The first leaves are starting to drop so it’s time to make leaf mould. The usual recommendation is to build an enclosure made from chicken wire and just pile the leaves into it. A few years back I did a trial of a wire enclosure and a builders bulk bag, the kind used for delivering 1 tonne lots of sand etc. After a year the material in the big bag was useable but that in the wire box was far from ready.
Leaf mould is just what it says, leaves going mouldy and rotting down, it’s a fungal process so the leaves need to stay damp. Having an open sides means they dry out and the process slows down. Using a closed sided container really speeds up the rotting and can produce leaf mould in a year. It does depend on the leaves as some take longer than others.
This year I plan to use an area bounded on three sides by dry stone walls. I’ll use some old pallets lined with cardboard for the other side which will allow access to the pile. The top stays open to the rain.
Leaf mould is useful in the garden as a low nutrient soil conditioner. I use it in the autumn on carrot beds which do not need fresh fertliser. Some people add other stuff like grass clippings which speeds up the process but gives something that is likely to have more nitrogen. Personally I use just leaves collected locally.
The other controversial subject is whether the leaves should be shredded or not. I have done both in the past and the shredded leaves certainly rot down a lot quicker. Using a vacuum shredder also makes collecting leaves easier.
Finally, when the leaves really start to drop invite your friends round for a leaf gathering party. Feed them hot soup and homemade bread and have some fun.
This is interesting. It shows how a composting toilet can work in a home and how to use grey water for irrigation. Watch the video click here.
We have been using a DIY composting toilet at the garden for around 3 months. The bucket has been emptied once into a mature compost heap i.e. one that was hot which left to work for a year. The compost will then mature for another year before it is used in the veg garden.
There is absolutely no smell from the toilet as each ‘deposit’ is covered with sawdust. It works really well and gives 5 star facilities for the helpers at the garden. Have a look at my previous post for more information about simple compost toilets.
This is just a superb way to cut down water consumption and make something useful. I find it amazing that we should use so much drinking water to flush toilets; it’s a massive waste of resources.
An article in The Independent today says that the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland administrations are all totally against GM crops. That is good news and should give the government a real taste of what people think of GM.
All three devolved governments have declared themselves implacably opposed to any modified crops in their territory, setting the scene for one of their sharpest-ever confrontations with Westminster. And their opposition is likely to have an impact throughout Europe, sapping the UK’s hitherto obdurate support for the introduction of the technology throughout the Continent.
This is short film introducing a rooftop garden built by a community food group in Canada. Once again it is an excellent example of what can be done and something we should be doing in the UK. There are just so many vacant roofs that could be used to grow food.
There is still time to plant some crops for over wintering. This is advice from Seeds of Italy. I have not tried what they suggest but it all seems reasonable.
September is the last month for sowing most cutting lettuces, endives, radicchios and chicories. Lambs lettuce can be sown until the end of Oct as can radish, spinach, chervil, Marjoram, lettuce bionda a foglia liscia, lettuce Ciucca, lettuce Gioccia d’Oro, lettuce Lollo Rossa, Parella Rossa and Parella Verde and Red Salad Bowl.
Now is the time to sow winter lettuce. They are special varieties that not only survive low temperatures but will also put on some growth in low winter light levels. Previously I have used “All Year Round” which is relatively easy to find, “Montel” , “Valdor”, “Arctic King”, “Erika” and “Winter Density”. All worked well and in our cold winters, it’s been -10C for the last 5 years, some did better than others. I will sow a range of varieties this year to see which is best. I should add that I use the polytunnel beds as I have never had the nerve to sow in open ground. Maybe that would be a good trial.
The other thing I should add is that lettuce put on some growth in the autumn then just sit there through the coldest months and finally grow again in late winter/early spring. We have harvested in February which is a real treat.
We started the great autumn cleanup today. The sun was shining and it was warm after a very misty start. I always think this is the time of year when one gardening season ends and another starts so it’s time to think about next year.
This season has been strange yet again. The weather has been unpredictable and notably wet. Spring was cold which held everything back for several weeks but as ever we seem to have got there in the end. There were successes and failures which is normal. This year was good for summer raspberries, sweetcorn, onions, potatoes and cabbage. And not so good for strawberries again.
One thing is certain, the seasons have changed, weather patterns are different and unpredictable. My guess is that this is climate change in action and something we have live with. How does this affect the garden? The wet summers mean that mildew resistant varieties are essential especially as the garden is prone to moulds.
Over the last five years I have found what works for us which is one of the basics of organic gardening. Onions are a good example; we get excellent crops by using a variety called “Jetset” with sets planted in offset rows at 20cm (8”) spacing. Other varieties suffered badly from mildew which decreased yields. Now the problem is that the onions are too big! It really is worth taking some time to find what works in your garden.
So, now it’s time to start planning for next year. High on the list of jobs is preparing the beds for their next crops. That might mean a cultivation and application of well rotted manure or it could mean planting a green manure. There are already four beds down to green manure but the resident pheasant population decimated three of the four beds so they need re-sowing. Another job for the list.
“Former criminals nurture a healthy harvest amid wasteland shacks”
When the so called ‘developed world’ hits a financial crisis the press is full of stories about the turn away from organics. As I have said before maybe this is because there has been a concerted effort by the critics to label as organic food as a fad or high priced niche market. It seems this is not the case in Kenya’s largest slum.
An article in The Guardian yesterday shows just what can be done by people with little money, resources and at times, hope. It also shows that organic growing is the only method of growing available to people who have nothing and it proves it can be very successful.
A recent article in New Scientist (13 Sept 08) shows the amounts of greenhouse gases produced by the food we eat. It is the first time that anybody has tried to calculate just how much CO2 and other gases are produced by the production of food.
The most startling statistic from this work was that the average US household food accounts for twice the amount of CO2 than is produced by driving.
It may surprise you to learn that our diets account for up to twice as many greenhouse emissions as driving. One recent study suggested that the average US household’s annual carbon food-print is 8.1 tonnes of “equivalent CO2 emissions” or CO2eq (a measure that incorporates any other greenhouse gases produced alongside the CO2). That’s almost twice the 4.4 tonnes of CO2eq emitted by driving a 25-mile-per-US gallon (9 litres per 100 kilometres) vehicle 19,000 km - a typical year’s mileage in the US.
The other, less surprising, fact is that processed foods have a bigger carbon footprint than fruit and vegetables. Meat is particularly high and the article quotes a 300g pack of meat as having 4800g while a 1kg bag of potatoes is a mere 240g.
The first leaves are starting to drop so it’s time to make leaf mould. The usual recommendation is to build an enclosure made from chicken wire and just pile the leaves into it. A few years back I did a trial of a wire enclosure and a builders bulk bag, the kind used for delivering 1 tonne lots of sand etc. After a year the material in the big bag was useable but that in the wire box was far from ready.