Compost Strategies – Part one -Know your allies

The Organic Gardening mantra has always been to “Feed the Soil, and the Soil will feed the Plants”, but this oversimplifies the complex web of life that nourishes our plants, and through them, us. A little more knowledge about the microbes in the soil, what they do, what they need, and how that benefits plants, can allow you to fine tune your application of compost, or other organic material, to achieve better results. In this post, I hope to tell you more about the fascinating world of microbes.

Away for the Weekend

Just a quick note to say that I’ll be away for the weekend, and so will not be posting until early next week.

This is an annual reunion with some former Army buddies of mine.

I’m taking the bus, which will give me plenty of time to put together some notes for future articles, and perhaps a book review or two.

I’m planning a couple of posts about my compost strategies, including vermicomposting, Actively Aerated Compost Tea, leaf mould, biochar, etc. and also explaining a bit about soil microbes. Their functions, and ways to use that knowledge to improve plant health and vitality. So this should give me time and space to organise my thoughts.

have a good weekend yourselves

Deano

Scything Festival and Courses

Hi all

Just a quick note to let you know that the 6th West Country Scything festival will be held on 13th June. More details can be found

HERE

I have also published dates for my own scything courses, which you can find

by clicking on the link below, if you’re interested.

HERE

regards

Deano

Companion Planting Help

Hi everybody

I came across a link to a blog that contained a really useful diagram, showing which plants can be planted together, as companion plants, when designing a polyculture. Rather than stretch my IT talents, and copy the diagram, why not follow the link below, and go to relevant page on the author’s blog.

here

The blog is called the Wild Green Yonder, and there’s some excellent work in the Permaculture Category. It’s well worth a visit.

take Care

Deano

Sustainable Smallholding Tree Planting Picture Update

I’ve put up quite a few posts recently, but haven’t included many pictures. Weather and Logistics have been the main reason behind this, so I wanted to post some pictures that relate to recent posts, and some will give you some idea of what this place is like….. I’ve had to reduce the quality of the pictures so that they upload at a reasonable speed. Sorry.

Tree Species Selection using Permaculture Principles

Today I had the chance to plant some of my own trees, and I wanted to produce a short(ish) article about the trees that I planted, their range of uses, and what I intend to do with them in the future. I had also planned to give a rundown of my own tree planting system, but decided to save that for another post, hopefully when the weather is more conducive to taking pictures. I tend to use Patrick Whitefield’s list of Permaculture Principles, as listed in his excellent book, The Earth Care Manual. This was the first Permaculture book that I used, and Patrick was my teacher on the Permaculture Design Course that I attended.

My Favourite Smallholding Tools

It seems to be the right time to write an article about the tools that I use most often, here at the Sustainable Smallholding. I get the feeling that I’m being prompted somewhat, as there have been a number of small events related to tools, that have occurred recently. First of all, after writing a review about my Copper Spade, I had a very nice call from Jane at Implementations thanking me for the review, and asking for permission to link to the review from their site. Sadly, she studiously ignored my unsubtle hint that I would be happy to review more tools, if they sent them. You can’t win them all. Next I got a little worked up by a tool article in Country Smallholding, which was overwhelmingly focussed on power tools and machinery. I also found two decent video clips whilst researching/searching for a tool to harvest bamboo, which I thought that you might find interesting, Lastly, I got a call from a friend who said that he was suffering from ‘Tool Envy’, after reading about my spade. So this one is for you Mark.

Tree Planting around the Smallholding

This week I have planted about four hundred trees, within a hundred meters of my home, none of which were for me. My own plans involve the planting of more than  twelve hundred trees this year, planted in about an acre. Of these, I’ve managed to get five hundred into the ground already, and am planning a weekend of planting, in late February, helped by a few friends and family, trying to plant as many as possible in two days. My planting utilises Permaculture principles in the design.

DVD Review – A Forest Garden Year

Forest gardening is not a traditional, or common way of growing food in this country, but it may offer a better way of meeting your own food needs, whilst reducing labour, and external inputs. I recently watched the DVD A Forest Garden Year, by Martin Crawford, again, and thought that I would review it for you here. The DVD was released last year, and there is a book due out later this year. The DVD would be of interest to anybody curious about Forest Garden’s.

Can a Smallholding be truly Sustainable?

When I look at some of the searches that lead people to this blog, it’s obvious that there are some out there trying to decide if it’s possible to make a living from running a smallholding. I’m not the right person to answer that question, as I have never needed to produce a surplus. My aim is simply to meet our own needs, for food and fuel. The question, can a smallholding be sustainable, depends on your definition of sustainability.