Something to celebrate World Soil Day 2016 and it’s only £15 – buy it here
…. and the cob shed is in the back pages
written by trees
Something to celebrate World Soil Day 2016 and it’s only £15 – buy it here
…. and the cob shed is in the back pages
It’s a been a long time since my last post. But I’ve been up to me elbows in clay making this.
………the story of a shed will follow shortly.
These strawberries are becoming quite a challenge. Not only do I need enough fruit for at least 50 people, it needs to ripen and ready for picking 2 July. My usual approach of stick it in the ground and see if it grows isn’t going to cut the mustard this time. I’ve built a mini poly tunnel for half of the Marshmallow plants to bring them on early, the other half are outside in pots and my existing plants are now in a bed.
Hopefully with this mixture I have some chance of some plants fruiting at the right time.
As part of the Soil Culture Forum we’ve planned a cream tea with strawberries and cream, all very nice on the lawn in the summer sun. I suggested I could grow said strawberries that the delegates could pick themselves without really thinking about the consequences. A lovely idea in the deepest darkest depths of winter but now I have to get cracking, these plants NEED to fruit in 3 months.
I’ve spoken to many strawberry producers in Cornwall and I’ve gone for ‘Marshmallow’ a variety known for its flavour (if it’s a small crop at least it will be tasty). I collected my 50 strawberry plants yesterday and when the rain stops I’m repotting with a homemade compost and soil mix, building a small poly tunnel, and preparing a liquid fertiliser with 2yr old chicken poo from my hens. Challenging but fun.
For more Soil Culture Forum info or if you would like to get involved
“We don’t grow plants we grow soil to grow plants”
Iron forming bacteria / Bog Iron
Managing microbes for complexity instead of adding nutrients to simplify