Perennial Vegetables - and cleaning up the pots

It’s time to clean up the seed trays and plantpots. 

I did buy a hundred 20 cell trays recently to start taking early cuttings of lawn chamomiles for sale in spring and it was great just having them there ready to fill with soil. The older pots and trays from last year are in need of a bit of disinfecting though as they have been out in the tunnel all winter. Add the fact the pots were put away dirty makes hygiene extremely important for the new wave of seeds being planted.  There are a lot of diseases that can easily overwinter on old pots so it’s important to start by getting big bucket of soapy water and a scrubbing brush and get cleaning the plastic trays.

It would be great if we could reuse all the plastic trays and pots indefinitely,  but they do drop to bits after a few uses, even buying the heavier duty type as I did this year they will still inevitably end up being thrown away, hopefully to be recycled.  I’ve tried growing seeds in toilet roll tubes and newspaper rolls but they don’t do well for me.  

As yet I haven’t ordered any seeds but I am thinking about what we will be growing this year.  I always like to try growing something new. Last year it was lufas and the year before that was asparagus. The lufa plants are long gone and didn’t leave any cucumber shaped vegetables behind as I found the season wasn’t long enough for them to mature. The asparagus on the other hand is coming back bigger and bolder than before. It’s a few years until they will be large enough to pick and throw straight into a pan of boiling water though (Some dedicated pickers actually have the pan boiling before going to pick the spears) but when they do they will produce every year indefinitely.  

Perennial veggies

Asparagus are one of a large collection of vegetables that are perennial plants. There is a wide range of fruit perennials too such as strawberries, then fruit trees and bushes such as raspberries and red/blackcurrants, but perennial vegetables sometimes get overlooked.  There are a lot of benefits to these types of veggies. The asparagus I have in the beds will mean that the ground doesn’t get disturbed by digging. I can add mulch and compost to the top of the soil. There is far less soil erosion in winter and the old unpicked shoots and plants roots will be keeping the soil in place and the plants are now large enough to look after themselves against any invading weeds. 

I’m not sure why perennial vegetables aren’t more popular, it might be something to do with being influenced by the farming industry who like to produce the fast growing annual crops. Commercial growers rely on cheap energy, once provided by horses and now by fossil fuels, to do all the turning of the soil, sowing, weeding, watering, fertilising, harvesting and collecting of seed that goes with growing annual vegetables.

This has reached such an extraordinary state of affairs that the food we buy takes around 10 times the energy to produce as the energy it gives us. According to research carried out by London’s City University (An Inconvenient Truth About Food, Soil Association, 2008), its carbon footprint is huge, due in large part to the use of man-made nitrogen fertilisers – a tonne of which requires one tonne of oil and 108 tonnes of water to make, releasing seven tonnes of greenhouse gases in the process. It’s a good reason to at least put a part of the garden aside for both annual and perennial vegetables and would be a good reason for some farmers to produce more perennial crops.

As much as I would like to go more perennial I find the choices a little limited.  There’s the asparagus as mentioned, then we have rhubarb, kale (usually grown as an annual), garlic, horseradish, globe artichokes and radicchio, but none of those are something I’d like to eat every day. A scoop of mashed horseradish just wouldn’t cut it on the plate on Sunday lunchtime.  

We do have quite a lot of perennial herbs to plant in the garden such as time, chives, sage, rosemary mint and you could even add the walking onions to the list. Some perennial plants can get bitter if the leaves aren’t picked young and tender. I for one wouldn’t like a pile of sorrel leaves for dinner, I have tried to like them every summer but still think they make a better ornamental plant than an edible one.

Sometimes I think the widest range of perennial plants we have can be found in wild hedgerows. Yarrow, ground elder, damson, bramble, watercress, mustard, chickweed, comfrey, nettle, vetch, sowthistle… the list is endless.  It makes me wonder why I even bother planting the limited amount of choice we tend to grow.  

Ask me again later in spring though. I’ll be out here in the veggie patch planting the old favourites.

A Great Idea...?

Chamomile roots and hyacinths

Have you ever seen a new invention and thought “That was my idea”?  

I come up with  (I think) loads of ideas all the time which I imagine would make my life a lot easier but just assume they exist already or get distracted. 

Even if I did have a great invention it’d take years to design and get onto the market and as I have the attention span of a few seconds nowadays it just seems like too much trouble. I wouldn’t want to go on Dragons’ Den either. 

Big Idea

One idea I had when I was a youngster was to have a car fuelled solely by a tank of rain water with some sort of natural reaction happening. The vehicle would have no moving parts other than the wheels and steering and need no maintaining. We’re not there yet with the water power but electric cars are certainly becoming more common and it won’t be long before we wonder how on earth we managed with the combustion engine run on petrol and diesel. The negative press is happening already with diesel – watch out for the hype!

I did have one great idea that actually became a big seller in the transport industry. Way back in the 1980’s I used to work in a quarry and used to see the HGV drivers struggle every load to fasten all the clamps that kept their sheets in place on the tipper section. I thought at the time it would be a better idea to do away with the clamps and have a rolled up sheet at the front or in the middle of the tipper similar to a roller blind.

 My idea is made...

Thirty years later they are on most tipper lorries now and probably save up to an hour a day where the driver has to scramble around fastening sheeting.  The only problem I had with this great idea was I forgot to tell anyone at the time, so there are no royalties coming my way. Although after saying that I think the same mechanism would work perfectly for instant plant covers in the garden made with thick transparent plastic sheeting. They could be rolled on and off in an instant. You heard it here first.

A revolving shelter

I have one more idea, a recent one (they just keep on coming). This came about whilst walking the dogs in our local park. Apart from a few trees, there isn’t anywhere along the pathways in the park where you can take shelter when the rain comes. Sometimes the shelters that are erected in parks don’t do their jobs very well especially when the wind is blowing straight at it. It’s the same principal as huddling in a bus shelter.  

How about having a shelter where you can revolve the opening depending on which way the wind is blowing?  It’d be similar to bandstand type of structure with half of it having a revolving screen.  If there was a device on the top of the roof like a weathervane to operate the screen that’s do away with us having to do it manually. The idea doesn’t stop there, fit a smaller, portable device to an umbrella or it could be incorporated into your porch - or better still the whole house! I think I’ll stop now; winter madness seems to be setting in. 

Lots of Life

I will be keeping my sanity looking at life under the soil this week. It might not seem as anything is happening in the garden but there are many signs of life if you look closely - so enough of this ‘winter dormancy’ malarkey. The bulbs are coming up, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus are bursting into life and the roots of perennials are forming fast. I dug out a few of my chamomiles and the roots have grown a few inches in a week. We don’t even have to look on the ground for signs that spring is coming as there are some hazel trees with their catkins showing already. The shops are stocking up on seeds so it won’t be long until planting time starts.

PS. I’ve been reliably informed that moveable transparent plastic covers for plants already exist and have done for years. Also I’ve just run the idea past Julie about revolving shelters in the park and she tells me “That’s what trees are for””

 My idea of a greenhouse heated entirely by solar radiation isn’t something new either so I’ll give up inventing for today I think.

Weather Conditions - Visual signs

Some waterlogged areas can sit for ages

You probably won’t agree with me but I think it’s great we have a winter this year. 

Wind, freezing temperatures, rain all contribute to the health of the garden eventually and I find that the weather is usually worse when you are looking at it through the window instead of being out in it.

It might not feel it at the time and sometimes nature gets a little bit enthusiastic which can undo some of the hard work we have put into the soil and plants. Sunshine and drought can be just as damaging in the summer but it’s easier for us as we can at least get a tan as we try to keep the lawn from turning brown. 

Let’s have a look at what the winter weather can do to the garden:

Heavy rain: Tends to affect the top of plants with rain damage breaking delicate shoots and flowers. However it is soil saturation and flooding that causes most harm.

Frost: Also tends to affect the top of plants where the freezing is most intense. Lower leaves and areas inside the leaf canopy are less affected. Frost can damage plants randomly in an affected area with some plants losing buds, foliage, flowers and fruits and others being unaffected.

Snow: As well as freezing damage, mechanical damage is caused by the weight of snow breaking branches, especially on hedging.

Hail: Causes bruising and abrasion and occasionally defoliation or loss of fruits. Hail causes tiny scars on young leaves and fruits that become very noticeable as the plants develop. Hail damage mainly affects the top of plants. We’re lucky here, in Australia where my brother lives the hail goes through car windscreens and knocks people out.

High winds: Cause damage to the upper and windward sides of plants. In severe cases plants can be uprooted. Windy weather also dries out leaves leading to browning, scorching and loss of buds, flowers and leaves.

Flooding: Soil filled with water contains too little air for plant roots to thrive. In winter when plant roots are dormant they can survive quite long periods of flooding, but in summer when the water demand of roots is high, even short periods of a few days can be fatal.

I thought we could take a closer look at flooding as it’s top of the list of problems in the garden at the moment.

Tackling Flooding Short Term

• After flooding, wash down hard surfaces and collect up debris to prevent drains blocking, soil surfaces being covered, and pollutants or contaminants lingering in the garden. Wear gloves and overalls to minimise contact with pollutants
• Keep off the soil until it is workable, to avoid compacting it and worsening the conditions
• Remove damaged shoots from affected plants
• After flooding, edible crops near to harvest are best not eaten: no assurances can be given that root crops will be safe to eat, so they should be discarded. Plants eaten raw should be discarded too, and it is prudent to avoid growing salads and other uncooked crops for  a while.
• Mulch with as much organic matter and apply compost over the root area after application
• Water well in dry spells after a waterlogged period, as plants will be more susceptible to drought stress as their softer roots could have been damaged.

Tackling Flooding Long Term

• Improve soil structure and drainage by adding even more well-rotted manure and compost, especially if the flooding was so bad that topsoil was washed away.
• Avoid smearing the sides of planting holes on heavy soils as the clay forms an impermeable barrier. It’s how large ponds and lakes are made!
• Consider planting trees on a slight mound, this will give the younger roots a bit of a breather in really wet weather.
• Grow plants in raised beds
• Choose permeable surfaces when laying drives, paths and patios to allow rain to soak in. Concreting the environment is said to be one of the biggest reasons for urban flooding.
• Roofs converted into living green roofs absorb storm water and release it slowly, but do get very heavy.
• If there is somewhere for water to go, drainage can be installed. Or, where appropriate, it may be worth digging out a ditch or seasonal pond at the lowest part of the garden to catch surplus water and let it soak in slowly.
• Choose trees and plants that are well suited to wetter soils if flooding is an annual occurrence.