A quick overview of why plants can benefit from a cold snap. It’s kind of like a board game where the aim is to accumulate degree days. So one degree day is one day spent below a given temperature which varies from plant to plant. 1 day at 6 degrees below is worth 3 days at 2 degrees below. When the critical number is reached then the plants will move onto the next phase in the cycle. This tends to be a feature of long day plants. [...]
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We’ve decided build a forest garden area between our house and the open field. Putting in the rainwater reservoirs f involved removing a row of Apple Trees. So the plan is to replace these and try and build a stacked tract of ground that has fruit trees embedded in fruit bushes with a ground cover of comfrey, sweet potatoes, legumes and some leaf vegetables. [...] 
This looks like an early spring. Watch out for bugs, non vernalised and confused plants but enjoy the daffs snowdrops etc as they get underway early [...] I can honestly report that on this year’s lot there’s been a pitch invasion of docks and at the back where the swimming pool came out 18 months ago it’s stiff with clover. Both of these happy events have been organised by nature with no input from me at all. So while I’ve been on holiday I’ve been avidly reading David Bell’s book the permaculture garden and am busily planning a forest garden round the house for a permanent supply of fruit. [...] Part of the trick with growing things commercially is that you always need to have something to sell. So for us we expect to have a good crop of peppers and aubergines and squash over the next couple of months with about half a dozen beds of sweet potatoes coming through. However our main focus is on providing a succession of chard and spinach that will take us through to Christmas. [...] 
Then add the tomatoes. I wash them, remove the stalks and liquidise them in the blender. Add the Sugar and salt and boil for an hour and a half to reduce the level of liquid. If it caramelises slightly it will add to the flavour but don’t overdo it or cleaning the pan will be tedious. [...] This whole approach to designing a functioning ecosystem from day one is something that we really should be looking at more given that I’m beginning to suspect that what we think of as conventional farming is uncomfortably dependent on cheap oil. [...] Instead I’m going to give you a few pictures of some beauties that we saw. If you’re interested in a little trippette across the channel there’s both a nursery and a garden that you can visit dedicated to these subtle and beautiful flowers. Within striking distance of Dieppe. You have to endure the shame of embarking from Newhaven but well, one can’t have everything. [...] 
In some ways these reservoirs are just like big garden ponds. We’ll be stocking them with Rudd shortly after a bit more fiddling with the overflows And just like garden ponds, one of the things that needs management is removing excess nutrients from the water to prevent algae developing. We’ve already had a couple of minor blooms. Mainly because we had more topsoil in the bottom of the reservoir than subsoil. Hornwort Fundamentally you need to have plants or other organisms that compete with the algae for the nitrates. For emergency reduction we use a product called blue [...] So here’s a selection of 5 vegetables you might have a crack at. Perpetual Spinach, radish, rocket, mixed salad and the carrots. Plants are very susceptible to daylength rather than temperature but we have about 8 weeks before they slow to a crawl. Under protected cropping they really only stop between mid december and when the light turns in mid february but still – if you’re feeling bold this selection should give you the best shot. [...] |
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