It’s interesting to see the length the local council is
going to curb the spread of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). Once the jewel of a Victorian garden container
has escaped and is wreaking havoc in open spaces and waterways, not to mention
our own gardens.
The creeping root systems and ability to regrow from the tiniest
slither has marked the plant out as number 1 in the invasive plant league. Our council have found a small clump with
three stems along the edge of a fence near some land earmarked for development
(at some point) One time the plant would
have been pulled up or strimmed down when mowing.
Now though a square fence has been erected around the plant
and fenced off with wire. We have a professionally printed plastic sign telling
the tractor drivers to keep away and then detailing the three main stages of
the plant for identification purposes. Images of the green leaves, dead stems
and overall foliage are shown se we know what to look for. I and making an assumption the plant itself
will be treated with a suitable chemical and then removed before the fence is
taken down. It all seems a bit OTT for three stems but if left unattended for a
few seasons and there would be a massive clean-up operation needed as we all
now know that you can’t just dig it up and dump it. Good show and well done the
council for being so responsible.
Tunnel Vision
I’ve finally gotten around to clearing the polytunnel. The
frog seems to have left the tunnel without leaving any spawn in the pond (well
submerged bucket filled with water) So
it looks like I will be going onto the local park and rescuing some that have
been laid on damp tyre tracks in the grass. I know we shouldn’t move frogspawn
and let nature take its course but when there’s no chance if it hatching as the
soil dries I just can’t resist the temptation of picking a few clumps up.
I have some old parsley, rocket and other salad leaves still
in there but everything else has been cleared. I’m mulching the ground with
well rain rinsed leafmould that came from the edge of some beaches around the
peninsula. It’s great stuff as it contains quite a lot of finely shredded
seaweed too. The tide has broken everything down to a beautiful consistency
which is easily worked into the soil.
I have a smaller plastic covered frame in the tunnel too and
although neglected it has housed some very healthy micro greens aver the
winter. I have small shoots of broccoli and kale in there and they will be
chopped back in much the same way the wheatgrass is being used. Talking of
wheatgrass….
UPDATE: Wheatgrass Experiment
The wheatgrass is thriving in the trays and I have got a
pretty efficient rotation system going. I have about 8 trays on the go, all on
different stages of growth - From new seedlings to fully grown grass ready to
cut. I’ve found the leaves are at their best when about eight inches tall with
a couple of inches of white at their base. When cutting I am leaving about an
inch of plant and starting to get a bit of a second flush. They aren’t as
strong looking but will test them out in a week or two.
One thing we found though is that a centrifugal juicer
doesn’t extract the chlorophyll and liquid from the grass. Try as we might we
managed to get one teaspoon of juice from nearly a whole tray of grass. We have picked up a masticating juicer online
though for about €25. It looks very similar to the old metal meat mincing
machines we used to use before the butchers did it all for us. After a few clinical trials I can safely say
that this type of juicer extracts roughly the same amount of juice as the
centrifugal one. I did have it set up wrong at first and most of the juice went
onto the floor instead of into the plastic jug, but one sheet of tissue more
than mopped the spill up. I think I need to grow the wheatgrass on a bit; at
least that way I’ll get more than a teaspoon full from a tray.
UPDATE 2: The frog appeared from under a small log in
the bucket so just like in the building industry when they unearth an antiquity;
all work has stopped in the tunnel until further notice.
