Changing ways. Permaculture here I come

Well you’ve exhausted me just reading about all your plans and work already carried out I wish I had your energy and will try to follow your progress.

I am now gardenless having move to a retirement flat, so it will be fascinating to vicariously join your journey. I can, sadly, offer nothing but fine words which, as we know, "butter no parsnips". I hope those of us who "borrow" your experience can at least keep your spirits up.

My first offering, as I learn more about "permaculture" is "celebrate the small wins" and by telling us about them let us celebrate your little piece of earth too

Sounds really good!
Have you sown broad beans?

I try to emulate that philosophy in my own mini-way in the garden. Every spring and a bit in autumn, the empty ground gets a coat of garden compost. Over the years the ground has become rich and heaving with life.

So it has areas of relative wild where nettles, log piles and other stuff like comfrey is left to flourish. A small pond does its job as well.

I encourage as far as I possibly can, wildlife, particularly pollinators, but everything is most welcome.

It isn’t to everyone’s taste as it is not tidy but exuberant and full of life.

So well done you karmalady your piece of ground will love you for it.

Be very wary of comfrey! I remember my mother having to use the lawn mower to try and control the stuff!

loopyloo

Sounds really good!
Have you sown broad beans?

Thanks for reminding me loopyloo, I need to get my BB seeds planted.

I've left a small area of my garden entirely wild. It's a patch under some trees that was always hard to keep 'neat' but, left to its own devices is now full of weeds ferns and native plants. It's so lovely I've put a little bench in there so I can sit in nature and watch the birds.

Another thing I did in autumn was to collect as many leaves as I could. I've stored them in bin bags (pierced with holes) and hope this autumn to have a lovely supply of leaf mold to spread over my borders.

midgey

Be very wary of comfrey! I remember my mother having to use the lawn mower to try and control the stuff!

midgey, comfrey bocking 14 is not fertile and does not spread. I very highly recommend that variety. I grew it from 2010 and it was always well behaved and remained in its boundaries. I have a small patch in my house garden but not enough to plunder roots. Ebay is a good source. It is the most wonderful source of goodness for soil, better than cow or horse manure

I understand what you are saying, other comfreys seed like crazy, especially wild comfrey

loopyloo

Sounds really good!
Have you sown broad beans?

Loopyloo, field beans are ordered and I will overwinter next year, their strong roots will break up the underlying clay soil and I can eat leaves and shoots all winter

I used to make a comfrey leaf feed.. boy did it smell..

I have been thinking about my asparagus bed, which will be planted in april. I want underlying plants and nasturtiums will be good for ground cover and beneficial insects, maybe lambs lettuce and certainly other lettuces, maybe baby spinach

I get into a tizz thinking about what to plant and when as green manures/ground cover can also be brassica or legumes, only a few are universal. I am now thinking calliente mustard (brassica) so I need to bear that in mind, another ground cleanser but will die down and overwinter. I will be leaving roots on on most plantings, so the soil can develop its own fungal/bacterial structure. Low growing brassicas for this bed, below the mustard perhaps and tight cabbages are not affected by cabbage whites. I could also interplant cavalo nero

No point just sitting back now, I need to think about seed sowing. Another load of cash has been spent on a grow light system, which will have to be on my dining table. Strong plants are better able to cope when planted out

I changed my mind about potatoes and have ordered 30 litre planting buckets. They can remain in pots until needed, one pot at a time, much easier, thank you Huw Richards on youtube

pascal30

I used to make a comfrey leaf feed.. boy did it smell..

yes it certainly does stink. I cannot harvest my new comfrey this year but it will be growing strongly next year. I can make green liquid from foraged nettles

Has anyone grown wild garlic?

If you are thinking about an allotment, get your name down, our waiting list has trebled during the past few months

Yes wild garlic is all over my garden. It will be appearing soon and disappears by mid summer. But self seeds abundantly. I use it when it is young.

This green manure/cover crop sheet has helped me choose

www.greenmanure.co.uk/pages/choosing-the-right-green-manure

Thanks WW2.

I see that it needs shade/deep shade and damp. I don`t have the correct allotment conditions unfortunately. I`ll have to forage

You all seem to be doing some great (and small) work. As flats so often do we use contractors rather than an gardeners. I wonder if any such buildings have found a way to have their grounds cared for in a greener way? It would be really interesting to hear if this is being done somewhere similar.

Perhaps use the Forest Gardening technique Karmalady and grow it in the shade of say rhubarb

I'm interested karma lady, but don't even know what permaculture is yet. Will google and follow. I don't know if I am fit enough to grow my own, but do have a big garden.

My job today is to draw a decent plan of the allotment as it is now. I have 9 covered raised beds in permanent positions, 4 flat spaces plus one 8 x 4 decaying wooden bed. I have planted alliums in the wooden bed, jerusalem artichokes in one flat bed, rhubarbs in another flat bed and the other 2 are going to be comfrey beds

A month by month guide as I progress, so an A4 plan x 12

I am not counting the shrub/flower area, I still have brambles, bindweed and ground ivy to deal with in that area

Brilliant idea Pascal 30, you have been thinking outside the box. The rhubarb I planted is poultons pride and they are small, so I will visit your idea next year. Thank you

karmalady

Thanks WW2.

I see that it needs shade/deep shade and damp. I don`t have the correct allotment conditions unfortunately. I`ll have to forage

Well, honestly it grows absolutely everywhere it can put its roots down!!

So what you could try would be to put it north of a shrub or something that gives it shade to start off with. You wouldn’t loose much, if it didn’t work.
Forage for seed heads and see what happens.

karmalady

Brilliant idea Pascal 30, you have been thinking outside the box. The rhubarb I planted is poultons pride and they are small, so I will visit your idea next year. Thank you

I'm not sure that the rhubarb would be well enough grown when it is needed to shade the wild garlic. But I suppose it's worth a try.

I have absolutely masses of the stuff, it grows along the beck that runs around our boundary. I might try potting some up and growing it in open conditions to see how it fares. Sometimes plants defy the recommendations for optimum conditions and thrive where they're not supposed to

I agree Maizie..rhubarb was just a suggestion.. I usually find mine in wooded areas.. but worth a try