The self-sufficientish year

[hedgewizard]

It's quite a transition really, starting the SS bit. You have to reassess your attitude to all sorts of things, but the one I'm thinking about today is the seasons. Gone are the days when all autumn meant nothing but having to give the grass a last cut and rake up the leaves! Now it means...

... putting some areas of the garden "to bed" under mulches and green manures
... lifting and storing pumpkins and carrots and such
... foraging for mushrooms
... making jams, chutneys, wines etc
... taking out tomato plants and beans etc (with some relief)
... confining the chickens to their winter run

Anyone care to expand on my list, or have a crack at the other seasons?

[Millymollymandy]

Autumn continuation:-

- planting out new plants
- transplanting strawberry runners
- getting the cold frame out
- get the firewood sorted and at the ready
- keep turning the compost cos there's so much to go in the compost bins
- spray Bordeaux mix on the fruit trees
- rake up leaves and put in a bin to make leaf mould
- gather chestnuts and eat or prep them for the freezer for later use (time consuming!)
- make bucket loads of stewed apples
- sort through apples for storing

[hedgewizard]

- spray Bordeaux mix on the fruit trees

Right - why?

[circlecross]

I made the solstice cake and puds this weekend. Not exactly ssish, but marks the passing of the year. Every year my mum says "It's too early" and every year she eats them, saying "this is really nice". Made it with fair trade fruit and sugar, and organic/free range other things. Except the spirits.

I keep putting off the march out for rowan berries and crab apples, even though I know they are out there.
Susan

[Millymollymandy]

- spray Bordeaux mix on the fruit trees

Right - why?

Protects against all sorts of fungal diseases like scab, peach leaf curl etc.

[hedgewizard]

*gets sprayer out*

I can't see why some of the gardening mags say there's less work about at this time of year. I'm all chutneyed out, the freezer's groaning, and I have mulching galore to do today not to mention transplanting cabbage and planting out the last of the winter salad. Speaking of which, I'd better go!

[Diana]

I made the solstice cake and puds this weekend.

Please excuse ignorance, but what's solstice cake?

[Millymollymandy]

I can't see why some of the gardening mags say there's less work about at this time of year. I'm all chutneyed out, the freezer's groaning, and I have mulching galore to do today not to mention transplanting cabbage and planting out the last of the winter salad. Speaking of which, I'd better go!

Totally agree - I have far less time to DO things in the garden because I am still harvesting so much food - and then having to deal with it i.e. preparing for freezer or making chutney etc. I get quite fed up being stuck in the kitchen!

[Millymollymandy]

*gets sprayer out*

Please note that whilst Bordeaux Mix is classed as organic it has now been shown that repeated use can cause a build up in the soil causing harm/death to earth worms (and who knows what else). For that reason we are only spraying the fruit trees about twice a year and not the 5 or 6 times as suggested on the packet.

Also, and I'd need to find the article in my gardening magazine to give you the exact proportions, you can reduce the amount of B. Mix used by mixing in a litre of skimmed milk to the mix, which helps the B. Mix to adhere to leaf and bark. We're gonna try this.

[Stonehead]

Please note that whilst Bordeaux Mix is classed as organic it has now been shown that repeated use can cause a build up in the soil causing harm/death to earth worms (and who knows what else). For that reason we are only spraying the fruit trees about twice a year and not the 5 or 6 times as suggested on the packet.

Do you have any specifc references to this?

We grow a lot of potatoes. I spray with Bordeaux mix to keep blight at bay but have to spray at least fortnightly (more frequently with rain).

I have a four-year rotation so hopefully this would help prevent too much build up in the short-term, but more info would be useful.

Also, if you can't use Bordeaux mix, what else can you use? I definitely have to use something as we are very high risk for blight (one of my neighbours is a potato inspector.)

I've heard of compost tea being used as a foliar spray, but that means the crop is not fit for human consumption due to the risk of microbial contamination.

[Millymollymandy]

Right, found the article! It's in the August edition of 'l'Ami des Jardins et de la Maison'. (Just to avoid copyright problems ).

Quote

The copper contained in Bordeaux mix is an excellent preventative mineral fungicide used to avoid blight and moniliose (not sure what that is offhand, possibly brown rot) but unlike sulphur, it accumulates in the soil over the course of decades and can become toxic for earth worms and microbial life (la vie microbienne - think that's the translation). This is why the quantity of copper authorised for use in organic culture has been reduced.

By adding a wetting agent, it is possible to halve the dose of this fungicide (5g/litre in place of 10 on foilage) with the same efficiency.

What wetting agent to use?

Terpene de pin (not sure, turps possibly) or even better, skimmed milk (1 litre of milk for 10 litres of preparation), an excellent wetting agent which is equally fungicide and bactericide. (Here I'm not sure if they mean the milk itself or they are referring back to the copper).

end of quote.

This isn't the first time I've heard about copper building up in the soil but I don't know where I have read it or heard about it before.

[hedgewizard]

This is something Digiveg flashed up as a compound likely to be banned in the future. Maybe he's right! Neither of the two things they mention are actually wetting agents - I think perhaps they're talking about emulsifying agents instead in which case milk powder makes perfect sense. Let us know how you get on!

Stoney, what's this about compost tea rendering the crop unfit? Does this effect last or is there a "washing out" period? I was going to suggest boiling the concentrate, but this kills the probiotic bugs so there'd be no point. Does this hold true for comfrey liquid too?

[Stonehead]

By adding a wetting agent, it is possible to halve the dose of this fungicide (5g/litre in place of 10 on foilage) with the same efficiency.

What wetting agent to use?

Terpene de pin (not sure, turps possibly) or even better, skimmed milk (1 litre of milk for 10 litres of preparation), an excellent wetting agent which is equally fungicide and bactericide.

Thanks. I already thin mine with skimmed milk as it sticks better and makes the mixture go further.

I suspect it's all down to the intensity of application. Changing to a five or six year rotation might make a difference.

Anyway, time to head back outside and do the pigs.

[Stonehead]

Stoney, what's this about compost tea rendering the crop unfit? Does this effect last or is there a "washing out" period? I was going to suggest boiling the concentrate, but this kills the probiotic bugs so there'd be no point. Does this hold true for comfrey liquid too?

Regulations again. It's to prevent contamination of the potatoes by bacteria, but the regulations are broadly aimed at all fruit and vegetables, and ignore the fact that the bulk of potatoes are under the ground and sitting in well-manured soil anyway!

[Millymollymandy]

I suspect it's all down to the intensity of application. Changing to a five or six year rotation might make a difference.

I can't rotate the fruit trees! But we will use in moderation. Already after just two years here my apple trees are producing healthier looking apples - but I suspect part of that is due to pruning and fertilising, because I know they had no pruning in the past and I've no idea if they ever got fertilised. So maybe in the future we may not need to use too much Bordeaux mix.