Soul Of Infinite Life

…otherwise known as SOIL.

I recommend a pot of strong coffee before reading this piece. Maybe some cake would help too.

Soil. It isn’t pretty, it isn’t sexy, it isn’t exciting – or is it?

The good stuff

There are sandy soils and clay soils, chalk, silts and peats and then there are the loams, which are a mix of clay, sand and silt. Gotta love the loams!

Without soil we would be in a pickle and yet it is often the very last thing to be given a thought when gardening. I wrote about green manure two weeks ago because apart from it helping insects it provides valuable nutrients for the soil in preparation for the growing of veg and flowers.

So, in the absence of a friendly horsey person and a shovel and sack – get the green manure in, in fact do both. On different areas of course – there is such a thing as over-feeding!

Get your soil to the best you can and you are almost certainly guaranteed good crops whether your interest is in growing fruit and veg or ornamental. They all need the same good basis to get their roots into.

I see September as the start of the growing year; I see soil as the start of the growing.

'Dead' soil

The two opposites of the soil spectrum are clay and sandy – clay being heavy, dense and easily binds together – the other, sandy, being light, gritty and doesn’t bind.

Clay is heavy in nutrients but due to its dense, binding nature these nutrients are not readily available to plants – whereas sandy soil struggles to hold on to nutrients as the water quickly drains through, flushing them away.

How’s the coffee and cake going?

Oddly, for both soil opposites, clay and sandy, the same process is needed.  Organic matter – yes, back to the muck and manure again. Organic matter will open up the clay particles making the nutrients available to plants and it will bind the sandy particles together to hold onto the water and therefore more nutrients.

So saying soil is boring would be like saying air, sun and water are boring.

A while back a pal of mine came to a garden centre with me to help me carry three very large bags of compost to the car – when we got to the till to pay he said ‘you’re paying how much for dirt!’  He isn’t a gardener.

Some of you know I have been involved in setting up an allotment project here on camp – it has been a long process getting the military might to hand over a small plot of land for those of us mad enough to want to grow our own.

After two years of pushing, we were given a small piece of what was once a football pitch/sports area and has been used as a dog-walking area for many years.

We set about stripping turf off our plots only to find the soil is all but dead. My first main season of growing has almost come to an end with the inevitable disappointing results of attempting to grow good quality crops in poor soil.

Much muck and green manure is going to be needed!

Are you thinking I’m obsessed with muck and manure by now?

Recognising your soil

Sandy – gritty, dries out very quickly, nutrients wash out quickly
Clay – heavy, lumpy and sticky when wet, rock-hard when dry, nutrients are locked in
Chalk – drains easily, mostly it will be stony
Silts – heavier than sandy, well-drained yet retains moisture
Peat – dark, warms up quickly, holds water and may need drainage
Loams – there is nothing bad to say about this chap, it is what all gardens would like to have

If you ever doubt the need to ensure you have your soil in the best possible condition it can be – take a look at these pictures of dwarf beans.

Beans grown in quality compost

The same beans, sown three weeks earlier than those in good compost!

One sowing was made at the allotment in the ‘dead’ soil, the other was sown at the home garden in top quality multi-purpose compost.  The allotment sown-beans were sown three weeks ahead of the home-grown beans!

My pal, Andy Smith, describes soil as ‘… the blood vessel of plant life that exists on every patch of the Mother Earth. Soil contains millions of beasts in a teaspoon of spoil; some good guys, some not. The subject of soil is endless.....’ But then Andy, like me, is a gardener – we like soil – lots.

Green Manure

A pal asked me if green manure came from horses after they had munched down on a feast of all things green.

Nope, no horses’ smelly stuff required for this.

Green manure is the lazy (wo)man’s  way of ensuring you have top quality soil for the next growing season.

The next growing season?  Already?

Whilst it’s true that the main veg growing season for 2012 is coming to a close, as the days grow shorter and the nights longer, it doesn’t mean that we can rest on our shovels. Do we ever!

Now is the best time to get green winter manure sown

I am sowing as we speak and will leave all the lush green material in situ for as long as possible to gain maximum benefits to my soil.

Why bother to grow green manure – why not just cover the ground over with weed-suppressant membrane and be done with it?

One year I tried the weed-suppressant membrane approach of keeping the soil covered over winter, it does the job, there’s no doubting that, but there is something soulless about seeing all the black material covering the ground. What it doesn’t do is put anything back into the soil.

If you are a ‘tidy’ gardener you may struggle with the weed-like look of the green manure – if this is you, think of it as a challenge, a break out of your comfort zone.

Why do we sow green manures?  It’s a lot less messy than spreading horse poo over your plot that’s for sure and, of course; it will provide a different environment to poo.

All this talk of poo as given me child-hood memories and images of my Dad jumping out of the car whilst we were driving out for a picnic somewhere, he would fling open the boot and out would come a sack and a shovel – in went the horse poo!

This would happen on every trip – we always kept our fingers crossed that Dad would spot the ‘gold stuff' when we were  just a couple of yards from home, of which he never did, it was always on the out-bound journey!  Is it any wonder I prefer green manure!

So – what to sow?

Phacelia - Surely a flower worthy of any vase!

Out of this little list I really like the Crimson Clover and the Phacelia, both produce pretty flowers, which will keep the bees happy through the autumn sunshine that we will surely have.

I will continue to sow these through September and into November, filling in any bare patches that show up.

Crimson Clover – growing period (gp) is 3-18 months
Whilst this is not always winter-hardy it will do a wonderful job before it gets culled by heavy frosts. Enjoy the flowers but do ensure to cut down before they set seed, leaving it all on the soil surface until you are ready to start again.

Field Beans – gp overwintering
These are usually tough enough to get through most winters and can be left in the ground until spring when you would cut it down and dig into the soil before flowers set seeds. Having dug the green lushness in wait for 3 to 4 weeks before sowing/planting.  Cabbages will perform well in the recently-vacated field beans bed

Phacelia – gp 1-3 months, may overwinter in mild areas
This is probably my favourite, these scented lilac flowers are worthy of any flower bed.  The bees also have this top of their list.

Forage Rye – gp 3-6 months ... boring green (but useful) stuff

Mustard – gp 1-2 months ... mmm, hot dogs!

Sweet Clover – gp up to two years (excellent value!)
This is another green manure that both the bees and I enjoy, producing sweet smelling yellow flowers. As with all other flowering green manures ensure you cut the flowers down before they set seed – leaving all in situ until you are ready to dig the composting material into the veg bed.

Winter Tares – gp overwintering ... another rather dull green thing – sorry WT, but you are!

During the dead winter months, green manures will improve soil fertility, protect the soil structure from heavy rains. It will provide a safe winter home for beetles and other predators that help to control pests.

Deep rooting green manures will aerate the soil, which the worms and your soil will thank you for.

So who said it was all over!

It’s never over in the world of gardening, unless you have a concrete standing and empty pots…imagine that!
*shudders

Piskie, a.k.a. Virtual Assistant / Business Supporter Suzie Warren, can be found here

photo credit: TexasEagle via photo pin cc

photo credit: David~O via photo pin cc

photo credit: Anita363 via photo pin cc

Hands up if you are thinking of Christmas – nope, me neither. But I am thinking of home-grown new spuds for my Christmas dinner. There is still time …just, but you’ll need to get your skates on.

In the world of veg growing you have to be several steps ahead, rather like the fashion Industry has to think one or even two seasons ahead to get the next new colour out there.

Think of this project as ‘Stop Press’…. or ‘Hold the Front Page’.

Growing new spuds to harvest on Christmas morning is a real joy and you don’t even need a patch, large or small, to do so.

All you need is a spud-growing bag; you can buy these all pretty and packaged up from most garden centre outlets or online nowadays, a small footprint to stand it on and somewhere to nestle it into when (if!) the frosts come – be it a greenhouse or indoor space.

If we get a very mild winter (not unheard of) in the run up to Christmas you could even get away with running outside with some fleece, ideally horticultural, (rather than your Rugby Club fleecy top) to drape over the haulms. Keeping the spud bag in the shelter of the house away from harsh winds will help too.

The best spuds to use are what they call ‘early’ and ‘second early’. I usually save a few tubers from my spring plantings – although I didn’t save any this year so I will have to order from a good supplier online.

I am (now) pleased I didn’t keep any from my spring stock as my spuds got hit with blight and I’m pretty sure the seed potatoes were bad/infected because no one else got it on the allotment plot – although this isn’t a  guarantee, it is a good bet they were infected.

Potato Blight (Phytophthora infestans) is evil and can spread faster than kicking out at school-time. It will spread rapidly in wet and warm conditions, both of which we had this year. Had I been quicker off the mark (i.e. not away) I could have pulled the infected leaves to save the rest – such are the joys and challenges of growing your own. When it’s good, it’s very good….when it’s bad…I make a cup of tea.

Aim to have your Christmas seed potatoes bought and tucked up in their little bags before the end of (I did say it was a tight deadline!) August!

In addition to the posh bags you can buy from the garden centres, you can also use a large multipurpose compost sack, turned inside out so that the black is on the outside – ensure that you make some holes in the bottom before filling with the compost.

Easy steps:

1. Roll down the sides of your chosen container, bag, sack
2. Put a thin layer of gravel in the bottom
3. Add compost to about 4 inches/10 cms deep
4. Lay the tubers (three to a sack) on the compost, ensure that the ‘eyes’ are facing upwards
5. Cover tubers with another thick layer of compost, anything from 4 to 8 inches/10 to 20 cms to ensure the baby spuds are well covered
6. Water well, make a cup of tea
7. When the first green shoots (haulms) appear, roll up the sides of your bag/sack/container a little and add more compost
8. Repeat 5 and 6 until the bag is full
9. Wait for Santa

As this is a tight deadline it will be a challenge to source the tubers – but at time of writing, Simply Seeds still have some in stock. They sell them in packs of 10 tubers which is enough for 3 potato bags/planters.

I have gone for the variety Dunluce as these are new to me. I shall report back to you around Boxing Day-ish on their worthiness of my time, space, money, care and love.

So that’s Christmas dinner on the way, I shall put the Brussels sprouts on to simmer slowly next month.

Still in time for sowing now:

• Spring cabbage – harvest April/May
• Chicory – harvest October
• Endive – harvest January/February
• Radish – harvest October/January
• Spinach – harvest October
• Turnip – harvest November/December
• Lettuce – harvest October/April (that’s a big growing window, so choose lots of different varieties)

Piskie, a.k.a. Virtual Assistant / Business Supporter Suzie Warren, can be found here.

photo credit: Paul and Jill via photo pin cc

photo credit: jo-h via photo pin cc

Can peas do front crawl?

I ask because mine are currently floating albeit not on their backs - yet!
  
This was the sight that greeting me at the lottie today, having first negotiated my way through the gate, which was sitting nicely in the middle of a moat. 

I did consider jumping in to save the peas but as there was no one else around to hear my drowning screams I thought 'you're on your own lads, I've always got Bird's Eye to call on'













 
 
Jerusalem Artichokes doing a good rendition of Hawaii 5 O
 
 

The broad bean bed (middle) is not looking overly inviting for the beans that are due to go in tomorrow!

The upside is that spuds like water – silver cloud and all that!

Not Simon’s cat*

If you are considering buying a cat you may wish to look away.

It started at 0215hrs, oh how I hoped for it to only last for a couple of minutes, it often does now but it didn’t in the early days – it would go on for a long time back then.

I felt my finger being licked, I groan  ‘oh please stop and go to sleep’ but no it carried on, after what was considered too long with no response from me my darling cat, Cass, started to chew my fingers, I tried to hide them under the duvet, she started to nudge the duvet off me – I pulled it tight around my neck.

She upped the anti, as I was lying on my back she moved to killer position of sitting on my chest so as to breath tuna fumes over me – I like tuna – she put her paw out to touch my nose, ‘awwww’ I hear you saying ‘how sweet’, it could be seen that way up until the point that she slides the claws into my nose, but only ever so gently you understand.

I swear at her, she doesn’t like that.  She goes to lie on the bottom of the bed ‘oh bliss’ thinks I ‘it is over’.  It is never over until the fat cat says so!!

She moves to the floor and starts opening drawers (yes she does have thumbs!) and I hear my socks getting pulled out, she knows I hate cat hairs on my socks – and when she starts to open the bras and pants drawer I have to admit defeat, it is so horrid having cat hairs in your bra and pants.

I get up – noticing the time is now 0345hrs – she is nothing if not persistent.

I pinball my way down the landing, stairs and kitchen to her feeding station, one has to assume all this needing my attention would be because she is starving to death and is trying to save herself – but no oh no no no – there is still food in her bowl.  In fact, she gets to it before I do and starts munching.  I smile sweetly at her and start pinballing back up the stairs to bed – oh bliss, please let sleep come back to me quickly.

Before I make it to the bedroom I hear the cat flap – yaaaay she has gone out!  Nope, oh no no no, she clacks it, she bangs it, she clacks some more, I return to ‘attention-giving position’ by her side and check that the cat flap is in working order.  The cat flap is, indeed, in working order.

I smile sweetly at her again and just for a brief moment I consider opening the door and attempting a Jonny Wilkinsonesq drop goal – I, of course, don’t but I do find myself wondering what my pal, Mitch, (he really doesn’t like cats, I knooow, can you imagine not liking cat!) would do in my situation.

Off to bed I go and she really does go out this time.  Sleep will come now for sure – what’s that sweet sound I hear, oh my it's the birds singing!

Move to later into the day, after several cups of coffee to awaken me and guide me through the day – I go into the sitting room and there she is – Cass – sleeping soundly.  Oh how sweet she looks, don’t you agree.

So, what should I do – smile sweetly (again!) and leave the bedroom quietly or…….



*if you haven't seen Simon's cat YouTube it

There be green there be

Whilst I was de-turfing the plot all I wanted to see was soil thereby ending the pain of turf-stripping – now I am thrilled to see green appearing amongst the freshly exposed soil.
Soon be summer :D

Just take a look at this tiny little baby

no it’s not a weed, it’s a parsnip

Garlic
So wonderful to see crops actually growing now

More weeds – oh no they’re not! 

They be carrots they be 

Those stones weren't there last time!

And now for a totally nuts cat – Cass on ice!

She jumps, she lands

She turns

She sits  - on ice!

Barking I tell you

Plot 13 - full house

So, with opening day just four weeks ago - the first sod having been cut in anger, although we weren't overly angry, more ecstatic, we are now in a situation of having a full house plus two on the waiting list!  Who said Service personal were not gardeners eh!

I remember on one of our coffee meetings, the Boss and I saying 'imagine if we have no takers and that it was just you and I digging plots' - it was our worst fear, but it was always ever groundless- thankfully!

View from my Shed

There is much in the way of canes and netting and soil-warming stuff, it is a plot in waiting!

Back at  home, a blaze of red to cheer us from the tulips and the Phoinia 'Red Robin' ...lovely

The Under-Gardener having a brief rest

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