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Update from Jonny´s Garden and Potato plot (Osona Community, UK)


                                             



I have included the ESC (European Solidarity Corps) and the veg patch because they all happen here but the part that I will expand upon is the potato extension because this the project that soil4life inspired in me. Here in the south east of England (especially in the eastern part where we are) we have very little rainfall and it is particularly a problem in the growing season, May, June and July. Also the soil on this particular patch is very poor, containing very little clay or organic matter the local weeds tend to grow in the top 30mm of soil and finish their growing in June as the soil dries out or be very deep rooted. So this is a bit of a demonstration of what can be done in challenging conditions or using marginal land like we may have to do in the future. My response to this is to try to plant crops that can cope  with these conditions and to add organic material particularly organic mulches. After the Soil4life course October 2019 I started to remove nettle roots and add cardboard mulch to an area I call the potato plot extension. I made the beds broadfork widths, not because I use a broadfork but because I like the easy access that gives to plants. I used 700mm bed and 300mm path which seems good for my short legs.
Unfortunately because it was so dry the cardboard did decompose like I had expected it to. I ended up having to fight my way through the cardboard to plant the potatoes and this was during lockdown so I was trying to do it when no one was looking ;-( Lockdown also meant that weeding was kind of non-existent and the voles had free reign to eat the seed potatoes. I understood that my beds and very little depth of workable soil so I added 3 holes 200mm diameter by 800mm deep (made with a post hole auger), by the side of the patch and filled them with straw and horse manure, thinking that this will at least make a pathway to the lower depths where there maybe some moisture in our dry season. When I came to planting
squashes in the modified 3 sisters bed, I had some over so planted them in these holes, they died, so I replanted with courgettes. These have survived and are doing very well. I would like to point out that much of the organic material that we have here is from areas that we are wildflower areas where we need to remove the cuttings in order to reduce fertility and improve biodiversity. Also from reed bed sewerage treatment plant where we are trying to reduce phosphates.
Planning for the future I will add bunny (rabbit) fencing, yep, potato leaves are poisonous to bunnies but it does not stop them eating them, I will bury the wire netting to try to deter voles and try to get out the weed roots over the winter. Needless to say, all or at least most of the organic material from the ‘non-woody habitat pile’ will be added in or on the soil. I try to learn from plants, all of the weeds here establish good root systems (either wide or deep) before putting on much growth above ground, many of our crops do the opposite in order to produce a crop which makes them more difficult to grow in challenging conditions. I am thinking I might try to cultivate seabeet or salsify two of our edible weeds.

Written by Jonny, Soil4Life participant, 2020

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