Spring garden goodies

Welcome to dreamer - my newest follower.  dreamer is from southern Scotland - an area called Cairnsmore to be specific.

dreamer doesn't appear to have a blog / web page - if I'm wrong, dreamer, please let me know, and I'll gladly insert the link.  Thanks for hitting the followers button.

Update: dreamers bog can be found at : http://dreamer-dreamingofasimplelife.blogspot.co.uk/

She has a very interesting blog - won't you pop round and have a look?

-------------------------------

The first plants to start producing this spring were my strawberries.  They were so eager that they started flowering at the beginning of July!!

I have never known strawberry plants to produce
flowers, never mind fruit, in July...
...in South Africa?!?

The three ducks that we inherited from one of our neighbours over a month ago, found they had a taste for strawberries, and proceeded to wipe out as many as they could, Until I caught them in the act.  And here I blamed those poor field mice again...

So - that resulted in my buying some bird netting from the local co-op and draping the entire 25mtr long bed.  And here my poor brain thought bird netting was only for the flying kind...

Strawberries - some for eating and the rest
I popped into the freezer until I have enough
to make jam...

The strawberry plants have produced a fair number, but not all at once.  So, apart from those we've eaten fresh, I popped the other strawberries into bags which I keep in the freezer.  I figured that once they stop producing, I can take the strawberries from the freezer and make jam with them - in my solar oven. Yum - can't wait :)

I've harvested about 5 kgs so far...

The plum trees were the first
to blossom - t'was stunning to
see

Then the fruit trees - the plum trees were the first to get those gorgeous, uplifting, awe-inspiring spring blossoms.  And loads of fruit - which the wind proceeded to blow off.  Ah well, I think the trees are only two years old and still need a year before they should be allowed to keep their fruit - so nature is guiding me well.

Peach tree in blossom

You recall back in May this year that I wrote about saving those onion bottoms and, after allowing the dried roots to re-hydrate in a small bowl of water for a couple of days, planting them back in your veggie patch?

Well, the pic below is one of those "re purposed" onions.

Five onions gorwing from the old bottom of a single
onion - whoo hoo!

Here I thought each onion bottom would only grow one onion, but this one has produced 5!  Happy days :)

Apart from the onions, I also have garlic (which I've harvested most of already), tomatoes, the swiss chard is growing in profusion again (and that's given me a hint of what to make for dinner tonight - creamed spinach with a fried egg and toast), as is my zucchini and pumpkin, and the saved seed from the Franchi Sementi purple and yellow bean plants from last years harvest - and a nice crop of chickpeas and carrots is also growing.  It has already been too hot for my lettuce - even in the shadecloth veggie patch - and the plants have all bolted, but I am going to make a plan to turn up a couple of the re-purposed sub-irrigated Styrofoam containers (that I still have) into  raised veggie patch boxes, literally, and place them in the shade - with light being bounced off from a nearby wall.  That should sort out the overheating / bolting problem.

Those re-purposed styrofoam containers have been brilliant - I've used them for growing plants in, for using as deep drip trays for propagated lemon trees, and as a bath for the newy adopted ducks, amongst many other uses.  S'funny, talking about the ducks - whoever owns them has not come looking...? Maybe they have too many?  But, they're free to return home - the way they came - however that was...

None of my chilli and pepper seeds has peeked above ground yet, and I have still to buy a tray of aubergines seedlings from the local nursery - it would appear that I am completely unable to rear them, so I leave that to the experts LOL

And finally, for the first time, I have managed to grow cabbages - I companion planted them amongst the strawberries LOL  So  - there is lots of coleslaw in the future, as well as stuffed cabbage leaves cooked in the solar oven, and cabbage cooked in milk, instead of water, with garlic, butter, salt and pepper - quite delicious :)  Maybe I'll try fermenting some cabbage too - if it's not too hot...

Speedy report back at snails pace

My apologies for not replying to your comments until today - the entire area's internet has been down since Sunday lunchtime...


On Friday last week I posted about using used coffee grounds to deter garden pests.


Well...


They work!  They definitely work against snails and slugs.


And I have proof!


It rained over the weekend, and that always brings the snails out for a forage of my seedlings - summer and winter - our snails don't take a break in winter, unfortunately.


T'was late at night when I hopped outside to see if the coffee grounds were working.  Picture me - standing there in the rain, with my jersey over my head (well, I had just washed my hair, and rain + freshly washed hair = frizz), camera in one hand and torch in the other...


I immediately I spotted two snails on my SIP's (sub-irrigated planters).  (I'm having to grow my town veg and salads in them as the roots from our neighbours trees have become so totally invasive.)


I was entranced.


Forget the rain - forget the hair.  All I was worried about at that stage was whether the batteries in my camera and torch would last.

Both these these fellows had had a sample of what lay in their path ahead, and it would appear that neither of them liked it too much.

Snail # 1 making a u-turn

 They both had a brief visit before scarpering off quickly.

Snail # 2 also turning round to
escape the coffee grounds

 This little guy was braver, he went a little further...

But he still turned round hee hee 

 ... right across the whole box.  But...

Nope - not interested in munching anything

... he didn't sample a single broad bean nor pea seedling.  Not One!


I have a couple of pots on my back patio (my winter nursery area) which contain more pea seedlings.  I decided to play devil's advocate.


There was a juicy looking snail making it's way towards the pots.  I plucked him off and shoved him into the pot - on the coffee grounds laden soil and amongst the peas.

Aren't I nasty - but it was all in the name
of my experiment, and no snail was harmed
in the course of it

 He toddled around briefly, investigating this and that...

Will he or won't he take a munch?

 ... before making a bee line (or should that be a muscous snail line) towards the pot edge.

Lemme outta here!

 He couldn't wait to escape the coffee grounds!

Another one lives to be frog / tabakrolletjie food

On inspection the next morning, NOT one single seedling had been munched. Not one!  And- today there is still no sign of any damage - 4 days later! Whooooopeeeeeeeee!

So - used coffee grounds definitely work on keeping snails at bay.  Stay tuned till after the Easter weekend to find out if it works on the ants....

Sub-irrigated farm fare...?

When we last went to the farm I took along some extra polystyrene boxes, which RSon had got for me to use as sub-irrigated planters.


Why, I hear you ask.  I mean, on a farm surely one grows vegetables in the ground, not in raised sub-irrigated planters?


Well, I'm not really cuckoo - there is reason for my madness.


Firstly, we have timed irrigation for our trees only - which is basically a thinner black pipe connected to the timer unit with solenoids.  This black pipe runs next to each tree and waters the trees via a pin-prick hole.  We were, very thankfully, advised to use this method as there are mongeese abounding the area which gnaw thinner flexible pipe in half - so we can't use that.


But, in future, to specifically water vegetables, I would prefer some sort of spraying sprinkler heads (e.g Rainbird type), I think.  And I can't attach sprinkler heads to the pipe attached to the existing two solenoids, as the water would seriously gush out of those sprinklers, to the detriment of the trees.  What is needed is another solenoid or two - and which are devoted solely to watering my vegetable patch :)  I'm working on it.


But, in addition, I also need to work a serious amount of compost into our rock hard clay soil.  And until I can order and organize that, the only way I reckon I will be able to grow vegetables / salads at the start of this season is via a sub-irrigated container.  So that is exactly what I've done...


But, before I could do that I had to construct a protected vegetable patch - well, I wont be there to shoo away anything that feels like a quick (or probably long) healthy munch.  Hares, locusts, slugs and mongeese spring to mind.


RMan was busy installing some recycled balustrades on the front porch, so I had to use my noggin and whatever muscles were left in my arms to sort it out...

I laid down a layer of weedguard as the base layer to prevent a forest of weeds facing me next time we're there, and halved some shade cloth (well, I don't need it 3 mtrs wide - 1 1/2 mtrs will do very nicely, thank you) and sewed it together on the opposite side - to make it longer not wider.  This I attached to some wooden posts.  This easily covered the sides and top.  It's not the ideal height to access the veggies, but I guess I can handle bending double for a few months - rather that than no salads / veggies.


The irrigation pipe was already there, so I inserted the watering funnel into a bottle half (oxygen / water reservoir) and placed that in the corner of the box, poked holes in all the other bottle halves and, after leveling the boxes, I filled them with a potting soil / compost mixture.  After planting up the boxes with some seedlings and scattering some seeds I then pricked a hole in the pipe hovering over the watering funnel.  I secured the irrigation pipe with an external stake, and with a rock on top of the funnel.


All that was needed was to switch the irrigation to manual and let the water flow.  It worked a treat.  In no time at all the overflow pipe was spewing out the excess (we subsequently worked out how long the timer should be on for, in order to preserve the water and not waste it / allow it to overflow as much as it did.)

Whilst I was bending over the veggie patch (from the outside) I dropped my cell phone right into the middle of a large enough puddle which had formed on the ground from the overflow pipe.


Thus - all my photo's are blurry.  I quickly snapped pics of what I had done, before stripping the phone and, after giving it a quick wipe down, shoved it into a packet with some dessicants which I always save.  They arrive in vitamin / tablet containers - and instead of throwing these chemicals into the bin / landfill, I keep them in a plastic bag for just such an incident.

Recycled dessicants obtained from vitamin / tablet bottles

The next morning - the phone switched on, and worked perfectly.  No water damage at all :)

Whilst I was at it, I filled a couple of deep 20 lt (4 1/2 gallon) buckets with compost and after planting a pumpkin and squash plant in each I covered them with light coloured rocks - hopefully they will reflect the light and not allow the containers / soil to get too hot in summer - time will tell.  Finally, I shoved a sweet potato root or two, into a soil filled plastic bag (from the potting soil) and poked some holes in the base.  All three of these containers were also linked to the timed irrigation.


Will they produce?  Time will tell.  But there is no harm in trying, is there?


You can tell I got huge encouragement from the broad beans, can't you :) And, you can also tell that I'm getting terribly frustrated at not being able to devote all my time to farm food production...

Sub-irrigated planters

This past winter I have been busy researching quite a few different growing options.  One of which is a sub-irrigated planter.


Given the heat that we normally experience here in summer, together with the fact that we hope to be on the farm for a couple of weeks in December, I thought I'd give them a try - that way hopefully my vegetables wont die when I'm not at our (town) house to give them regular water - we don't have timed irrigation there like we do on the farm.


So, this is my tutorial on how I made a sub irrigated planter.


Firstly, what I gathered together:


A container (I've used a styrofoam box which RSon got from the restaurant where his girlfriend works).  A bucket would work as well.
Enough bases from (in my case) recycled milk bottles, to "line" the base of the container.
A recycled bottle for the water inlet / fill tube 
Piping

Cut your milk bottle (future) oxygen reservoir bottles at the required height.

Make a hole in the top of one of the oxygen / water reservoirs and insert your fill tube container - in this instance it was a clean oil bottle, with it's base removed and the neck of the bottle inserted in the hole.

The, drill holes into the individual oxygen reservoirs and place them cut side down in your planter container.  It is not necessary to link the individual oxygen containers as water will flow along the base of your planter and rise up in all those openings.

Cut a hole into one of the oxygen reservoirs and insert a pipe

Make a corresponding hole in your SIP container for the the overflow pipe and thread it through

Carefully add your soil, tamping down between the reservoirs in order that it can act as a wicking system until the roots of your plants / seedlings have grown down towards the water in the reservoirs

Plant up your sub-irrigated container

And finally, add water through the fill tube until you see water coming out of the overflow pipe.

The water won't evaporate as it would when one waters from the surface, as it is not exposed to the heat of the day, but is, instead, at the base of the plants where they need it most.  That should be sufficient water for at least 7 - 10 days.  When the fill tube is visibly empty at it's base, and thus more water is required, simply add it through the fill tube again, until it overflows through the outlet pipe.   


What has this cost me?  Just half an hour of my time, and ZAR1.00 (US 0.14 / 10p) for some piping for the overflow pipe.


I have recycled a fair amount, which should stand me in good stead for quite a few years to come, because, as the plastic is not exposed to sunlight, it shouldn't perish.  Environmentally, I am very chuffed.


And, finally, I have a self-watering, raised veggie patch which has utilized what would have been waste packaging / thrown out with the garbage if you don't / aren't able to recycle.


This would also work for all those northern hemisphere residents as this container could easily be utilized for all those hot days you've just experienced this past summer, or it could be planted up with early spring seedlings and placed under a covered verandah where it would be sheltered from the last frost of winter?  Invariably, restaurants have food grade containers which they have to, hopefully, recycle.  Make their job easier by taking some of that recycling off their hands and putting it to good use growing your veggies / salads :)

Over Wintering...

Seems I've come to an over wintering point...


Mr camera is broken.  My mobile, which I was having to use to take photo's, is frozen / broken, the skies are filled with black, heavy clouds and outside it is cold and miserable, and we can't find a moment to get to the farm...


However, to be grateful whilst I'm complaining, our home is warm and protected from the inclement weather, we have food on the table, and I can read about all the summer warmth and progress on others' blogs :-)


And have I ever found some brilliant idea's out there...


...more uses for those damn plastic bottles...

Image source:http://www.insideurbangreen.org/2010/03/
simpletomake-green-tote-box-sip.html 

This is called a SIP - a sub-irrigated planter.


I am fascinated with "wicking" / SIP type planters and have no idea what is attracting me to them.  But I think they are extremely clever.


What also fascinates me is the fact that apparently the yield in a wicking / SIP planter is noticeably more than in a conventional in-ground bed.  I believe that they have their place in any garden, no matter how small or large.  Certainly our 2 Ha farm has more than enough space to grow what we want, but we are hoping to plant it up with mainly fruit producing trees.  One of the reasons we are going to be doing that is because trees, even fruit trees, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  And any assistance this planet can get in that regard is a must in my book!

Recycled bath

I will be having a shade cloth vegetable patch on the farm - as large as I can make it, for the summers there are wickedly hot.  This will house raised beds, straw bale beds - whilst outside it I will have wicking and SIP planters for those plants which need the benefit of all the bees :-)

This experimental one that RMan made me worked a treat :-)

The plants on the southern side of the vegetable patch will need some protection from the incessant summer wind.  I am visualizing a large "barn sized" vegetable patch, of at least 9 mtrs long by 3½ - 4 mtrs wide - big enough for at least three horizontal beds with paths in between.  That should give me approximately 27 running mtrs for vegetable production - which should produce more than enough food for RMan and I, and still have some left over to barter with / gift :-)


But, my herbs will be planted in wicking / SIP planters close to the kitchen door.  I'm trying to convince RMan that we can (and should) take our recycled bath with us - not sure if I'm going to win this one because he's not mad about the sight / thought of it, even though I have told him I can disguise it better...


Another great site I came across in May this year is this one.  Grant and Max Buster are two young brothers who are applying their brains to assisting the starving millions with their ideas.  There is hope for this planet if youngster like this are in the next generation.

Raised beds (Image source:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Natural-Wood-Raised-Garden/ )

The beauty of all the above systems is the fact that there are a zillion plastic buckets out there, especially food grade one's at restaurants / take away outlets.  When they buy their supplies in bulk, a lot of their consumables are supplied in buckets, and there are just so many buckets they can re-use.  So there will never be a shortage of plastic buckets to go round, all you have to do is become friendly with your closest restaurant / take away and do your bit for recycling...

Straw bale beds (Image source:
http://www.growandmake.com/straw_bale_garden )

And the final benefit of this type of growing container is the water preservation - we all need to conserve our water and use it as sparingly as possible.  I have been fascinated to read in the past couple of years that England goes through periods of drought - England??!!  My country of roots has droughts?  Hard to believe, but it's true.


If England is experiencing droughts, what does that say about South Africa's worsening situation in the years to come?  Help Mother Nature, and she's sure to reward us - but it will take a concerted effort from us all.


Linking the wicking / SIP planters to our irrigation system will ensure that the water will go where it is intended - to the roots of the plants and not to the surface of the soil where it will evaporate.


Itchy - damn so itchy.  I want to get going...  So much to do, so little time.  And patience is not one of my virtues.


Does anyone have any other sites which could provide further inspiration?




Aside:  As I was typing this I received the following message from TUT (Totally Unique Thoughts).  And I thought this mornings message from TUT was particularly apt :-)


"Some will hear, but not listen.
Some will listen, but not understand.
And some will understand, but not act."


I hope someone - anyone - a single person - out there understands what I am trying to do / doing and is influenced by our journey to the extent that they make a change in their life.  Change happens one person at a time...  And "thoughts become things" LOL