Organic Garden BlogWelcome to my organic gardening blog. This is where I post updates on my garden, the challenges, successes and failures, plus:
Nov 6, 2009, About organic gardeningWhat is organic gardening about? Permalink -- click for full blog post "About organic gardening" Oct 26, 2009, Chickweed SaladI was reminded of a small piece I read lamenting how gardeners eradicate chickweed. This gardener claimed that chickweed made a lovely constituent for salads. Of course it's a good time for weeding right now as autumn rains have softened the soil but it is not yet sodden with winter wet. This came to my mind as my none organic gardening neighbour was lifting his summer begonias today to plant winter pansies. With them were handfuls of chickweed. But what mattered to him was getting his winter flowers in now so they had time to grow before winter. My story was quite different. You see I am one of those organic gardeners who have almost banished chickweed. I've been left with two straggly pieces that I saved after I reading the piece. It's scarcity in my garden shows how persistence can virtually eradicate annual weeds in a short time. But now I hope to grow a bed of chickweed for salads. In fact I'm looking forward to tasting it for the first time. Well it has small white flowers too, and it's easy to control by hand-weeding. A line of hairs running along the stems is a useful identification feature. Although chickweed is described as an annual it often persists over winter and is capable of fruiting almost all year long. Indeed it probably provides food for ground seed feeding birds, like sparrows. There are many other, perhaps more respectable, small leafy plants that you can grow to add to salads. Self-seeding, they are probably best grown among your wildflowers. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Chickweed Salad" Oct 21, 2009, Rock Garden BuildingI've just got back in from the garden - it's been a very busy time. Over the last 8 weeks I've been building a new rock garden and new garden landscaping (see picture below). My aim is to create diverse habitats for wildlife and develop a design that suggests the natural landscape. My suburban garden should feel like a place I want to be in. I take my inspiration from mountain and moorland. What could be more challenging for a small garden?
The main constraints are: A major part of the solution is a matter of getting the scale right. Small leaved compact plants not too crowded will be vital to success. But I've learnt many other things too.
The photo doesn't do it justice and it's got a lot of growing to do yet. I'll also be using rough lines of small shrubs to suggest mountain ridges. This is just the beginning. You'll see - this will work. I'll be posting more detailed information on my my website of the principles and planning that have gone into this work and the lessons learnt. More soon... Permalink -- click for full blog post "Rock Garden Building" Sep 2, 2009, Organic Gardening Compost, Fertilizer & Growing PlantsDiscover a healthy, more active life, that saves money with organic gardening Compost, fertilizer, gardening tools & practical methods of growing & handling garden tools are described here. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Organic Gardening Compost, Fertilizer & Growing Plants" Jun 30, 2009, A gardening catalogue selected for U.K. & EuropeGo straight to the practical stuff you need with this gardening catalogue review. You'll can save time and money too and take the green approach. Permalink -- click for full blog post "A gardening catalogue selected for U.K. & Europe" Jun 30, 2009, Review of Gardening CatalogReview of online gardening catalog s goes straight to the practical stuff you need for gardening, saving you time and money. Take the green approach here. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Review of Gardening Catalog" Jun 23, 2009, Ever Tried Fresh Nettle Tea?Just in from the garden for a quick morning break - and I had to write a quick note about my drink. I've just picked some nettle shoot tips - only the very young tips and a few near-the-tip leaves. A handful in total. I washed them carefully, put them in a mug and poured on boiling water. Then I stirred them and pressed them with a flat knife and there's my drink. I'm drinking it as I type. My nettle tea smells and tastes of peas, with no bitterness at all, no need to add anything and quite smooth. I'm going out now to put the rest of the nettles into my comfrey bucket where I'm making a rich organic liquid fertilizer for the fruit. ++++++++++++++++++++++ Recently on 13th of June the World Nettle Eating Championships were held in Dorset UK. Would you believe that the contestants come from New York, Australia and Europe. The activity began over a farmer's argument about who had the longest nettles in their field. Apparently one farmer promised to eat any nettle that was longer than his. In a TV report one enthusiastic contestant compared the sensation in his stomach to eating a sheep. Get the details on this link. My nettle tea seems to have gone done just fine and I'm looking forward to having enough nettles to make it again. I think the best way to grow them will be to keep them cut so as to stimulate plenty of branching and lots of shoot tips. Believe it or not lunch time is upon me already and I've got loads more gardening to do. Until next... Permalink -- click for full blog post "Ever Tried Fresh Nettle Tea?" Jun 9, 2009, Hurt But Getting By OrganicallyThe last thing you want as a gardener is incapacitating sickness or injury - especially when the plants need caring for in hot weather or need to be planted out. My last post (2nd June) told of a bicycle accident. This has certainly put me right out of my stride. The muscles in my upper body hurt. But at least I can pass on a few things I've learnt. Well at least enough of me has survived! And sufficiently so to continue enjoying my gardening pleasure and to reap the natural delights of the garden. I expect to be back into the more heavy duty tasks as this week progresses. Well hopefully. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Hurt But Getting By Organically" Jun 9, 2009, Strawberries Are Too Hot To EatLet's be honest - it was an experiment. Sometimes I like to try new things to see if they work. It's often the only way to find out. After all I asked around, I looked in books, but could find nothing. I was thinking about strawberries grown in cloches and that my new greenhouse would be a good place to grow them without the bother of cloches. I thought the fertility needed by tomatoes would suite strawberries. So I planted some previously good varieties in my greenhouse including Elsanta and Flemenco. That's why I'm fast coming to the conclusion that the greenhouse has been far too hot for them. Early in the season the flavour was good. But now I have to admit the fruit are generally smaller than expected and taste watery. I suspect this is due to a higher than normal rate of plant respiration (for strawberries) that is turning the sugars into carbon dioxide and water. O.K. it does seem that cloches are great for getting an early crop but not for the whole season. I should have known, because strawberries are well adapted cool weather. In future I won't worry about putting a strawberry in the shade. I'll finish with a quick reminder about the organic gardener's Marigold 'tomato growing secret' that is known to repel white fly. It does have a strong fragrance, and is now being joined by the fragrance of Basil plants that I'm just planting into the greenhouse today. The seeds were sown indoors. More later... Permalink -- click for full blog post "Strawberries Are Too Hot To Eat" Jun 2, 2009, Early Summer & A CrashHello again. Well, I'm delighted with my gooseberries. All 4 varieties are set to give a big crop after the recent move. That's down to a good dose of organic garden compost and organic fertilizer. Pigeons are a nuisance bird. Please don't feed them and keep other bird food under cover and the bits swept up. I keep chasing them so they feel uncomfortable and don't settle. Although the pigeons haven't touched my greens yet I know that will change later on. Then I can expect to wake up one morning to find all my greens eaten. So do provide protection or you'll lose them. I've protected some of my greens with black cotton, some with chicken wire, and some with ultra fine mesh. Barriers are better and the chicken wire is the best of all. It won't stop you watering plants. I watered my cabbage by spraying over micromesh. But I've realised that slugs easily climb up this (especially when wet) and breach the gritty barrier around the plants. I've been testing slug traps. Beer definitely works and kills the slugs. Liquid coffee attracts the slugs but then you need to go out and kill them. Ducks are probably the best organic garden slug controller to keep, but they can be messy. Note to look back on: This week started with a return from hospital early Monday morning. Yes, someone opened a car door infront of my bicycle again. This time I hit the corner of the door. I was carrying a potted plant in my rucksack at the time. My body was squashed. The deep wound in my chest is stitched and I hope to be getting back into the garden soon. But hopefully without painkillers to assist. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Early Summer & A Crash"
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