Edel Project - Sussex Update

 

A quick update on what I have been doing this year for the Edel-Project; where crops have been bad or failed I will say so, since the idea here is to try to help each other by pointing out our own problems, and maybe errors. 

POTATOES - might as well start with this since it was not a good year at all; last year was excellent, this year not so. One bed suffered blight so I cut the tops off, the harvest underneath still being alright but small. This was my own fault since I put the spuds in a bed that had tomatoes last year and these suffered blight - completely forgot that. I have two small raised-bed allotments at the bottom of our road, and next year one will be used solely for potatoes. This should minimise the chance of blight, and these type of crops are best on allotments because they take little looking after. 

I had enough to make into mashed potatoes and freeze for use in the winter months, and I do not eat so much spuds now having cut down on carbs and increased fat. So do not need that many anyway. 

TOMATOES - a disaster! Started off badly because the seedlings grew badly, using 'brown-bin' compost, which will now be a thing of the past! The germination was bad and the growth was terrible. They did grow eventually, but very late in the season; luckily I had a next-door neighbour who swaps stuff with me (we run the allotments) and he gave me some plants. However, at the critical point of harvesting when they were turning red the whole lot got blight and I had to throw them out! They were really tasty tomatoes too, but no good crying over spilt milk. 

The alternative here is toms and spuds in containers, which is alright for some but since I regularly camp away during the summer months they will go dryer this way. The answer would be some form of automatic watering, which I now need to look into. 

CUCUMBERS - Might as well turn to this one now, since I had the best harvest for many years. Small, tasty cucumbers which produced plenty of seeds for next year too. These were in the poly-tunnel and one outside.

COURGETTES - Brilliant crop, especially since I am not that all keen on them, except to fill up a stew or soup. So gave many away to others. Always seem to grow too many too, since they seem to grow so well from seed and good germinators. 

SWEETCORN - Last year was bad, this year quite good, though not as well as two years ago when I had a really bumper crop. These are easy to grow.

CARROTS - For the second year running these have been poor, and I lifted the first lot because they were all top-growth and no roots. Put in a second batch but it is too early to say how these will do. 

LETTUCE - I have never had a poor harvest of lettuce, and this year was no exception. Did not plant as many this time, since I usually end up throwing many away. Planted a second crop in August and these are doing great too. I had an old wheel-cover fo the Land-Rover which I put on a raised bed and filled with seeds, which have come up well. 

PEAS -Brilliant as usual, even though I use commercially-produced dried peas, and these can be saved for the next year's crop too. The variety I used (Amazon Special) have coloured flowers, and people think they are sweet-peas in the front garden. Have sown a second crop which are now flowering and should give peas soon. 

KALE - Put these in instead of cabbage etc. and they have done reasonably well, though some were eaten by caterpillars. Always get problems with brassicas even when I net them, the butterflies always seem to get in somehow. This is why I left these out this year, whilst I find a solution to this problem. 

ONIONS - These did very well too, or at least the White Onions, since the Red Onions failed altogether for some reason. Have stored most for the winter months.

GARLIC - Great crop of those supplier-bought, but tried store-bought which were rubbish. Have some set aside for next year's crop. 

STAWBERRIES - Poor, but to be fair they were replanted last year, with many new ones, so I took the flowers off some to let them grow good roots etc.this year. We shall see next year how these fare, though I am going to move them again to a permanent site and cover with the mini poly-tunnel to keep the birds off them. 

APPLES - Massive crop from two trees, more and more of these each year, and have them stored all over the place, as well as giving some away to Freya and the lads.

RASPBERRIES - Very good crop of these too; I use them to make milk-shakes or 'smoothies', adding yoghurt and blending them. Mix with the blackberries that I grow too.

BLACKBERRIES - Another good crop of these too, better than previous years. I have a 'thornless' variety which I got from a runner from a garden I tend, but as they too produce runners they revert to being thorny. That is how Nature works.

THE ALLOTMENT PLOTS.

About 5 years ago I rented an allotment plot, and filled this with potatoes the first year; these did very well. I then rented two new plots next to each other, letting the original one go; doing a new chap a favour by letting him have these, since we were going to build new beds, he took them on last year, planted a bit of stuff, and never used them again! So this year I took the two back for myself but since it was late in the season I could do little but clear them up a bit, since he let them overgrow. One plot I shall use for potatoes next year, the other already has four rhubarb plants, a blackcurrant bush and redcurrant bush, so I'll fill this one with fruit and hopefully get it caged. 

With my next-door neighbour we run the allotment plots which are rented from the local council; they fund this and we have already put in two new beds, and replaced the sides of others which were damaged. Two compost bins are on their way and should arrive next week. An apple tree and pear tree were planted about 3 years ago, and we shall likely plant some more this winter - the council pays for these which is handy. 

My youngest son, Lee, has a plot and he has started to grow food for his family; he has done some landscape gardening so has some experience though not with food-growing, except where he helped me when younger. He has little time though since he works as a Security Guard, and on Close Protection Guard. But he has started to get into growing which is a good thing. My four children have all done some form of Martial Arts since they were young, Lee's getting him the work of Close Protection Security. Encouraging them to do this, and doing lots of survival work when they were younger, gives them a really good start in life, especially in these violent days. Growing their own food helps them to become more self-reliant. (*)

(*) In regard to this during the Kali Yuga (Warg-Age) it will be very difficult to get children to follow the ways of their parents, no matter how hard we try. This is why I tried to encourage my own children to do Martial Arts, Survivalism, and Prepping, since they are practical ways that will always come in handy in these times. They go their own way, as mine have done, all now having 'flown the next', but some of this sticks with them, and as they get older they look back to their childhood. I have tried at awaken them to what is going on, but in some cases this goes in one ear and out of the other, but...when they hear the same being said by someone else on Facebook. Tik-Tok etc. they are the first to point it out. Sometimes even the means by which The System enslaves us can be counter-productive for them. 

PREPPING FOR NEXT YEAR.

Most of the beds used this year have been dug over ready for next year; I always do this to tidy the area and get rid of the weeds at the same time. Garlic Cloves will be planted as soon as I get chance, these are from this year's harvest. Supplier-grown ones did great, but I tried store-bought which were rubbish. 

Lastly, the Edel-Project is just one of the projects we have in the WF-C, and we firmly encourage Folk-Comrades to continue 'Prepping' and training themselves in the basic survival techniques. Since we are threatened with the chance of a 'Standing Army' being built up for the reason of making a final thrust to enslave the English Folk, and the threat of 'Islamic Militancy' as well (if they are not one and the same), then there is a growing need to prepare ourselves for this - NOW! 

Edel Project - Sussex Mark

 

There are areas of the country that are reporting chem-trails which we know now to be the spraying of sodium iodide into the clouds, or at least that is one method being used to manipulate the weather. The sky was filled with these at the Midsummer Camp on the Saturday, and it rained heavily with a thunder-storm on the Sunday morning before we packed in. 

My point in bringing this up is that it is no longer feasible to think in terms of 'traditional' ways of growing in harmony with the seasons of Nature - these are being disrupted by the Forces of Chaos. For decades now the seasons have been disrupted, but now we face an even greater challenge. And we have to face this and try to find methods of growing that are suited to the swift weather-changes we face now. I am all for trying to grow in the methods used for centuries, which are tried and trusted methods, but this may not be feasible soon. This is a challenge that the Edel-Project can rise to if we work together to get around the growing problems we face (sorry about the pun!). 

I have just eaten a stew made from the vegetables from the garden - peas, broad beans, carrots, onion, potatoes, and kale. The main crop of peas has been frozen, as have the broad beans, the onions are not ready to fall over and dry as yet but I pick a few as they are to use now. Carrots have done much better this year, and the potatoes, even with blight in this bed, are fine; not a great crop but enough for me. The potatoes I lift and freeze by either blanching (chips) or cooking (mash/new potatoes). I am still finishing off mash frozen last year, so the new crop will replace this for another year - mash is the easiest to freeze. 

The above shows the garlic planted last autumn which is now beginning to die off at the tops; they will soon be ready to harvest the bulbs. These are best planted in autumn to over-winter because they get much more hardy that way.

I have just weeded the area between the raised beds; an onion plot can be seen to the left, and the potato-bed that had blight to the right, which I have cleared of the tops. The old cool-box is used to grow in, planted early it is well insulated.

A row of raspberry bushes which are doing really well this year; have not done so for two years but there is plenty of fruit coming on for the birds. These are really nest grown in an area that is netted, which I may well do one day.

I grew broad beans in three different areas of the garden, and this crop at the bottom of the garden was the only one that was affected by black-fly. Now, there is probably a good reason for this, since any gardener who uses a garden and an allotment knows that growing on an allotment always has more pest-problems than growing in the garden. Since the bottom of the garden is overgrown this seems to be the reason why this problem cropped up. But the beans are alright and these went into the stew today. (Spraying with soapy water can help to get rid of black-fly, but this must be caught early; the tops are usually affected first so cut these off.) 

These are the apples growing on one of the trees at the bottom of the garden; they are actually only about 1 1/2 inches but look larger. They are already ripening in the Sun. I have had the apple trees for about 8 years, and for the last 4 years the large one has produced tons of apples - I have to cook and freeze a lot of them because they will not keep long. One day I may get some form of fruit-dryer as an alternative, but this is yet to come. 

The tomatoes I grew from seed in seed-trays did not do well at all, but my neighbours gave me some plants and these are doing well. After they did so, of course, I found the garden covered in 'renegades' from last year's crops, and these now are doing just as well. These are grown inside the poly-tunnel, and I have others growing in a mini-greenhouse. 

This is a crop of 'renegade' tomatoes plants which I put in a large cold-frame which produces a great crop of peas which have been lifted and frozen. These are small tomato-plants that are scattered around, and would only go to waste. 

On the other side of the poly-tunnel are cucumbers, some of my own and some given by the neighbours (I do a swap with them on such things). 

These are three tubs/pots of mint - Garden Mint, Spear-Mint and Peppermint, all growing together in one area. I lift the roots in the late winter/early spring and repot them, at the same time using what is over to create new plants. This regenerates them every years and gets a much better and healthy growth. I make the usual tea and put a sprig of mint in the tea, usually peppermint. Mint is also great in cooking new potatoes. It can also be seeped in hot water and inhaled to help colds and flu. 

Runner beans which are now flowering, bright red and white flowers which is different. I am not so keen on runner beans, unless picked very small otherwise they are 'stringy' - even the 'stringless' ones! But usually end up picking them when they are larger and either suffering eating them or throwing them away! 

This is the second-growth of a pot of comfrey, the original plants given to me by Scyld. I keep them in a tub since they tend to spread easily and overcome the area where they are planted - like mint. 

This is a courgette grown in a tub; the leaves have gone yellow and are withering, most likely a sign of nitrogen deficiency, since this nutrient is needed for green growth mainly. This is likely due to growing in the tub without using a fertiliser (which I have not done this year), since the other plants I have are fine. I threw this one away since I have many other plants. 

This is another courgette plant which has small fruits which can just be seen; I have around 8 plants which is too much really, but they did so well from seed that I grew more on. 

Some years ago I bought a McCulloch Shredder from a chap next door to one of the gardens I maintain in Eastbourne. I have only used it a couple of times to shred up waste from cutting back a plum-tree in the garden. I dug it out of the shed where it has lain waste for about 2 years and I'm going to use it to shred the garden waste after harvesting certain crops. This should shred sweetcorn easily, and hopefully other plants too, as well as when I have to prune the fruit trees in the winter. The waste can then be either -

• Composted.
• By digging away the top 6 inches of soil in a raised bed, the shredding can be laid down and the soil returned to the top of the bed. (*)

(*) This is actually a good way to start a raised bed, since putting waste down first saves in buying lots of soil. Start with larger logs of wood and work down to smaller, and then shredding, then grass-cuttings etc. These will all rot down in the bed and produce nutrients for years. (It is called something like 'Hugelkultur' now, but that is a new fancy name for something that has been done for a long time.)

Note: I do a lot of grass cutting, and always bring the cuttings back home with me because they are most useful for many things. When they are bagged up you can feel the intense heat given off as they start to rot down, and this can be useful when planting in early spring. Take the top 4 inches of soil from the bed, and place new grass-cuttings in the bed; then replace the soil which heats up from underneath and warms the cold soil. For trays of seedlings take 2-3 inches of soil off the top of the bed and then replace the soil; put the seed-trays on the soil which acts as an 'underfloor' heating - one of the best ways to heat since the hot air rises, which the Romans did 2000 years ago. 

Lastly, this year I tried the idea of using sticks with copper coiled around them, and I have to admit that the crops this year were better. Now, it could never be proven that this was what caused this increase, since there are many other factors involved. What makes me feel there may be something in it is that I usually use chicken-pellets or blood, fish and bone when I plant the seedlings into the ground, but this year I have used nothing at all. During the coming winter I am going to try to go one stage further by cutting lengths of sticks and carving the ends with an Eohls-Rune at the top (Antennae), and the Calc-Rune at the bottom (Roots). An Ing-Rune could be carved/burnt in the centre of these two, since Ingwe is the 'rising of the sap' in the Spring. This sequence of runes is such that the sticks would be the same whichever way up they are used. The copper coil should thus be made to go from one end to the other, linking both of the outer runes together. 

Edel Project - Update

 

I did some more work on the growing today since the Sun was shining and it was a great day to get into the garden and get on with the project. Got an early start by doing a friend's garden first which was a good deal of hard work because he wanted a shrub removed with its roots, not always an easy job, especially since he said nothing of this so I had not the right tools to make it easy.

Moved the small meshed poly-tunnel onto the grass as planned, and dug another small area for planting up. also earthed up the potatoes whilst I was working this piece. 

The peas in the tub which was in the poly-tunnel was moved outside now, since the weather is now getting a bit warmer. These are already flowering so will soon be cropping. Time to set new seeds soon.

With the poly-tunnel freed up I dug over the two beds on the sides, extending the one on the left by about 18 inches. Cut back the Swiss Chard and Leaf Beat which were about to go to seed, since these might produce new shoots. 

Dug inside the small plastic greenhouse, and tidied the area around this, ready for planting some tomatoes, cucumbers and/or peppers. Not sure which as yet and may need to buy tomato plants this year, though some of the seedlings are now growing a bit more. 

Moved the small plastic mini-greenhouse out of the poly-tunnel; there are still some leeks growing, mixed lettuce and little gem lettuce, which will be ready in a couple of weeks by the looks of it. 

Dug over the new beds in front of the mini-greenhouse ready to plant the leeks and maybe some lettuce here. The Sun does not get on this area all day because this is north facing. But this area beside the shed is a sun-trap and gets very warm later. 

Both back and front gardens have many bluebells this time of year; in front is the plum tree that I cut back drastically, which is showing new growth though. 

Renegade Lemon Balm from the area at the bottom of the garden; I have potted these up for use in teas during the summer. 

Edel Project - South Saxon Mark.

 

So far this year we have had very little dry and warm weather, though things have just begun to change over the past week. This has, to some extent, set back the growing period, and some of the seedlings I planted just after Yuletide are still only small. I may have to resort to buying tomato plants to get an earlier crop this year, since it is mainly these that are behind. 

This crop of peas in a large pot inside the poly-tunnel is already flowering, so we are ahead with this rather than behind. The peas were planted in plastic containers and then transplanted in different areas of the garden. 

Here you can see the white flowers on the peas inside the poly-tunnel; they will crop early. I have already used some of the tops of sown peas in a soup that I made weeks ago; these are regrowing nicely afterwards. This 'cut-and-come-again' method I am trying with various different crops this year.

This row of peas is in the front garden (south-facing) and is also growing well; you can see the fennel growing in the foreground. These were sown about the same time as those in the poly-tunnel, but being outside they are a little behind. A glut of peas will be no problem since they freeze easily and without losing any of their nutrients. 

This bed has garlic bulbs which were planted last autumn to overwinter, which makes them more hardy. Alongside, and by a small fence, are more peas just sown today. I have tried to fill as much as possible around the garden. 

Here the peas sown beside the bed of garlic can be seen more easily; they are backed by bluebells and other flowers in this part of the garden. I like to mix the garden as best I can.

Next to the garlic bulbs I have just planted some sweetcorn which are seedlings taken from seeds from last year's crop. They are very small as yet but putting them in now should hurry them on a bit - if we don't have a frost. But they could be covered if needed.

This is a crop of Broad Beans sown in a moveable raised bed; they can be planted in the autumn which is a better bet since it helps to harden them and not be so vulnerable to blackfly - but if they are hit it just means cutting off the tops which are the soft bits they like. But autumn planting is better. I have various pots with these in which are in the front garden.

This is a bed of First Early Potatoes planted in mid-March and coming through well. 

The barrel is here filled with First Early Potatoes, next to the bed going the same. It was used as a Strawberry Barrel, but after some years of trying this I have never had a good crop, so change of plan. We shall see how this works this year. At the back, along the fence, is a Grape Vine.

This is another bed, but this time of Second Early Potatoes which have just been planted over the past few days. Growing in the bed is a Comfrey Plant which is a renegade, but which, when cut, will provide some of the potash needed for the spuds. Along the small fence are Raspberry Bushes.

In the small bed are onions, and to the right is another bed of Second Early Potatoes. I think I overdid the buying of spuds this year, but they are one of the easiest to freeze for the winter months. 

This is yet another crop of peas, this time fitted in beside a shed; I have used split-canes and small twigs from pruning over the years, stashed at the bottom of the garden as a 'hedge' before the stream.

These are 'suckers' that ran from a Plum Tree which I have cut back drastically since it is a small garden and cuts the Sun off somewhat, but it is growing again and will be kept in check. The 'suckers' - if they grow - will be used in the woodland.

This is a cold-frame in which peas were sown earlier in the year, to help to keep the frost off whilst they were started. These are doing well, as is the Rhubarb that grows there too. These early crops can be harvested and the areas used again for later stuff. This bed was filled with successive grass-cuttings, leaf-mould, and over winter with the waste from the cabbages etc. 

Runner Beans have been planted by the canes, and in front of these more onions from sets (the seeds have not germinated this year at all). The Runner Beans are as yet not showing.

Leaf Beat and Swiss Chard, from last years work, are just trying to go to seed, but still being used in soups - one of which I had today. I have new seedlings growing that will replace these, but will be planted outside, since I need the poly-tunnel for tomatoes and cucumbers. 

I have grown cress (shown here) this year which seems to be a success; next to the cress are Strawberries which are runners from someone else's garden which I was given. A crop is already in the garden but these I'll find somewhere else to grow, and my youngest son can have some too for his allotment. 

These are the Strawberries which are just put into a container for now, but which will need moving soon into a place where they can grow. This whole area in the poly-tunnel will need clearing and digging over for the tomatoes and cucumbers, and maybe peppers if they grow - which was not the case last year since I think I have just two peppers to eat. 

The top photo is of the 'renegade' Comfrey plant, and the bottom is a set of Comfrey Plants grown in a tub, given to me by Scyld who is also working with the Eden-Project. 

These are Rhubarb Plants grown from seed two years ago and which are this year growing bigger. I had to replace those I have had for years and doing so with seeded crops has been a success. Saves a lot of money too, and I'll certainly do so again.

Two tubs of Mint here, one of Spearmint and one of Peppermint; I take out the old plants each spring and divide them into new pots, so this year I have around 6 pots of mint of these two varieties. They are used in cooking and for herbal teas, as well as being useful for steeping in boiling water and inhaling. 

A tub growing potatoes; again these are scattered around the garden to fill up spaces; they serve to produce the early crops of small salad potatoes. I have also grown one in a sack this year, and they can be grown in black bags.

These are peas grown in the south-facing front garden of the house: they were first put into a cold-frame which was then taken off and used over the first lettuce plants, which themselves have now grown big enough, so the frame has been moved to smaller lettuce plants. 

A large pot of Peppermint is in the front garden, seen here with a smaller pot of the same, taken from the roots of the larger pot in the spring. These go from years to year, and I get more and more new plants as the process goes on.

This is another experiment this year: in the pot are beetroot seedlings which are being used as a 'salad-crop' or for in soups and stews, using a 'cut-and-come-again' method. Not sure, but one of the pots had seeds especially grown for this, but the other has normal beetroot - but seems to make no difference whatever in this use. 

These various pots and tubs have beetroot (as above) and at the back are some Broad Beans in a tub. Back left, the pot is filled with Spring Onions, planted in a clump; this method is used to cut-and-come-again once more, since in my experience Spring Onions seem to take a long time to get the bulbs - this cuts this out altogether - cut like Chives.

These are the very small lettuce seedlings that I planted out a few gays ago: I have placed the cold-frame over them to help them grow quicker. The egg-shells are to help stop slugs, and dug in afterwards, over time, they also get into the soil which helps to stop the slugs, whose 'eggs' are laid under the soil. It does work after a few years.

This is the bed with the larger lettuce, ready to start cutting now; planted with them today are more clumps of Spring Onions. This raised bed had to be revived this year after parts were rotting away after last season. 

Next to the growing Fennel I have just planted out some Kale in small clumps, again hoping to cut-and-come-again with these plants. This I have not tried before so it is an experiment. As you can see, every bit of space is being used up for planting.

I still have one small allotment plot but having given one over to my youngest son it is not as yet quite ready for planting. I have a crop of Main-Crop Potatoes to go into this which helps to clear the bed at the start - not quite since the work is done ourselves in this respect. I will also have another plot when we have got them ready. 

This year more has been planted already, and I have put in a new small raised bed, and am considering using another bit of the grassed area to make another one. I still have courgettes and squash to go in, so will need more space for these.

The small, netted poly-tunnel will be used for brassicas again this year: I have moved it to get ready for this. My crops of brassicas has never been great, and even with this very thin netting, and checking for holes, the cabbage-white butterflies still seem to somehow creep in and lay their eggs. This is why I don't grow much of these, though I am thinking of growing some in tubs which may be easy to cover and harvest - we shall see how this pans out. A thought crossed my mind here, and that is, rather than putting in a new bed in the grassed area, I may move this poly-tunnel to a place on the grass, and grow the stuff in pots under it. I leave some grass to sit out on in the summer months, and it is full of daisies and dandelions which make a nice show - and are edible. I have also dug a small area of the front grass last year, and this year planted First Early Potatoes in that. It is rather sheltered under an Ash-Tree, but they should grow into small early spuds for salads etc.