Unexpected garden visitors
Posted by: Small chilli - 11-02-2024, 12:46 PM - Replies (3)

As it’s not just birds we see in our gardens. I thought a place for everything would be good.

I saw a stoat running up & down in and out of the stone wall/ bank at the top of the garden this morning. What made it extra special was the stoat had its winter coat on. Never seen them all white. Beautiful little thing. 

We’re going to set up a camera trap in the hopes it’ll come back.

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  Happy birthday Broadway
Posted by: JJB - 10-02-2024, 10:53 AM - Replies (5)

Have a really good birthday Danny. Enjoy the cake.

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  The Lean Micro Farm
Posted by: Veggie - 09-02-2024, 03:50 PM - Replies (3)

I've just been reading about Ben Hartman and his Lean Micro Farm.  
https://www.claybottomfarm.com/

In Summary:-
We cut our growing area from one acre to 1/3 acre, got rid of almost all of our tools (we use only 7 field tools), and started to work almost half as many hours. We now sell all of our food within 1.5 miles of the farm. In spite of "downsizing," the value of our products, our farm, and our profits steadily increased, and we found a work/life balance.

I've paraphrased the formula: 

1. Delete. Most farms have way too many parts, tools, supplies, and unnecessary junk lying around, clouding the view and slowing down value-adding work. Get rid of anything not absolutely necessary to add value. Be ruthless.
2. Start with the customer, work backwards from there. Be totally precise. What exactly do they want? When? How much? 
3. Cut out the waste. Simplify everything. On our farm, we realized that most "requirements" are unnecessary. We don't take soil tests or amend soils with trucked-in fertilizer: we use local leaves, composted, that's it. We store almost no food in coolers, instead we deliver it when the food is picked. We don't till or use plows: we let roots and microbes do that work. 
4. Get better. Every season the goal isn't to get bigger or do more. It's to do a better job: to cut out more waste and better align what we do with what our local community needs us to be doing--growing great food that gets eaten.


Applying this to my own "Micro Farm at the bottom of the garden".

1. I have too much junk lying around, tools I don't use, plants that need maintenance but offer little value. I should get rid of them.
2. I am the customer therefore I should decide what I want to eat and not waste time growing crops that I'm not keen on, even if they are easy to grow. 
3. I don't buy-in fertiliser and am trying to produce enough compost for my needs. I should aim to shorten the Grow, pick and eat cycle - eating freshly picked crops and only storing surplus that would otherwise be waste or used to make compost (which isn't really waste).
4. Learn lessons from previous years. Rethink crops that failed - why? Would a different variety be better, timing, location?

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  Whitefly?
Posted by: Small chilli - 06-02-2024, 10:59 PM - Replies (7)

Are these whitefly? Apologies about the doggy photos.

           

What ever they are. I now have an infestation in my dalek composter .

How do I get rid of them? My compost was starting to look quite good    Sad .

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  Where do you put it
Posted by: Small chilli - 06-02-2024, 10:48 PM - Replies (4)

When weeding really thick stuff and you got loads of soil & compost matted in with the roots. What do you do with it? 
I don’t want to put it on beds because the weeds will just grow. Can’t put it in compost because soil won’t compost down. Again weeds will probably grow unless in a hot composter. 

Clumps like this, if anyone isn’t sure what I’m on about  Blush .

         

I’ll get lots of stuff like this when taking all turf off. And big mats of weedy compost when emptying fish boxes.

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  Porridge Mix
Posted by: Veggie - 06-02-2024, 01:57 PM - Replies (14)

To save myself time, finding and measuring ingredients and generally making a mess in the morning,  I've made myself some Almost Instant porridge mix.

Basic ingredients are:-
Rolled oats
Wheat Flakes
Milled Flaxseed
Dried Fruit like Sultanas
Dessicated Coconut
Cinnamon

I could have added Powdered Milk but didn't have any.

I made 3 jars of mix, shook them up to mix everything and tomorrow, I'm ready to go.  Just add boiling water or cold milk, microwave for a minute or two, add fresh fruit once made or yogurt.  Done. Big Grin

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  Coir
Posted by: JJB - 04-02-2024, 02:56 PM - Replies (8)

Has anyone found  a reasonably priced source for coir. My last year's source of Poundland and Wilko seem to be a nonstarter this year.  Ebay are taking the Michael, selling what used to be a £1 10L brick for £5.99!

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  Early sowing gamble
Posted by: Veggie - 03-02-2024, 10:05 PM - Replies (11)

There are six crops that I really value in the garden - they're quite easy to grow, given the right conditions, and prolific croppers. 
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Courgette
Mangetout
DFB
Salad leaves. 

Every year I sow early tomatoes in January BUT why don't I sow the others at the same time? Mangetout and salad leaves should be OK if sown in January and I have done this previously. Cucumbers, Courgettes and DFB are more of a gamble............but, hey, if it doesn't work all I've lost are a few seeds. 

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?

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  Raiding your kitchen cupboard for seeds.
Posted by: Veggie - 01-02-2024, 10:06 PM - Replies (10)

JJB asked about growing sesame seeds today. https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.p...3#pid58993
This reminded me of something I've talked about doing for years but, surprise, surprise, not done much about. 
In the interests of Growing Food for Free, it maybe time to  actually do it!

I'm going to challenge myself to see how many seeds, peas and beans that, have been bought  for eating, can actually be grown and turned into food.

Last year I grew some Hodmedod peas but didn't plant them out so didn't grow them to maturity. I've grown pea shoots from dried peas which is easy and cheap. I should be able to grow some of the beans. Possibly some herb seeds - fennel, dill, caraway, cumin, coriander. Sunflower seeds for shoots. Mung beans for bean sprouts. Chia seeds.

I'll start by testing some for viability on damp paper. 

Anyone going to join me - or can suggest other seeds to try?

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  Thought of the day - sesame seeds
Posted by: JJB - 01-02-2024, 12:50 PM - Replies (10)

I enjoy a couple of teaspoons of mixed seeds on my weetabix in the morning.  The thought occurred to me that I know what plants sunflower, pumpkin, linseed and poppy seeds come from but I've no idea where sesame seeds are from (if someone says Tesco I shall kneecap them).  Tongue 

The query is, has anyone tried to grow sesame and are the white seeds in my seed mix the whole seed or just the kernel?

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