Edel Project Report

 

With the 'Lockdown' last spring I took the opportunity to improve my growing potential through the following -

• I made 5 new raised beds.
• Bought a mini-greenhouse which stands against the front wall which is south-facing.
• Made a small and a large cold-frame. 

The years growing was much better than previous years, so this year I intend to move further with these type of projects. I have already dug and prepared the beds, apart from a piece at the bottom of the garden which is fenced off and has two apple trees planted there, one of which fruited brilliantly last year. 

• I have already prepared the Poly-Tunnel making a bed inside it, into which I have put onions (sets), and planted some 'renegade' lettuce which grew from seeds dropped from plants I let go to seed. Another small bed is being prepared for peppers. I have room down one side for tomatoes in pots, and also shelving at the back for growing pots of cucumbers. 
• Have bought a small plastic-covered mini-greenhouse which I am going to put on an area I made on the side-patio to grow various plants in pots and containers. These things do not last long but this will do until I get chance to make something stronger.
• I intend to branch out into growing gourmet mushrooms, both on wood-chips and on logs from the woodland. 
• I have also an area at the bottom of the garden in front of the Poly-Tunnel which is now unused; thinking on what do do here at the moment.

I have started to propagate seeds indoors, using an area of the store-room which was once an indoor coal-shed. This is cool but not cold and is quite good for doing this because when too hot and humid some seedlings tend to damp-off. I had no trouble with this last year. What I did last year was to grow them to a reasonable size, and then shift to the mini greenhouse, even if this needed a candle lighting overnight to keep the temperature above freezing (we get few frosts here anyway, although this year has seen around 5 days already. The frost does not affect the middle shelf so much so less hardy plants go here. (The secret is to experiment to find out what is best.)

This year I have decided to change things rather drastically; last year it seemed best to cram as much as possible into the space I have, so this I did, and it worked out fine. With some of the raised beds a new and tried method will be used - breaking them into squares and planting many different varieties in the same bed. Traditional gardening plants in rows, with each species in its own row, and having to use the method of planting certain types in certain places, changing year after year - crop-rotation. Now this is a tried and tested method, and may well be the best way to do this, but I have not stuck to this so far and things have been doing fine. 

The aim in 2021 is to try the method of growing close together in small squares, with many varieties of different types in the same bed. From what I hear of this it tends to stop disease and predators because when grown separately the smell of each plant attracts certain predators. When different varieties are grown together this should tend to mask these smells a little. Another advantage is that ground-space is taken up completely, which can be no bad thing since it -

• Keeps the weeds down because they will not grow in the shade, and the seeds will not so easily be shed on the soil.
• It has to help to retain moisture, especially in hot summers when this is needed, and unfortunately we get very wet winters now and hotter summers.
• Maximum crops are gained from doing this.

Anyway, that is the 'Master-Plan', but then plans do not always go well, so we shall see what happens. As I said, some seeds have already been planted early, mainly those that I had left from last year or before -

• Exhibition Onions.
• Onions - lost the label.
• Lollo Rosso Lettuce (seeds from last year).
• Lettuce (seeds from last year).
• Perpetual Spinach (seeds from last year).
• All-the-year-round cauliflower.
• Chard.
• Peas (Kelvedon Wonder from last year).
• Peas (Dried Peas - after soaking overnight) Experiment because they used to grow fine but had no result last year.)
• Leeks (Musselburg from last year.)

Will next try planting tomato seeds from my own tomatoes, a couple given to me by Scyld, and some supermarket tomatoes. I have other seeds saved from last year which need sowing in February-March.

Experiment Number Two - Last autumn (fall) I cut the root sections of three onions and planted them up; they have grown and have survived the winter so far outside. I have done this with an onion (my own) this week, and also with a supermarket-bought lettuce (have not got round to going over-winter with lettuce, but this is to come). It seems that there are various vegetables that this can be done to, and I see no harm in trying this out. 

Experiment Number Three - Micro-greens - There are certain vegetables that can be grown and harvested when very small, thus being able to get a very early crop. The most used is cut-and-come-again lettuce but there are various other plants that can also be grown like this -

Peas - the small shoots can be eaten.

Beetroot - the small leave can be eaten.

Pac Chou - these should be eaten when small for best flavour.

Spring Onions - cut the green tops off and eat these, they will come again.

These are just a few, since more root-crops have edible tops and can be used in salads or for cooking. But there is enough here to use for very early salads, and also in stews or soups. 

Other things to try this year -

• Growing ginger in a pot; supermarket ginger can be used I think, and this has some important medicinal properties.
• Growing garlic from the supermarket; did this last autumn and there are still shoots on the plants and have over-wintered (not what one should do I expect). Will try growing in the right part of the year this year, have not tried this before. Garlic is also a medicinal plant. 

Need to find a method of limiting damage by black-fly as these affected some of my Runner Beans and Broad Beans. One set of Runner Beans was damaged by these pests. A tip I have heard of is to grow stinging-nettles near to such crops because this attracts ladybirds and other predators of aphids. Luckily I have plenty growing by the stream at the bottom of the garden and will put some roots in pots to move around. I have sprayed with soapy-water which is alright if they are caught straight away, but if they are established this does not do the trick. 

Nettles - these are readily found everywhere, and they are a very useful fertiliser. This is easy to do - put a load of young stems and leaves in a bucket and fill with water. Put a lid on and leave for around 6 weeks, after which the liquid can be used as a fertiliser. Use I part nettle-liquid to 10 parts water. When doing this put the bucket somewhere out of the way because the process stinks! This gives your plants nitrogen and for potatoes and tomatoes which also need potash when producing fruit you can do exactly the same with comfrey. This does not smell quite as bad but advisable to put somewhere out of the way. 

This year I have made up a 'Master-Plan' of where everything will be grown; of course this is very flexible because nothing works out the way we feel it should. But it means that the garden should get off to a good start and I know exactly what I have to do and at what stage. I have also started to look at the best place to grow certain vegetables, some doing better with more sun or some more shade, and this is an important part. (This is another reason why crop-rotation is very hard in such conditions.) My back garden is north-facing which creates a problem, hence the reason the front garden is also used to grow vegetables because it is south-facing. 

I have also ordered a load of wood-chippings from Chipdrop which is something started (I think) in the US; they drop a load of wood-chippings for free, so long as you take a full load (around 20 square yards by the look of it) and do not mind the fact they give no notice of when it is going to be dropped. It also contains some pine-needles and other things but since it is FREE then who cares? It can take days or months since it comes from arborists. This will be used for pathways around the raised beds and also for composting. It can be used as a mulch but it is said by some that this takes nitrogen out of the soil - we shall see. I can see this going somewhat tits-up since I have to have it delivered and dropped on the grass outside the house - this is where I find if there are any 'state-spies' around here!