I thought I’d give you an update from the field this week as my last one was way back on 21st March!
At the moment I’ve been managing to find about 8 hours a week to spend on the field which isn’t a lot but is enough to manage the watering of the new plants I’ve put in and keep on top of the weeds as they pop up. The grass sprung up at a rate of knots after all the rain we had over the past few weeks and the warm spell which followed it this week. Our lawn mower wasn’t up to the task of mowing it so I am on the hunt for a suitable strimmer to keep it in check.
I doubled up the fenced off area over the past couple of weeks. So I now have a rabbit proof fenced off area of about 40 metres by 7 meters. I’m still working on getting the second area card-boarded and covered with the wood chips and the horse manure. My biggest lesson this week has been to plan ahead with making new beds…I lost a good day of labour laying out beds only to realise the orientation wasn’t going to be time efficient for planting and harvesting from them, so I am now in the process of scraping off the wood chip and manure and moving it all into the line of the new bands I’ve marked out. All of this could have been avoided if I’d have put pen to paper first.
In the first area of the plot. Daucus , ammi and achillea coming along very nicely. (Bottom right)Looking onto the second fenced off area with the new orientation of the beds marked out and slowly taking shape. Also my new compost heap! Very exciting.Looking out onto the two areas in progress. My very first flower to bloom in my new field.
In other news there has been plenty to pick in the garden this week including aquilegia also called granny’s bonnets, they have really come into their stride over the last few days. Also geum, lilac and geraniums. Mixed with the last handful of tulips, the seedy hellebores, the forget me nots that are just getting better and better each day, add to this some hedgerow gatherings of red campion and grasses and you have a delightfully wild and wonderful mix.
Mid May bouquet.
Blessings from this patch to yours, until next time, Rebecca.
‘I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’
No dig is a simple way of gardening or farming which mimics what is found in the natural environment. Take a walk through a woods and notice layers upon layers of organic matter deposited year on year by the shedding of leaves onto the surface of the soil and see how the trees and the plants in the wood thrive. They are completely self sustained. The design in nature is perfect, so why no dig? Look to nature and it will teach you.
What is meant by sustainable? Quite simply, to conserve an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.
Soil is a living organism, full of living microbes which are beneficial to plants and to us. Digging and rotervating the soil disturbs all the wonderful microbes and destroys the structure of the soil with has developed over many many years.
Because soil is a living organism it makes so much sense that it be covered. Take every other living organism in nature. Trees – covered with bark, mammals – covered in fur, fish- covered in scales, birds covered in feathers. We cover ourselves also to protect from the elements. In the same way the soil should be covered, to protect it and to maintain it from erosion by wind and rain and depletion of its nutrients from baking it in the sun.
Covering the soil in organic matter locks in nutrients and protects the soil, it also improves the soil year on year, it’s not a one stop fix but an investment. When we garden or farm on a small scale by practicing no dig methods what we are actually doing is restoring the land and making it healthy for future generations. It’s good to do the work early on, to provide the soil with what it needs to sustain you in the future. ‘Do not despise the day of small beginnings’ I remind myself.
No dig is an investment that cannot be compared to planting straight into the soil and using quick fix short term chemical fertilisers, yes the plants might do well the first year by using these fertilisers but every year they will require more and more of these fertilisers to grow the same amount.
I’ve learnt that there are many issues facing the large scale farming industry which include soil preparation, irrigation, weed control, ph problems, pest control, crop rotation, fertilisation and much more. I believe all of theses issues can be solved by following the principles of nature, that is by adding organic matter to the surface of the soil and letting nature to the rest.
The method I have chosen for the field is the method which is credited to Charles Dowding simply called ‘no dig’. By using this method you can turn a lawn or weedy patch of your garden into an area ready to plant in just one day! Lay cardboard down onto the ground, making sure there are no gaps and overlapping the cardboard as you go. This suppresses the weeds from the light and they will slowly die, and as they do they are putting all the goodness back into the soil. Then add your organic matter straight on top of the cardboard, I used Mr mucks organic manure compost and grow-sure peat free manure compost. These products were quite expensive, but I wanted to get on with the project quickly so that I have flowers to harvest this summer, i will be looking for more cost effective ways to gather my organic matter in the future. I also used bags of wood chip for the paths in the same way, straight on top of the cardboard, should my paths ever become beds they too are getting extra nourishment now to build up healthy soil for the future.
If you are interested in no dig gardening have a look at the wealth of generous information put out on YouTube by British market gardener Charles Dowding. And Paul Gautschi in Washington has a great video also on YouTube called Back to Eden, which champions a very similar approach to feeding the soil as Charles does but with wood chip instead of compost.
And finally as promised my report as to whether or not my sweet peas survived that snow – no they didn’t. Thankfully I can replace them with my January sown ones and still enjoy a slightly later crop and another lesson in patience learnt.
Anyway, thanks for checking back. As always I’d love to know your thoughts, do you follow the practice of no dig in your garden? How’s it working for you?
