Cintamani Dham

My Cats

2007-08-19T17:58:00.000Z

Celery in potato trench - will this work?

2007-06-09T19:52:00.000Z

Not sure if this will work or not, but I transplanted some celery seedlings into the trench made when I earthed up the potatoes recently. I'm not sure if it's self-blanching celery or not as I lost the seed packet, so I planted some in this trench which I will earth up gradually, and also made a small block of the plants (each one 8 inches from the other) as this is a close-spacing method recommended for self-blanching types as they are so close together that they keep the light out. I may need to put planks around the block later and fill the gaps between the plants with straw, but I will worry about that later- if they grow!

Cauliflowers growing well under enviromesh

2007-06-09T19:38:00.000Z

Lots of growth in the allotment (including weeds!) at present. This is the cauliflower bed covered with a floating mulch of enviromesh (held down by four wooden planks) which has about eight caulis plus onions in between them, and a pic of one of the young caulis which looks pretty firm and is about 4 inches across. I was surprised to see this as I had dug this bed over in spring and sometimes the books say the bed needs to be firm and that you should only have dug it in the previous autumn otherwise you get loose heads. But I had put lots of well rotted horse manure in this bed and that, combined with the enviromesh protection, must have done the trick. My other cauli bed which was not dug over but did not have much organic matter in it is not doing so well. So there's a lesson for me - "cauliflowers need lots of manure, and this is more important than being in undug, firm ground".

Making a garden seat from pallets

2007-04-26T16:51:00.000Z

I saw this very rustic garden seat at some allotment plots in a nearby village and just had to share it. Why not have a go at making one yourself!

Rotovating

2007-04-26T16:45:00.000Z

On our allotments there are the usual two types of allotmenteers - the organic women who like raised beds and a few chaotic flowers, and the old geezers who rotovate the whole plot each year and sow everything in rows measured and plotted with militaristic precision. However we all get along and even share ideas now and then. Here are some of my neighbours doing their manly work!

Broad Beans growing well - need string supports

2007-04-26T16:30:00.000Z

Currently planting a lot of seeds but they don't look that exciting in a photo yet - so here's a pic of the broad beans instead. Had to put string round to give them a bit of support. Apparently you have to pinch out the tips to stop black fly at some point, not sure when though! In the USA they are called "fava beans" so I will try and find some recipes on Google. But I've found that you can make humus with pretty much any cooked bean, not just chick peas, just by adding some olive oil, salt, pepper, blob of tahini or peanut butter, plus any old spices that you like such as garlic or cumin. You can also find proper recipes online. I also like to pop in some leaves from the top of celery. Mmmm! I use a handheld blender that is very quick and easy to clean, and often we have humus "wraps" or burritos (using flour tortillas which we quickly heat up in a dry wok or frying pan), plus whatever is handly such as tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, lettuce, tofu etc. There is really no limit to what you can put in a wrap - there are whole restaurants selling just wraps in California and even one or two elsewhere too. The blender's also great for making fruit smoothies, but that's another topic!

Wordsworth daffodils rap squirrel - so bad it's good!

2007-04-14T09:21:00.000Z

You have to see this video, at the Cumbria Tourist Board site.

April - cloches, plastic and fleece.

2007-04-01T19:04:00.000Z

We're still mostly digging over beds and adding compost and other inputs. Have put lime on the brassica bed (Bed 2) and sharp sand to the carrots/roots bed (Bed 1) from the allotment plan done earlier in the year. Here's a pic of the seed bed, have just got a few lettuces under cloches for now. I like the 5 gallon water jugs the best as they are study and don't blow over and have a handy handly on top. Plus the water is only £1 per bottle at Iceland, so that's not too expensive - although generally we use a Brita filter. But now and again, like if you're going on a long car journey, a bottle of water is handy. Have also put fleece and clear plastic over beds to warm them up.

Corn salad lettuce - useful during "the hungry gap"

2007-04-01T18:55:00.000Z

Here is one of my corn salad lettuce, also known as lamb's lettuce. Grows over winter so is very good this time of year when there is not much else in the ground. Interestingly, the best crop came from an area where I had thrown some of the weaker seedlings whilst thinning out. They somehow grew and survived the slugs far better than the area of soil with the original row!

Planting out broad beans & lots of digging!

2007-03-24T13:26:00.000Z

Planted out some broad beans today, just next to the runner bean trench I dug last week. They are supposed to be ok in quite cold weather, so we'll see how they do. I grew them in the kitchen in root trainers, to give them a good start as the trainers allow the roots to grow quite big before planting out. I know the old guys rototilling think my plot is weird as I swaddled the beans in fleece, like a little baby! Here is the odd-loooking result.

I'm not sure if I know what they taste like but I think they might be like butter beans in a tin. Here are some recipes and a pic of what they look like when ready, apparently you can eat the whole pod when they are small, then eat the green beans, then dry the beans for soups etc over winter. Sounds quite useful!

Creating a trench for runner beans

2007-03-04T13:23:00.000Z

My allotment neighbour, David, a sprightly 84-year-old, suggested I get going on a bean trench when I went up to the site yesterday. Good advice as the soil was mostly too wet to dig, but I could dig out the trench from the side path without treading on the soil. It wasn't too hard as I had already dug most of it over in the autumn. Here's how it should look (on the left) and how mine does look (shown below) - not quite so photogenic! Since I should have started this a few months ago I plan next weekend to dump in my current kitchen scraps plus a bag of well-rotted manure from the garden centre (as I don't have any compost yet since I haven't been diligent enough in collecting kitchen waste over the winter due to the need to drive it up to the allotment site from home). For more info on how to build one see the Garden Organics page on trenches. What that page does not say, however, is that it is helpful to put newspapers or cardboard at the bottom of the trench, as this retains moisture. David also suggested that if you don't have manure or kitchen scraps, to put in upside-down turfs (turves?) i.e. chunks of grass with the soil stuck to it that you dig up from elsewhere, which I did, then covered with a bit of compost.

Allotment plan 2007

2007-02-17T19:26:00.000Z

double-click on image to see in full-size, readable scale

Have made a plan - in pencil of course!

Bed 1 - roots (carrots, parsnip) intercropped with salad onions and lettuce
Bed 2 - brassicas (purple sprouting brocolli, calabrese)
Bed 3 - legumes (early broad beans, runner beans, mange toutes) and one zucchini
Bed 4 - half potatoes, half squash, corn and tomatoes
Bed 5 - onions, garlic, misc.
Bed 6 - legumes (manges toutes)
plus seedbed, two zuccini squares, iris & herbs bed

Plus sitting area, compost bins etc.

What to do now in your kitchen garden or allotment

2007-01-07T14:55:00.000Z

Do you think that because it's winter there's nothing to do? Think again after reading what you could be doing in the veg plot from those nice folks at HDRA, now Garden Organic. Alternatively, you could just order their delightful Organic Gardening seed catalog, and then over the next rain week or two you can sit down with a nice cup of tea and dream about spring seed plantings...

Planning windbreak for 2007

2007-01-07T13:40:00.000Z

Noting warnings about the danger of windburn to plants, I'm planning a windbreak for the south-west corner of the allotment. I do like the windbreak netting sold at Two Wests but that is still a bit dear at £2.10 per metre, so I got some cheapo net curtains for £2 from a charity shop, two pieces, each about 1m x 3m for the time being, as I'm trying to not choose inputs to the allotment which cost cash as the whole idea is digengaging from the cash economy as far as possible. So that net will be the first step windbreak, probably on garden wires strung between two posts, combined with some Buddleia davidii cuttings. Planning to take hardwood cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, 15 - 20cm long, and propogate them in a frame in a mix of compost, sharp sand and vermiculite. Probably should have taken them earlier, in October/November, but with the current very mind winter I hope taking them now (January) will be OK. Will do the potting up of the cuttings today and possibly sewing hems along the curtains...

The Fruits (& Veggies) of our Labour

2006-08-26T13:22:00.000Z

This is from a couple of weeks ago, but as a picture it's worth a lot of words about why I like growing.

Bilberry Sunday: The Feast of First Fruits

2006-07-30T20:13:00.000Z

Today is the Sunday traditionally celebrated in Ireland and elsewhere as the Feast of First Fruits. It is a festival dedicated by the God Lugh to the honour of his foster mother Tailtiu who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. I may have channeled that energy today as I worked from 7 to 7 pretty much non stop with doing dishes, feeding cats, cutting down small tree in front garden, photographing fabulous flower tree, cleaning bathroom, doing a laundry load, showering and washing hair, boiling milk for yoghurt, buying fruit at farm shop, buying compost and two small plants, watering allotment, creating new raised bed, planting onions, picking courgettes, onions, spinach and blackcurrants, back home in front garden creating a lettuce raised bed, weeding front garden, planting two small plants, potting up and feeding blueberry, watering and feeding courgettes and tomatoes, eating veggie soup.

Regarding the flower tree, a passing walker said they thought it was a Hibiscus, but had never seen a blue one before. This colour might be because the soil is very acidic due to conifers being there for years before I cut them back, (the acid/alkaline Ph determines whether hydrangeas are blue or pink). Also, the 84 year old lady next door said she did not remembering it flowering before though. I cut it back very much some time ago, maybe that made it flower? The BBC says that "Hard spring pruning isn't difficult and promotes a mass of stunning, large flowers."

The Wisdom of the Apple Tree

2006-07-27T08:02:00.000Z

Our folk memory and country lore is rich with reference to the virtues and wisdom of the apple tree. This beautiful tree provides abundant food which can be stored for winter use, and has many uses both in the kitchen, as a herbal remedy and as a remedy acting on our subtle energies. Apples have a long history of being used for divination, especially to foretell the future in matters of love and prosperity. The methods of divination are varied and include such things as counting the apple pips; burning the pips (after naming each one with a young man's name and watching which ones explode in the fire) ; pressing the named pips with the finger to see which sticks the longest; apple bobbing; throwing the peel over the left shoulder to see it forms the initial of an individual when it lands; and putting an apple under your pillow to dream of your sweetheart. All of these games and folk customs are survivals of much older ceremonies in honour of the Apple. Many of these customs are particularly performed at Samhain, the time of the year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, a doorway between the seen world of matter and the unseen world of spirit. If you wish to work with the energy of the Apple tree, you can aid the process by focusing on Apple trees and working with apple wood, eating more apples, drinking apple juice and the occasional glass of cider. Dry apple peel and drink it as a tea. Try cultivating Apple trees from the pips for some very special trees which you are closely linked with. Sit with Apple trees as often as possible, get to know their vibration, make friends with them. (From the Wisdom of the Apple Tree).

Saving Water: it's over 95 degrees

2006-07-22T11:33:00.000Z

Here's the back garden set-up for siphoning off the bath water onto the garden:

Vegetables Harvested Today

2006-07-01T14:14:00.000Z

The allotment is looking good, if a little dry. Today we harvested lots of mange toutes, also chard and beet spinach of various sizes, onions, radish, spring onions, parsley, rosemary, edible marigolds, and baby courgettes and carrots. This will form the basis of several meals when combined with home made beansprouts and yoghurt, plus store-bought potatoes, tofu, grains:

Veggie soup of various types
Baby green leaf, radish, marigold salad
Spinach and potato subji
Roasted potatoes with rosemary
Tofu and veg wraps
Quinoia and mange toutes stir fry

Capel Manor - dramatic rock fence

2006-07-01T13:28:00.001Z

This fence made of rocky shards presents a stunning way to edge a path, I have no idea where they got the rock from though!

Capel Manor - raised beds

2006-07-01T13:05:00.000Z

Capel Manor has some interesting variations on the usual wooden sides for raised beds. It has some with bricks (but I note they are concreted in, presumably to stop slugs setting up home underneath). Also there are high-sided steel containers which would be great for the elderly or disabled as no bending is required.

Capel Manor - straw bale cob walls

2006-07-01T12:50:00.000Z

Here is a cob hut and wall, using straw bale building techniques. Note the creative designs carved into the walls.

Capel Manor - unusual hedge ideas

2006-07-01T12:39:00.000Z

Here are pics from Capel Manor, one showing how by placing a steel tube into a privet hedge, you can create a window through it. The other showing their big hedge, which has been grown to allow paths through it (presumably this takes quite some time to achieve!)

Capel Manor College - open day pics

2006-07-01T12:18:00.000Z

The next few posts show some pictures from the recent open day at the renowned Capel Manor College, which offers courses at four London locations on horticulture, garden design, floristry, horse studies, arboriculture (how to become an expert "tree surgeon"). The wide range of courses are both full time and part time. Some are more suitable for young people (e. g. apprenticeships). While others will appeal more to more mature people (like short summer courses at the Regent's Park centre, near London Zoo). As the college is a charity the course are inexpensive or free for UK and EU residents, and they even pay students £30 per week if they are young, not too wealthy, and starting out in further education.

In praise of Sak (spinach and chard)

2006-06-10T21:21:00.000Z

The ultra reliable mainstay of our garden is always sak - which we consider to be best represented in the plants known as perpetual spinach and chard.

If you're not sure whether you like sak or not, there is a great recipe for Paneer sak - steamed spinach with fresh cheese (paneer) on this cookbook page. It is quite simple to make paneer, which you can then cut into cubes and deep fry - or you could use mild feta cheese instead.

Mange Tout and Asparagus Peas - seem easy to grow

2006-06-10T20:35:00.000Z

Here are some of our mange tout (also known as flat pea pods) which are now about a foot high. They are in my experience quite easy to grow. I usually start some in pots inside under a light or in a sunny kitchen window, and also sow some outdoors whilst transplanting, just as insurance. In the end they all seem to come up together and just need a bit of netting around the edge of their narrow bed as they get bigger, so they can cling on and grow upwards to their full height of about three or four feet. Since they have their own tendrils, you don't have to tie them anything, so that is a real timesaver.

I planted my usually reliable favourite seeds: the Oregon Sugar Pea Mange Tout which you can find in most garden centres I think.

This year I am also trying out a new plant called "Asparagus pea" which is actually not a pea, but a vetch (the alfalfa family), forming low, bushy plants. The red flowers are followed by small winged pods. You saute them whole in butter and they taste very much like asparagus, so I am told. I planted seeds for about 25 plants in root trainers and planted them out in two batches, last week and today. We'll see how they so in this blistering heat.

Steamed and served with rice, in a veggie soup, or spiced up in a stir fry - I am hoping these pods will be a sattvic, healthy and tasty source of green veg over the later summer - and a change from chard and spinach beet (called sak in India) which are always the ultra reliable mainstay.

Built a Brassica Cage - but it looks like football posts!

2006-06-03T23:14:00.000Z

Here is the brassica cage we put up, it is a wooden frame, held in place by 6 vertical stakes, (2 each side of the frame, in three places) tied on with wire, and with netting over the top. The netting was a bit too short (at 4 metres long) to reach the ground on both sides so I improvised with some enviromesh on the short side which you can see on the left.
The result however looks a bit like football goalposts - perhaps there is something in the air with the World Cup starting soon!

Low Impact Living - courses 2006

2006-05-29T15:34:00.000Z

Innovative and practical self-sufficiency type courses are available this summer at the Low Impact Living centre in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England on subjects like cob building, herbal remedies, beekeeping, biodiesel, straw bale construction.

The courses take place at the Redfield Community (or more accurately "in the stable block", which sounds more rustic than this photo of the stately pile suggests...)

"Foodwise" book: deep nutrition and healing foods

2006-05-29T09:36:00.000Z

I am now reading a book by Wendy Cook (first wife of satirist Peter Cook) about biodynamics and food called "Foodwise", which explores her interests in the deeper aspects of biodynamics, optimum nutrition, and healing foods. It is unputdownable!

Emerson College: Biodynamics Taster Day

2006-05-29T08:58:00.000Z

The biodynamics course was great fun and an eye-opener. Here are some pics of Emerson College, including the water feature which is a part of the energising of water through using "flowforms".

Protecting Brocolli - from coke bottles to a cage

2006-05-25T20:51:00.000Z

Have been down the allotment twice since last posting, for about 5 hours each time. Last week, I dug a new bed and transplanted some beet spinach onto it. I also battled with a large sheet of polythene in the rain for a time -trying to build a tent but only creating a huge soggy sail - before giving up and sitting under my brolly for a few minutes. I did some very satisfying hand weeding, though.

The amazing surprise of the day was a blast of delightful sunshine for the last hour or so, and during the 10 minute walk home.

The photo shows my rather feeble attempts to protect my brocolli. I am thinking hard about what design of brassica cage to make. Since I have a lot of offcuts of timber from the building site out back, I am thinking of a waist-high cage, made from 6 uprights of 2 x 1-inch wood, with similar cross beams, so there are three "n" shape structures, then there should be planks around the bottom of the uprights to serve as a raised bed. For the lengthwise top pieces, I may go a little wild and nail on two extraordinarily long tree branches which I tugged back from a woodland walk last week.

I gathered these branches last week whilst "going sticking" - walking in the woods to get dry wood for the fire. (Because there had been strong winds the night before and I thought some branches might have blown down). I spotted these two fab pieces through the intermittent rain from under my rather urbane - but nonetheless very welcome - black umbrella. I even tugged one of the branches out of the swollen and rushing little river, which was a spot of excitement.

Hopefully I will post a picture of the yet-to-be-created brassica cage soon!

Self Sufficient UK - a very informative website

2006-05-17T10:04:00.000Z

This fabulous website at www.self-sufficient.co.uk has a host of online information covering all aspects of self sufficiency, with a UK-based approach but apparently sourced worldwide. There is original content in the form of short articles. There are also lots of Google ads which some may find annoying but others may find informative. But on balance the site is clear and well-organised, and provides a simple, pleasant area to roam around online in on a rainy day. For instance, making a shed out of wooden pallets and building raised beds.

Film: experimental Art & Farming haven

2006-05-17T09:11:00.000Z

The Real Dirt on Farmer John is a personal documentary about John Peterson, a farmer, artist, and revolutionary innovative thinker cast in rural Illinois. With the death of his father during the late 60s, John turns his traditional family farm into an experiment of art and agriculture, making it a haven for hippies, radicals and artists. The Real Dirt on Farmer John charts the end of this idealistic era as the farm debt crisis of the 80s brings about the tragic collapse of the farm. As the intricate weave of rural America unravels, vicious local rumors turn John into a scapegoat, condemning him as a Satan-worshipping drug-dealer. Threatened with murder, his home burned to the ground, John forsakes his farm and wanders the ancient lands of Central America. Mysteriously, his quest leads him back to his hostile homeland. Defying all odds, he gradually transforms his land into a revolutionary farming community.

At the film's close, the Peterson family farm is one of the largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the United States. Out of the ruins of single-crop agriculture, John creates Angelic Organics, an extended farm village where people and art can thrive alongside agriculture.

Old Wheelbarrow made from recycled bits of stuff...

2006-05-14T11:02:00.000Z

Asparagus appeared from nowhere!

2006-05-14T10:50:00.000Z

Heavy rain was forecast for Saturday but had not arrived by 4pm, so we headed down to the allotment to cut back some nettles and grassheads on the paths. Doing some other weeding, aiming to prioritise taking out weeds that look like they will soon spill their seed. Came across some 4ft high spindly things growing, the top looked like asparagus so I cut it off and it was fabulous steamed with butter later. Cut back the rest of the woody stalks to about six inches above ground, so hopefully they will grow back for another harvest soon.

Biodynamic agriculture - summer courses 2006

2006-05-06T08:53:00.000Z

Emerson College is having a "Biodynamics for the Backyard" weekend course on 9-11 June 2006. The college is situated near East Grinstead and can be reached by train from London. At £100 for tuition plus two nights accommodation and meals it is great value. There is also a free "Biodynamics Taster Day" on Mon 15 May.

I'm not sure what I think about biodynamics, I like the attention to the vital force underpinning plant growth, and I can understand the need to incorporate animal farming into the mix so that all inputs (i.e. manure) are generated on-site. But I find some of the planting by the moon, and some of the other more mystical type ideas a bit hard to accept. But on the other hand, the Demeter accredited tofu at our health food store is fab. Also I visited Oaklands Park, a Camphill community which uses biodynamic methods a few years ago as part of a permaculture course at Ragman's Lane Farm in Gloucestershire, taught by Patrick and Cathy Whitefield, and it was amazing (plants growing like topsy!) So I think I'll look into this biodynamics a bit more. Any views or useful links are most welcome - just add them in the comments field below.

Comfrey - the very useful "weed"

2006-05-06T08:32:00.000Z

Here is my one remaining comfrey plant, transplanted from our previous house. I love this plant - it is so keen and hearty and seems like the kind of plant that would keep trying to survive even in difficult conditions.

I'm planning to make a "Comfrey Tube" out of three large cola bottles to create liquid feed for the veg patch. Go to the Gardeners World page for 21 April 2006 and view the short video called Homegrown Comfrey Feed. But since I only have one comfrey plant, the good news is that nettles can also be used to create liquid plant feed.

Cloche made from branches & keyhole seedbed

2006-05-01T17:30:00.000Z

The new environmesh cloche for the brassica seed bed is made of three large branches from an overgrown buddlea tree. When cut down they were curved, so I have stripped them of leaves and branches and just pushed them into the earth, and covered them with an environmesh square which is held down at its edges with pieces of wood.

Today was also a day for tacking some early weeds - especially thistles in relation to which we have no mercy! Started off the compost bin. Bringing kitchen waste and ash from home seems a bit odd, but I'm sure it will sooner or later become routine.

Also did some thinning in the back garden at home, in the "keyhole bed" - this is a permaculture term describing a circular garden with a path leading into the center. It gives you the maximum amount of accessible garden for the minimum amount of path. Mine is not exactly circular due to the surrounding paths - but it seves the same function with the centre path!

Planting peas and beans on a super hot Saturday

2006-04-22T19:48:00.000Z

Fabulously hot day today on the allotment, worked on the soil in the long bed which has been under fleece for a couple of weeks.

The soil was a pleasure to work - light, crumbly and warm. A quick dig and removal of a few annual weeds, a rake over and removal of a few stones and it was ready to be planted.

We started with a few sunflowers at the west end, and then created a seed bed for short rows of swede, cauliflower and brocolli. Also, as can be seen in the picture, we planted about 8 mange toutes grown indoors from seed, along with mange toutes seeds set 2 inches apart in a 2 metre-long, 5-inch wide seed drill. Covered the area over the plants with what I think are "twiggy sticks" on the left, plus a little more experimental protection on the right (sticks from a privet hedge removed from overgrown back garden at home).

We also planted some french beans grown from seed indoors in the hot trench created previously. I covered two of the plants with coke bottle cloches - we'll see if this helps them or not! We also set up the Blackwall compost bin, which the council kindly subsidised so it only cost £10.

Didn't put fleece back on any beds or water them very much as it is supposed to rain tomorrow...Had to leave in the end only because it was so sunny I was scared of getting burned - quite amazing!

Me

2006-04-15T12:55:00.000Z

Too cloudy and cold, and soil will be too wet to dig, so not going to the allotment today. I thought I'd entertain you with this pic of me in gardening mode - note the effects of the relentless passage of time (18 years) in comparision with the photo at the top of this blog!!!

The Reclusive Other Half of the Allotment Team

2006-04-09T19:14:00.000Z

More digging of beds, including the claggy bed which lies to the north end of the plot. Most of the soil on site is good, but this bit is wet and heavy. I thought it was clay but a friendly allotmenteer said it was chalk, you can tell by the light colour! A little googling and I now know my soil is the bodily remains of generations of tiny sea creatures. The good news is the spinach beet should do fine. The bad news is that I will be trundling barrowloads of horse muck from the pile at the bottom of the allotments to my plot at the top for many days to come!

Originally wanted to put peas (mange toutes) in this bed as it may be a bit shady due to the tree. But now thinking about putting in early spuds instead (on Good Friday, as is the tradition) to break up the ground. The peas will need to go elsewhere though, as we love to eat these so need to grow lots!

"Other Half" heriocally mastered the art of building a wooden frame for a raised bed. But camera was forgotten so pics of that will have to wait. But here's a flavour from yesterday...

Herb Spiral

2006-04-08T21:50:00.000Z

More digging and grappling with raised beds today! Creating this herb spiral was my way of winding down...The darker colour is compost, the rest is topsoil.

The idea is that herbs which like a hot, dry environment, such as Mediterranean oregano, go at the top. Moisture-loving plants such as chives and mint go at the bottom.

Note: the mint needs to be enclosed within a sunken container, otherwise it will spread everywhere.

View of our first efforts to create beds

2006-04-07T13:49:00.000Z

We plan to use the raised bed method due to not having a huge amount of space, but will retain some long rows for things like perpetual spinach and carrots. There is an existing row of parsley to start with, which helps keep the beds straight (-ish). The carrots had carrot fly inside them so they have all been taken out. I threw them away rather than composted them, not knowing if they were OK to go on the compost - better save than sorry! Delia says put the tops into the middle of the compost to avoid the smell attracting carrot flies, but we don't have a proper compost heap yet - waiting for the cheapo - subsidised by the council - compost bin "any day now".

Starting our Allotment veggie garden - the rough plan

2006-04-07T13:40:00.000Z

Here is the plan which shows the rough outline of our allotment. It is mostly south facing but with about one third shade in summer due to a large tree. The slope is slightly downwards from east to west. It is a half size allotment at the top of the site. The reason it says at the bottom "very sunny - or shady - possibly" is that this is the border edge with our neighbour who has also just taken on the other half of this plot. She may want to put up some vertical fence to give her a south facing backdrop for vertical crops, which would make the adjoining strip of our plot possibly a bit shady. We shall see, but for the time being I'm trying to keep that area flexible.
We got the plot from David, who at 84 is a testament to the health-giving properties of allotmenting! He is moving to a plot lower down the slope, as carting muck up the hill in a wheelbarrow gets a bit much for him nowadays.

Self Sufficientish.com - delightful website on living more simply

2005-12-19T20:01:00.000Z

Searching for a recipe for broad beans (what are they anyway???) I came across the most delightful and informative site on urban (attempts towards) self-sufficiency, with articles, links and a forum on topics from preserving jam and cooking vegan Chocolate Cake to recycling and growing organic veg.

Urban Homesteading - Grow Your Own Food without a Farm

2005-11-15T17:14:00.000Z

It's hard getting to own a piece of land, so start out from where you are now: in the city. Path to Freedom is a forum of people trying to downshift, grow their own food and be self-sufficient.

Simple Living - Tools, Examples and Contacts

2005-07-04T18:28:00.000Z

The Simple Living Network provides online examples & contacts for simple, healthy & conscious living. more>>>

Positive News and Living Lightly website

2005-06-27T18:52:00.000Z

Positive News reports on issues rarely covered by the mainstream media and promotes the many enterprises that are working for a sustainable future. All subscribers receive a free copy of the 36-page full colour magazine Living Lightly with each issue, both delivered to their door (within the U.K.).

The Positive News website, launched in 1999, provides access to the content of both in an accessible electronic form.

Mid-Summer Madness: thoughts of dropping out

2005-06-21T18:41:00.000Z

Thinking of living in the country with a big vegetable garden, writing occasional articles? Check out some books from the Earth Repair catalogue includings one man’s journey away from city life towards a more spiritually connected existence on a small farm in Bedfordshire, England in "A Farm of Our Own: Spiritual Journey Running A Smallholding.

Other titles include "The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency", "Flower Farmer", and "Fences, Gates & Bridges: A Practical Manual"...

Moving Home?

2005-06-19T09:51:00.000Z

Visited old flat yesterday, it is available to let. Sadly the interesting wild garden has been replaced by a sterile-looking lawn, and the hedge by a dead fence.

There is a saying "Gardens do not survive their owners"... This is good to remember when you're wondering whether or not to dig up the herbs and take them with you.

Garden Shrines

2005-06-16T20:22:00.000Z

The "Hinduisation of America" article says

Indians have made the land of the Americas ritually sacred in at least four ways: composing songs and pious Sanskrit prayers extolling the American state where the temples are located; identifying America as a specific dvipa or island as noted in the Hindu Puranas; physically consecrating the land with waters from sacred Indian and American rivers; and literally recreating the physical landscape of certain holy places in India, as in Pittsburgh or Barsana Dham, Texas.

In "recreating the physical landscape" of holy places, perhaps we can develop a sadhana around gardening, creating mini-groves with flowers and shrubs. The garden shed could be like our kutir in the forest...

Moving House with your Cat or Cats

2005-06-14T13:50:00.000Z

Moving home is the English obsession each summer. But cats needs special care at this time.

Me (some time ago...)

2005-06-14T13:25:00.000Z