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Spring Competition

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Bokashi Composter 35l complete kit worth £39.90

Closing Date: 30th April 2012 Please note that delivery address to the lucky winner must be in the UK.

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What is a Bokashi Composter? The fabulous Bokashi Kitchen Composters allow you to compost 100% of your waste when used in conjunction with a traditional Compost Bin or Wormery.

You simply place kitchen waste into the airtight container and sprinkle with a handful of Bokashi (Japanese for 'fermentation'). Bokashi is a bran based material made with a culture of micro-organisms and molasses which begins to ferment the waste allowing you to turn ALL your kitchen waste into nutrient rich compost. This includes meat, fish, dairy products and cooked food.

New Tunnel

Our new herb nursery near Averton Gifford in South Devon is taking shape ready for a new polytunnel cover so almost ready to take our young herb seedlings sown a couple of weeks ago. Not the best time to cover a tunnel though as it is so cold and more often windy than not.

Hot Beds

We also have an area of land next to our polytunnel and are in the process of making a hot bed with the help of the local poultry and horse residents. This should allow an early start for our seedlings using the warmth generated from the decomposing of fresh poultry and horse manure mixed with straw.  We decided that we would use straw bales on their sides to make the hot bed 'box' as an experiment approx 12ft x 3ft long with glass covers. We will post a photo when we have built it. If you have any hot bed designs this Spring it would be great to share here some of your photos and designs and what worked well or didn't!

Market and Shows

We attend Totnes Pannier Market in South Devon with our mobile garden shop every Saturday however in January and February we missed a few as the weather was so awful, cold and icy! We had snow, ice, rain and freezing Easterly winds so took our organic seed collection back into the dry and warm! 

Online Garden Shop

We have added a few new items including a brilliant selection of gardening books. Author Michael Dowding who lives in Somerset has been gardening for over 29 years and as well as running organic gardening courses has pioneered the 'No-Dig' method of gardening (sounds good to me!) his book Organic Gardening The Natural No-Dip Way is an excellent guide on how to do it.  If you would like to try out some livestock in your garden Backyard Ducks and Geese  by Jeremy Hobson or perhaps would like to keep bee's as a hobby  Backyard Beekeeping and Honey Production by Phil Rant are a couple of useful and informastive guides to start out with.

We have increased our selection of organically certified seeds to include a few flowers suitable for companion planting, some of which are edible, and herbs. This month is especially good to sow early Gobe Artichokes,  Aubergines, Tomatoes, Peppers and cabbages for harvesting in the Summer and Autumn. 

Globe Artichokes ~ Imperial Star ~

Welcome to our 'Grow Your Own' Monthly Organic Gardening Guide

November

There is still plenty to do in vegetable and fruit garden in preparartion for the next growing season. Its a great time of year to clear up debris, prepare beds and  new growing spaces as most plant growth has slowed right down (including the weeds!) . And always great fun choosing new seeds for the next growing season. Planning what plants will go where, what preparation is needed and what you can plant or sow this month  for the Spring is well worth the time and effort for a productive and yummy harvest next year.

• Harvest: Winter Cabbages, Cauli's, Leeks, Celery, Celeriac, Kale, Kohl Rabi, Turnips, Swedes and Spinach.

• Store: Carrots

• Prepare your growing area for next Spring. Add Organic matter over the surface such as manure and the worms will do their work incorporating it into the soil.

New growing areas can be prepared by ‘double digging’, digging trenches over the whole bed and adding plenty of manure. This will give your Spring plants a good start by improving the soil texture, increasing water retention and allow an easier environment below the soil level for healthy root growth. Raised beds are excellent for organising your growing year using rotational systems.

• Cover up compost heaps to shelter from downpours of rain that will leach valuable nutrients that it contains. This will also provide some insulation from the cold so that the composting process can continue over winter; if but slowly!
  
• Wrap up your wormeries if outside against frost so that your worm population are kept nice and snug for the winter months.
  

• Collect leaves for making leaf mould. Beech and Oak leaves are good as they decompost quicker than the more thicker leaves. If you can break them up with your mower all the better; this will quicken the process. Pack the leaf heap closely as,unlike vegetable/ garden waste for composting, the micro-organisms that break down leaves work best without air!

• Plant garlic cloves, Broad Beans, Peas, Grazing Rye (green manure)

• Plant new fruit bushes, raspberries and blackberries etc

• Prune apple and pear trees.Try to take any fruit off that are still attached as they will wither and encourage mould.
  

Give the greenhouse a good clean and insulate. Try to cear away any plant debris or hiding places that are homes to pests that overwinter.  Sow salad crops for use overwinter. You can protect against severe temperatures with Agralans range of heavy duty fleeces!