Tatnam Organic Patch

Why does the rain never arrive on time, it was supposed to be gone by midday. Instead, we all got doused as we arrived. Aside from the usual eating drinking and much talking, the workday consisted of two main themes. One was to clear the herb-spiral and surrounding area to the north of the greenhouse. Sheltered from the North by our new hedgerow, and fruit trees, it is now cleared, measured up and awaiting detailed plans, although I fear the bindweed and brambles may rebound if we are not quick.

Clearing for the new vegetable area Jan 2010

The other project was in the greenhouse. Our irrigation system is a source of much interest, as latterly has been the hydroponic bathtub. But last year the tomato bed was too dry (with a poor yield), and the bathtub too wet (the overflow outlet was bunged up with soil – cold wet and messy to unbung). So after much discussion, we agreed to shorten the Tomato bed, and sink a bath into one end of it. Well it nearly fits, in need of a cold chisel and a hacksaw to complete the job. Oh, and then a method to fill and empty it, which will be interesting. Oh, and rebuild the flushing mechanism for the remainder. Now whose good idea was it ?

Gary discussing permaculture design with Kat

For lunch, we tucked into beetroot soup (afraid the beetroot was not from the patch – must grow more!), followed by a great stew from Gary – mild so long as you didn’t bite into a chilli.

At home, I only ever burn wood on the fire. Not sure it’s good, but I tend to add the ash to my compost. But on new year’s day, I finally got around to brushing my chimney, with a resultant bag of soot. So what to do with soot ?

Various websites talked about allotment holders taking soot (including from coal fires), and using it to deter slugs, and to darken the soil and improve heat retention. http://gardenmonkeybookflange.blogspot.com/2008/06/old-soot-secrets.html. Others question the presence of toxins. I think I’ll try my soot on slug duty.

But as ever with the Internet, this led me to a far more interesting topic, about uses for ground charcoal, best explained on the following site : http://www.bidstrup.com/carbon.htm

This highlighted that there were large populations supported in the Amazon delta before the Spanish arrived, on fertile land surrounded by infertile land. The secret was finely ground charcoal, and whilst this works best with a mix of bacteria in a tropical location, it can improve soil fertility in a temperate climate too.

So that would be a good use for the burnt twigs after the storm kettles have been busy down the patch. Just need to grind them down to a powder.