It's in the bag ....... and the tub!!

One of our (mine really) strategies this year is to observe, as far as we're able, 'zoning'.  In this context, zoning is a Permaculture term for growing stuff relative to it's frequency in use and various other things.  So, if you eat herbs and salad on a daily basis they should be in zone 1 and if you're growing fodder crop which is harvested once in the season, maybe this should be in say zone 7.  Zone 1 being nearest and 7 being furthest.  It really doesn't matter how many zones you have, it really is just a convenient way to manage your effort in tending your garden/veggie patch or even small-holding.  I know, I know for you career Permie's out there that's a very simplistic view but that's me, a simple soul.  If you want to know the detail you can find it here!

We tend to eat a lot of salad in the summer months so have decided this year to grow our herb, salad and chilli crop in zone 1, and as far as were able, in tubs.  I've set up a wire trellis on the south side of the house and we managed to get some 25L tubs from the Burgas flower festival for a mere 7 lev each, a coupla quid a go!  I converted these tubs into partially 'self-watering' containers which we simply now have to keep topped up, and fed with 'manure tea' once a week.  One of the problems with salad fruits is that they need to be watered consistently, if you give tomatoes too much water in one hit then the fruit will split, cucumbers are about 75% water so need to be doused regularly.  Short of going the Aquaponic route, this was my compromise, and it seems to be working.  We have some nice cucumber growing and some cherry tomatoes are forming on the determinate Tiny Tim plants already.  The indeterminate Black Krim are taking a little longer to break through, but flowering nicely.

So to the old bag(s) ....... that's not a derogatory term for Jac, just simply a description of the containers we're growing our main crop spuds in, which we haven't gone too over the top with this season - It's an experiment!

We have a serious problem in Bulgaria with Colorado Beetle.  Unlike the UK, they're not reportable as an infestation and very common.  The bog standard answer to control here is to use toxic waste as a control.  We don't.  Last year they were removed  by hand ... a pain in the .... ar .... er ..... hand!

Colorado Beetle don't fly, they simply walk to their feeding ground.  The aim then is to stop the little bleeders laying their eggs on my prize spud plants, firstly by disrupting the grubs from last season (if any) as they over-winter by continuous cultivation of the soil, secondly by growing new plants in a completely different area, and lastly by making that little trek to the killing fields and up into the plants as difficult as possible for any survivors.

The ideal would be to dig a big trench around the plants and line it with polythene.  Apparently, they don't have any grippy bits on their legs and can't hook into smooth surfaces.  I attempted to grow in a black bin liner but it wasn't thick enough. I have yet to find rubble sacks so opted for old grain sacks.  They're fine up to now.... and the spuds grow on.

Now, don't go rushing out and buying shed loads of grain or rubble sacks.  The exercise has been a reasonable success so far but not completely to my liking, nor are we at harvest time.  Next year they will be grown in 'Henley Tower' style boxes and they will have a big trench dug around them.  There's quite some effort involved in topping up the bags and the bags/boxes should be in rows so that you can walk between when the plants are in full leaf.  All part of the learning curve and one of my jobs for the winter, making growing boxes .... where the hell do you get Cedar wood from in Bulgaria I wonder!!  If The Henley Tower Potato Company Ltd are reading this ..... sorry chaps, I'd buy but the shipping charges would be horrific .... and we're on a serious budget here, hence Bulgaria and not the UK .... if you need an agent in Bulgaria drop me a note, I'm up for it :)


I think I've mentioned other stuff before, in fact I know I have, we're also growing spuds in a tyre tower ( Cadmium risk aware), strawberries in tyre and tub planters, and various herbs and edible goodies in other containers in zone 1.  Plenty to plunder if you visit.

That's it on this post.  I'll probably update the pics above as they grow to show progress, but apart from that, that's our way forward ..... no weeding and no (manual) watering if we can manage it.   Chow for now!

The Ants are beaten!

One of the few things we miss about the UK is green lush pasture.  We've been planning, for 4 years now, to have our own little piece of pasture in the form of a lawn but sadly, the Ants, the heat or the cold have always beaten us to it.

This year, Spring brings a new determination, a strategy that just WILL NOT fail ..... we're sowing seed before the Ants get out of bed.

One of our main purchases in March was a 10kg bag of grass seed in preparation for a 10 day good weather slot, and we didn't have long to wait.  The Sun has been shining almost constantly from just after the first week in March with no significant frost since very early in the month.  The temperature has hit the low 20's on occasion and it's been relatively dry so we've had to manage the moisture levels more closely, other than that ..... ideal conditions.  On 15th Mar we decided to go for it!

Tidiest it's looked for a while.

A quick whip-around with the tiller on the 16th raised more stones than we needed, but the rake despatched all but the smallest.  Starting on Sat 17th with the 'back' lawn, we marked off 1m strips.  

I drew the topsoil back using Penko's trusty implement, it's like a rake but without tines before minds start to work overtime, Jac scattered the seed in ample proportion, I replaced the soil maybe a little too deeply in places as we were soon to find out, a quick soaking and the job was done ..... on to the 'side' lawn .... tomorrow ...... we were knacked!

 

More to follow soon ........ 

Now you can REALLY see it!!

Another update .........

What about that for a lawn then!!