Organic Allotment

Pond's Eye View

As part of the Permaculture design course that I started last month I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject. At the moment I'm reading the wonderful Sepp Holzer's Permaculture. Sepp Holzer is an inspirational farmer and grower who lives high on the mountainside of the slopes of Mount Schwarzenberg in Austria on a farm that extends to 45 hectares and which is all between 1100 and 1500 metres above sea level. The book is a great read - it's really accessible and gives a fascinating insight into the way that Sepp has managed to profitably cultivate areas of land in a way that others told him would be impossible. And how's he done this? In short, by developing a process of cultivation that observes and responds to local natural ecological systems in order to get the very best out of the available land in a way that bears no resemblance to the typical mono-cultures that we are more used to seeing in modern agriculture.

A particularly interesting section of the book is about the use and management of water on Sepp's land and the fact that doing this sensitively is crucial to developing a growing environment that works well. This inspired me to have a closer look at the pond that we've got on our allotment. Although this pond's essential function is an aesthetic one rather than anything else it still plays an important part on our plot. It's very much a natural environment, as you can see from the picture, and can pretty much be left to its own devices. All we really need to do to it is to make sure no plants become too much of a bully and remove leaves if an excess fall into the water in autumn and winter. And what benefits do we get back in exchange?

Well, the pond is a haven for newts in particular but is also well used by toads and frogs who love the shady beds of rhubarb and comfrey that are right next to the water. There is also a shallow area at one end that the birds love to drink from and splash around in during the summer months. The water is a great attraction for certain types of insects like dragonflies that flit and flutter around the plot on long hot days and lay their eggs on the reeds and other plants at the waters edge. The waters edge is also a popular place for plants like rushes and irises that thrive there in abundance, alongside the glorious waterlilies that keep the water cool and shaded on sunny days. In fact, all in all, it's amazing how many species thrive around such a small body of water.

And the disadvantages of having a pond? Well, none that I can think of except if you have children, in which case the pond needs to be securely fenced to keep them out of harm's way. And I would personally go for a fenced pond over a netted one any day as it keeps the pond safe but also means that the creatures that benefit from the water still have full access it.

Tools Of The Trade

I've not got too many tools on my allotment, preferring to keep it to minimum and have a small selection of tools that really work for me rather than loads that are hung in the shed and never see the light of day. My tools are nothing expensive of luxurious but they all work for me and there isn't anything particular that I'd like to add to my portfolio. Apart, maybe, from one thing...

Brian who used to have the allotment next to us had the most amazing, five prong cultivator. It was an old school tool that looked something like this and seemed to effortlessly break up the soil before planting. A couple of times when we were working on our plot Brian lent it to us and it was such a pleasure to work with that I wished that we could have one of our own. However, despite searching all over, I was never able to find one to buy to add to our own tool collection. So imagine how surprised and happy I was when my partner in growing crime bumped into Brian on the street to be told that, since he'd given up his allotment he'd decided that he wanted to donate his precious cultivator to us.

I feel absolutely privileged that Brian has been so kind as to pass this useful tool onto us but his kind gift also got me thinking about the heritage and story that all the different tools we use have got. Take the fork you can see in the picture for example, it's a bog standard example from a well known supermarket but my mum bought it for me when I had my first garden and it's been with me ever since so it's a really precious piece of equipment to me. It's actually a little border fork so not so good for bigger jobs on the allotment but it still remains the perfect tool that I always reach for when I need to turn over the compost. Then there's the beautiful hoe that my friend gave to us after her grandfather passed away, of the gloriously crafted fork that my sister bought me for my birthday. All these tools tell a different story and play an essential part in the history of our experience as growers and gardeners. They also illustrate that it doesn't always figure that the most expensive tool you can buy will necessarily be the best. Sometimes the most wonderful tools are the ones that have been cherished, looked after and used by other gardeners for years and years before they come into your hands. And, if this post has given you a taste to get your hands on some vintage tools of your own why don't you have a browse on Ebay ?- you may be pleasantly surprised by the pre-loved garden bargains that you will find.

Cuban Adventures

Okay...So I really love my allotment and garden but sometimes I get the hankering to go and look at other people's gardens. To see what they're growing, how they're doing it and what I can learn from their techniques. I suppose it's this horticultural nosiness that inspired me to apply to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to fund a trip to visit Cuba in order to learn more about the incredible urban agriculture that takes place there. Cuba's pretty much one of the world leaders in this field you see, so if you want to go anywhere to research it Cuba's kind of the place to go.

Anyway, to cut a long story short... I only went and won a bursary! This means that I will be visitng Cuba later in the year to visit allotments, community growing projects and any other horitcultural based fun that I can get access to. I'm not going to talk too much about my trip now because there'll be much more of that to come. However, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that applications for the next round of fellowships are open now. If you've got you're own idea for a greenfingered international adventure why don't you take the plunge and put in an application? You never know, you may strike it lucky like I've done and find yourself jetting to the other side of the world to discover how people's gardens grow over there. If you don't fancy giving it a go don't despair because I'll be sharing as much of my journey as I can here over the coming months

Local Food Part Two - Formby Asparagus

Few culinary events are as hotly anticipated in our house as the beginning of the asparagus season in Formby, Merseyside. Formby is world renowned for the quailty of its asparagus and as soon as April ends and May starts we eagerly wait for our trips to buy veg Bury Market in the hope that Brian, our veg man and all round veg growing extraordinaire, will announce that the first asparagus of the year is there. Brian is based out at Hesketh Bank near Southport and is lucky enough to have access to one of the remaining asparagus farmers in Formby, meaning that this beautiful delicacy makes it from the Merseyside Coast to the market in less than twenty four hours. You certainly wouldn't get that kind of service from a supermarket!

The coastal area around Formby was, until the mid-nineteenth century, regarded as a "sandy waste", useful mainly as rabbit warren. Following the construction of the Liverpool, Crosby and 'Southport Railway in 1848, considerable supplies of fertiliser in the form of 'night-soil' from Liverpool became available as a sewer system had not yet been completed in the city. This enabled local farmers to "improve" and bring into cultivation the previously uncultivated sand dune area, particularly suitable for their chosen crop - asparagus. This went on to develop into over 200 acres of asparagus beds, with asparagus becoming a very important local product, the quality of which made Formby well known nationally. Cultivation decreased after WW2 and is now continued on only two farms in Formby, with the support of the National Trust who own much of the land around this part of the coast.

The season for asparagus is tantalisingly short, around 6 weeks in most years, but to me Formby asparagus is a great example of what local food can be. It represents local, seasonal food at its best; something so tasty and fresh that once you have eaten it pale, out of season imitations just won't do anymore. It also represents the role that local food can play in cultural identity, with Formby asparagus being key to the heritage and identity of its local area. And, on top of all this, it shows what heroes people like Brian are, and the farmers who work hard to maintain and promote these culinary and horticultural traditions, playing a huge part, almost wholly unsung, in making collective cultural heritage and identity stronger and securer for us all through the sensitive preservation of local food traditions.

Oh... and did I mention?... It tastes realy dang good too!