The garden is planted up and the crops are coming. Garlic and onions are first out of the ground, the salads are finally pickable after a very slow start and we have new beetroot and baby turnips ready for eating. The blackcurrants in the fruiting hedge and at Garvie Brae are ready – please do help yourself! Broad beans are filling their pods nicely and the courgettes and tomatoes are flowering.
The pumpkin patch is planted up with squash and we’re trying some tomatoes there too, protected with a windbrake given the horrendous drying wind that comes through the Garden. In the polytunnel we’re trying the three sisters method of growing beans, corn and squashes together, which are loving this heat. Following the permaculture workshop we are doing more interplanting – leeks and carrots, radishes with kohlrabi, celeriac and nasturtiums. This helps cover the soil and dissuade pests. Empty beds are getting a sowing of cache crops – spring onions, radish, dwarf french beans – or green manure (a quick growing mix that protects the soil, captures a bit of carbon and adds organic matter to the beds).
We’ve also started a “fertilizer tea bar” using the nettles and comfrey from the garden to make free, organic fertilizer. It can be a bit smelly but we are hoping for good results. To find out more check the PLANT Tea Bar story .
We are usually there on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays so please do pop by and say hello!
