Spuds
Mary and John only get top quality organic seed for all of the plants that are grown on the farm. The same goes for the potatoes. They grow a few different types of early and maincrop and the seed is certified organic. “Potatoes are a staple food for our customers and finding the types that grow well here is a priority John tells me as he enthusiastically shows me around both the early and maincrop fields. “The maincrop variety is blight resistant which means that we do not have to spray with chemicals. There is a phenomenal demand for good quality potatoes and I am sure if we grew ten times more than we do, they would still be all sold”. He is probably right too as good spuds can sometimes be hard to find. “If I get a phone call from a customer wanting a few pounds then I go straight out into the garden to dig them up. This ensures that the customer gets the freshest produce available” John says. “You can’t get better than that”.
Growing spuds in containers
John has developed a couple of really simple methods of getting a fabulous crop of potatoes. “The first method I tried that is very successful is to plant one or two seed potatoes into a large plastic bag, the type you would get potting compost in. Only fill the bag up to about a quarter initially. As the potatoes grow, pile up good quality soil and rotted kitchen waste around the plant. As time goes by the bag will be full of both soil and up to 100 potatoes.” John then told me of his second method, which is equally as successful. “I have made simple square boxes out of waste planks. These can stack on top of one another as the plants grow. Fill these again with good quality soil and compost for a bumper crop. If anyone would like to know how to make these, I would be happy to pass on the details” John concluded.
Ecosystem in action
Mary and John will go to great lengths to nip any problems they encounter in the bud…. Just because you see a creepy crawly on your veggies it doesn’t mean they are doing any damage. I was showed how easy it is to get a wrong diagnosis on the vegetable crops when it comes to insect pests. Mary picked a severely eaten leaf from the path and showed me three dark insects on the leaf. “When you see this your first reaction is to throw the grubs on the floor” began Mary. “If you examine the insects though, you will see that they are young ladybirds. These don’t eat the leaves but they will munch on the pest that made the holes in the first place. Therefore these are your garden friends”. Mary carefully placed the small grubs back onto the leaves where they can carry on doing their good work. “We wouldn’t spray any of the vegetables for pests as none of them are so selective that they would only kill the pests, the ladybird larvae would die too. When the balance of planting is correct, there is little or no need to intervene, when nature does such a great job. Even slugs are not a problem when the balance is right”.
Country Market
Don’t forget the Country Market on Saturday (26th) in Buncrana. John and Mary will be only to happy to talk more about organic growing. Either check out their website http://greenhill.weebly.com or phone Mary on 086 327 3315. Kevin at Northwest Organic is also available for advice about the home delivery service currently running in Buncrana. He can be contacted on 048 7133 7950
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