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Our Garden
Our Garden
Our Garden will be mostly focused on annuals (plants that only last one year) and we will be using a no dig gardening style inspired by YouTubers Charles Dowding and Huw Richards We have just placed an order for 12-15 tonnes of mushroom compost which will allow us to accelerate bed prep. Mushroom compost is a by product of mushroom growing and is usually available at a reasonable cost. Longer term we aim to produce more compost so we can rely less on buying in compost but we are still working on developing our compost making expertise and infrastructure. This year (2021) we have only modest plans for our garden as we will prioritise the Food Forest. Annuals are often the most sought after food crops but they require significant effort and planning, (sadly we can't do it all at once), so we will need to slowly grow our garden over the next few years. Rule number 1 of gardening is "Have Patience" so this will give us a chance to practice that. Priorities though are compost making, water capture, understanding our likely pests, wind protection & trying out some plants to see what does well and what is likely to struggle.
Geraldine's Greenhouse
Geraldine's Greenhouse
My Great Aunt Geraldine Thompson is one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to growing. Throughout her life she has always been connected to nature & growing. She has a generous spirit and has always had the most amazing work ethic.
I have so many happy memories of her garden and the amazing taste of the food she produced with homegrown produce.
After we built our greenhouse, Nishta suggested we name it for Auntie Gerry. Although old age and poor health means she can no longer garden. We hope Geraldine's Greenhouse will continue to produce for years to come.
Bed Prep
Bed Prep
As we are doing no dig gardening we do not till or fork the soil. Our preference is to cause the minimal disturbance to the microbes and fungi that live within the soil.
To prepare a bed we start with a layer of cardboard. The cardboard blocks light from the grass below. Without access to light the grass dies. Worms love to eat cardboard so over time it breaks down and adds carbon to the soil.
We apply a thick layer of compost on top of the cardboard. This compost feeds the soil but also helps to suppress weeds.
During winter if the beds are not in use we cover them with a light blocking cover. This year our beds still had some grass growing up through them, so for future beds we will use more cardboard and deeper compost.
Our Dome
Our Dome
As amazing as it is to have a productive garden, its also important sometimes to just sit back and just enjoy it.
Our dome provides an amazing place to just watch things grow, to observe our garden, to watch the birds flying in and out to our feeders, to dine and most important spend time with the people we love (on video calls cause emm ... Covid)
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