OURganic Gardens - Community gardens are growing in more ways than one !

The seasons pass quickly and sometimes it’s a challenge to keep up with them in the vegetable garden.  If you are interested in keeping the crops growing a bit longer on in getting the garden ready for next years harvest, you might find this day course of interest. 

Day Course Saturday 26^th September

Barrack Hill Park & Community Gardens in Carndonagh is delighted to be welcoming Organic Gardening Expert Klaus Laitenberger to Barrack Hill for a Gardening Workshop on Saturday 26th of September. 9:30am until 4pm. The workshop will be about growing in tunnels through the winter, setting your garden aside for the winter and planning for the following year. The cost of the day including lunch is €40 and open to everyone.

Booking can be done through the Barrack Hill Facebook page page or contacting Stephen McGirr on 0862745886 or Janine Strong

Growing OUR own in Donegal - community gardens are growing in more ways than one !

As I am on the subject of “What’s On” I was chatting to Joanne Butler, who promotes co-operative gardening in the home and Donegal through the OURganic Gardens. Joanne tells us of their visit to the Donegal Garden trail gardens.

Joanne tells us: “What started out like any normal dull and blustery day in Donegal last week ended in sunshine and delight as community gardeners from OURganic Gardens in North West Donegal took a tour of gardens on the Donegal Garden trail in Donegal town, Inver, Bruckless and Kilcar.” 

“Basking in the glory of plants from all over the world the gardeners got a true taste of the passion and enthusiasm behind the glorious gardens, meeting the owners and talking all things green and bountiful.” Joanne was delighted with the turnout to the event and I asked her for a bit more information about the idea behind OURganic Gardens.

OURganic Gardens

OURganic Gardens was started by Joanne in 3013 as a platform for setting up natural vegetable growing courses and promoting community gardens in Donegal.

“At its core OURganic Gardens is about co-operative gardening.” Joanne tells us. “It’s a place where people come together to exchange skills, knowledge and enthusiasm. This year alone the gardeners have not only planned the gardens and produced some lovely fresh vegetables but they have learnt how to grow without the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.”

Since setting up OURganic Gardens Joanne has taken charge of seven community gardens in the local area, creating a network of well over 100 gardeners passing through the gates at various locations.  The community gardeners have the opportunity to attend biweekly classes from March through to October learning all there is to know about growing vegetables naturally. 

Hand On

Participants are encouraged to take a hands on approach getting to grips with the planting and digging or they can simply sit and listen to the advice given, by both Joanne and other experienced gardeners. 

Joanne then tells me just how varied the group activities are. “The group members have experimented with different feeding plans on vegetables such potatoes and carrots and have put crop rotation and companion planting into action.”

There is more though as Joanne continues. “Alongside that they have made numerous cakes, quiches, juices and even soups on site, and have gone on educational walks such as the Donegal Trail and showcased floral displays.

Environmental awareness is also something encouraged and promoted at the gardens as climate change most definitely takes hold, the gardeners learn to observe nature and become proactive , making a real difference in their local and global community.” 

Future Plans

Next year Joanne hopes the community gardens continue to grow in Donegal and for OURganic Gardens to create new links with other gardens in the county. 

"I would like to create an umbrella forum for seed swaps , knowledge barters , social enterprises and further special days out around the country , having just taken this group of people away  I can see first-hand how sharing experiences and exchanging tips encourages mental enrichment and wellbeing , the bringing together of like-minded people in an environment where they can not only grow vegetables but confidence, joy and many other things, is something really special and the gardeners currently involved in OURganic Gardens are more than happy to vouch for that "

If you would like more information about the OURganic group you can contact Joanne directly - Joanne.butler@me.com - 0861789971 – or through the website ourganicgardens.ie

3D Printed Butterfly as Pest Control and Sweet Chestnut Fencing

 A 3D printed plastic White Cabbage Butterfly

Organic gardeners and farmers like to talk about balance in nature and working with natural systems, not against them. For larger pests such as some birds there have always been scarecrows. But what about smaller flying creatures?  There wasn’t really anything natural to scare away pesky cabbage white butterflies from laying eggs on our brassicas, until now.  A gardener in New Zealand has come up with a unique solution and all it took was a 3D printer and a bit of research. 

It turns out that cabbage white butterflies are antisocial when they're laying their eggs. By sticking up simple decoy butterflies, you can scare them off your crops. And just in case you see butterflies trying to mate with yours, “don't worry”, Vic, the designer tells us “They are stupid males and will not be laying eggs."

Sweet Chestnut Fencing

Our local park has put up a secure sweet chestnut fence running along a few hundred metres adjacent to a new outdoor 5 a side football complex. I’m not entirely sure why this is, it could be something to do with allowing the newly planted small trees and shrubs to mature without dogs treading on them or it could be something to do with the spraying that they need to do to allow the new planting to flourish. There are a lot of blackberries in there too so it’s probably just as well there’s no access for jam makers if they have been doused with Roundup. 

The fence they put up though is the rustic sweet chestnut in a picket style, which I adore. This type of fence has been around for centuries and for good reason, it’s very long lived and versatile. If ever you get a chance to see this type of fence being made, I think you’ll find it mesmerising as the wires are turned one way and then another to fix the sticks into place.

  

So why is sweet chestnut so useful as a fence? Here are some reasons:

Why Sweet Chestnut?

• Sweet Chestnut is a hard wood and well known as being amazingly strong, durable and long lasting.
• Chestnut Coppice is 100% sustainable.
• Most are cut and grown in sustainable woodlands. The cut stools regrow vigorously, taking up far more carbon dioxide than a newly planted tree; if done well these trees can be harvested on rotation for years to come. A coppice will yield good straight poles which are turned into fencing using traditional tools and skills.
• Chestnut is full of tannin (a natural preservative) and has very little sapwood, which makes it incredibly resistant to rotting.
• Good value and attractive.
• By using Chestnut you can be confident you are using the most suitable timber - other woods will rot long before chestnut which can last for up to 20-30 years. Cheap softwood is a false economy - the cost of mending or replacing rotten fences is high.
• Coppicing is good for wildlife.
• The act of cutting an area of woodland lets light in, stimulating wild flowers and creating a habitat for many of our favourite birds, butterflies and mammals.
• Support the woodland industries, woodlands need to be managed.
• Made to measure. The wood can be made up to the buyer’s needs, if the fence is needed to keep out dogs the sticks can be placed closer together for example.

Glossary of terms for fencing

The forestry and fencing world can be quite confusing so here are a few terms you might hear about wood. It’ll come in useful when you are down at the wood yard ordering a new fence!

CHAMFERED - This is the act of finishing a post - taking off the top edge to relieve tension in the wood and let rain run off.

CLEAVE -To cleave means to split the wood along its natural grain - rather than sawing through the fibres. This helps to protect the strength and character of the tree.

COPPICING - is a traditional method which involves cutting back the woodland to stimulate new growth. The act of cutting an area of woodland lets light in, stimulating wild flowers and creating a habitat for our favourite birds, butterflies and mammals.

DEER PARK FENCING - A type of fencing made to discourage deer from leaping over. Tops are uneven / staggered.

LATH - A lath is a very small profile cleft strip of wood, traditionally used in buildings for holding plaster. In fencing it refers to the smaller component of a lath and picket fence.

MIXED CLEFT - Mixed cleft means that the wood has been split along the grain rather than sawn and could be in halves, quarters or round shapes.

NAIL FRAMED - Nail framed means the product is secured by nail frame. This is a lighter and cheaper alternative to mortised frame.

PALE - A wide picket is called a pale. Pales are loose, as opposed to paling, which is on wire.

PALING - Paling is fencing made from pales. On a wire, with a girth of about 4 inches.

PEELED - This simply means that the bark has been removed from the wood.

PICKET - Pickets are cleft in a 'slice of cake' profile - triangular in shape. POST AND RAIL - Post and Rail is a fence made up of upright posts either nailed to rails or fitted through mortises.

UNPEELED - Unpeeled means the bark has been left on the wood.

Setting up a Seed Circle

Most major seed companies would obviously like us to keep buying from them every year.

A lot of both flower and vegetables grown in these companies are hybrids or F1’s and don’t come true to form when they go to seed, which keeps our dependency on their stocks. There are a lot of companies that offer Heirloom seeds and like Klaus Laitenberger only produce seed from their own stock which has been acclimatised to our area over a twenty year period.

There is one company in the UK called Real Seeds who actively encourage you to grow some of your own plants to maturity so you can collect your own seeds and eventually never have to buy from them again! If grown, picked and dried thoroughly there is no reason why our own home produces seed isn’t as good, if not better than the shop bought varieties.

Last week I looked at how to dry your seed. This week I would like to tell you about a really cost effective and social way to save your seeds, it’s called a “Seed Circle”

Setting up a Seed Circle

A Seed Circle is a simple idea:  You get together a group of friends, gardeners or neighbouring allotment holders, and each of you signs up to save seed of one sort of vegetable.

You’ll each get lots of seed when you save your own (far more than one person can use), so at the end of the year you can all swap with each other.

It’s a great way to start seed saving – you’ll all get several types of good seed for free, but each person only has to learn how to grow one sort. And you can help each other learn as you go.

A Beginners Seed-Circle

Start with a small, simple seed circle of five people.

What you need:

• One person to organise the seed circle (you!)
• Four more people to sign up to grow seed as well
• A bit of time to occasionally check how people are doing
• A few simple kitchen implements to pick, dry and store the seed
• Good quality, real, non-hybrid seed to start with
• Tea and some nice biscuits

Social

It is really good if you organise a get-together occasionally, especially at harvest time, to all have a bit of an inspect of the process and the seed being saved, so you can all learn how to do it together. (hence the tea and biscuits)

It’s best if people save seed from a vegetable that they really like, as they will be more fussy about the plants they save from. So if you have someone who is really passionate about carrots, then they're the person to grow carrot seed for your circle.

Here are a few vegetables that are easy to save seed from, and which make lots of seed. You can of course make up your own list too if you prefer.

One Variety

Each person is to save seed from just one variety. This keeps it simple. To reduce work you need to do to stop things crossing, it can be best if you also only grow for eating that one variety that year.

Suggested Vegetables to Save Seed From:

Squash, Tomatoes, Sweet Pepper or chilli, Lettuce, Kale, Melons, Cucumber, Peas, Beans, courgettes and carrots.

It can take up a bit of room saving plants for seed . I have the leeks from last year coming on well but they have been in the ground for so long that I haven’t been able to plant anything else. It’s a good idea then to miss a few patches out of the crop rotation plan as the plants mature their seeds. Some plants such as peppers would do better in a polytunnel too.

Processing- ALL SEEDS

In addition, to dry your seed, you'll all need access to an oven, a baking tray, some rice, a clean dry jam-jar, and some small bags made from a pair of tights. And some plastic baggies to store the dried seed in for distribution.

The person organising the seed-circle can do the drying if they like at their house, it is more efficient that way - only one person has to bake the rice, make little baggies and ties as well just for fun.

Saving Seed

 Photo:  Leek flowers going to seed

Saving Seed

Saving your own flower and vegetable seed is a great way to get plants used to your location, save money and ensure the freedom to grow the varieties you like without being tied to seed trends which will ensure a healthy biodiversity. 

It’s said that we only eat about 20% of the vegetable and fruit varieties that were grown in the 1950’s because of intensive monoculture growing so it’s important to carry on heirloom seeds that can’t be controlled by large companies. 

It’s difficult for even Irish Seed Savers to collect and store their seeds in their seed bank of more than 800 varieties. Their funding has been cut and they have even resorted to crowd funding on Indiegogo to raise the €100,000 shortfall. They only managed to raise €9,100 so are asking for smaller on their website.  Irish Seed Savers are adapting to the reduced funding from the Department of Agriculture by organizing concerts and employing someone to promote the organization in an attempt to keep growing. You can donate directly on their site. We can safeguard our own seed supply by collecting our own, just in case.

Seed-saving can be easy. You'll get better seed than you can buy, even from the professionals. And you can keep your own varieties going for future years. But, just as with growing the plants, there are a few key bits of information you need to know to keep varieties pure and drying is very important. Remember to dry your seed properly, or it will not survive storage. Don't use heat though to dry it - we have a whole info sheet on drying your seed, so read that when you've got it harvested.

One key thing before you start - you can't save seed from F1 (hybrid) varieties. You need real, open-pollinated seed.

The Secret of Saving Great Seed

You want healthy seed that is true-to-type and keeps well. For any one vegetable, you need to ask yourself a few questions: Do the plants cross pollinate? Do I need to do anything special when drying the seed, how long will they last? 

The answers are different for each vegetable. I’ve chosen just two from realseeds. 

Broad beans

Broad beans will cross with other varieties that are growing nearby.   So if you want to keep your variety pure, you need to isolate them in some way.    Theoretically you should aim for at least half a mile between varieties.   In practice, in a built up area, fences, trees and houses will all reduce insect flight.   This means you should have minimal crossing even with beans much closer than half a mile so long as none of your immediate neighbours are growing different varieties of bean.

Let your seed beans mature and dry on the bush. The pods will turn dark drown, dry and wrinkled. Then pick and shell them out.   Check that they are really dry by biting on them.   If your teeth leave a dent, dry them further in a warm (not hot) place with a good flow of air.    Broad bean seeds should keep for several years, so there is no need to grow plants for seed every year. 

Tomatoes

Most modern varieties of tomato are self-pollinating, and will not cross.   The anthers on tomato flowers (which make the pollen) are fused together to make a tight cone that insects cannot enter. Usually the stigma (the receptive surface for receiving pollen) is very short, and so is located deep inside this cone of anthers. No insects can get to it and the only pollen that can fertilise it comes from the surrounding cone of anthers.

To collect the seed, allow your tomatoes to ripen fully.   Then collect a few of each variety that you want to save seed from.   Slice them in half across the middle of the fruit, and squeeze the seeds and juice into a jar.    You then need to ferment this mixture for a few days - this removes the jelly-like coating on each seed, and also kills off many diseases that can be carried on the seeds.   To do this put the jar of seeds and juice in a reasonably warm place for 3 days, stirring the mixture twice a day.   It should develop a coating of mould, and start to smell really nasty!

After 3 days, add plenty of water to the jar, and stir well.   The good seeds should sink to the bottom of the jar.   Gently pour off the top layer of mould and any seeds that float.   Then empty the good seeds into a sieve and wash them thoroughly under running water.   Shake off as much water as possible, and tip the sieve out onto a china or glass plate (the seeds tend to stick to anything else).   Dry somewhere warm but not too hot, and out of direct sunlight.   Once they are completely dry, rub them off the plate and store in a cool dry place, where they should keep well for at least 4 years. 

Tip: Rice added to a jar of seeds helps to suck out the moisture.

I am experimenting with leeks this year and allowing the biennial plant to flower and seed. They have large, strong stalks and the flowers are a haven for bees. The plants will eventually fall over and the seeds will root into the ground. I also have some aforementioned broad bean seeds that I will be putting out next month for an early crop next year. The process of collecting and storing both vegetable and flower seeds will be trial and error for a while but one day I’m sure a lot of us will be free of big company restrictions and have our own unique collection of plants grown to tolerate out climate.