Skip to main content

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SOIL4LIFE Webinar: JOINING FORCES FOR SOIL PROTECTION IN THE EU'S GREEN DEAL

      The webinar will take place in 5 March  - 1 0 . 3 0 - 1 2 . 3 0 ( U T C + 1 ) on the Zoom video platform. The main topic of the workshop is the achievement of a preliminary alignment of positioning among the EU environmental NGOs with respect to the priorities on soil protection, the required rules at supranational scale, and the way to make them more effective.      Click here to register for the webinar
Post a Comment
Read more

Read and Sign The Soil4Life Manifesto

  The time to act is Now!  Please read and sign the Soil4Life manifesto to show your support!   https://ccivs.org/soil-manifesto/ Sign the petition here: https://form.jotform.com/212072578209052 Our planet and the beings who reside here and make up the complex, whole, living system on which all life depends are under serious threat. Life functions are being threatened by exploitation, short term thinking, and a worldview that values economic and financial growth over the continuity of life and living systems.  The complex, interconnected systems through which life on our planet has been able to flourish and grow over millennia have been misunderstood, misrepresented and ill treated for too long. We, as humans, have attempted to detach ourselves from the web of life. We have created a hierarchical worldview and placed our species at the top, instead of playing an integrated part in its life processes.  This attitude and behaviour is destro...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Crossing - honouring our soil rather than profiting from it!

 The Soil in this community garden in a field in Sussex, UK, is full of life. We know that because it’s had 8 years of care and attention helping turn it from over grazed clay pasture into rich loamy soil. The succession has been from initial double-dig, to no -dig, plenty of bio-char added and now since becoming a full blown community-led project in the last year, bio-dynamic preparations and techniques are now being used also. Meanwhile, in the surrounding 7 acres of land, those in the local community interested in animal husbandry have been able to initiate goat, sheep, pig and chicken co-ops as part of a broader regeneration land practices. This is all thanks to the land owner who recognized the growing need for deepening community bonds and producing healthier soils and thereby food, and offered the use of his land for a small membership fee.  The Crossing is an example where exchange with and honouring our soil, rather profiting from it is at the heart of this. This expr...
Post a Comment
Read more