An Organic Lifestyle (Organic Growing Pains)

Yesterday was a root day by the Biodynamic Calender as Heavenly Healer advised, it dawned bright and sunny though cold.We get these mild days which lull us into a false sense of Spring but it was bucketing rain by 2 pm! I took myself out to the allotment which was deserted but plots have been dug and tidied so other hardy souls have been visiting also. I had to replace the onion sets which had either failed or been dug up, there were quite a lot, I reckon I replaced about 30 sets.The photo is of the garlic which is growing and is a welcome sight of new green on the plot Buds have formed on the blackcurrant bush already ( photo)and also on the 3 blueberry bushes but their photo was a bit blurred so I didn't upload it. The polythene cover had either blown partially off the potato bed or been shifted by small animals trying to get at the decomposing fruit and veg underneath. I brought out more compostables from home and more cardboard to completely cover the area, I also wet it and r...

We were out on the plot on Sunday which was a lovely Spring like day but now the temperatures have plummeted, some parts of the country are 4 or 5% below freezing which is very unusual for Ireland.The no dig method is being tried out on the very end of the plot where we have had nothing growing for the 2 years we have had the allotment. First photo shows the stages recommended. First the ground was covered with well rotted manure.I had to leave that over Christmas for no other reason than I could not get out there.I saved all the left over veg, peelings and also put on the remains ( leaves)of the sprout plants,the stalks of the beans and any yellowing leaves from the broccoli. Then covered it with cardboard and finally black plastic all held down with rocks. It will be left like this until it is time to set the potatoes. In theory when the plastic is lifted off the very nice worms will have mixed in all the rotted compost and cardboard. I need to read up a bit more on it so watch this ...

We spent some time on the allotment this afternoon as it was dry and sunny. Some jobs to be tackled before we head off on holidays on thurs for a week in the sun in lanzarote.Honey came down to have a look sporting this seasons must have colour on her blanket. This end of our plot has never been dug so we are trialing the no dig method here!We spent ages drawing wheelbarrows of manure down to completely cover the area.The next step is compost or if you have a friendly grocer or supermarket who will donate any wilted or rotten fruit and veg, to cover as much as possible.Then cover the area again with cardboard and finally cover it with the black plastic to stop the nutrients leaching away in the rain.The worms get to work drawing everything down in to the soil and breaking it up. The plan then is to remove the plastic early next year and set the seed potatoes in to this heaving mass!Years ago in Ireland potatoes were grown in lazy beds done much the same way.A bed was covered in manure ...