absence makes The Heart grow

Long time, no see

I've been a busy bee getting myself a full-time teaching job (hurrah!) and working in le jardin, so please excuse the absence; terribly rude, terribly rude.

SO, people say that absence makes the heart grow; and this is true...  Remember my 'Free Seeds' post?  Since sending the lovely people at Farm In My Pocket some stamped-addressed envelopes and I got some seeds! I am especially looking forward to their 'Heart of Catalonia' tomatoes (hence the post title- 'Oh ha haa', I hear you say).

tomatoes and a bean

My own tomato seedlings have been growing well (Ildi, Red Pear, Tigrella) and are turning into lovely little fellows; as well as a few beans, sunflowers and, most excitingly, some Costata Romanesco.  The Romanesco is an 'Heirloom' vegetable (this means that they are not a hybrid F1 plant and you can grow from their seeds year after year).

costata romanesco

I hope you've all been growing your tomatoes indoors, ready for putting outside in a few weeks?

Pruning last years' plants

I grew some chillis and some peppers last year; after they fruited and - in the case of the pepper - when they became dormant, I pruned them right back.

The benefit of doing this is that they begin to grow again early in spring (keep them on a warm windowsill during winter and spring).  This is quite energy efficient in terms of fruiting, as peppers and chillis grown from seed will have a much later fruit than these overwintered plants.

See just above right --> for my already flowering pepper!

My chillis still fruited over winter as I left them on a warm windowsill.  I pruned them last month and they began to sprout new leaves and flowers.  I'm starting to see new chillis develop already, hurrah.



There's not mushroom here...

We bought this mushroom kit from B&Q in February - only £5.98.  You get mushrooms in about 3 weeks (our first ones are pictured right).  It's so straight forward, always ensures your mushrooms are fresh as possible and the more you pick, the more you get.

Apparently you get three crops (three times your original number picked).  This is great! Saves time and money and they are so easy to grow... not to mention: fascinating.

and now, for the grand finale:

FREE Costata Romanesco seeds!

If you would like some Costata Romanesco (Heirloom veg) seeds for free - please send an SAE (with 1st class stamp on) to:

Pauper's Plot
130 Longden Road
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY3 7HT

The Romanesco is a beautiful vegetable, a sort of cross between a courgette and a squash.  It yields very attractive fruits that can be used, when young, as courgettes, or when marrow-sized they have a distinctively meaty, sweet flesh such as a squash.  They keep for months when mature - we had one stored for about 8 months!

Available until the end of May.

Enjoy.

Be a Hero: Save Waste, Save The Day

Be a Hero

Most of us do not have a handy swine in the garden to devour all our green waste; a number of us feel a curious sense of wrongdoing when placing said waste in with non-recycleable items - watching day by day as it disappears to rot away aimlessly amongst cold, resilient plastic and other such pointless landfill.  Poor organic waste... so lonely, so afraid; longing for a real destiny, a family of other rotting material.  It brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it.

YOU can save it.  YOU can give it hope and purpose!

Compost is so very easy to make, creates highly nutritious food for your plants and seedlings, and of course, saves you money (and that is what we like).

Composting in easy steps

1.  THE GARDEN CONTAINER
You can of course buy a composting bin - but a cheaper option is to make one for yourself, or customise an existing item such as a water-butt, wheelie-bin, or even one of those tall plastic household bins.

We were lucky in this respect, as the lovely council decided to over-deliver 2 wheelie bins to our house (one is currently a water-butt) *Shhhh*

It's important that it's plastic, and well-sealed, so only the minimum amount of bugs can get in and there's a nice claustrophobic environment for all the waste to socialise together.

close-up of flap thing

You'll need a wedge of some sort to stop the flap from flying open - we used a piece of wood.  Just screw it into the bottom [underneath the opening].  It should pivot nicely to release the flap.  You can back it up on the inside with another piece of wood on the end of the screw, but bear in mind this will rot over time.

mmm, rotting (hygienically)

2.  THE KITCHEN CONTAINER

For the kitchen, of course you want something hygienic.  Something that is sealed, doesn't attract flies and stink unbearably.  We use a plastic cereal container.

This is really practical as it has a little part of the lid on the top that lifts up and down without you having to take the whole thing off.

My sister is using one of these too; she sent me a picture of it.
SUPER PROUD. She has a little 'save the seeds' sign to remind her chap to put seeds to one side; good thinking.

3. YAY AND NAYS TO COMPOST

yays:

Nays:

x plastic coated cardboard

x meat, fish or bones

x cooked veg

x diseased garden waste

x plastic and foil (a bit obvious, but still)

4.  THE WAIT.

Wait about 9-12 months and you should, when opening the flap at the bottom of the bin, have the wonderful crumbly stuff we know as compost. 

Then you may give yourself a nice pat on the back.

Don't forget to constantly top it up as it continuously rots down.

The Weeds Without Merci

our plot: March 2011

Before...
Okay, this is a bit of a long one, but it's worth it; I promise.

Our plot is situated right next to a woodland area, with no divide or fencing between them.  This is quite lovely because we can go wandering into there to look for fungi and things, however... after previous years of a blind eye being cast to horticultural upkeep of the garden, the woodland happily relaxed its belt and splurged its contents outward...

When we decided to utilise the space as an allotment, we stood by the back door, looked out at the teeming mass (of what could only be described as 'wilderness') and I heard a little voice in my pre-frontal cortex saying: you idiot.

During our Big Dig, inevitably we unearthed all manner of invasive greenery which, over the years, had woven complex root systems under soil. The worst were ground elder, nettles*, ivy, brambles, and other woodland treats.

Ground Elder

ground elder in the soil

Ground Elder root system

Ground Elder is an invasive, horrible little bugger.  It's perennial, so will relentlessly mock you all year.  The only non-chemical solution to rid yourself of its presence is to dig, dig, dig; and comb through the soil pulling out every little root that you see. This is time consuming and takes a great deal of conviction.  But, it can be done... we did it!

Here is an image that shows you the root system.  If any tiny little piece is left in the ground, it will come back from the 'dead'.  I found these today on the edge of our plot; we must have left some tiny roots (easily done).

Nettles

Nettles aren't so bad, you know.  They're great for butterflies such as the Red Admiral and Peacock, as that's where they like to lay their eggs.  So when you're faced with tearing up all of these seemingly nasty stingers, think twice.  We are leaving a little area for nettles to thrive, but controlling their spread in the rest of the plot. 

And spread, they do.  The root system is vast, often yellowish in colour.  As you can see from the image below, it doesn't grow just one plant, but sends shoots off to start more, linked to the 'central hub' of the plant.  Don't just chop the nettles down, dig them up, otherwise they will spread profusely.
 

Nettles: root system

Dandelions

I always liked dandelions, to be honest.  They're a pain in the derrière when they go to seed - all the little seeds float around and infest raised beds - BUT, they are kind of pretty, really; they look nice along with daisies in ones' lawn, they are great for bees and insects, plus... you can make dandelion and burdock booze with them!  What more could you ask for?  If you're pretty lenient to the humble dandelion, leave a few where they look colourful (lawn/ wildflower section) and just mow over them or chop them down before they go to seed.

If you want rid completely, make sure you dig very deep indeed and extract the whole root, or it will only come back again and again. 

a little dandelion growing

Personally, I'm going to keep this little blighter, and make some tasty brews from its root.  I'll put a recipe up later on, when I've done it.






After...
After all the digging and weeding, here is what our plot looks like now.  I for one, am pretty chuffed with the outcome. I'll write soon about cheap/ free raised beds and suchlike next time.

our plot today: 5th March 2012

 

Love your rubbish

STOP! There are items that you may find yourself putting in a recycling box or absent-mindedly discarding in the rubbish bin, which are invaluable for your windowsill garden or outdoor plot.

As previously mentioned (in the post: 'It Begins...') now is the time to start germinating a few seeds (including tomatoes, onions, spinach, leeks, cauliflower and flora <-- I refer to flowers, not margarine. 

PROBLEM

In the past I have fervently sown a glut of seeds into pots, only to then realise that I do not have enough trays to place underneath to contain the water [which obviously must be applied to the said seeds in order for them to germinate].  Has this happened to you? Don't want to fork out for expensive pieces of plastic at the gardening centre? The latter makes me exceptionally angry, i.e: why, why gardening centre/ supermarket are you charging me £3 for a piece of black plastic with a rim, WHY?
I have some suggestions.

Plastic trays proving their use

SOLUTION

Rummage in your bin/ recycling for:

Food trays - from takeaway food; mushrooms, minced meat [wash well], fig trays, biscuit trays, etc
Lids - from ice-cream tubs, jars

Yoghurt pots

Little tubs that have contained things like coleslaw, hummus, etc.

 In addition, something I have discovered which is useful for germinating seeds is... empty Port boxes!
The plastic sliding cover helps create a little greenhouse-condition inside for the seeds.

The Joy of Poo

me in a dung heap, oh yes.

Yes, we should all be getting our [gloved] hands on some of this fabulous stuff and churning it into the soil in which we shall be growing our veg.  Manure fills the ground with nutrients and makes your plants very, very happy indeed.  In turn, that means that you will be very, very happy when your pumpkins are the size of a small child.  Hurrah for poo.

how to get the poo that you want

HORSE DUNG
I've been to get some free manure today from my friend who owns horses.  More often than not, horse-owners have a stinking abundance of manure which they will gladly give away for free, or very very cheaply.  Try asking on Facebook, looking in Freegle (I've seen people posting 'offer: manure' recently] or the Admag/ your local advertising paper.

get the moist and warm stuff from the bottom of the dung heap

Failing that, find a horse owner, march right up to their rosy-cheeked face and politely ask them if they've got any spare horse droppings which you can bag.  You'll want the nicely rotted stuff from the bottom of the dung heap.

CHICKEN/ POULTRY
Poultry plop is used vastly in growing things - it's usually in a concentrated powder or granule form (Wilkinsons do a pretty cheap and effective version). 

OTHER POO
Got a pet chinchilla? Guinea pig? Rabbit?  Collect their droppings and mix them with a bit of sawdust, leave it to rot for a little while and then mix with wild abandon into your garden. Voila!

So, to wrap up: If you're not only windowsill gardening and you've got soil which you're going to be planting in, get some manure and churn it into the ground.  Simple and effective.

Seeds ahoy!

The lucky recipients of the 5 seed packs I have posted today are:

Sarah Macfarlane, Tamara Greaves, Tim Barker, Martine Burrell and Gem Lewis. 

I hope you enjoy my frugal offerings!

Here's a pic of the finished packs:

Also my tomato seeds have sprouted; they're so fast to germinate.  Sowing some now means you will have earlier tomato crops, even if you don't pop them outdoors until may.  Doing so from now on, at weekly intervals, means that crops will be ready in week after week, and not all at once, so you can enjoy them for longer!

Free seeds!

How to get FREE SEEDS*
*if not free, available for a veritable pittance, yes indeed.

magazines

Free potato grow bag kit and five packs of vegetable seeds worth £15.99 when you buy Sainsbury's Magazine March edition (£1.60).  
There's postage and packing at £4.90.  All in all it's not too bad a deal I'd say.  
You could just save your own potatoes at home though...

websites

Banrock Station wines are offering free wildflower seeds to the first 5,000 people to register their interest.  Follow the link above, pop in your details and voila! It's for the benefit of bees, so it's a good cause too.

Farm in my Pocket
Some lovely self-sufficient expert gardeners are giving away free intriguing varieties of these veg:
Pak Choi, Parnsip, Pea, Bean, Runner Bean - and the most enormous heart-shaped Tomato I have ever seen, called 'Heart of Catalonia'. All you have to do is email them, then they send you their address and you send them one self-addressed envelope per different vegetable type.  Nice people :)

Garden Swap Shop
On this website you can swap, buy or sell seeds & plants.  There are some very interesting varieties available - like white aubergine/ eggplant, lovely.

telephone

 

For a Which? free guide to growing your own vegetables, and some free 'Gardener's Delight' Tomato seeds.  Call 0800 533 081 (for free) or text 'PLANT' (text is also free) to 80057 and quote reference: VEG388F.  If you do it by text, they call you back at their nearest convenience.  I am yet to have my call - but assume they will attempt to get people to subscribe for something [not free!], so just don't do that: easy as pie.  Hope it works for everyone.

charity begins in the home

• I do hope you are saving some seeds from all the fruit and veg you are eating?  Keeping a few potatoes aside, letting their little tendrils grow? Good.  You can also trade seeds with your friends, if they're into that sort of thing of course, and don't think you're being 'seedy' (Pahaha! Err, I'm sorry... Bad, bad joke.)

beg, borrow or 'steal'

• Know anyone who works in a kitchen? Get them to save some seeds from peppers, lemons, etc, whilst preparing their fresh produce - they'll only go in the bin otherwise.

• Freegle - post 'WANTED: ANY VEG/ GARDEN SEEDS', in your local group.  Keep your eye out for things like manure also, which crop up unnoticed unless you think to look for it. (More on manure tomorrow - yippee)

• Allotments: This is more relevant to later on in the year.  Allotments often have open days in the summer, where you can pop along and marvel at the accomplishments of others; perhaps picking up some free seeds along the way...

• What I like to call: 'gathering from nature'.  Picture the scene: It is a pleasant, fresh day (of any season); you are dandily strolling down the road on your way to work/ a friends'/ the pub.  But, Lo, what is this, lurching well over the perimeter of a private property?  Could it be? Yes, yes! It IS a Passiflora/ apple tree/ fruit bush/ grape vine/ rosemary bush [NB: easily propagated from a small cutting]/ attractive plant.  Perchance as you passed this magnificent display, didst thou perplexingly procure a pocketful? I thought you may have.

Disclaimer: In no way am I supporting the outright pinching from another's property.  Only if it's dangling in your face/ a health hazard/ going to get cut down anyway.  Then that's NOT stealing.

It begins: bargain seeds, free cloches

Now is the time of year we need to shake the dust off our feathers and start planning and preparing for the spring.

bargain seeds (27p)
It's a good time to be sowing onions, tomatoes, leeks and aubergine/ eggplant, if growing from seed.  Yesterday I bought all of these seeds (right)
from LIDL for 27p a pack. The Nasturtiums are from B&Q for 48p.

Don't forget to gather seeds from food you eat, especially squash and pumpkin, because these are quite expensive to buy; e.g. £4.95 in B&Q (gasp).  Why spend money buying seeds which you can essentially resource for free?
Grow them inside by a window for the time being - we have them in a cheap plastic mini-greenhouse on the inside of the patio door.

free plastic cloches
Start saving plastic bottles - ideally 2 Litre Coke/ Pepsi bottles.  Peel the labels off, then cut off the end with the nozzle. You can use these for mini-cloches to protect your seedlings later on in the spring, when you transplant them outside.