Today's planting

Sharon Astyk http://sharonastyk.com/ says that you should plant something every day, harvest something every day and preserve something every day. As my kitchen isn't built yet preserving will have to wait but the planting needs to happen now.

I finally managed to get a barrow load of compost through a couple of hundred metres of slush so the planting has begun.

I'm focussing on two main types of thing that need to go in now. One are the seeds that need a period of cold and the others are members of the tomato family that need a long season.My bender stays quite warm as long as the fire keeps going and from now on the fire won't be allowed to go out until the weather warms up.

Here's what I planted today. Information about the plants comes from the Plants for a Future website. I use them a lot for information.

As I don't have a refrigerator I'll have to put seeds that need stratifying outside in pots and hope for the best.

Stratifying seeds:
Elaeagnus Angustifolia http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Elaeagnus+angustifolia 
MD12 (Moderately Dormant needs 12 weeks at 2-5 C)

Arbutus Unedo, Strawberry tree http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Arbutus+unedo
(Pre Chill min 3 max 10 weeks We'll bring these indoors at the end of February)


Celtis Australis, Nettle tree http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Celtis+australis
MD12


Zizyphus Jujuba, Chinese date http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Ziziphus+jujuba
MD12


Acer Saccharum, Sugar Maple http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Acer+saccharum 
MD12


Seeds planted in the warm

Araucaria araucana, Monkey puzzle http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Araucaria+araucana



Quercus Ilex, Holme Oak http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Quercus+ilex 

Pinus Pinea Italian Stone Pine http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Pinus+pinea



Carica Papaya (No plants for a future reference this plant cannot live outdoors here in the UK  but I thought I'd have a go at keeping a couple in pots indoors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaya )


Aubergine Rosa Bianca http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Solanum+melongena

Chillis Bhavnagari long, Black Hungarian,  G-4 Cobra, Yellow Scotch Bonnet http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Capsicum+frutescens 


Peppers Chinese Giant, Italian pepperoncini, Sweet Chocolate http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Capsicum+annuum 

Tomatillo Da Milpa, Physalis Ixocarpa http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Physalis+ixocarpa



Tomatoes Black from Tulsa, Black Krim, Black Pinapple, Bloody butcher, Carbon, Cherokee Purple http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Lycopersicon+esculentum


So there we are, the first seeds are in, not that it's made much of a dent in the seeds I bought this year let alone the other several hundred varieties from previous years that really could do with going in this year. Well, what is possible will be done.

Waiting for a thaw

The compost heaps are still covered with snow but it's now thawing fast. 

While we wait I thought I'd tell you some of the things we did last autumn.

The first few trees in the forest garden were planted in September. It was a bit early to move them and we may have some losses but they were dug up with as much of the root ball intact as possible. For now there are a couple of pears, a couple of cider apples some cherry plums and a bunch of fruit bushes. In the next couple of weeks I'll start producing the planting diagrams and I'll list the varieties. All around the polytunnel garden we've planted redurrants, gooseberries, blackcurrants, a couple of holm oaks, some chocolate vines and a large bed of Apios Americana, the American ground nut which is one of the species I hope eventually to use to produce vegetable oil. Another 10 simple mulch beds have been made with a couple of proper wood sided beds in that area so far. 2 beds contain strawberries, 3 others contain a mix of plants brought up with me from my last project in Wales, I intent to propagate them for the forest garden. I'll list them when I put up my first proper design document. There are two beds of garlic and all the other beds contain winter onions.

Mulch beds are the quickest and easiest way of making beds. You start by clearing whatever is growing there at present to the ground. You then cover the area of your bed with a layer of cardboard (Preferably without too much coloured ink on it) then depending on what you want to plant in it you sprinkle an amount of well rotted manure onto the cardboard and then a few inches of properly rotted down compost. to keep down weeds you keep mulching it as they appear with more compost or you can cover the bed with straw or haylege to suppress unwanted plants.

The bulk of the beds we're going to make we intend to double dig with a mini digger and lined with planks made here at the farm by Danny. I have double dug beds by hand before but it is back breaking work and the planned 150 beds would take me a couple of years to dig if I had the stamina.

To double dig a bed you mark out the area of the bed, then you dig to a spades depth a few feet putting the earth you dig out to one side. You then dig down another spade depth and mix that earth with the first earth you dug out and you work back along the bed until you have mixed up the earth to two spades depth all along the bed. You fill the bed to ground level, put in your restraining planks then mix the remaining earth with whatever mix of compost and manure you want for what you intend to grow in it and fill up the box made by the planks. (The stakes to hold the planks are better on the outside in my opinion but some prefer putting them inside for appearances. You never dig or stand on a raised bed once it's made. From now on maintenance will mostly be mulching as you put back the organic matter your plants will use up.


I'll document the process in pictures once we get started in earnest.


The photograph is of a chicken hut on tall legs to prevent the fox taking the chickens. It isn't occupied at the moment but that will change in a few weeks after we visit the agricultural auction.