1. Dig
to prepare ground for next year's crops:
Alan Titchmarsh says:
"Alas there's no instant remedy for bedsteads and bindweed,
brickbats and buttercups. Only hard graft will rid you of them.
It's no use rotovating the lot - every chopped bit of weed root will
survive - you may have to dig the lot out by hand [unless you want to
find a suitable weedkiller?] Take heart; you'll get there in the
end. And rest assured that every gardener on this earth thinks their
weed problem is worse than anybody else's".
This is probably a task
that would be made more enjoyable if we could do it together and have
a flask of cocoa to hand! Before we start, a pertinent question if
we do want to grow more vegetables may be: 'What area has been
designated for this?'
2. a) Spread
compost that has already been made: Lots of
weeds were heaped up last year against the wall and might now be
ready to cover the open ground within the frames.
b) Make
two or three compost boxes: As we don't have
a waste food collection in Prestonpans, perhaps people might like to
contribute their kitchen waste - not meat, fish or cooked foods - but
vegetable and fruit peelings, grass mowings, young weeds, tea leaves
& coffee grounds, old flowers and bedding plants, vegetarian pet
bedding(!) wood ash, cardboard & compostable packaging. Then
this would all get mixed in with weeds from the garden.
3. Prune
apple trees (with a shape in mind) when
there is no danger of frost but training may have to wait if there
are not appropriately-placed supple shoots. Sharp secateurs are
needed and best to have someone experienced please?
Check tree ties are
secure but not too tight.
4. Sow
broad beans and garlic, but not together. Do
we want organically sourced seeds?
[Early potatoes grow well
with broad beans so we could leave space for some between the rows.]
Broad Bean Hardier
varieties can be sown in autumn and be protected by cloches made from
cut-off 'pop' bottles. The Sutton
This is a Dwarf variety (only 30cm high) and at 40 seeds for £1.54
can be sown in a double row. Or Super
Aquadulce 40 seeds £1.76. Garlic
Vallelado 150g for
£4.45, Break up the bulbs and planting the cloves will give a 40m
row and is suitable for autumn-early winter plantings. Any
aficionados among us? Varieties & prices from "The Organic
Gardening Catalogue".
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| Fat Hen (picture: Rasbak) |
|
5. Get
to know the weeds. One of the tall ones with
slightly green-grey leaves and spires of small greenish knobbly
flowers is Fat Hen (Chenopodium album) of the Goosefoot family and it
indicates a good soil. "Once a most valued vegetable for humans
it compares favourably in nutritional value to cabbage and spinach.
If is a friendly herb to other plants as its deep roots raise mineral
nutrients for shallower-rooted companions and its leaves catch and
spread water to lesser neighbours." (How
to enjoy your Weeds by Audrey WynneHatfield.) So let's not weed it all out.
