A Mucky Day

Thursday 12th January 2012

The balmy weather continues. It’s not fallen below about 8⁰C, day or night, for about a week now. Everything’s still growing. Whilst I’m keen to take advantage of it in the garden, overall I don’t think it’s a good thing. Nature needs its full cycle of seasons to function. This has evolved over many thousands of years.

Lavender

And that reminds me, I've got some lavender seeds which need to go in the fridge. Yes that's right, the fridge. I'm not going mad. It's a process known as stratification and tricks the seeds into thinking that winter has passed and it's now time to start growing.

I dampen a little compost and mix in the seeds. Then into a sandwich bag and into the fridge for 6 weeks, or until the seeds start to germinate. Doubtless the purists will say to use sand or vermiculite, but compost seems to do the trick for me and simulates nature more closely. Of course, I guess that might mean accepting a few more of nature's losses too.

Last year I raised many lavender plants from just a couple of packets of seed. After potting them up I moved them all round the garden. I like to plant lavender by gates and doorways where it releases it's fragrance every time it is brushed against. Their strong fragrance keeps the aphids away from the rose bushes, apple trees and fruit bushes, so I need to raise lots of lavender plants to sprinkle all over the garden. Add to this the fact that the butterflies and bees love the plant and it's a complete no brainer. A plant which knows which insects to attract and which to repel! Last year's plants have already made 6 - 8" bushy shrubs. By the end of this season patience will have rewarded me with more lavender bushes than I could ever dream of purchasing. I may even have enough spares to give to friends, sell or swap for favours. Some will go into lavender bags as its insect repelling qualities can be utilised in the home too to ward off moths and other insects.

The Sweet Smell of Muck
Every few weeks I visit a fellow smallholder to collect a trailer load of top quality, bagged up horse poo. My compost and manure heaps are a work of rustic art. They are crucial to the health and structure of the soil. As much goes back into the earth as possible, but it is still necessary to import goodness into the plot. Just think how much goodness is coming out of the soil each year in its bountiful harvest. The sun accounts for a fair degree of the "energy in" but the plants rely on the soil for a whole range of nutrients and there is a whole world of minibeast and microscopic activity going on down there too. During the peak of their growth, especially fruit production, many of my vegetables and fruit will receive top-up feeds made from comfrey leaves and nettles.I am still learning about this, and rely on a variety of books and websites which give helpful weekly or monthly reminders. Here's one that I find particularly inspirational.

This was a productive trip today, since I managed to offload 12 eggs and a cake. J and P's chickens are off lay at the moment and I am more than happy to have some space in my EggSkelter. Having your own eggs is brilliant, but we're not selling ours quite yet so the pressure to eat an egg at every meal is sometimes overwhelming!


After a pleasant cup of coffee and a chat, I returned home to unload. While I had the wheelbarrow out I decided to shift some more of the haystack too. A hard morning's work, surely more profitable and more natural exercise than a session in the gym. After a bacon and egg roll for lunch, which I ate as I observed the piglets snuffling and playing, I set out the pines and conifers for planting. I find it useful to insert a bamboo stick in the ground where I want each tree. It helps to see the overall picture before actually planting them. It's not a good idea to lay the bare-root trees out as the roots will quickly dry out, hardly a good start for a young tree which needs to send it's tentacle roots into the soil as quickly as possible.

No camera trickery! Why did I decide to do every sunrise when sunsets over the farm are so often like this. And I wouldn't have needed to get up early very day.