When I started as a Seeds of Change apprentice I felt really lucky to have been given this opportunity, and thankfully, a year later, I still feel the same. Despite the long hours I’ve been putting in over the last few weeks to get the diploma finished on time! We’ve completed, and passed, all our practical assessments, and we’re now putting the finishing touches to our diploma portfolios. I’m definitely going to pursue a career in horticulture and the diploma, along with the invaluable experience I’ve gained working at Garden Organic, Ryton, should be massively useful in helping me to take the next step.
The gardens are flourishing at the moment, and I think I’m going to find it really difficult to hand mine over to another gardener when I finish at the end of the month. I’m hoping to get all the vegetables planted out in the Biodynamic Garden before I go, which means trying to resist the temptation to put out tender plants, such as squashes and tomatoes, too early. We had a frost overnight a couple of weeks ago that damaged quite a few plants, including the new shoots on the grapevines in the Biodynamic Garden, and there’s still a chance that we haven’t seen the last frost of this spring.
I’ve learnt so much about gardening this year, including how much I enjoy pruning! So much so, that I may have to come back to Ryton Gardens as a volunteer when it’s time to summer prune the soft fruit bushes at the end of June. Of course, I’ll expect a punnet or two of fruit in return! I’m going to find it hard to leave the gardens and all the fantastic people I’ve worked with over the last year, but I’m also looking forward to my future career as an organic gardener.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Broad Beans
I’ve planted broad beans out into the Biodynamic Garden this week. These have been grown in our polytunnel from seeds I sowed a couple of months ago. The broad bean variety is ‘Express’, and, as the name suggests, it is one of the fastest varieties to mature. It also produces lots of pods on each plant. I can’t wait until the broad beans are ready to harvest, as they’re a delicious and versatile vegetable. They make a great tasting dip with fresh mint. My next jobs for taking care of them will be to stake them when they get taller and to pinch out the tips of their shoots when they start to flower as this discourages black bean aphids. The rest of the vegetable seedlings destined for the Biodynamic garden are also growing well; peas and lettuces should be ready to plant out in the next few weeks.
The Soft Fruit Garden has now transformed from the beds of bare twigs it was over winter into a forest of green. The gooseberries and currants are in full flower and I’ve even spotted a few tiny fruits starting to form. The flower buds of the raspberries will be opening soon, so I’ve hung up raspberry beetle traps this week. The raspberry beetle lays its eggs in raspberry flowers, and the hatching larvae eat the developing fruit. So hopefully the traps will catch beetles before they get a chance to reach the flowers.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time working in the shrub borders over the last month pruning out damage done by the winter frosts. It’s a pleasure to work in there with the colour and fragrance of the blooming shrubs and bulbs.
As the apprenticeship draws to a close there’s still plenty of work to do preparing the gardens for the summer.
The Soft Fruit Garden has now transformed from the beds of bare twigs it was over winter into a forest of green. The gooseberries and currants are in full flower and I’ve even spotted a few tiny fruits starting to form. The flower buds of the raspberries will be opening soon, so I’ve hung up raspberry beetle traps this week. The raspberry beetle lays its eggs in raspberry flowers, and the hatching larvae eat the developing fruit. So hopefully the traps will catch beetles before they get a chance to reach the flowers.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time working in the shrub borders over the last month pruning out damage done by the winter frosts. It’s a pleasure to work in there with the colour and fragrance of the blooming shrubs and bulbs.
As the apprenticeship draws to a close there’s still plenty of work to do preparing the gardens for the summer.
Working and Studying
Things are hotting up for us three apprentices at Garden Organic, at least work-wise, if not weather-wise. We all passed the five practical assessments we had last week, but there’s still a lot of work left to do on our diplomas. Work at Ryton Gardens is also in full swing, sowing seeds and preparing beds for the coming year. Thankfully there’s a lot of scope for combining the diploma work and gardening, as a large part of the diploma involves collecting evidence of the work we’re doing in the gardens. So as long as we remember to take photos while we garden, we’re killing two birds with one stone.
Preparing the beds for sowing and planting is a really important task. In organic growing, plant nutrient requirements are generally supplied by the addition of organic matter and by growing green manures. I’ve dug the green manures into the beds in the Biodynamic Garden, which will add organic matter to the soil, and provide nitrogen in the case of plants in the legume (pea and bean) family. I’m also applying garden compost to the beds in my gardens as this contains good levels of nutrients, as well as improving soil structure.
I’m germinating most of my seeds in our glasshouse and polytunnel as it’s more reliable than sowing them directly outdoors. They are sown in individual pots or modular trays to reduce root disturbance during transplantation. However, I’ll be sowing plants that don’t like any root disturbance, such as carrots, parsnips and Florence fennel, as well as quick growing plants, such as radishes, directly into the soil. The month ahead will be full of anticipation as I wait for the little seedlings to emerge.
Preparing the beds for sowing and planting is a really important task. In organic growing, plant nutrient requirements are generally supplied by the addition of organic matter and by growing green manures. I’ve dug the green manures into the beds in the Biodynamic Garden, which will add organic matter to the soil, and provide nitrogen in the case of plants in the legume (pea and bean) family. I’m also applying garden compost to the beds in my gardens as this contains good levels of nutrients, as well as improving soil structure.
I’m germinating most of my seeds in our glasshouse and polytunnel as it’s more reliable than sowing them directly outdoors. They are sown in individual pots or modular trays to reduce root disturbance during transplantation. However, I’ll be sowing plants that don’t like any root disturbance, such as carrots, parsnips and Florence fennel, as well as quick growing plants, such as radishes, directly into the soil. The month ahead will be full of anticipation as I wait for the little seedlings to emerge.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Spring is on the way
There’s a definite sense of spring being just around the corner. As well as the early spring bulbs being in full bloom, there’s a bustle in the atmosphere at Ryton Gardens as the spring tasks get underway. With the help of our wonderful volunteers, winter pruning in the Soft Fruit garden is complete. Weeds have started making their presence known in the fruit beds, so I’ve been removing them before applying compost, which will feed the plants and the soil, as well as acting as a mulch to suppress further weeds.
Another spring task is seed sowing. This year, most of the plants that I grow from seed will be going into the Biodynamic garden. Biodynamic gardeners and farmers believe that there are subtle rhythms associated with the sun, the moon and the planets that influence the quality of crops. A planting calendar based on the position of these celestial bodies in relation to the Earth is produced annually that gives the best dates for sowing and cultivating different crops, depending on whether they are grown for their fruit, flowers, leaves or roots. I will be following the planting calendar to find the best days for sowing different seeds, for example, beans will be sown on fruit days and lettuce on leaf days. Biodynamic growing also involves using special manure and herb-based preparations that are applied to the soil and compost to enhance microbiological activity and improve soil fertility. This week I have been making a tree paste preparation, which was applied to the bark of the pruned grapevines and fruit bushes and trees to nourish them and improve their health.
As the work of sowing seeds and preparing the soil for planting out continues, Helen, Matt and I will also be busy working on completing our diplomas in the time we have left at Garden Organic.
Another spring task is seed sowing. This year, most of the plants that I grow from seed will be going into the Biodynamic garden. Biodynamic gardeners and farmers believe that there are subtle rhythms associated with the sun, the moon and the planets that influence the quality of crops. A planting calendar based on the position of these celestial bodies in relation to the Earth is produced annually that gives the best dates for sowing and cultivating different crops, depending on whether they are grown for their fruit, flowers, leaves or roots. I will be following the planting calendar to find the best days for sowing different seeds, for example, beans will be sown on fruit days and lettuce on leaf days. Biodynamic growing also involves using special manure and herb-based preparations that are applied to the soil and compost to enhance microbiological activity and improve soil fertility. This week I have been making a tree paste preparation, which was applied to the bark of the pruned grapevines and fruit bushes and trees to nourish them and improve their health.
As the work of sowing seeds and preparing the soil for planting out continues, Helen, Matt and I will also be busy working on completing our diplomas in the time we have left at Garden Organic.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Learning New Things in 2011
Because there’s less work to be done in our individual gardens at Ryton Gardens at this time of year, we’re turning more of our attention to working together on the site as a whole. Last week we spent a whole morning removing molehills from the grassed areas. This gave me a grudging respect for the little blighters and the amount of work they must have to put into moving all of that soil. The soil they dig up does have an excellent structure for making potting composts though, so it’s not all bad!
We’ve also been doing work in the new Allotment Garden on team days, which has been really useful for learning about hard landscaping tasks, such as putting up fences and laying paths. We also glazed a greenhouse last week, which was good fun – a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle!
Helen, Matt and I have also been learning how to prune roses, as we’re going to be assessed on this, as well as tying in raspberry canes and digging over beds, for our diplomas this week. We’ve been honing our rose pruning skills for the past couple of days, so hopefully I’ll manage to avoid butchering any plants during the assessment!
It’s Potato Day at the end of January, the biggest event at Ryton Gardens each year, so I’ll be spending next week helping to set up for the weekend and learning as much as possible about potatoes, as we’ll be offering advice to visitors. I’m looking forward chatting with fellow potato-growing enthusiasts!
We’ve also been doing work in the new Allotment Garden on team days, which has been really useful for learning about hard landscaping tasks, such as putting up fences and laying paths. We also glazed a greenhouse last week, which was good fun – a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle!
Helen, Matt and I have also been learning how to prune roses, as we’re going to be assessed on this, as well as tying in raspberry canes and digging over beds, for our diplomas this week. We’ve been honing our rose pruning skills for the past couple of days, so hopefully I’ll manage to avoid butchering any plants during the assessment!
It’s Potato Day at the end of January, the biggest event at Ryton Gardens each year, so I’ll be spending next week helping to set up for the weekend and learning as much as possible about potatoes, as we’ll be offering advice to visitors. I’m looking forward chatting with fellow potato-growing enthusiasts!
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