It’s week 3 of my Hypertufa pot making experiments and I
have a very large wheelie bin full of rejects. I’m working on the basis that I
will find the right mix but it’s costing me a fortune in peat, cement and
perlite. If a room full of monkeys using typewrites will eventually write a
classic novel then there’s hope for me yet.
I am thinking that some of the pots will grow moss and algae
after painting them with live yogurt. This will give me a worn look. This effect isn’t for everyone though and I
can imagine that there are a lot of green pots and containers on patios that
might need a good clean.
If you do get scrubbing then it might be an idea to check
paths as well, some of them are getting very slippery in this wet weather.
Keep off
I’ve been keeping off the soil this month. It’s very wet and
walking on it will compact it, not to mention it sticking to my boots. Nature
seems to be doing a great job of clearing any leftover greenery in time for the
spring plantings. I left the bamboo poles in place this winter and they have
proved to be an endless source of entertainment for the dogs. They have
mastered the art of pulling them up and ripping them to bits. One day I caught
them poking holes in the tunnel as they fought over an old bean pole. It makes
a change from the magpies putting holes in the plastic as they attempt to
attack reflections of themselves.
January Planting
The tunnel is holding up well in the winds. I put it in a
sheltered spot which has helped. It’s a bit
bunged up with the tufa pots at the moment but what is planted in there is
starting to grow. Spinach, peas and lettuce are all doing well and it’s
reminding me that we will soon be looking for seeds to sow. January is time to plant peas, beans
aubergines, salad leaf crops and also tomatoes. I’m going to contact Klaus at
greenvegetableseeds.com this year and buy seeds that Klaus recommends for the
Irish weather. I might as well benefit from his ten years of growing,
propagating and research.
Bulbs
My bulbs are coming up well in the pots I planted up just
three weeks ago. They were on special offer and I got loads of daffs, tulips
and hyacinths for a few euro. It’s amazing how quickly they are shooting up, I
have them in the tunnel too which might help to move them on a bit.
Forcing rhubarb
When I was young I used to venture out at the weekends in
summer to a piece of waste ground where I knew rhubarb grey wild. I didn’t go
empty handed though as I took with me a small brown paper bag of sugar to dip
the stalks into. On its own rhubarb is very bitter so the sugar made it far
more palatable. It’s used in medicine as a laxative, but I don’t remember
anything about that bit. I realize that I don’t have any in our new garden; I
forgot to bring some with me. The plants can be divided easily to produce new
plants so I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a fresh supply. I’d miss it in the garden;
not only for the stalks but the leaves make an excellent spray to kill unwanted
pests. It’s amazing that this poisonous leaf was actually recommended as a food
supplement in the First World War -there were a lot of people poisoned!
The roots are pretty useful as a dye, resembling the colour
obtained from walnut husks...just in case you were thinking of dying your own
clothes. The reason I mention rhubarb
is that you can force young shoots to grow early under pots. It’s just a case
of cutting out the light so they grow quickly looking for light. You can get
the stalks all year in supermarkets and these are grown in a similar way to
having them under a bucket, but they are forced in massive tunnels with no
light in much the same way that mushrooms are grown. It’s said that to keep the
stalks sweet and juicy they are harvested by candlelight in Yorkshire tunnels.
This might be the case but then again it might be a bit of a romantic tale in
much the same way that I remember picking the stalks myself and dipping them
into the sugar bag. I probably just ate the sugar after the first dip if truth
be known.
