Signs of Growth

Life in the Crub: Tales from Doug

It’s been a while since I introduced you to our Polycrub, Doug. Seven months in fact and I’d like to say a lot had changed. It hasn’t but it is beginning to.

We have a sign, thanks to my very good pal Charlotte. I was sitting in my office, one day minding my own business when Erik came in with a parcel, et voila! A sign for Doug the Crub - it’s beautiful right?

Looking back, I’m calling last year our trial run with Doug. I wasn’t able to get to growing till about June time, which is half the season gone pretty much. This had it’s positives though, we finished the last of our glut of cherry tomatoes on Boxing Day, so I will definitely be repeating some very late sowing.

Our rocket, spinach beet and coriander are still delivering, but I decided to finally cut back the Rudbeckia plants, grown from seed, to let them have a bit of respite before the new season starts. I have the last teeny tiny blooms in a little pot on my desk.

And now the bulbs are starting to peek through, so I’m anticipating a very yellow house soon! We have a ridiculous amount of daffs thanks to the previous owners, I just hope I did the right thing at the end of last season to allow them to bloom again. I googled it, so I think I’m onto a winner.

If you want your bulbs to come back again, you need to leave the foliage to die back before cutting it, that way the plant is able to put nutrients back into the bulb and it will come back with beautiful blooms again the following year. We’ll see!

I also planted a heap of bulbs either side of Doug’s front door. They were randomly selected from a pick and mix at a fantastic shop in Kirkwall, Shearers. Dog & bird food, seed potatoes, gorgeous plump veg, pastries and all the nuts, seeds, grains and eco wonderfulness you would expect to see in a zero waste shop. HEAVEN.

I digress.

This year, we, note the we, are stepping up our game. Erik’s been on a mission building raised beds. One’s already in place (left), and he’s in the process, of building the giant one that will run the full length of Doug (right) - that’s 8 metres of wonderfulness! We’re thinking this setup will give us a much better harvest, provided I take good care of the plants.

Did I tell you we have running water? The pipe has been disconnected for winter, but as we head into the growing season water is a must - Doug gets hotter than the sun & the outside tap is over 50m away.

There’s more in the plan, namely the space I’m eyeing up towards the back of Doug for a chill-out spot. Somewhere I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the view. I may even attempt to throw together some DIY furniture to complete the ambience, but most likely I will simply lounge in my deck chair with a beer and a book.

That’s about it for now. It’s looking to be an exciting season, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll manage to grow this year.

In case you missed Doug’s intro post or want a refresh, you can find it here.