Lowarth Brogh

Heading into Spring

2012-01-24T09:12:00.000Z

Well Ebony and the baby pigs have headed off to a new home at Bosavern Community Farm
We will be sad to see them go and will prbobably visit them a lot, however its good to know they will be going to a good home. So its just Butch the Boar and Barney left up here and they will also be leaving us in March, I hope to make good use of them while they are here to graze down grass, root up dandelions and any old potatoes or carrots left in the ground.

Speaking of Spuds, the weather is that mild that we will try a planting of "Setanta" today to see if we can get an early crop in..

More to follow with some pics of the new tunnels going up and our restored but not yet painted pony cultivator ;-)

pigs for sale

2011-10-30T20:29:00.000Z

Po Po

Lowenna

Ginger

Horus

Blue

That's them folks, all great grazers, really affectionate and a steal at 45 quid each!!

Back on track

2011-09-09T21:06:00.000+01:00

Well after some nefarious non-entities hijacked my blog along with lots of others, I've managed to reclaim my Space!
So whats the news? well our lovely Kune Kune pig, "Ebony" has had a litter of 5 piglets. 3 black 2 orange, 3 boars and 2 girls..

This is "Po Po" despite a no name policy so as not to complicate their probable future, this one has sneaked in..

So they are all down at our house with their mother, running and fighting and starting to graze which is really great. We've just moved them to fresh pasture with George and little Dylan's help in the pouring rain, thanks guys!

Kune's tend to graze more than root, although they are quite happy to root when there is not a lot of grazing. (hopefully that puts that debate to rest ;-) ) There is a wide range of grasses and useful plants such as plantain and yarrow in their pasture which is good for their health. It also saves us money from buying more of the dreaded pig nuts!

Once they are a few weeks older they will go up to the land where the veg is and hopefully graze under the apple trees. We gather their manure every few days and pile it up to make compost, and try and rotate them onto fresh pasture every few weeks, we can already see how the grass quality is improving from their influence.

Very cute..

At typical morning pick at the moment. loads of beetroot, baby turnips and kilos of wild rocket for the restaurants..

Pony Power

2011-07-14T23:52:00.000+01:00

So the last few weeks have been interspersed with learning how to work with our neighbour's Ponies, "Bunting" and "Maude". Thanks to local Horseman extraordinaire, Chris, we have now learned some of the basics in using these lovely ponies to work on the land.

Small scale horsework is making a comeback and these dartmoor ponies are very strong for their size, doing lots of tractor jobs like cultivating, moving things around etc.

Up until last Thursday we'd been training with the ponies at Chris's, but have now had a real taste of what real "Horsepower" is all about!

"Bunting" and "Maude" ready for work?

Ridging Potatoes with a willing bunting despite the heat and flies

Pulling the sled full of stones

This is all part of the next stage in the evolution of the project in becoming a bit more sustainable and closer to ground level. We are not saying goodbye to the tractor just yet, but in terms of a pleasant four hours with the ponies compared to a noisy tractor it can't be beat.

Thanks to Louise for allowing us to use her ponies and Chris for all his time and patience, and of course Maude and Bunting for doing the work!

Back again

2011-06-20T23:16:00.000+01:00

Just checked when my last post was, Jeekers! Been a while so better give some updates. So a very busy and dry Spring has led into what looks like a cold summer if the last few weeks are anything to go by.
With the arrival of Butch the boar we now have a trio of Kune Kune pigs, they are grass eaters so they don't need a lot of extra feeding.

So from these 3 mature pigs we get about 10-15kgs a day of nice manure, this is starting to build up into a nice big compost pile which will be used next spring as compost.

We are well into the season now with the boxes averaging around £6 worth

This weeks box had artichokes, salad, strawberries, radishes coriander and a lollo rosso lettuce.

Ebony and barney

2011-03-22T23:36:00.000Z

Well Springs here and things are looking brighter. Helping us along with that has been the arrival of ebony and barney our 2 kune kune pigs!

We got them to root up the ground, which they are doing a great job of, without going into huge holes like some other breeds will. Plan is to rear the offspring once Butch the boar comes along in may and just see how we go.
They are a lot of fun and really nice to have up on the land..

Resurrection?

2011-02-09T16:21:00.000Z

Well it's been a busy month, fixing up the tunnel with the help of lots of helping hands and generous pockets.
Thanks to everyone who contributed: Pez, Pip, Morwenna, tamsin, maurice and ethan!, jude, shirley, george, johnny, lesley, adam, lisa, piers, leo and arthur. Tim and Hilary, marina, lesley, traci, ciara and anyone else i've forgotten?
Thanks to lesley for organising the press release and to theresa, john, dee and ludgvan church for their generosity.
We should have enough to put a skin on at least one of the tunnels in the near future.
This was the morning everyone came

And that evening when everyone had worked so hard...

So we face the new year with some trepidation. We have no idea yet of who did this sneaky and cowardly act, and maybe it doesn't matter because of the huge support we received from people. I think it's going to be a good year, so roll on Spring.

Devastation

2011-01-06T22:13:00.000Z

So I came to the field after bringing up a load of seaweed on Monday morning and found this:

No idea who or why, but not much else to do but try and repair it as best we can. Anyone who can make it with some needle and thread(i'm serious!) it's this sunday 11-2

November

2010-11-16T11:26:00.000Z

With everything slowing down for winter it's time to really start using the tractor to it's full potential. I can load 2-3 tons on the trailer down at Marazion, the closest beach. It's a long haul back up the hill but good old "Brogh" as he/she is called manages it no bother.

I'm hoping to get 50 tons at least on each field in time for spring to really boost the fertility. Another fact i found whilst searching is that 1.3 tons of sea sand is equivalent to 1 ton of lime, so every time some seaweed is brought up we are bringing the ph to a better level for the plants.

Garlic is all in thank god! Ordered about 10kgs this year which with all the rain we've had was quite an effort to get in. Lots of french types, including: sultop, dario, thermidrome, jollimont, lautrec, etc.
Itt's my birthday today so will probably go and get more seaweed ;-)

Another Method...

2010-11-01T22:42:00.000Z

After faffing, i mean researching on the internet, i came across this method for threshing linseed.

'In Germany shortly after the war, when most commodities were rare and expensive, a gang of four ingenious men were caught by the police after some weeks of successful theft of linseed.

'The assets of this small firm were one canvass sheet, a sickle, some sacks and a bicycle. The leader of the gang rode the bicycle to a chosen field of linseed and was met by the rest of the gang, the sheet was laid on the ground, the bicycle placed upside down in the middle of it. One man cut the linseed, one carried the crop to a man stationed at the bicycle, and one turned the peda's. The linseed was thrashed by holding it against the rear wheel spokes. ..'

The right way up, the bicycle was a simple means of transport, the wrong way up, the handle bars and saddle formed a three point stand for the thrashing machine, so that except for the front wheel and fork and tyres, almost all parts were used in both the bicycles functions. The resulting one or two sacks were of course laid on the bicycle for transport.'

Harvest

2010-09-29T09:47:00.000+01:00

We did our first big sowing of Linseed/Flax this year. About 3 by 100 foot strips. Quite a learning curve there..
Flax is a really tough plant which makes it great for linen and other uses but also makes it really hard to harvest!

Turns out if you are harvesting just for the linen you can pull the plants up when still green, but if you want the seeds then you cut them when they are dry. This has two problems: one is the Formerly cute little finches turn into a whirring plague and devour half your crop, and two: Flax is so tough it blunts the scythe every two or three sweeps!

So after a hard day cutting and piling the flax we had half a trailer of the stuff, so now what to do with it?

Methods varied from
beating over a chair: dramatic but messy
mashing with a rolling pin: slow but effective
jumping on it:effective but tiring
rubbing with feet:seems to be the quickest

So we have to count the yield as the seed needs to be cleaned properly, we will probably throw it up on a sheet and separate the seed from the chaff, good old biblical expression there. Once you start growing grain you realise how many expressions derive from harvesting.

Now we are looking at sowing "Grafton" oats and "Maris Widgeon" (what a great name!) wheat

Been a while...

2010-08-25T20:54:00.000+01:00

Well after much messin aroun' we managed to get a new memory stick for the camera, which has promptly broken! So no images for a while folks.

Just to give an update it's been a great summer so far, our grape harvest is pretty spectacular inside the main tunnel, despite the blackbirds stuffing their beaks full!

Our garlic came along well especially, "Lautrec" which we will be planting lots of this September. Def the best year for onions. Potatoes did ok in the new field, some big ones, a lot of wire worm mores the pity so we will have to tackle that one way or another..

We now have a lot of flax/Linseed to harvest and find a use for, chicken feed? Despite the crows there will be enough oats for a few bowls of porridge and the quinoa really did well.
For anyone concerned about Quinoa crossing with "fat hen" as they are both chenopodiums, i wouldnt worry too much as once they are both starting to seed they look very different so it's easy to rip out the fat hen for your salad.

Its been raining a lot recently so bit worried about rotten grains but fingers crossed..

swarm

2010-07-01T22:55:00.001+01:00

The hive beside our house decided to swarm the other day, the noise was tremendous, like a hurricane..Bees flying everywhere. Literally the whole sky above the house became this mass of darting shapes seemingly flying at random...

Unlike some beekeepers i like it when they swarm as it is their way of reproducing, and i get to have another hive!

Gradually this vast cloud of bees began to coalesce around our lovely old golden delicious apple tree beside the house. Of course the bees decided to go waaay up to the top of this tree..

So after finding a nice long ladder, banging together an emergency hive we started to work.

and in they go, thanks George for all the great shots you took, and your calm demeanor, always have a buddhist photographer nearby when you're doing this sort of thing!

Why Small farms are Better!

2010-05-23T23:09:00.002+01:00

small farms article

2010-05-18T22:41:00.000+01:00

Well time is going pretty fast here, the weather seems to have finally changed to one more conducive to plant growth and to begin feeling like Summer.

With everything starting to green up and get juicy fruits it's one of my favourite times of year.

As always we are trying out different enterprises and Rose has been seeing how quail fit into our lives. These are baby Italian quail, tiny tiny things only a week old. They are very cute and tame at this age and love to sleep in your hands, their favourite game is to grab some food and have the others chase them round and around the box

The first boxes are going out with the usual salad and herbs, our leeks from last year are lasting well and our peas should be ready in a week or two.

Oh and I got married last Week!

intro to CSA

2010-04-16T21:11:00.001+01:00

Here's a nice little introduction to CSA'S and the pros and cons you get with them, of course there are more pros involved!

CSA's

we plough the fields...

2010-03-12T19:43:00.005Z

well john the farmer did actually but i've been harrowing away like agood thing over the last few days.
so we are going for what is large scale for us, a one acre field in a conventional way.
A used disc harrow costs about £700 so that wasen't an option now i've spent everything on the david brown now called david brogh or Brogh for short!
so i rigged meself up a custom made recycled and hand crafted harrow otherwise known as a big heavy thing to drag behind the tractor.

so what did i have around that i could use? well some telephone poles and some seatbelts we had found in a skip thinking they would come in useful one day as windbreaks or as it turns out harrow belts.

so brogh is a big help with this, and powered with biodiesel means it's much more pleasant to run. there's a bit less power on biodiesel but it doesn't make a big difference.
next step is to make/find a chain harrow and maybe rotavate before we sow linseed, oats, phacelia and rapeseed!

YES

2010-01-29T22:48:00.003Z

New just in, The Organisation I work with Penwith Environmental Network, has just been awarded £20,000 to develop 2 forest gardens! One will be beside Badger's Garden and one in Penzance at Love Lane.

This is tremendous news as it will enable us to put in 3 acres of fruit trees and plants. We can then propagate on from these plants to plant more land and provide this genetic stock to other projects in the area.

So it's going to be busy in the next few weeks, workshops to organise, trees to order, site studies, clearing bracken.

Well done to Steph who basically wrote the grant, I owe you a Purdeys!

My new workers

2010-01-17T23:05:00.002Z

Looking round at the state of the garden it would be great to get these guys in for a few days, or is that minutes?

Tractor tales

2009-12-21T10:36:00.004Z

well it finally arrived, a 1971 david brown selectamatic 880. Or just "the Tractor". My christmas present for the next 3 years!

Its a lot bigger than the kubota i'm used to, no power steering etc but we will get used to each other i'm sure...

happy christmas everyone..

end of the season

2009-11-05T12:01:00.000Z

Well it's my longest time without making a post since i started this blog, so much has been happening, including a bout of i guess swine flu? The last box has gone out and we are getting ready for winter, i'm working on a design for a stove in the tunnels to keep everything warm, cornish bananas maybe...

We have Bees again!

2009-08-14T20:09:00.004+01:00

Yes finally thanks to a generous german man we have bees in our bonnet once again. It's been a long 8 months without their presence in the garden. I'm gradually transferring them to a "peoples" hive which seems a more humane and natural hive as opposed to the langstroths and nationals they are usually crammed into.
Soon as winter comes i should have some more time to write about natural beekeeping but for now have a look at BioBees courtesy of the Barefoot Beekeeper!

As i'm sure everyone knows bees aren't doing too well and whereas everything from gm crops to mobile phones have been blamed i think it's a combination of factors but probably pesticides and mainly the use of modern bee hives and practices which are closer to factory farming than most keepers will admit...

With Rose selling lots of salves at the market it's also good to begin to be self sufficient-ish in beeswax.

Hooray hooray!

Great Grapes

2009-08-10T10:47:00.004+01:00

well our 3 year old vine in the tunnel is now producing some nice grapes, i've carefully watched over it, misted, fertilised and pollinated with a bit of rabbit fur..
they've gone from this:

To this:

and yes they do taste amazing!

What the heck is that?!!

2009-07-11T21:03:00.006+01:00

Was looking for strawberries for a box the other day and came across this - Any ideas? It's the only strawberry that's done this, some kind of incomplete pollination maybe? or just a weird plant..I quite like the colours anyhow

June Box

2009-06-29T22:44:00.003+01:00

Still managing to scrape in by doing one post a month1 Everything is doing amazingly well with this fantastic weather. we just need to keep up with weeds now! Water is another issue but i am working on a bicycle powered pump to get both water and liquid fertiliser like seaweed onto the crops and fruit trees at a decent pressure.
Our June box

Beetroot, lettuce, salad, some strawberries, blackcurrants, spuds, garlic, courgette, cucumber, beans, peas, chard and kale.

Hopefully we will see some tomatoes soon, the peaches and grapes are looking great and our treasured 3 kiwis are growing every day...

Action day

2009-05-27T07:34:00.005+01:00

Last Sunday we had a very very windy action day. A good turnout of people showed up and managed to get some good work done despite the wind!

The now traditional muffins were had in the most sheltered part of the field

Thanks to all who came and dug, mulched, fixed windbreaks and ran around...

Earthway Seeder

2009-05-05T09:42:00.003+01:00

I've gotten a new tool in the last month and am hoping it will make things easier on the project. It's called an "Earthway Seeder" and promises to "End caveman planting techniques"
It takes a bit of getting used to and Rose is using it a lot more than me, but hopefully it will make things easier, what i can't figure out is where they got my picture from?

Juggling

2009-04-06T07:55:00.003+01:00

Every Spring I say "this is going to be the one" what do I mean by that? well, the Spring where i finally get everything done on time, where i have a foolproof strategy for slugs, where all the seeds are planted etc etc
And of course i said this would be the one and i have a mountain of things to complete!
This year is a year of expansion, another half acre under production, a new polytunnel (the melon house), much larger amounts of things like carrots, onions, spuds, sweetcorn, beans etc more fruit, and some grain.

Well that's the plan anyway, in reality we have a huge crow problem this year.
Anytime we plant something they swoop down in a mob(or murder) and eat the lot:
so far spuds, peas and oats. I really don't know what to do about it.

So i like to compare this kind of growing to juggling, at any one moment you can have 20-30 top priorities, and you have to decide which is the most pressing. Is it the crows? the second polytunnel so you have space for baby plants? the onions to be weeded, what about the rabbits still getting in and eating all the salads? and you'll need a better water supply for summer, nows the time to do it.. and on..and on...

So that's what i'm up to, i can't really post pictures of any of this just yet, but we'll get there, we'll get there.

Update

2009-03-25T22:11:00.006Z

Well once again i'm posting once a month, things are very busy at the moment so this is just a snapshot of what's been going on.
Spuds are in, crows are eating them, but at least they are in.

Quite misty weather

And 10 different varieties of Tomato should go down well!

more soon i promise..

Progress

2009-02-25T21:19:00.005Z

Looking at the date of my last post i can see that i'm only managing a post a month at the moment. hmmm...well lots had been happening. I have still to get around to ordering more of the long lasting camera batteries so have had to make do with old rechargeable ones which last about 2 mins..

so I have been mainly working on fencing in the entire hectare (2 acres) field. It's taken a while and there are still a few holes that the rabbits are finding but we are getting there. Its great to have the whole field to work in, and still a bit strange getting used to it.

Around the same time we have had some sunny weather for a change and managed to get the skin on the small tunnel, or the "melon house" as it's being called! you can just about see it beside the big tunnel..

More posts to follow, including the latest gadget!

Winter

2009-01-26T12:31:00.001Z

It's been a long, long time since my last post, and i don't even have any pictures to show! As anyone in Europe reading this knows it doesn't seem to have stopped raining since november..
Our camera is out of batteries at the moment but hope to have some pictures up soon, the field is a big river most days, with even the pond being almost full with water.
On the positive side we have had about half an acre ploughed up by a local farmer and are planning to completely enclose the 2 acres in the next month.
I'm investing in some nice bits of equipment and hope to grow the standards like carrots, onions and spuds on a much bigger scale.

Bigger is not always better which is why we will be calling this field our limit for now. if we use all the space that we hope to use this year, it will be an increase of about 2-3 times our current land.

Also planned is a large amount of flax, naked oats (more on those later), more fruit trees of course! And a large herb section+ more bees, and maybe even a toolshed.
now if it would only stay dry for 5 minutes....

Back from the Americas

2008-12-06T22:55:00.004Z

well it's been a while but I'm back in cornwall, ready for Spring. Mexico and the USA were amazing, i've seen what a semi-tropical paradise Mexico is for the gardener, and America in Winter with only a few hardy kale plants managing to survive. I'll be posting some pics of my travels before starting my garden's proper blog again.
So as an quick intro here are 2 of the main plants in traditional mexican agriculture.
Introducing the Mage(MA-Gay)

This is Don Luiz, he's a Mage farmer, 87 years old still working away..Mage is principally known for being the main ingredient in tequila. Tequila begins as the sap of this plant. When they are about 15 years old the hart is dug out of the centre and the insides scratched twice a day. when you scratch in the morning you get what's called "agua miel" - honey water, pooling in the hollow in the centre. this is the unfermented sap and is delicious, kind of like diluted maple syrup...you get about 3 litres a day...but have to keep it up or the plant stops producing this.
this can then be fermented to become "Pulque" a kind of beer which is becoming popular in mexico again
after distillation it becomes Tequila.
And the Worm? Well, there are 2 worms found in and around the Mage- a white and a red one, both very tasty fried up and eaten i'm assured...

The other plant grown nearby and in conjunction with Mage is the Nopal Cactus. Legend has it Mexico city was founded where the people saw an eagle land on a Nopal cactus. Our Teachers call it a myth because it is known by the indigenous people to be a metaphor-the eagle the sun landing on a symbol of immortality- so where the sun was directly overhead is where they founded the city-how could an eagle land on a thorny cactus anyway?

So the Nopal is cultivated for it's leaves-big spiny pads which are cut when young and sliced up-they taste like young green beans,very nice. They also produce different fruit according to what kind-some make big green fruit which are tart, and some make kind of sweet red ones. It's got some vicious spikes on it and i found to my cost(while trying to pocket one) that the fruit also have masses of tiny spines!
It also has many medicinal uses.

As i said it's a gardeners dream-most tropical countries can't grow things like apples because they need some cold to fruit but the cold nights in mexico and broad geographical region ensure both standard fruit like we are used to and things like "Mamey"- a beautiful, luxurious fruit. which i'm totally in love with but will never grow in cornwall..
More soon

Mexico

2008-10-25T19:32:00.004+01:00

Well the season is over and most of the boxes are sent out. It's really feeling like winter now with the cold winds bringing the temp in the tunnel down to 6 degrees at night. We are off on our first big holiday in 5 years in a couple of days time- i still don't quite believe it's happening but i'm sure when i get on the plane i'll start to.
We are off for 1 month, mexico then the states back in time for xmas. I hope to have gathered lots of exotic seeds and seen how mexican and american gardens grow.
Will be reposting when we come back.
Thanks to all who helped out and supported us this year, next year is to be the best yet!

Golden Days

2008-09-27T09:02:00.004+01:00

Well after a dreary, dripping "summer" we are now enjoying the sun through September. All the plants are enjoying a growth spurt and things are ripening like they should be.
We are heading into the last month of the boxes for this season, all our onions are dried and most of them braided. carrots are looking good:

some of the tomatoes are getting big- here's a 1 pounder (400 grms if you're from brussels) called "sarah black" which has kind of black streaks in it's skin and a nice fruity taste.

Being a Veggie geek we had to go to the "giant and unusual veg show" at kehellend garden centre where i work sometimes. It was pretty amazing, some of the pumpkins were big enough to sit in,

giant cabbages, and 5 foot long leeks.

This weather is also perfect for putting up a tunnel so watch this space..

The Seasons Change

2008-09-03T08:28:00.004+01:00

I haven't posted much for a while because not much has changed. It's been rainging on and off for weeks now. Our winter squash patch is a graveyard and slugs stalk the beds, daring anyone to mess with them. Here's a bucket of slugs i picked in about 5 minutes in a few beds:

Nevertheless we keep working away, saving what we can. Things like tomatoes are doing well despite the lack of sun. Our indoor beans are really prolific and when the rabbits aren't getting in we have some salad!!

You can feel autumn in the air these mornings, seems a lot earlier this year. With the change of season comes a change of activity - it's time to start storing for winter, saving seed and to begin planning for next year.

rain

2008-08-11T20:25:00.003+01:00

well it's wet, what can i say? It's carnage out there, we've lost 60 young lettuce plants in one night and the rain is still coming.
As you can see the paths have turned into canals...

I just hope we get the rest of the pond dug before it stops!

Let the Fruiting Commence

2008-07-09T21:57:00.005+01:00

July is a great month in the Gardening year, after all the digging and seeding, the planting and praying, you finally begin to see what you've been hoping for.
As i wander round the garden I can see signs of this everywhere. The flowers are all out

Things like courgettes and artichokes were quite slow to establish but now we've had some sun they are beginning to take off.

Our 4 peaches are slowly turning a lovely golden colour, and the first of the purple tomatoes are nearly there.

AS i'm writing this the rain is pouring down so will have a post on water soon enough!

Action day

2008-06-05T12:51:00.004+01:00

What a beautiful day we had, The sun was shining and the mood was mellow. This was the second action day this year with about 7 people showing up to work in the midday sun.

Once again I was amazed at how much can be done when a group of people get together with a common aim. The pond was dug down even further, beds were made, wheelbarrows repaired, and we finally got some courgettes in the ground!

We also got beds tilled, lawns mowed and most importantly got to taste rose's blueberry muffins...

Thanks to Martin, Mike, Vivian, John, Theresa, John, WindRose, and Adrian for such a great day.
Bees to follow

Recipes for May

2008-05-18T09:35:00.002+01:00

Some of you will have noticed a strange looking item in your boxes this week, if you're not sure what it is or how to cook it i've included a recipe for Globe artichokes.
They really area a gourmet food item and I hope you enjoy them, our plants are quite young but will produce bigger fruit as they grow.

Preparation: Cut off the stem to make a flat base and remove any tough outer leaves. Position the artichokes snugly in one layer in a suitable saucepan or steamer. Sprinkle over some salt and lemon juice. If boiling, pour in enough water to come halfway up the artichokes. Likewise, make sure there is enough water in the base of the steamer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer or steam for 40–45 minutes.

Artichokes are done when a leaf pulls easily out of the centre and the base is soft when pricked with a knife or skewer. Drain and leave upside down in a colander for five minutes.

To serve: The artichoke can simply be placed on a plate as is. For a neater presentation, push back the outer leaves and pull out the centre cluster of purple-coloured leaves. Beneath that you will find the 'choke', an inedible stringy substance that should be carefully scooped out with a spoon to reveal the prize – the dense, meaty bottom of the artichoke.

To eat: Pull the leaves off one at a time and dip the base of the leaf in the butter or sauce. Drag it between your teeth, eating only the thick base of the leaf. There should be a 'discard' bowl provided for the uneaten leaves. When you come to the central group of small, purple leaves, as described above, scoop away the choke and eat the base with a fork, dipping it in the sauce or butter

This weeks Box

2008-05-18T09:03:00.003+01:00

It's all green at the moment as we are still harvesting winter greens like Kale and chard. The first peas were available this week along with herbs like coriander. A nice tea can be made with the mint and oregano is always useful in small amounts in salad and of course with pasta!

Our Peach tree has had Peach leaf curl: A fungus that can result in dropped fruit and even a dead tree, we are addressing the issue by remineralising with sea solids

We've gone for green peas this year(last years were yellow), and while they don't have the multi-coloured flowers like the others they are still a lovely sight to see in the tunnel.

Tulip Time

2008-05-08T18:00:00.004+01:00

In spite of the voracious rodents that inhabit this garden, some of our Tulips that we bought in Amsterdam have survived to welcome the Sun. A nice Pinch of sharp gorse on top of each bulb soon stops their little paws from digging them up :-)

Speaking of the sun it's been so hot here, it's hard to believe it was so cold only a week or so ago. It's a real pleasure to cycle up the hill to the field:

And it being May, the deliveries of boxes have begun. It's a slow start but things like peas and beans will soon be along:

Admiring the view

2008-04-29T20:56:00.004+01:00

I had a clamber up the hedge today to see what i could see, see, see..
I'm trying to work out where do i go next with the design and was looking to get a different perspective.
From here you can see the terraces, and all hand dug i should say.

It's beginning to take shape it's just where to go next?

Will have to do some more thinking.

Everything is beginning to speed up now the weather is getting milder, peaches are getting bigger by the day and I should have a nice load of greens for the first boxes on saterday

It all looks pretty except for the bad side of town- this is the part i don't like showing people.

More work needed

Flight of the Bumble Bee

2008-04-21T09:51:00.003+01:00

It being a lovely spring day there were lots of bees coming into the tunnel to see what flowers were on offer. I took this clip of a fat bumble bee as she made her way around my pak choi plant.

I'm letting it flower so as to save seed from it. This gives me a plant that's adapted to local climatic conditions.
As you can see they are quite nifty on their feet once they get on to a flower, thoough they do tend to get covered in pollen!

A touch of frost

2008-04-11T18:11:00.005+01:00

Today i'm mourning the loss of my spuds. Frost isn't something you usually have to worry about here in Cornwall, but we've had some really cold weather recently.
So right now this is what my spuds are looking like:

now because i'm not used to frost down here i panicked.. oh my gahd!! no spuds for the customers!!, but luckily it seems that they will regrow after a while, it just means a much later crop. I know i should know this being an irishman, but hey you can't know everything

Just before this i'd planted some more asparagus, a purple variety from Italy.
here they are all laid out like terrestrial squid

and the peach has bloomed, followed by little fuzzy baby peaches. By July they should be beginning to swell, ripen and smell real good.

Beans Beans

2008-03-29T08:14:00.005Z

While our Tomatoes and cucumbers are growing steadily in the tunnel, we also have lots of outdoor crops to be planting. Broad beans are a great hardy crop to have, they are lovely with new potatoes and onions in june ;-)

We've been planting them for what seems forever - 6 Kilos - roughly 3,000 of them!

And a few weeks later...

I'm just finishing the tables inside the tunnel, the theory is that it doubles the space on that side of the tunnel: we can grow plants like lettuce that like cooler conditions under the tables and melons on the top of the tables. I'm trying to maximise the use of the space that i've got. And on these cold, windy days I really appreciate this tunnel!

sowing the seeds

2008-03-18T20:37:00.004Z

Here's a typical bootload of seedlings going up to the site from our conservatory..Tomatoes, melons, cucumbers...all ready for the season.

As usual i've planted more than i need but it's a kind of insurance against slugs and their ilk..

The grapes are beginning to show their leaves, i'm really looking forward to seeing how they shape up this year..

Fruit Cake

2008-03-12T22:27:00.006Z

So my girlfriend thinks i'm a fruitcake! Why? Well, i've got this addiction you see... It involves visiting discount stores in the Springtime and buying AS MANY FRUIT TREES AS I POSSIBLY CAN!!!
Yep it's terrible, I can't seem to stop myself.

I think part of it is the names you see, like "Denniston's Superb" or "Opal", "Discovery", "Fantasia", "Czar", "Heldenfinger", "Doyenne Du Comice" you get the picture...
Last year it was tropical fruit seeds, this year it's fruit trees. To date we now have 34 trees..
So what did I get? well to name a few:
Grapes, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, plums, damson, nectarine, blueberries, cranberries, gooseberries, and on and on....

I guess the names conjure up images of bounty at this time of year. Of walking through a rich orchard, plucking ripe peaches in the sunlight, gorging myself on plums and blueberries- madness
Because at this time of year there ain't no such thing mate.

Or is there?

This picture was part of our talk. It shows our landlords tunnel and what is fruiting there as i type. Yep, cornish kiwis. They begin in December and continue right through till April. So i guess things aren't so bad. Crops like these can be grown in Cornwall, doing away with fruit such as these being flown halfway across the world.
And if you think we would be doing some poor new zealand farmer out of business, well hey, they took them from China in the first place!

Pond Party

2008-03-12T21:44:00.005Z

So we had our talk last weekend, it went really well. I was quite surprised to find myself being quite calm on the day, had a kind of a "let's get on with it" attitude!
The soil assocation(who were hosting it) did a great job of organising it and providing lovely locally sourced food.
It was a slow start but once we got into it, I had a great time, being able to talk about our project and especially the future of a self-reliant Cornwall! So not bad for a first-timer and after only 5 hours sleep due to our car breaking down the night before.

The next day was our action day, we were looking to put in a pond to encourage wildlife and have a definite water supply.

It was forecast for rain so not as many as expected showed up. However we did get 7 dedicated people who got stuck in. It was truly amazing how fast the work progressed in only a few hours!

It was quite cold so we had to keep moving, our new rocket stove made the tea in much shorter time than the previous one and so we would sit down and eat muffins and drink tea either in the warmth of the tunnel or outside when the sun came out.

There's only a bit more to do now.
So thanks to Steve, Martin, Mike, Rusty, Denise, Pez and Pippa for your help and company. Ye really saved my back!

A Wee Chat

2008-03-06T09:41:00.004Z

Just a note to anyone in the cornwall area, we will be giving a talk on our CSA, it's setup, how we got funding etc in Truro this Saterday the 8th of March.

It looks like being a great event. I'm a bit nervous - haven't really done public speaking before But i'm sure it will be fun.

It's part of a program initiated by the soil association: cultivating communities whose aim is to promote community agriculture and help support the setup of lots of these projects..

View a Poster

Hope to see you there!

Surrender to the Blender

2008-02-23T20:47:00.006Z

So it's the mad time of year at the moment. Everything needs to be in the ground since last week, the animals are active- mice eating beans, and i'm flat out!!

Because we are still short on open ground i've had to take in the Rotovator again. I call it the blender because it's like taking the soil and blending it up. All the structure of the soil is destroyed, worms are cut to bits and the ground turns into a spongy mess.

But hey it's quick!

and at the moment quick is what I need. Looking back on the last few years I can see the difference in the amount of seed we've been using. 2 years ago was we used about 30-50 broad beans. Last year was 120, this year....

5,000!

Same goes for everything else, much more spuds, tons of corn, and about an acre's worth of Winter squash and courgettes.

It's our biggest year yet.

And speaking of "our", My partner WindRose has decided to come in from the sidelines and be a business partner too for this year. I've noticed the difference already as everything is getting done much quicker..

The tunnel is coming together:

The peach we bought recently is now covered in pink blossoms, which we need to hand pollinate as the bees are only peeking their proboscis's out of the hive on a sunny day.

Spring has sprung

2008-02-16T12:58:00.003Z

So February is here, and we are halfway through it already. Hard to believe it seems to be going so fast. Looking back at last year's journal I see we are planting everything a lot earlier, and I seem to have a bit of a better plan together.
How long that will last I don't know! But at least with some crops in the ground I feel more confident about this year.

We decided on more potatoes this year -"Desiree" - a nice red skinned one which makes glorious chips, and "Sante" a nice fluffy, white spud which has been very reliable and tasty the last two years.

I'm putting them in where the souds and onions were last year mainly because it's the easiest patch to dig. I'll be getting more into rotations next year.

It's lovely rich soil, improved with compost and should be perfect for them.

We are also starting to expand up into the rest of the field- we only use about a quarter at the moment. I have been madly purchasing apples, peaches, plums and cherries and can now boast of a 20 tree orchard!

it feels great to have the extra fencing in, opens up the field and really makes it seem like the project is progressing...

Updates on the tunnel coming soon......

Thinking of Summer

2008-02-04T22:01:00.000Z

It's real Winter weather at the moment and while I can hide in the tunnel when it gets really rough, i'm missing the pleasure of wandering round the garden in the sunshine.

So i've been looking at some old clips of the garden from last summer.

I thought i'd include one to both remember how lovely it can be and that these howling winds and hailstones won't last forever!

Pepino

2008-01-31T21:35:00.001Z

A quick update on a crop I was quite excited about last Winter. It's called "Pepino" (Solanum muricatum).

I was interested in it for many reasons: taste- it's supposed to taste like a melon and pear combined, productivity, season - November to December, it's also a perennial so will last from season to season if given a helping hand.

The main reason was it was strange looking so i had to have it!

Anyway I obtained some seeds from Trade Winds Fruit

A great site with one of the biggest collections of hard to find seeds I have ever come across, they even have purple kiwis.

They grew extremely well, just like tomatoes and share that wonderful trait of putting out aerial roots so you can literally snap off a branch and it will root readily.

The only hard thing was working out when they were at their ripest. A light yellow tinge told you it was almost time, but if you took too long they were soft and pretty horrible.

When you got it right- around mid December, they were really good: crisp, refreshing and mildly lemony, peary and melony. They had lots of fruit some of which the birds got their beaks into.

The best thing was being able to go to the tunnel around Christmas and be able to harvest something that wasen't a lettuce or a bit of kale..

So the plants are still here and i plan to use them next year. They are slowly creeping into fashion, I see places like Thompson and Morgan stock them.

It's late and there's more diggin to be done.

until next time.

Breaking Ground

2008-01-14T18:07:00.001Z

So January is here and I can feel Spring just around the corner. The sleepy state of Winter is slowly changing into the rush of new growth!
I've been reading a lot about underground greenhouses, how they keep a lot more of their heat- up to 75%, how they are cheaper, use less resources and have a smaller impact on the landscape.
Here's an interesting article about a bolivian version called a walipini

So while i'm not going to jump straight into building one of those i am digging down my big tunnel to test out some of these ideas.
I had some help with this from my friend carlos, here he is in action:

Thanks Carlos!!

So working away today I had a visit from a not so welcome visitor, some little mice who like the taste of my parsley for some reason!:

I know they look very cute, but i'm still going to seal up the tunnel as best i can..

Another idea is to make as much use of space as possible, this means trying to grow double the crops i normally would by intelligent use of light.
Helping me in this is a series called the "victorian kitchen garden" it's a show from the 70's where they recreated a walled garden (6 acres of it!) and grew everything as the victorians would have.

It's a great insight into this hey day of horticulture, and gives me some valuable methods of growing without any electrical heat.

One clever thing is to grow melons tied vertically up the roof. I'm going to attempt this on the north side of the tunnel, on tables over the salads which like some shade, thus growing two crops where one would normally be.

Putting in shelves will give me lots of potting space, freeing up time for the small tunnel, which is standing impatiently in the wings, waiting for it's turn in the sunlight!

And then there is the pond to dig.. carlos come back ;-)

Food from the Sea

2007-11-25T20:24:00.000Z

We spent a very enjoyable evening gathering masses of seaweed for the Garden. With wild winds and rain further up-country, we were basking in some winter sunshine.

Gathering seaweed is one of our favorite activities, it's very satisfying to know there is a source of high quality compost only a mile or two away, plus it feels like a very natural, healthy thing to be doing!

Seaweed is an amazing resource, it's estimated there are 150 million tons deposited on British beaches every year. It contains most, if not all of the essential elements plants need. By elements I don't mean Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorous. There are over 80 potentially useful elements that a plant can utilise. Different plants vary on their uptake of minerals, wheatgrass is considered to be the most efficient, picking up close to 90 elements.

Anyway getting back to seaweed, when you think about it all the fields, mountains, streams, rivers etc lead to the sea, Heavy rain washes tons of soil containing minerals into the sea every day. The sea is the richest place on earth, containing vast amounts of creatures and plants, all thriving on the mineral rich mixture that is seawater.

The seaweed growing in this water is a perfect accumulator of these minerals and so spreading it on the land is a great thing to do!
The area of land above Mounts bay where I grow used to be called "the Golden Mile" due to the tons of seaweed carried up by farmers over the years and deposited on the land. It's done the trick as my soil is rich and dark, like a chocolate cake teeming with worms!

So the first batch is going on my asparagus, they like the salt so i'm told, and will make a nice treat for the customers next season.

While I will write some more posts on minerals and their importance for our diet, here's a link to an Article I wrote for Permaculture Magazine, a great read I would recommend to anyone feeling a bit depressed about the current state of the world.

So I'm still gathering carpets for my new beds, there is a carpet warehouse nearby who throw out masses of big ole carpets, but even this isn't enough to cover the field quick enough.

A couple a times a week i drive to the field laden down with more carpets, and realise yet again that the project is 10 times bigger than the previous one, I've got an Acre to cover!!

There was a time over the summer where i swayed between digging with a cultivator and no-dig mulching. For comparisons sake i cultivated a large patch with the machine.

Well no comparison really, while the machine was quick the difference in quality convinced me to go for the slow version of bed making. It's like comparing a nice sandwich made with care to putting that sandwich into a blender!

I prefer my worms alive thanks very much...

Ready for Winter

2007-10-27T23:10:00.002+01:00

Today was my last Saturday delivery, 2 more boxes to go and that's it for this year. I'll publish a full appraisal of the year in another post, for now i'm winding up the season in many small ways.
One job that's finished is the bees. They've begun to head into hibernation and have eaten the honey out of the old combs, here's a picture of them with Mounts bay in the background:

And feasting on one of the last combs of honey...if you blow this image up you can even see them putting their "tongues" into the cells to get the honey, that's my gals!!

Their are a number of things to be doing, gathering carpets to put on the ground for new beds come the Spring, seaweed to put on those beds, build the second tunnel, get the heating working...lots and lots

but for now i can relax and begin to plan this while relaxing with some nice tea...

Action

2007-10-03T20:25:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday was our open/action day.
It was a chance for anyone who had not yet seen the site to get a feel for the place and see where their weekly box came from. People started arriving at 10 and the day just flew..It was supposed to end at 2 but people were still around until 3.

People seemed to be eager to work, something i hadn't really planned for so it ended up that some cleared hedges, tended the fire for tea and took it in turns to push the hand mower!

I was so busy talking to people that i forgot all about taking pictures so only have a few!
here's the last stragglers having a chat:

And Ben one of the customers, flying by with some woodchips for the heap-
cheers Ben!

It was a great day and felt really good to have so many people up on the land chatting and having a laugh.

Good news with the bees aswell. I've managed to try a slightly unorthodox combining method by placing the brood box(where the babies reside) onto the Top bar and putting newspaper between. the idea is that the bees take a day or 2 to eat their way through the paper by which time they have gotten used to the other hives scent.

it seems to have worked, there is a big hole in the paper and the previously angry bees semm to have calmed down. (not totally though so i'll keep me gloves on for the moment..)

that's all for now folks..........

winter a comin

2007-09-16T20:46:00.000+01:00

well yet again it's been a while since i've posted. I suppose i can blame it on the bees. Some sad news there. It seems that the hive we disturbed has lost it's queen, when i say lost i mean she's died or been killed by accident. some kind of disturbance could have caused it and you guess what the latest disturbance was..
yes me...
so i feel quite dumb at the moment realising what i've probably done.
Right now the bees have been queenless for about 2 weeks, they're listless, grumpy and feel like somethings missing..
so i'm doing my best to find a replacement queen before they die off. fingers crossed.

I've collected a small sample of honey from the other hive, it's delicious and keeps me upbeat about next season.

i'm making big plans for next year already, tunnel 2 is being built and carpets are being laid out everywhere i can put them so i can have loads of beds for next season.
With all the fine weather i've seen a surge in crops like tomatoes which are really filling the boxes now, i'm giving samples to everyone i know at the moment and they seem to be popular.
Pumpkins are really going well too.
This japanese pumpkin was only this big on the 16th August:

then only 8 days later:

so more to come soon. I'm off to ireland for a week and when i'm back will hold forth on such such subjects as ponds, refractomoters and geo-thermal energy!

Beeautiful bees

2007-08-03T21:54:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since the last post, and this time i've got a good excuse..Stung by bees..what!
Yes, it's a long and somewhat shameful story..

It all started with us complaining about the height of the "national" beehive, it was too low, the frames were way too heavy, it tired you out...
So it's been in our minds for a while now to lift it up onto some extra concrete blocks one of these nights.

That night came around last sunday after playing a samba gig in penzance and availing myself of the free guinness..

It was all going well until we realised (by the light of the full moon)that we had neglected to lift up the bottom board on the hive, this resulted in hoardes of sleepy, confused bee flying on, around,and at us..

While lifitng the hive i had bravely muttered "even if we get stung we have to keep going" this was put to the test when roughly 7 bees were crushed by my drunken knees against the side of the hive..

A very sobering burning sensation soon began to make itself known there prompting me to leap in the air, and run for the car, leaving my poor girlfriend to fend for herself!!

To anyone watching it must have been a strange site indeed, a beekeeper in the light of the moon, flailing and swatting himself, running around a field, tearing his clothes off!

Well anyway, the swelling went dwon 3 days later, and so has my swollen head after realising that even though i've read all the books, my girlfriend is a lot calmer around the bees than i am..

So since then we have had a lovely visit with the "top-bar" hive, the bees are working away building their beautiful comb

If you enlarge this picture you should be able to see the different colours of pollen that they are bringing in.
Working in this hive is a dream, they never seem to get angry and we rarely use smoke. I just hope they have enough stores for winter.

I'll be writing an update on the plant world at badger's garden soon, including plans for expansion and the magical world of mushrooms (no, not that kind!)

March of the caterpillar

2007-07-19T16:09:00.000+01:00

During a routine clean up of the plants i found this highly coloured fellow, beautiful as he is it's not worth the risk of letting him stay to eat something valuable. Time to get an insect ID methinks.

We've been lucky the last few days, lots of sun and rain, perfect for the plants. My earlier depression over wet weather and blight on tomatoes et al seems to have lifted. Thanks to the dry weather and seaweed spraying the blight is slowly retreating, leaving me with healthy plants once again.

My boxes are getting bigger now the latest delivery on Wednesday the 18th included:
3 beetroots
2 round courgettes
1 sweet pepper
1 cucumber
some broad beans
1 lettuce
1 small bag of salads
1 very small bag of basil!
1 lb of spuds
beans and mange tout peas
1 radish
1 polen tomato

I'm finally approaching or just over the £10 mark and aim to be over £15 from august to october, onions, aubergines and peppers will be coming in like wild then. I'm still having trouble with slugs and have resorted to the sharp knife method....

Things like sweetcorn pictured here are doing great, this is "ashworth" and it seems to be doing well with the "3 sisters method" created by the native americans where they grow corn, beans and squash together, although my beans have all been eaten so it's more like the "2 sisters" (doesen't sound so good!...:-)

I've purchased a great little tool called a refractomoter which measures the sugars in sap/juice, this lets me know roughly how much minerals are in the plant and thus how nutritious it is. In my view this should be compulsory for all farmers especially organic ones. This way you can see partway through the season how your crop is doing and can take steps to correct deficiencies, too many "organic" crops are actually lower in nutrients than some of their conventional neighbours due to the soil they are grown in, more on this later.

So things are going well, growth is at full throttle, including the weeds so i'm off to remove some of them!

The Rainy Season

2007-07-03T22:01:00.001+01:00

Well it seems that cornwall has a monsoon season i wasen't aware of!! "it's been 2 or 3 weeks now of constant, endless rain, the wettest june on record or so i hear.. This constant moisture has really impacted on the project. First theslugs are at epidemic proportions eating everything in sight.
The moisture in the air means it's perfect weather for blight to spread, all the potatoes have it as do the tomatoes(related species) I can only pray that the weather will shift.
It's a sign of the times I suppose, as our climate changes so must we. It makes me think more and more of planting trees and shrubs which are edible. Less hassle, more productive and the slugs won't eat them..(unless they evolve along with us!)
So yes things are gloomy and yes i'm gloomy as are the bees who can't get out to the flowers in this weather. They are a bit grumpy at the moment so i'm leaving them alone!
But ever since the swarm happened a few weeks ago the 2 colonies seem to be doing ok.
Here's a pic of the swarm in a hawthorn tree:

They are now rehoused in their new "top bar hive" this is a more natural hive design which gives the bees the freedom to build comb to the size and shape they require, itmeans less honey for me but more wax and more importantly happy bees.

here's a link to some info on natural beekeeping:
Bio bees
So i've decided to stick with only 5 boxes a week due to the slug presence in the area. Hopefully this will change in the coming weeks. I've got to start thinking of winter crops now, something i havent grown much of.
more soon..

Busy

2007-06-22T18:17:00.000+01:00

Things are really taking off now, im expecting tomatoes any day now. The courgettes have finally got it together and are making progress so that i'm able to give each customer a decent box. The potatoes are beginning to flower and producing delicious creamy spuds for supper.
And great news...the bees swarmed!
More on this later and more posts later..I promise!

Slugeroos

2007-06-08T13:52:00.000+01:00

You know I like to think of myself as a holisitic kind of guy..I've done a lot of research into minerals and pests and how they interact. There's an interesting theory by a frenchman called Francis chaboussou

He shows through hundreds of studies how it is the bio-chemical makeup of the plant which influences what and how many insect "pests" attack it.
And the thing is once you familiarise yourself with this theory you can see how they are not attacking it..
Take an aphid for instance, it likes a certain flavour in a plant. When nutrient levels are low/ plants are fed high dosees of nitrogen to speed growth, the plants sap tastes good to them and so they feed. If the plant has it's full quota of minerals (up to 80) then it doesent taste good to the aphid and they move on..

This theory works across the board, whether it's blight on potatoes, aphids on your aubergines..their job is to clean up the plants that aren't healthy:- "Nature's clean-up crews"!
It's only us humans who decree that this is friend or that one is foe...
Which brings me to slugs...

Where in god's name do they fit in!!

I can give my plants seaweed, rockdust, only the best most wide spectrum feeds i can give and they still keep coming, hordes of them, slithery slimy slugeroos....

Aghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Only the other day i've had some of my beautiful orange courgettes massacred by them, literally overnight they ate about 6 of them.
I found the skeltal remains the next day, dripping in slime and past the point of return.

Revenge became an inevitable thing, the big water tanks soon became the extinction chambers, and soon their bodies were floating on the surface, belly up like the slug-titanic had just gone down.

This scheme has backired however, now everytime i dip my watering can into the water it becomes coated with slug slime and my arm along with it....

So the only resort i had(i think) is something called "Nemaslug" from the manufacturers website:

"Nemaslug uses the nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, which was discovered by scientists at the government research institute at Bristol, England.

One application of Nemaslug provides 300,000 nematodes for every square metre of soil, giving at least six weeks control of slugs. This is generally enough time for seedlings and bedding plants to get well established."

so basically these nematodes lay eggs in the slugs, these hatch and eat the slugs from the inside out..all the slugs die...

Now in a perfect world i would have hedgehogs and frogs eating my slugs, but as i'm establishing the site and my income is depending on it, for now we shall have to use nemaslug..

Isn't there something in the bible about a day when there is harmony between all creatures- the lion laying down with the lamb, I wonder when the gardener will lay down with the slug? (the thought of it!!)

stone the crows!

2007-05-26T21:20:00.000+01:00

Well what can i say these pesky crows have eaten all of my grains! I was a bit lazy about it i suppose, thought they wouldn't notice when i was planting it. I must admit i felt a bit paranoid at the time , they seemed to be flying above me a lot, cawing back and forth to one another, letting each other know what was going on?
Anyway i set out my millet and wheat in seperate beds, and watered them..
sure enough over the next few days there were lots of scratch marks in the compost and not much seedling activity..
So what to do?

Well strings seemd to be the first option, didnt work so i tried tape, all those old cassettes that i was sure to use some day? well they were promptly disemboweled and strung around the place, while it hasent stopped their thieving it has slowed it down somewhat.
slugerooos next...

Windy Weather

2007-05-10T13:20:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since the last post, but then again so much has happened! Our first delivery went well with pete delivering to the more far-flung customers and yours truly bringing the boxes into penzance.

It was a small delivery, and i reassured the customers that this was only the beginning and as it was a CSA scheme they would be receiving way more than what they paid for onve we had reached june.july. Still it's hard getting people to take a chance on you, especially when it's their money.
"Why not just call it a box scheme!" I hear them think, well because it's not, and this seems to be a hard concept to get across in England(sorry Cornwall).
SO we have had some mad winds lately, the tunnel is really getting tested. I sat through the wildest wind yet yesterday, freaking out every time a big gust made the whole tunnel shake. It was like being at sea in a boat you're not sure is up to the task, creaks and moans, cracks and groans. But she survived and I intend to purchase some nice big straps to put over the top just in case...
The courgettes are coming along nicely:

They are a nice tasting variety from italy, and something a bit different for the customers..
Elsewhere in the tunnel there are the crimopson flowered broad beans, they are all in flower, attracting the bees, and the humans as they smell so good:

So as we begin to enter summer the garden is starting to fill out, there is still a lot to be done, but i'm quite pleased with how this is going.
More later.

If you want to do something with your life....

2007-05-01T22:01:00.000+01:00

There's a song i heard at a permaculture convergence that goes like this:
If you want to do something useful with your life, go and plant some trees.

I was singing this song as we finsihed up another windy day at Badgers garden. When we were in Tontnes, Devon a few months ago We found loads of baby oaks under a big tree. We took them home and they have been in a sack of soil ever since..
So on Mayday eve we decided to just plant the lot..

turns out there were 67 of them, which will make quite a grove sometime in the future!
It always feels great to be planting trees, a kind of investment in the future, a statement about what kind of world I'd like to see, or maybe it's just planting trees!
No matter, it feels good and brings a sense of permanance to Badger's Garden.

The beautiful ash trees that were planted by folk on the action day are now coming into leaf, the flowers are blooming in the hedgerows, summer is being painted on the landscape.
Things are coming along in the polytunnel now aswell, peas are blooming and courgettes too, outside the drab brown of the potatoe beds is greening up fast with new growth and the small touches like flax seedlings pushing through the straw put out a feeling of exuberance, barely contained excitement..it's coming alive folks!
As I do less work in the day job and concentrate more and more on my passion for plants I find that the work i put into the garden is paid back 10 times in results, it's very satisfying, and what keeps me doing it.
People debate whether it's an art form, I would argue for this, except why would I bother arguing? The plants are my paint and the field a canvas, it's a co-creative act, between me and the land, and never fails to surprise me.

Action day

2007-04-24T23:43:00.000+01:00

So our second action day, we had a bit more luck with the weather this time, and got loads of work done. The day started with Rose and taking our first look at the bees. It was quite an experience I can tell ya! We had been to the previous owners house to see and learn from him how to examine the hive, it was nice to see him do it, however when it was just the 2 of us the tension began to mount!
here's a pic of me smoking the hive:

What looks from the outside like just a black box is revealed to be a vibrant city of creatures engaged in facinating, intricate work. Amazing! I could have watched them all day..But we had a jobn to do, so after checking for any disease or swarming we put all the covers on and left them alone for another week. It was such an amazing experience it's hard to write about the action day with as much enthusiasm!
Well what can I say, everywhere I looked something happening. Liz tackled the gateposts, while martin foucused on the tyres, pete took care of mulching the sweetcorn
while Amber and her kids helped fill beds with compost.

Merlin thought he would test how deep the hole was...
Rose was here there everywhere planting and loading compost and I got stuck into making a nice bed for the brocolli!
It felt great to have the site progress so much in a short period of time. Here was a week of me working on my own being done in a few hours. It really brought home to me the power of community, and what's possible with a few people and some good intentions
Thanks guys!

So the countdown is approaching to the first delivery on the 5th of May, i'm hoping there's enough for everyone, and yet in a way i'm not too worried as it is in a way a good lesson to learn about CSA, how the share reflects the garden: that there isn't much about at this time of year and so the boxes reflect this, june onwards will be packed with lots of produce, exceeding what the customer are paying, so i guess it all works out..
I just hope the customers see it that way!

It's been a while..

2007-04-19T22:50:00.000+01:00

Well hello stranger! Yeah it has been a while, lots of things happening all at once..As they do..
Lets see now, well one of the most exciting things has been the arrival of around 60,000 (haven't counted them all yet) BEES. We got them from a local man last Sunday and installed them in what i call the "fox corner" which is where i met a fox the first time i was in this field..
They are, pun intended, "busy as bees" zooming in and out of the hive, working away, making lots of honey. I've yet to look into the hive, and can't wait till i do this sunday!
With my mate steve bringing loads of fresh grass clippings to the site, the heap is now heating up to 50-60 degrees, too hot to put your hand inside!
the coil of pipe is almost full with water, i'll need some kind of crafty home-made valve to get rid of the air inside...

Plants are going in everywhere, early sweetcorn, flowers on the courgettes, herbs, pumpkins, and of course the massive bag of onions is still only about half empty, so much more of that to be planted..
Another action day is happening on the 22nd of April, so will have a longer post after that, thought i'd show you a picture of an interesting plant i 'm growing called a "Pepino", tastes a bit like a melon, so i'm told, ripens around december, so a great alternative to apples from china..

more to come..

Sweltering

2007-04-11T21:50:00.000+01:00

wow it's hot! has been for days now. At first it was lovely, felt like we had fast forwarded to June
without any April showers. But the novelty is wearing off for me anyhow. Each day I wake up to a blue sky and find myself praying for rain. Am I turning into a farmer?
Not quite but I'm beginning to realise just how crucial the right weather at the right time is. Without rain, I have to cart gallons of water down to my plot and quench the thirst of my parched plants and sandy soil.
So i'm praying for rain, and clouds, and grey weather. Everything i've been wishing away. Are humans ever satisfied!?
Anyway, on to the progress, with a delivery of compost from the Green waste company I've managed to almost fill the tunnel with soil. Peas, Broad beans, salads and some corn are in, making a plastic tunnel into a planthouse. It's beautiful.

The compost is a dream, moist, dark and rich. I've sown 2 extra rows of onions, with space for some flax/quinoa in the middle, should look nice in the summer.(or is it already summer?)

The damson tree is in blooom, has a lovely scent, it's also a nice place to view the garden from.

So next steps are to activate the woodchip pile with grass clippings and lots of water, finish the big sweetcorn bed, doors on tunnel, gate for garden, ponds, and did I mention bees?

Heating

2007-03-31T19:33:00.000+01:00

So far the heap has remained cold, where i've put manure in the centre it's reached up to 47 degrees but everywhere else is stone cold.
Since researching more information and attending a waste conference last week i've realised i need more moisture, lots more. For the woodchips to begin their decomposition process they need moisture. To speed this up I also need more green material, things like grass clippings.
So what i've done is dug out the centre of the heap:

i'll gradually start to mix it with grass clippings and fresh manure, and soaking it as i go. Because the woodchips are from old doors etc it's very dry wood, so it needs loads of water.

Now that the tunnel is up i can concentrate on this, while also filling the tunnel with plants. It's just over a month until the first delivery and i'm getting worried that there won't be enough to give to everyone. The sooner i have a heated tunnel the better, as it will speed everything up..
at the end of the day though it's worth it, as i drive out of the field i can see this in the mirror ;-)

Majestic lady

2007-03-27T22:33:00.000+01:00

At last at last she is complete! The tunnel has arisen, and what a journey it has beem. From a few hoops to the final nail it;s really been a learning experience for me.
It was a lovely day today, really warm, so the decision was made to bring out the plastic:

Once it was warmed up we unrolled it, man it was massive! Talk about daunting.. We got it unfurled and sprang into action..

That's me fighting with the plastic, the wind decided to come up at that point..

and here starting to get stressed out..
Working out a way to get as much tension on the plastic as possible, this way seemed to be the best for back muscles!

After much work our majestic lady was revealed..:

As the sun went down we were just about finished...7 hours later...

darkness fell as we were finishing, just in time for a last photo..

exausted, but tomorrow is another day, lots to do, lots to grow..
Thank you Rose for helping me and putting up with me in my mad stress mode!

A magical Day

2007-03-27T21:44:00.000+01:00

WEll i'm going to make up for not posting in a while. Lots has been happening, an action day last sunday with great work done by some friends. The fence was dug in, woodchips were ferried about, a beautiful tree was planted:

and we tried making our first rocket stove!
After a few failed attempts the kettle began to whistle and it was tea time..

A grand productive day despite the rain, thanks to everyone who helped out, Steve, Liz, Paul, WindRose, Rob and Ruby , Steph and her mother and 2 children making it into a real family outing!,lots of work was done and i really appreciate it..Thanks

A day in the trenches

2007-03-16T21:14:00.000Z

Well time marches on and we wait ever more impatiently for a hot and still day to put on the skin for the polytunnel. The final trenches are dug, Rose gave a hand on the finishing touches:

I've decided to put in some big airvents to keep my tomatoes nice and blight free this season, i'm hoping the tunnel will be quite warm with the woodchips heating it up. It's been climbing steadily after a shaky start. It wasen't doing anything until i stuck a few bags of fresh horse manure into the centre, now it's reading 47 degrees!

The beds are slowly coming on aswell with the thousands of onions hankering to get in and start growing. I'm of 2 minds whether to stick a complete no-dig system and use what i have or else cart in tons of compost from a company 4 miles away...decisions decisions..

This area covered in straw is to be the bean tunnel. As you come into the garden there will be a huge arch with beans, nasturtiums and god knows what else clambering up it. It should be a nice entrance to the garden with lots of colour and scent surrounding you.

I know i havent published in a while, but that will change as i make the move to this being my full income and the weather warms up. We have an action day planned for the 25th of march and after that it's all about getting ready for the first delivery on the 5th of May. Getting nervouse..
It's always a difficult thing to plan ahead so you have enough for everyone. With 10 people planned for this season it's been quite a rush..

Strange fruits

2007-03-03T22:16:00.000Z

As part of this project, i'll be introducing weird and wonderful fruit and veg which will be available throughout the year at Lowarth Brogh.

First on the list is one of my favourites: It's called "Melothrie" or "mouse melon" or "mexican Gherkin" for all you latin folks: "Melothria pendula"

It's a great plant I grew last year, it forms an amazing web-like vine with literally hundreds of these small gherkins hanging from it.
They look exactly like minature watermelons! The taste is something like a cucumber but much milder, they crunch in your mouth and are great in salads.

They are extremely proloific and can be pickled at the end of the year to be eaten at your leisure on those cold winter evenings.

Definately something to try this year, it will be interesting to see how the customers like it. It caused quite a stir at the health food shop..!

Comparisons

2007-02-26T19:42:00.000Z

Over the season I'll be keeping you updated about how my site compares with my neighbours, highly mechanised, "conventional" farm. I've nothing against his field, it's just the closest example of industrial agriculture.
As I said before, the turning circle for the gleaming beasts(giant tractors) is a wee bit smaller than my entire plot.
The cauliflowers are gone and it's time for potatoes. The obligatory plastic (to heat up the soil) has been stretched out using special equipment. Neat rows march across the landscape.

As you can see here:

It's a big area of heavily compacted earth, nothing will grow here for months. So far this year there has been Cauliflower, then potatoes. If he's lucky he will get one more crop in this year, bringing the total to 3. THink about all the gaps here. Even if each crop can produce for 2 months, that's still only 6 months a year of produce. Compare that with an established garden and polytunnel. we eat fresh kiwis every morning. we've been eating them since December and will continue to until April.

Imagine this field(about 20 Acres) Covered in fruit trees and the odd polytunnel, there would be food available all year round, minimum wastage and a massive increase in Biodiversity. Instead of a cold empty field you would hear birdsong, see spring emerge into the landscape..

I'll keep harping on about this for some time yet, so have a good think about it!

Back to the project and things are coming along, the next warm day we get that skin is going up on the tunnel, here's an overhead shot taken from a precarious position on top of a trailer:

The first woodchips have been put on top of the heating pipes:

All I need to do is add lots and lots of water to start the process and tropical conditions should follow..(frantically crossing fingers and toes)

I met 2 new visitors by the potato bed today: Pesky magpies, guzzling down some choice "romano" spuds! They soon got the boot, but it's left me wondering how to prevent riff raff like these from feasting on the produce...

Men of Action

2007-02-20T22:47:00.000Z

Well today was such a lovely day that I just had to get out there and get something done!. With the help of my mate Pete, We got loads of cardboard from Penzance for more potato beds, and went hunting for the black stuff (horse manure)
here's pete knee-deep in the stuff

We then went to "Land's end trekking centre" where they have mountains of well rotted manure. It's about 8 miles away, but worth it for the quality of the manure. They also use very small amounts of antibiotics, if at all so it's really good stuff.

Back at the land you can see the materials piling up.

so a productive day all in all. Hoping to get some woodchips onto the coils tomorrow, the main problem has been getting them to stay where they are supposed to!

There's been a few teething problems with the heating, mainly my understanding of thermodynamics, i.e how hot does the heap need to be to push the water around 40m of pipe? will the pipe melt in high temperatures? etc.. So i'ts all about experimentation at this stage, will keep you updated.

Wet and Windy

2007-02-19T18:52:00.000Z

Not much to report at the moment. The sky has been grey and overcast for days now, and looks like staying that way. I've been up the land a good bit, putting up the fence, deciding on which way the heating coils should coil..

I've also monitered the temperature of the woodchips, i've got a special probe thermomoter which makes me feel very scientific, but alas, alas no real change in temperature as of yet.

Everything feels like it's in stasis. The polytunnel will have it's skin on soon, the heating should be working and plants planted. There's a feeling of bated breath about.

Even though it feels like winter will stay around forever there are signs of sprin everywhere I look, buds on the rasberries, little green shoots of mint sprouting up... you can just feel it in the air..

When the chips are down

2007-02-14T23:13:00.000Z

Well finally they have arrived. A gigantic truck made it's way up the tiny lane yesterday and delivered this massive load of woodchips. Thank you Green Waste Company!

It was great to see them get here at last, the heating source for the tunnel, the grand experiment. I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but what can i say? All the parts are begining to come together, the project is taking shape.Spring is here and it's time to get moving!

So there's lots to do: The skin needs to go on the tunnel, the heating pipes all need to go together and then plants need to be planted..

watch this space.

Lasagne beds 101

2007-02-04T19:13:00.000Z

Ok, today i'm going to show you how easy it is to use a "no dig" system of gardening. The art of digging is a manly thing and seems to be pursued with religious fervour.
I remember doing the same myself, coming in the door on an evening, exclaiming about how hard i'd worked, with a few slipped discs to prove it..

But that all changed when I discovered Lasagne Beds. This way of preparing a bed for planting is a part of "permaculture": Permanent Agriculture" do a search on the web, you'll find tons about it.
Basically it's emulating nature as close as possible with everything you do in the Garden.
Nature has it all worked out, ever seen a worm with a slipped disc? exactly.
Anyway to start a lasagne bed (or sheet mulch) you start with the plot you want:

You then decide on the size, a good size for veg is about 2-3 foot wide, as far as you can reach from 1 side twice.
Lay down cardboard in the shape you desire. This will help stop weeds coming up.

Then you need some sustenance for the plants. A mixture of Manure, straw and seaweed is good. But anything organic can be used.
Manure goes down:

then i add some straw and seaweed on top to keep away slugs and it's all ready for some spuds. FOr most other plants you need to wait a month or 2 before planting into fresh manure. Or else add a layer of soil onto the top and plant into that.
There you go, it takes a fraction of the time, enriches the soil and not an aching back in sight!

Beast of bodmin..

2007-02-02T22:12:00.000Z

ooh aarh look at this fine beast, no not me, the tractor!
I've been very lucky to get the loan of this tractor from my nice landlord for the year. It's a great machine and can do lots of work that would take me ages to accomplish.
We have been quite busy, running loads of manure and seaweed, and getting ready for the beds to go in..more in a day or so..

White van man

2007-01-27T22:58:00.000Z

I've been a bit busy working to pay bills, so have not had a lot of time to update the blog. However things are still moving along, with some seaweed and straw delivered by yours truly.

Here you can see my friend pete (thanks pete!) chucking some straw about, the scissors is to cut the twine, it gets in the way of our furious forks. Old rotten straw like this is ideal for making "lasagne beds" more on those another time..
A few more loads of manure and i'll be all ready to start working. It's a 2 week wait for the polytunnel skin, so in the meantime i'm concentrating on the beds nearest to the fence..

wet wet wet

2007-01-15T23:29:00.000Z

well the rain has returned, but we have heroically kept up the work. The final bits are now being put on the tunnel. Battens like this:
will hold the whole structure together, making for a solid but slightly bendy shape for the wind to play with.While it is wet, the ground does soak it up. it means I can't drive the car into the field with materials, if i did it would look something like this:

I've been talking to a canny cornish farmer today, he wouldn't part with any manure unless i paid him well for it, can't say i blame him, farming doesn't pay much these days. So i'll have to look elsewhere, the bulk of my fertility will come from seaweed, and seawater..what? yes but that's for later...
For now i'll look at this picture and wish the clouds away.

Comparison

2007-01-10T09:19:00.000Z

I've decided as part of this project to do a small comparison between t an intensive small scale garden, and a large scale, "conventional" system.
Here's a picture of my neighbours cauliflower field:

The bit you see is the turning circle for the tractors, giant gleaming machines with massive tyres. Very impressive, but also very messy. I've yet to measure it exactly, but the turning circle for this field is roughly the same size as my entire plot!
I've always read that convential large scale agriculture is the way to go, bigger yields, efficient and all that. The only problem is that this is more of an assumption than anything else. Any studies done seem to be a direct comparison between a large scale organic system and a non-organic one.
Now, when i look at this vast, empty field with it's churned up earth, discarded cauliflowers and areas of unused land I start to wonder...
Surely an intensive, forest garden, modeled on nature, will produce more than a vast monoculture. The thing that strikes me most are the vast amounts of waste inherent in this process.
I worked for 5 years in the "conventional" horticulture industry, and industry it is. The search for a perfect apple leaves out at the minimum 30% of the crop due to blemishes, shape and appearance.

So what's the alternative? Well I would think to put people back on the land, instead of vast acerage devoted to a single crop, have allotments. Which is more diverse, vital and interesting?
I'll leave that up to you to decide.
Another thing that strikes me is the "care per metre squared". simply put, how much care and attention is focused on a particular patch of ground?
Picture the old geezer looking after his prize marrows at the back of the house and a behemoth of a tractor, roaring around a field while the farmer listens to cds in the cab...

Doors of Perception

2007-01-10T08:40:00.000Z

Despite inclement weather, the door frames are up, a bit shakey, but doing their job all the same. It gets a bit confusing looking at them, as they are on a hill. It's funny what looks straight but is actually slanted and vice versa, thank you to my good friend the spirit level!

You can see that a bit has being happening, I got the mini tractor out for the day and have nudged the tanks into position. The one uphill from the tunnel will supply irrigation water by gravity to the plants.
The downhill tank, which is bigger, will have the long blue hose whcih is currently stretched halfway around the field attached to it. This will then loop under the soil in the polytunnel. Once hooked up, it will have 20-30 tons of woodchips dumped on it.The warm water in the tank will circulate up into the tunnel and back down again.This will produce enough heat to keep the tunnel nice and warm.That's the plan anyway..

Learning process

2007-01-04T22:13:00.000Z

The weather has been pretty rough recently, so much so that not a lot of pictures were taken. I have made progress however, the frames are up and the heating tank and irrigation tank are in position, pictures to follow...
For now, I thought i'd show some pictures of the guy who inspired me to try this method of heating the polytunnel:

Jean pain was a frenchman who was faced with the problem of forest fires in the region where he lived in South West france. The underbrush in these forests had to be disposed of to lessen the risk of fires happening. He devised a way to make really potent compost from this waste product. After more experiments he realised that the amount of heat from a fermenting heap this big could be used for different purposes..he set to work.
What you see above is an inital prototype heap and a more refined round one, which extracted more heat from the piles.

His solution was simple, wind water filled plastic tubing around the pile and then send it to wherever you want it. Because of the huge mass: 50-120 tons, the piles stayed at 50-65 centigrade for up to 18 months..Free heat, and at the end of it, tons of compost..what a genius!

Of course on reading about this, I started to dream of real cornish bananas, coffee, tea, pineapples, the lot! and why not? The air freighting of pineapples, never mind apples, is a great way to go about destroying our planet, maybe this can be part of the solution..
This is is greenhouse, heated by a massive heap, sub-tropical conditions on the inside.Can we achieve the same here?

Badgers in them thar hills

2006-12-29T22:25:00.000Z

The other day we spotted some big tracks in the mud on the way into the field..looks like Badgers to me.. Badger's garden lives up to it's name!

Movin on

2006-12-29T22:10:00.000Z

At last, despite stormy weather, 1 of the door frames is attached. I'm kind of new to this sort of thing so i went through a steep learning curve! I made so many mistakes with this one that the second frame will have to be perfect...
Anyway i've also been unwinding the heating pipes which are a slightly smaller version nof the big hoops: 50mm OD to be precise. I'm making them as straight as i can so they will move smoothly into position...

Structure

2006-12-20T00:23:00.000Z

SO now the final pole has been put in place, hada hell of a time putting it in, but it feels great to see it all there. Next bit is to get the doors up and then the plastic..

Getting there

2006-12-17T21:36:00.000Z

We managed to fit in a few minutes on Sunday to put up some more hoops, here I am walking around the tunnel, there's a few loose places, but some rocks and a sledgehammer should soon fix that. I'm also starting to plan the garden design: It's about 10 times biger than the last garden we did, so it calls for a much bigger vision when all is said and done. Am I up to the task? Watch this space!

Arcs

2006-12-15T17:57:00.000Z

At last some hoops are up. Feels great to see them, the difference from a flat field to one with this, dare i call it structure? is amazing!

A bit of pole bendin

2006-12-15T17:28:00.000Z

Next comes the pole bending, basically i hammer a couple of scaffold poles into the ground and bend the pipes around them, leave it for a day or even an hour and i can then place them onto the poles..
So now that most of the scaffold poles are fairly steady, i can concentrate on putting up those hoops and movin on. Because this plastic is quite thick 63mm OD, you really have to wrestle with it. I like to think of it as dancing with a drunk anaconda! Man, it goes every which way, except where you want it too, is slippery and the ends can really cut deep if you're not careful(i'm not). Not so different from a giant anaconda, except that i'm in a wet field in cornwall, rolling around trying to put this flamin pipe onto a pole..

Feeling a bit...tyred!

2006-12-07T19:55:00.000Z

Finally got all of the scaffold poles welded, dug in, measured, re-measured, and lined up. Tyres are useful things you know, keep the rain out of the poles, provide a windbreak and act as mini-greenhouses by absorbing heat from the sun and storing it so the plants get a headstart.
As soon as the weather calms down a bit i'll be out putting up the hoops and making the doors.

Foundation

2006-12-01T20:50:00.000Z

Well i had to work today so only got a chance later on just before sunset to get any work done. I managed to get all of the remaining holes dug on the polytunnel . Met some tough rocks on the way but managed to work my way past them.
It's beautiful land here, the soil is dark, and full of worms, it's no wonder this area used to be called the "Golden mile".
Next step is to get those hoops of water pipe into the right shape for placing onto the scaffold. I'll pretend i'm a pro and call these slung together bamboo shapes "forms"!
Work continues manana..

Beginnings..

2006-11-29T19:32:00.000Z

Hello, this is the first post for Lowarth Brogh CSA, a community supported agriculture project located just above Penzance in Cornwall, England.
It's the second time i've grown for people on a large scale (well larger than the back garden) and quite a challenging project.