Raising beds
Tales from Doug: Life in the Crub
It's been a busy few weeks in Doug, for E more than me, but we are seeing some REAL progress… raised beds. I cannot express how much joy this brings. So much so I have had a look at my feelings wheel and settled on euphoric! Yes, I am that passionate about gardening. I’m still not very good at it, and I much prefer tearing stuff down than building it up, but the passion is there.
Let’s take my 3 fallen trees as an example. They took a tumble after storm Isha which was swiftly followed by Jocelyn. You’d think I would try & get them upright as soon as possible, but you’d be wrong. We finally got them back up last weekend. The biggest tree, still only a squat 6 foot, was surrounded by the remnants of last years wormwood. While E was busy standing it up, I was busy tearing down the wormwood. That is where my strength lies, cutting back, not building up.
But still, after a solid 12 years of growing veg, I am still at it. I’m great at sowing seeds and planting out even, but after that I become forgetful. I think it’s because whenever the sun shines, all I want to do is lie down & feel it warm my face.
However, I’m hopeful that by having proper raised beds, under proper cover I’ll learn to take good care of my crops. My only tinge of sadness after seeing the beds go up is that they take up so.much.space, as they should & I no longer have a massive free space under cover, as I shouldn’t. The space is primarily for veg, then for me, then Kiki. The reason E isn’t listed isn’t because I put Kiki above him (which I do), it’s because he won’t use it.
The re-purposed plastic tubs will be moved outside for slightly hardier crops, but we have very little shelter, something I need to work on with fast growing trees and shrubs. My plan is to get some dogwood & have a go at propagating my willow trees.
To rotavate or not to rotavate?
I am considering rotavating a patch for potatoes – don’t shout at me please.
Yes, potatoes should do this job, but ground is beyond effortful to dig. My potato bed last year was an utter failure as I was only able to skim off the top 6 inches of earth. It’s mainly lawn with a sprinkling of weeds and a fair amount of moss. The plan is to put potatoes in to further break up the soil and then get planting with our perennial edible garden next year, our permaculture.
Gardening is one long experiment and more so when you’re starting on a new patch, in a new microclimate. You can have a guess, but you never know how it’s going to work out. Rotavating could be a mistake. The main problems with rotavating are that it chops up weed roots, essentially, giving them a leg up in taking over and it can damage the soil. And so, to hopefully reduce or eliminate the need to rotavate further, the wider plan is to match my rotavated area with a no dig area which will have the potatoes next year.
Sound like a plan, or do I sound like someone who has no fricking idea what they are doing? Because it’s the second one in case you were in any doubt.
What have I done this week to contribute to Doug’s progress?
I’ve been spending at least 30 minutes each lunchtime tidying and sorting. Any tubs with the remnants of last year’s crop have been cleared, the old piece of gutter which we’re using for Strawberries has drainage holes and I’ve been going through the seeds.
This is where I need your help…I was brutal and cut anything past it’s best (2022) which means my seed stock has dwindled significantly. I am left with cabbage, carrot, chard, cherry toms, kale, lettuce, nasturtium, radish & rocket, plus plenty of flowers. Already on the list are aubergine, beetroot, chilli, courgette, cucumber, peas, peppers and squash. Fruit wise I have raspberry, gooseberry blackcurrant and of course my strawbs.
What would you add or does that seem enough?! We are only two + dog.
The joys of island living.
This week we received out polling cards for a councillor election on 28th March, something I must admit I had no idea was happening. I must subscribe to the Orcadian. I love the ritual of going to vote, heading to a school, church or similar, seeing the words POLLING STATION stuck to a board or on the door. The quiet whispers, shuffling of paper and odd cough or sneeze. Heading to a ‘booth’ with your pencil & slip of paper, folding it & popping it in the box. It’s always felt very ritualistic and exciting. Democracy at work.
Imagine my disappointment to see that the polling station isn’t at North Walls School or the Hoy Kirk, but in Kirkwall on mainland. With an island population of 420, it’s understandable that they don’t have the resources, but for us it’s a bit implausible to head over to mainland just to vote. I’m in Kirkwall for the day on 29th anyway and a round trip to Kirkwall usually takes 6 hours, so we’d need to take the dog, who hates to travel and hates other dogs even more creating a lot of stress and anxiety for all of us.
Postal votes for us then, which makes me a little bit sad. Whilst I love this inconvenient life we have now, sometimes I wish things were a little easier.
Next time I’ll tell you about how deliveries work here on the island. 😉 Until then, take care and send me all your growing tips.
PS. I have to thanks Island Crofter for her inspiration in repurposing old bits of stuff, including lick tubs and guttering. This is how we managed to grow anything at all last year and also why all my strawbs will soon be hanging from Doug’s rafters.