a book is a book for our difficult times when once again people are up against the wall it terms of trying to feed themselves and their families on low budgets. The main message of this book is how to slash your shopping budget by growing your own food. This includes three short chapters on keeping rabbits/hens and bees. Although the advice given is short if you follow it to the letter, you would have enough meat/eggs and honey to sustain your table without spending too much money. I know this because I have in the past keep all three stock and the advise in the book is very sound and good practice. As to the main thrust of the book: it is all about growing vegetables in an organic and practical way using the resources that you have at hand (remember it was written during war time for people who only had what they had to hand). The book contains all the usual stuff like such as digging/preparing soil/composting/seeds/what to grow/how to grow/pest/month by month jobs. In addition, the “ Make your Garden Feed you” also continues sections on flowers as well as fruit. If you have no idea how to grow anything but want to/ or need too then this book is for you. From big gardens to contain growing, you really do not need any thing else to get your going. The book does a very good job if you know what you are doing and just would like to get” back to nature and do it simply”. There is no “fluff” or page filling in the “Make Your Garden Feed You” It says what it does on the tin. One thing that the book does not have: there is nothing or very little about crop storage or how to use you crop. However, unlike the people of 1940 we have the Internet and fridge/freezers, that they did not. I cannot recommend this book too highly, go grab yourself a copy and get growing!