Selfsufficient update

At the beginning of the year I set my self the challenge of going self sufficient and producing at least one piece of food every day of the year. Well how has it been going, very well especially now we are producing more than we can eat so there is lots of freezing and jamming taking place. Usually late into the night don't no why but Jam making always seems to start at about 9 o'clock at night. Probably because it is dark outside so no gardening and the girls are in bed so peace and quiet. We spent the spring building raised beds and levelling up the slope in the garden to make it much easier for us to garden. We filled them up with lots of compost, manure and soil from the levelling of the slope which has made a great growing medium for our vegetables to grow in.

One of the problem crops this year has been onions they have not performed well at all lots have gone to seed or not reached a very good size. Which is a shame as last year not one went to seed and it was the best crop I have had for a long time they also lasted until late June which is great. The other problem I have had is the peppers and aubergines just have not wanted to grow as the nights have been so cold. The other night it dropped as low as 4oC which is ridiculous for the end of July and no surprise that the more tender crops are struggling to grow.

 

But forgetting all the problems as it would be very boring if everything went well every year and gardeners do like something to moan about other than the weather. When growing your own it is always difficult to get the right balance of quantity's of each crop not having too much all at once. Yet again I have far too many courgettes than I know what to do with. The problem is I always end up with lots of good plants at the beginning of the year and never want to put them on the compost heap. But there are always lots of friends and family who are always happy to take a bag home with them.



So the challenge is going very well but to carry on the challenge on in to the autumn, winter and beyond. So we have been constantly sowing every time we clear an area a new crop is sown in that space so there is never any bare soil. which also means a constant supply of vegetables I have learnt that it is better to have lots of different vegetables in small quantity's rather than large quantity's of a few vegetables. Except vegetables that can store well such as onions, garlic, shallots etc. also there are some crops that stand well in the ground such as leeks, celery, parsnips and carrots etc. You can harvest them as you need them especially through the winter if they have a bit of protection. All in all it is has been a success and we will defiantly be carrying on with the experiment it next year.



A Busy Week

Sorry I have not written anything for a while there seems to be a million and one things that need doing at the moment. With writing, work and the wife and children like to see me occasionally as well but the good news is I have managed to get a lot done out in the garden this weekend. Although the ground was frozen it did not stop me cracking on with some more of the raised beds it's taking longer than I expected. To build them as I am using them to level out the slope on the right of the plot so there has been lots of digging to get the level right.

But hopefully this weekend I should have it all sorted weather permitting it's best to get all these big jobs out of the way now at this time of the year. Because when it all starts growing there becomes even less time to get these big jobs done and I don't have much time now. I still have some stored veg there are lots of onions still in good condition and a bucket full of spuds.

There is also some leeks, kale, cabbage and lots of different salads growing in the garden. so we will still have lots to eat out of the garden for the next month at least. By then so of our new salad seedlings should be ready to pick in the greenhouse and there is always the micro veg to keep us going in fresh crop of salad's

The Chickens have started to slow down on there laying now that the cold weather has set in but there is still more than enough for us to eat. The girls have taken to trying to train the chickens so far they have got dusk to perch on there arm like a parrot. January is normally a quiet month in gardening terms the ground is normally frozen or covered in snow but this year is extremely mild making it easy to get on with lots of jobs in the garden. This would normally not be possible in a normal year but I'm so glad that it is mild as there is so much to get on with. Although we may be paying for it latter on with plagues of pests that have not been killed off by the winter frosts.

During the evening I have been sorting through my seeds getting rid of all the old out of date seeds. Putting to one side all the seeds I am going to sow this year and everything else I will be swapping at Northampton's Seedy Saturday. This is a great new event taking place at The Looking Glass theatre right in the centre of Northampton bringing together gardeners and food lovers to swap seeds and generally get seedy. It is being run by a new group Fruitful Abundance this group has been set up to try and reduce food waste in Northampton it is also trying to get as many people growing there own and generally living a more healthier lifestyle. Would be great to see some of you there it is taking place on the 14th Feb 11am - 4pm.


First five days of self sufficency

Well it's been 5 days now since I started the challenge to produce at least one piece of food every day of the year. The 1st started with 3 lovely fresh eggs off our hens you can not beat your own fresh eggs freshly layed in the morning. Day two it was all about the onion you can not beat a home made onion bargee to go with a good curry and the onion was also used in the curry. Day three we turned to the store cupboard for the jam we made at the end of last summer from our raspberry's already looking forward to this summers harvest of raspberry's. Day four was a lovely omelette from our eggs two eggs beaten up with a pinch of slat, pepper and a splash of milk yummy. Day 5 we have turned to the salad patch for the last bit of rocket as the chickens managed to eat the rest to go in my sandwich. I am also going to knock up a batch of scotch pancakes or drop scones as some people like to call them they are lovely still warm straight from the pan dripping in butter.

There has been lots of activity in the garden too lots to prepare for the coming year as I need to get the maximum form every square foot. If I am to be able to feed myself with something everyday of the year. Part of the garden is on a slight slope so I have been making some raised beds. This is to try and level out the soil there will be two beds one above the other. This will make growing much easier as a level surface is always easier to work with than a slop. I should point out that all the wood that I am using is all recycled out of skips the boards are marine ply wood that was used as hording on a building site. They just put it all in skips when the project is finished as they have no use for it else where. The other project I have been working on is fitting a cold frame to the end of my other new raised bed.

The cold frame lid is an old shower door that came out of another skip the bed is just built around it. This will be great to start off early salads use as a melon pit in the summer and then fill it back up with winter salads in the autumn when the melons have finished. I am terrible for sticking my head in a skip but it always amazes me what useful stuff people do put in them and at the end of the day why pay for wood when you can get it for free. I did not quite get to finish it so I will put the last through screws in today and then I need to sow a few early crops in pots in the greenhouse.