Sallygardens Smallholding

Starting with Herbs

One of the delights of having a polytunnel for me personally is the treat of year round herbs. Rosemary, sage, mint and flat and curly parsley pretty much keep going all year. By March I can expect to add in chives, garlic chives, oregano, lemon balm and thyme. In mid April I can start using coriander, dill, fennel, horehound, feverfew, camomile, clary sage, lovage, chervil, sorrel and mallow. There's hardly a meal I don't sprinkle a selection of chopped fresh herbs onto these days. Herbs are also lovely for adding to homemade cream cheese which I make by straining my kefir (a post on this to come).

Besides tasting absolutely delicious each herb offers a unique array of beneficial qualities for our health and wellbeing. I have written previously about borage which now happily self seeds in the polytunnel.

Yes indeed all herbs are a blessing and a great addition to our diet. Nature provides all we need to heal and stay well. Even if you are not a gardener herbs are so easy to grow. From your local garden centre you can buy a pot for the cost of two packets of lanky lifeless 'fresh' herb leaves from the supermarket. Transfer your herb into a large pot and keep it watered on a windowsill (outside in summer, indoors in winter) and you'll be using it for the year. Both parsley and sage are easy to grow and quite hardy so would suit a beginner. That's a massive saving and a great addition to your healthy diet.

Strawberries are Winners

This year I've put some effort into getting the polytunnel back on track. The strawberries are one of the crops that's given plenty of fruit without any real input from last year and minimal weeding this year. The bed is mulched with black woven plastic so the weeds have been mainly kept at bay and the moisture has been kept in the soil. The result has been masses of very ripe strawberries, more than we can eat. You can't imagine how satisfying it is to eat home grown strawberries to a point where you simply can't eat anymore! It's also quite fulfilling to know that if you were to buy the same amount in the supermarket you'd be down at least E30!

Strawberries are easy to grow. You can start off by buying a tray of six plants, these will sprout 'babies' on little runners that you can root in a pot and plant out, thus extending and replenishing your bed each year substantially without any further cost.

Stawberries, I just can't fault them.

Appreciating Resilience

One of the words that keeps popping up all through any permaculture book or website you'll dip into is 'resilience'. At first I didn't really appreciate the value of this word, and what it might mean for our own family, but as the economic downturn packs some serious punches the term is making a lot more sense. 'Resilience' isn't just a fashionable permaculture buzzword.

 

In a nutshell, whenever you look at your living space (indoors and out) you should always ask yourself the questions 'how can I utilise this space/item/object for more than one use?','if this breaks how will I continue ... is there an alternative source of water/fuel/food/shelter/cooking/travel etc?'. Whenever we add something to our life, our home or our garden I always ask how I'd cope without it, or what alternatives we could use instead. I walk around our house and garden and I look at how we've set things up. I ask all the same questions ... how would I water this polytunnel if the pump and automatic watering system failed, where would I source water if our water supply was to be cut off. Water is one of the first things to ask ourselves about. We are lucky to have a stream at the side of our property and a lake at the back, plus plenty of roof area to collect rainwater if needed. Another main area is fuel ... how would we heat our home if we couldn't afford oil, or travel to buy coal. Again, luckily we have a woodland plantation which provides us with heating fuel and so we rarely buy fuel these days. Cooking of food? What if electricity is cut off or we can no longer afford gas cylinders? One plan for this summer is to build an earth oven in the garden for such occasions. And as for food, what if the supermarket supply chain fails and there's no food on the shelves ... sourcing local markets or growers, and growing your own suddenly becomes much more than just a fulfilling pleasure.

Apart from being fun it also makes sense to build our resilience. With the global economic downturn I've suddenly felt the welcoming cushioning effect of all these little steps of resilience built into our lives, which up until now, I'd have barely acknowledged their presence. But they are there and we planned it that way, thanks to reading up on permaculture. At the very worst case scenario it boils down to survival, at it's current level it helps keep life on a steady and even keel. There is still food on the table and we know we have many of the resources we need on the doorstep in order to continue living the life we've been enjoying.

Of course we are far from self sufficient, but we've never aimed to be that. It's more about living sustainably, and building resilience into life is one little part of that.

Selecting Seeds for Spring

It's that time of year again when the seed catalogues arrive in the post. It's a great lift for the spirits to leaf through the pages and begin selecting whats to be grown this year. After a few months of pretty much nothing happening in the garden you can start to look forward to the beginning of the cycle all over again. It won't be long now until the seeds are placed in compost trays and their small green tips push up through to the light. The miracle of these tiny seeds growing so vigourously in the spring and summer seasons is always a thrill to watch ... and eat!

Sitting in front of a winter fire and discussing what varieties and types of plants to grow is always a pleasure and something to be savoured. This year we have quite a few seeds left over from last year which have kept well, so we don't actually have to buy a lot of stock.

One thing that's always tempting is to buy too many varieties of each thing, but  I've learnt to concentrate on a few items and try to do them really well, rather than become bogged down with tons of seed packets, which I'd never realistically be able to sow and grow!

The vegetables and polytunnel have always been my 'department' but now that I'm on the traditional Irish music course every morning himself will be learning to take the lead in the garden and I'll be his assistant when I get home. It's a good thing that we both learn the logistics of all the various farm areas.

So what are we sowing this year? A sample includes mange tout, sugar snap peas, dwarf purple, golden and green French beans, spinach, chard, courgette, sweet corn, kale, mixed salad leaves, pak choi, stir fry oriental leaves, onions, garlic, pumpkin, parsnip, carrot, potato, kohl rabi, brussel sprout, brocolli to name a few.

If you are starting out growing for the first time I have an eBooklet that gives advice on how to get started. The main points are to choose hardy and reliable plants so ensure success but also to start small with just a few items and add to that each year.

Sallygardens eBooklet Store

At long last I've managed to create a Paypal store which will make it easier for you to purchase our Sallygardens eBooklets. Instead of having to email me first to request a Paypal invoice you can place a direct order via this store front. Of course you can still use the old way, this alternative just provides another easier option . Look to the right hand side bar to find the store. Come on in and have a look around.

Hanging Basket Tomatoes

Last year we grew eight tomato plants in the polytunnel and realised that you just can't ever have enough of them. This year we've made space for eighteen plants on the ground and having got the lust for home grown toms I decided to milk every possible available bit of space... including the air!  I'm experimenting with 'tumbling toms', a variety that's perfect for hanging baskets. There are two baskets in the polytunnel, each with three tumbling tom plants. I also have two hanging baskets beside the back door of the farmhouse and they contain sweet pea (for heady aroma), busy lizzy (because they were cheap at Lidl!), pot marigold (petals for salads), nasturium (again, salad leaves & flowers) and of course each basket also contains one 'tumbling tom'. It'll be interesting to see if the ones in the polytunnel do much better than those outdoors.

Last year we also grew several varieties but this year we only have two on the ground; Ailsa Craig and Gardeners Delight both grown from seed. There's a very good reason why these are the favourites of gardeners world wide and that reason is that the flavour is absolutely superb. So even if you live in an urban environment you can grow tomatoes in hanging baskets. They would be especially well on a south facing wall.

Raised Beds

The days this time of year are busy with sowing, planting and weeding. Growth is so sudden and prolific that it's hard to keep on top of it all and the choices for dinner expand by the day (just as time to spend cooking it diminishes!). Gone are the days of late winter when kale and chard were just beginning to fall out of favour and instead we are now spoiled for choice. Everything in the polytunnel is doing well. Melons, grape vines, strawberries, peach, mixed lettuce, chop suey greens, golden and red beetroot, broad beans, peas (pod, mange tout & sugar snap), french beans (purple & golden teepee), runner beans (Lady Di and Polestar), artichoke, chard, rocket, carrot, herbs, tomatoes, pepper, chilli, aubergine (black beauty), courgette and sweet corn are all coming along nicely. I did manage to kill off six lovely cucumber plants (paska and marketmore) by planting them out too early, the cold nights were too much for them so that's set me back a few weeks on one of my favourite vegetables.  I just couldn't help planting them even though I knew it was too early! One melon plant also copped it out of three, but luckily I've a couple of spares in a seed tray ready to take it's place. Having a few extra of each thing is a great insurance policy, then if they're not needed they come in as great birthday gifts ... just pop a selection of salads, or a couple of tomato or melon plants into a grow bag or even a hanging basket.

One thing I haven't really indulged in greatly are brassicas. We always have purple sprouting brocolli but this year I've tried my hand at a handful of cauliflowers, cabbage and calabrese. To accommodate these we've been working on a couple of new raised beds. With this extra outside space I'll also experiment with some swede, turnip and kohl rabi, parsnip and leek. Hopefully these things will mean we'll be providing ourselves with food during the winter this year too. It's all been a lot of hard work, but it's well for some ...

Sowing Seeds

This month is a very busy one in the garden. I am spending a lot of time in the polytunnel. I have bee sowing a lot of plants in seed trays which I leave in the polytunnel to germinate ... things like lettuce, amarynth, chop suey greens, beetroot, swiss chard and pak choi. There are a few things that I plant direct into the soil because they are tough enough to survive without the luxury accommodation of a seed tray to start off. These include radish, rocket, perpetual spinach (beet), carrot and a range of herbs. We are building a new raised bed for the brassicas which won't be ready for a while so I'm also planting cabbage, brocolli, calabrese, cauliflower, swede, turnip and brussel sprouts in seed trays.

A month ago I planted three potatoes in the polytunnel and these have already pushed up leaves. I've earthed them up ... that means I've piled some more soil over the emerging leaves to cover them which promotes production of more potatoes. You can earth up a potatoe plant two or three times. These three plants will give us an extra early treat of new potatoes, but I wouldn't plant more than that in the polytunnel as the space is needed for everything else. The rest of the spuds are to be planted outdoors in a lazy bed like last year, but with St Patricks day being the traditional day for planting potatoes we are already a week behind schedule. You see, stress can still exist outside the rat race, it just takes on different guises!

Seedlings that need special care in terms of extra warmth have been sown indoors in a heated propagator on our bedroom windowsill. The plants that need this care to survive include tomatoes, cucumber, melon, aubergine, sweet pepper and chilli. These plants all need a long growing season and so they are started off that little bit earlier than other plants. I have just potted all of  these up into individual pots.  I will keep them indoors on our hallway windowsill for another few weeks before planting in the polytunnel. The propagator is now ready to receive a new sowing of another batch of warmth loving plants, this time sweetcorn, courgette and squash seeds.

Most of the hard work is done now but the seedlings need to be watched closely for a couple of weeks in their seed trays. They are at risk of drying out so I need to check them a couple of times a day when the sun is shining. To lose all the trays now would be a huge set back, so vigilence is required to keep them safe from a variety of possible  calamities ... cats love black seed trays to sleep on, dogs run through polytunnels with glee, hens would scratch through seedbeds and devour seedlings, visiting children unknowingly 'play' with  seed trays etc etc. Its a tense time!!! Going away on an Easter break is not on the agenda, but luckily we have no desire to head off anywhere soon because what we are doing here is so rewarding.

If you are tempted to grow your own vegetables for the first time an easy way to start is to visit your garden centre where they sell seedlings that just need planting into a prepared bed. The initial cost of the plant is miniscule in comparison to the money you will save from harvesting your own crop. Its a great way to dip your toe into vegetable gardening. If you get hooked and grow from seed next year, the savings are even greater. With the way the world economy is going, the rising cost of fuel is impacting on the cost of food on the supermarket shelves and space for food crops is now competing with the growth of biofuels. There has never been a better time to start your own veg garden because as months pass the percentage of your monthly income you spend on food is going rise considerably. If I lived in the city and had a garden I'd be utilising available space to grow edible plants and would be lobbying my local TD/MP to provide allotments for those who don't. If I were designing cityscapes I'd be including fruit trees and fruit bushes instead of pure ornamentals (bravo to Drumsna in Co Leitrim who recently planted up a significant part of their roadside with a selection of apple trees). Are there any urban readers who grow their own? What space restrictions do you have, what do you grow and where? Are there urban readers who would like to grow their own but don't know where to start? Depending on the response I could begin a series of articles on this subject.

This Years Crops Make an Appearance

There have been a few new arrivals of a vegetative nature in the garden and the polytunnel. The first exciting crop of the year to harvest outdoors is the purple sprouting brocolli. I grew it from seed which is hard to believe now, as it stands a couple of feet high bearing a very impressive crop of spears. I picked the first spears last week, and naturally, they were delicious! I planted two varieties, an early and a late cropping type (approximately 12 plants in total), so we ought to have a good stretch in supply over the next four months. As long as we keep harvesting the spears before they begin to burst into delightful little yellow flowers the plants will continue to produce more and more spears.

Inside the polytunnel there are  several crops that have continued to provide our table over the winter including chard, perpetual spinach, a range of oriental salad leaves, kale and a few herbs such as parsley, savoury, rosemary and sage. But in the last couple of weeks the chives have pushed up their pointed green tips through the soil and a tray of seedlings have sprouted.

The broad beans were planted in October, and a few more have gone in  three weeks ago. They are doing well, about half a foot high now. I'll sow a small batch every three weeks until the bean bed is full. The peas too are coming on although they are so delicate and look quite vulnerable. This year I'm also trying out a couple of dwarf pea varieties (mange tout and sugar snap), they'll fit the small side beds nicely that don't have much height due to the over arching plastic.  Its all very exciting waiting for this burst of growth, which all seems so two dimensional at the moment, to literally hit the roof in a few weeks time.

Winter Life in the Polytunnel

You remember back in November I sowed some heirloom broad beans (aquadulce claudia) and peas (Feltham First)? They all germinated in the seed trays, and when they were a couple of inches tall I planted them out in the polytunnel. Growth is naturally extremely very slow this time of year, but they are coming on nicely nevertheless.

Last week I planted another tray of beans (more aquadulce but also Express) and peas (more Feltham plus Hurst Green Shaft) and I'll continue to do that now every three weeks until mid July (or roughly 60 days before your first frosts are generally expected). The 'official' word for planting a few of something every two or three weeks is 'successional' sowing. The point of it is that as each batch reaches maturity at slightly staggered times and so the harvest is stretched out over a long period rather than having a sudden glut of beans or peas all at once. This is the first year I've been organised enough to bother with the successional sowing approach so I'm interested to see what difference it makes. I hope that there is still enough of a glut to put some in the freezer for next winter.

Last years bean plants

And the pest that causes the greatest danger to these particular plants? My children! Actually the fact that they sneak in and chew pods right off the plant is what its all about and although I sometimes pretend to be a bit annoyed about it, secretly I'm delighted ... delicious fresh food for the family and children understanding where it comes from, and assuming its not all grazed before it reaches the kitchen ... how to cook it.

You don't have to live on a rural smallholding to grow peas and beans. They are ideal for a small urban garden because they climb upright and so take up minimal space. Children love to get involved with this too.  Five or six plants of each and you have a very impressive crop on your hands, its even worth it even you only have space for two plants of each. Plant the seeds mid March, (in Ireland traditionally on St Patricks day 17th, or the equinox on 21st) one seed to each cell of a seed tray. Keep indoors on a south facing window sill, watered but not soggy. They should sprout in a week or so. When a couple of inches high put them outside during the day, take indoors at night for two or three days. This is called 'hardening off', it allows the plant to acclimatize to outdoor temperatures. Then you can plant them into the soil next to a fence or tie onto poles/sticks for them to climb up. Peas have tendrils and will eventually cling, beans have none and need to be tied gently with string to their supports.