Paul’s
favourite nibble might not suit all tummies!
My mate Paul came over from Nottingham for a visit this
week. He and the family spent time in the wilds of County Cork but as usual had
the irrepressible urge to come and visit the wonderful Inishowen, maybe they
came to see us, I’m not sure. They didn’t
stay with us this time as they came over with their dogs, one of which, an
Airdale terrier loves to fight – and is very good at it. So we thought it best
for our own dogs if they were kept apart. They opted for a campsite on the
border near Bridgend.
Paul is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to self reliance
and loves the companion planting methods of veggie growing. This wide mixture
of planting wild flowers and numerous types of vegetables together has kept his
own veggie patch totally weed free. His
latest raised bed idea hugelkultur (pronounced hoogleculture.
Hugelkultur
Hugelkultur is more or less making raised garden beds and
then filling them with rotten or fresh wood. This makes for raised garden beds
loaded with organic material, nutrients and air pockets for the roots of what
you plant. As the years pass, the deep soil of the raised garden bed becomes
incredibly rich and loaded with soil life. As the wood shrinks, it makes more
tiny air pockets which can accommodate roots and soil, so the hugelkultur
becomes sort of self tilling. The first few years, the composting process will
slightly warm the soil giving a slightly longer growing season, similar to a
normal bed. The woody matter helps to keep nutrient excess from passing into
the ground water - and then re-feeding that to the garden plants later instead
of being leeched away. By holding so much
water, hugelkultur could be part of a system for growing garden crops in the
desert with no irrigation. I ask Paul what other considerations are there for
the beds.
“There are a few types of wood that don’t really work well”.
Paul tells me. “Cedar, because of the natural pesticides
and herbicides (which we need in good soil) and walnut, which takes forever to
rot down and conifers are a bit too acidic really, but if you have a bit in
there it’s be fine I’m sure.
Most other woods are fine. Really good types would be:
alders, apple, poplar, willow (dry) and birch.”
Paul highlights the importance or well rotted wood. “Really well
rotten wood is better than fresh wood, but it really doesn’t matter. Freshly cut old wood could be impregnated with
fungus. I used shitake mushrooms on mine.” He tells me.
“Another thing to keep in mind is that wood is high in
carbon and will consume nitrogen to do the compost thing. This could lock up
the nitrogen and take it away from your veggies. But well rotted wood doesn't
do this so much. If the wood is far enough along, it may have already taken in loads
of nitrogen which will really benefit the plants”. Paul concludes “The beauty of this idea is
that the beds improve yearly as the wood rots. Watering could be a thing of the
past too as the rotting wood acts as a sponge holding the water in dry
weather.”
I think it’s a great idea and will be implementing one in my
patch next year, goodness knows we have enough wet, rotting wood around
Inishowen to be going on with!
Broad Beans
As Paul was wandering around the garden telling me about his
rotting wood, he was happily munching away on some young and tender, raw broad
beans. I was a bit concerned about this as I thought these were poisonous
uncooked. “Yes they have been known to kill, but that’s really rare, there are
some enzymes which could cause an allergic reaction.” He tells me. “If you
build up slowly then the only side effect could be flatulence if you eat too
many, he says with a grin.” I’m pleased that I am not sharing the tent with
him.
Along with the broad beans we have loads of things maturing
in the garden at the moment, peas, mange tout, runner beans and sweetcorn are
all ready for picking on a daily basis. If only we had a longer season! I would
love to eat fresh product like these all year. I’ll be experimenting in the
tunnel and try and lengthen the growing season. If Sainsbury’s can increase
their yield time of strawberries from 8 weeks to 8 months then there’s a slight
hope for me.
Talking of fruit, we have bowls full of currents,
strawberries (it’s been a good year) gooseberries and raspberries courtesy of
Julie’s mothers garden. Creating a fruit patch in the garden is top of my list
of priorities for next year so maybe Paul could eat those as we walk around the
garden instead.
