LL's Gardening Diary

[lancashire lass]

Starting with last week's efforts:

Sweeping up of the leaves and ash keys on the patio:



and bagged:




The garlic Cristo Wight in the polycarbonate greenhouse:



and as expected, a week later soon growing!



The glass greenhouse garlic:



The pot on the right with the shoot coming up is the supermarket garlic, the one on the left is Albigensian Wight:



Last of the weed suppressant membrane down:




The neighbour's ash tree last week still full of leaves and seeds:



So not much of a surprise to find just as many leaves on the patio a week later - I had tidied up the pond this morning skimming off as much of the Water lettuce and duckweed as I could, and lifting up one end so that water flowed down the plastic sheets and off the other end (we've had quite a few heavy bursts of rain this week):



I've aimed hopefully for some better ventilation this winter:



and able to cover the overflow pipes from the biofilter with sheeting (it was surprisingly bendy and not the problem I thought it might be):



As for the rest of the garden:



The old compost pile is still bone dry despite recent rain!



The cherry tree with the leaves ready to drop - beyond, you might just make out the pergola (I'm so glad I painted the fence white as I can see it now even from the kitchen back door which is a first!):



The hazel:



Next year's hazel catkins formed already:



Next year's pear blossom:



and while looking at the same photo on the computer, I noticed this bug (I certainly couldn't see it when looking directly at the pear tree so it must be quite small):



Pear rust this year as been at its lowest, most likely because of the hot summer and drought - but here's a classic orange spot on the leaf, and the fruiting body underneath it:



A close up photo of privet berries:



A spent firework in the garden



The weed suppressant membrane by the pergola:



With a surviving bit of Virginia Creeper just turning colour:



And finally, poor Scary has been moulting this past couple of weeks and feeling rather misterable, but her new feathers are just starting to show along her neck and bum:

[Cheshire Chick]

Lovely garden photo's, as usual LL. Looks like you have had a really good tidy up (you're putting me to shame). Loved the photo of Scary - bless her. She will soon be back to her beautiful self with lovely new feathers for the Winter. My Rose has been moulting to and her head looks grey - she looks really old, but her new feathers are now starting to come through.

[sandy]

LL you certainly have been busy.
What a lovely surprise to see one of the original henpals Scary, looking very well bless her. She must be getting on now, all her original 'penfriends' are long gone.

[lancashire lass]

Lovely garden photo's, as usual LL. Looks like you have had a really good tidy up (you're putting me to shame). Loved the photo of Scary - bless her. She will soon be back to her beautiful self with lovely new feathers for the Winter. My Rose has been moulting to and her head looks grey - she looks really old, but her new feathers are now starting to come through.

LL you certainly have been busy.
What a lovely surprise to see one of the original henpals Scary, looking very well bless her. She must be getting on now, all her original 'penfriends' are long gone.

I want to keep on top of the garden after all that effort this year, and I have plans for next year which I'd like to get stuck into as soon as reasonably possible without having to do another "rescue" first. Not having the allotment plot means I can spend more time in my garden, and being at home means I can come and go rather than dedicate a big slot of my time like I had to do when I went to the allotment.

Scary is now over 5 years (I got her September 2013 at Point-of-Lay so really must be over 5 and half) I feel part guilty she is on her own but she seems to be coping well, and if anything she is more sociable than when she had her own flock - she's managed to coerce me into giving her all my raspberries ... when I've been pottering on the patio, she would bounce up to the balcony and give me that pitiful look turning to glee when I've picked the fruit off the canes and pushed them through the netting. I have been considering whether to get some more chickens for company but I don't think she'd cope with any pecking order spats.

Well, no sooner had I "swept" the weed suppressant membrane, not surprisingly another load landed on it. Last weekend I managed to clear most of it (again) - a lot were pushed onto the fruit tree bed, the "rose" garden (with its 2 rose bushes ... would be nice to see them flower next year) and a little bed in front of the pergola where the jasmine is planted. The rest in a big pile to lift up on to the tree trimmings composter but at that point I'd gone inside for a break ... for one reason or another, I didn't manage to finish that task. It still awaits completion but despite the gale force winds this week, the rest of the membrane is still clear of leaves.

I also gave the coop a good clear out and put fresh bedding in (with only one chicken, over the summer the bedding had barely got soiled but now that the days are shorter she is making up for it LOL) and the old bedding was tossed on to the fruit bed to build up the mulch. There is a reason for mulching the fruit bed with soiled bedding and leaves - if this year's drought was anything to go by, the mulch I had put down last winter helped to keep a lot of the weeds down and the ground from drying out and cracking. Another reason is part of my "carbon capture" project which I'd like to explain more about.

As a veg gardener on the allotment with time and money invested in crops, my priority was to feed the plants to maximize yields and to protect from pests. So I won't deny I was not that organic though I did minimize use of pesticides (exception being slug pellets) but I had to dig over the beds to aid with drainage (as the plot was at the bottom of the hill and easily flooded due to heavy clay that readily compacted) and to dig up weeds that just seemed overly prolific (especially the horsetail) So as much as I liked the idea of a "no dig" allotment, it just wouldn't have worked. So here's a news flash ... I'm doing the complete opposite in my garden. I'm going "organic" ....

Perhaps fortunately the garden had been left neglected for so long, it has already benefited from a no fertilizers, no pesticides and no herbicide regime (except for the brambles if and when I've been unsuccessful digging them out) and the trees have more or less been left to fend for themselves and are now mature. I still want a functional garden hence keeping the greenhouses and polytunnels. And low maintenance, hence the weed suppressant membrane (in time, I hope to break it up into small manageable beds for flowers or food but for now it will keep the ground neat and tidy and hopefully when left down long enough, dent the amount of horsetail growing at the bottom of the garden) So how will the carbon capture project work?

First - the leaves and trimmings. If you burn them in a bonfire, you just release all the carbon dioxide that the plants have been taking up over summer back into the air. If you use garden waste collection, then you contribute to using fossil fuel to transport it for recycling. If you compost them, then it encourages microbial growth - soil bacteria and fungus break the plant material down and some carbon dioxide is released to atmosphere as part of the process, but some of it is retained in the soil. If you google "garden carbon sequestration" you'll get lots of hits. I feel I may be lecturing to the already converted but those who are curious, the key points are:

- plant trees (obvious - they take up CO2 during photosynthesis and convert it to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are used as energy for growth and producing other polymers such as lignin (the woody bits) among other things so traps the CO2)

- trees also leach carbohydrates through their roots into the soil (feeding soil bacteria and fungus like mycorrhiza - as these are well below soil surface, some of the CO2 is then trapped in the soil as biomass

- heavily mulch soil to create humus which binds the CO2 from the decomposing plant matter. The more you add as mulch, the more efficient it is at keeping the moisture in and all the trapped CO2 in organic matter. Bare soil readily loses CO2 as well as encourage run off & loss of nutrients during heavy rain. And mulching also provides habitats for lots of small animals like earthworms (which naturally take plant material and excrete it deeper into the soil) Another reason for my going for mulching is that my soil is naturally heavy clay so I need to build up humus for plants with shallow roots.

- a no dig policy (works for me!) and avoid disturbing the soil. Regularly tilling the soil not only damages the soil structure but exposes the trapped CO2 and releases it to atmosphere.

- no fertilizers. As a veg grower, I did see the benefit of using fertilizers (I have done several mini experiments to compare various growing methods) and when I start growing some crops in raised beds and pots I will probably do the same because the plant roots will be restricted. Presuming the scenario is that the fertilizer is used instead of adding manure or compost, it disrupts how plants take up nutrients from the soil. As soil microbes are unable to access compostable material, they will decline as plants get all the nutrients direct from fertilizer instead and eventually the soil structure will become poor. I think most people see the benefits of adding compost or manure to soil to improve it so perhaps this is aimed at farming practices.

One thing I noticed is that previous undisturbed tree trimmings had broken down quite quickly into smaller bits and also provided a natural habitat for insects and other animals like frogs and birds. My tree trimming pile in essence is like mulch providing I don't disturb it, and as I add more to it, the natural bacteria and fungus are already present in great numbers to rot it down (well, that's the theory .... I still have to tackle the privet hedge ...)

Truth is, I'm not really doing anything different to the garden so it's not really a big deal for me. But climate change is something we should all be seriously looking at. It really is quite alarming when you start to look at it closely. I've had the benefit of following a number of courses on climate change and it is quite sobering to learn just how bad it is. I can't do anything about the big CO2 producers in the world and rely on governments who agreed to cut emissions to keep their promises, but as individuals we can each play our part too. The most obvious is to take action on reducing our personal use of fossil fuels (car, electricity, gas, shop locally, grow your own fruit and veg, eat less animal products and so on) but we can also contribute even in a small way to capturing carbon dioxide if everyone was involved.

At the moment there is no technological way of removing the excess CO2 out of the atmosphere and safely storing it (I'm against pumping it into deep oceans as this is still unexplored and who knows what it might do to future CO2 levels if it surfaces) The oceans and big bodies of water naturally absorb CO2 but through human activity these are reaching saturation and slowly becoming acidified and ecosystems are dying at a scale never seen before. The only other alternate way at the moment at capturing carbon dioxide is land based through plants and soil (and natural weathering of rocks but that takes a long time - there are suggestions of crushing rocks and ploughing them into farmland but it takes fossil fuels to break up the rock and transportation to sites so doesn't sound such a good idea in the short term). Land is also at a premium to produce food (involving destruction to natural forests and woodlands) or for construction. Projects to create new forests are welcomed but these can take up to 20 years to establish before they will show any benefits. Gardens are an untapped source - instead of turning them into concrete extensions of the house, they are ideal for capturing carbon dioxide if done properly, and if done on a grand scale will have an impact.

Well, that's my lecture for the day I don't have children or grandchildren so from my point of view, I have no stake in the future to worry about. But I do care what happens to this planet and want to do my bit.

[lancashire lass]

After I had posted the above topic on garden carbon sequestration, I slept on it and remember something about home made compost/mulch and use of fertilizers:

As a veg grower, I did see the benefit of using fertilizers (I have done several mini experiments to compare various growing methods) and when I start growing some crops in raised beds and pots I will probably do the same because the plant roots will be restricted. Presuming the scenario is that the fertilizer is used instead of adding manure or compost, it disrupts how plants take up nutrients from the soil. As soil microbes are unable to access compostable material, they will decline as plants get all the nutrients direct from fertilizer instead and eventually the soil structure will become poor. I think most people see the benefits of adding compost or manure to soil to improve it so perhaps this is aimed at farming practices.

The bit I forgot to mention: when freshly deposited plant matter or raw manure is put on the ground, soil microbes grow in large numbers - but they need nitrogen (not in its free gas form but from its bound state found in the soil and from the material it colonizes) to multiply and make protein (for growth & enzymes and so on) The result is that it robs the soil of nitrogen and plants do not appear to thrive. However, once the mulch has been broken down, the numbers of microbes will drop - they themselves then become the source of nitrogen that plants can take up (hope that makes sense)

In the case of my garden, the fruit trees and rose bushes are already established with deep roots so soil surfaces with mulch are not going to affect them. If I try to grow say annuals or crops with shallow roots in ground soon after mulching, they are hungry feeders competing with the microbes and are less likely to do well. So addition of a nitrogen source such as chicken manure or commercial fertilizer would help to speed up the process as well as provide nitrogen for plant growth. If mulching for example, with well rotted manure is to be used for adding nutrients to the soil rather than protecting soil surfaces, it should be done in autumn rather than spring.

While on the subject, commercial fertilizers use fossil fuels for manufacture ....

Enough of that, my plans for 2019. I have found that with giving up the allotment I have had to resort to buying all my vegetables from the supermarket - this past 18 months I have noticed my grocery shop has been more expensive at a time when most prices haven't risen that significantly until recently after the drought. Earlier this year I realized that I just had too much to do to start up again in the garden but I'm definitely giving it a go next year. I am limited to growing food crops in pots and raised beds as the garden is not suitable - there are just too many tree roots just under the soil surface which is why I took on an allotment plot in the first place.

I have already planted garlic in pots early last month and while in the greenhouses have been growing: all the Cristo Wight and my "Spanish" supermarket cloves have sprouted, 5 out of 7 Albigensian Wight too but no sign of Early Purple Wight or the Russian Red - I'm not worried about that as I wouldn't have expected them to grow if they'd been planted at the allotment and probably need a winter chill to start them off.

I've ordered one variety of seed potato called Elfe (as usual I was tempted to get more including my fave Vivaldi but I have to give serious thought of where to put them all - if I still have room after planting the Elfe in spring, I'll probably call in at a local nursery for tester packs or even use some supermarket spuds like Rooster which I know are very hardy) I am going to use the old cold frames I used for growing on seedlings and hardening them prior to planting outside so they are more or less redundant now. The sides will need strengthening (I have some metal pieces from a greenhouse that was abandoned) and the bottom will be lined with plastic sheet (to retain some water) which I'll try to get from recycling. Then they'll be filled with a mix of commercial & home made compost and soil (from the old compost site) The cold frame / raised beds will be in the polytunnel that currently doesn't have a cover - I'm going to partially cover it to provide shelter but be open at the sides for good ventilation.

I also ordered some onion sets - a heat treated variety called Hytech F1. They were the same price as standard onion sets which was unusual. I've never grown Hytech F1 but they are supposedly less prone to bolting due to the heat treatment. Again, I need to look at raised beds - they won't need to be as deep as the potato ones so I might be able to cobble something together with a wood frame (hopefully from recycled wood such as pallets)

Both the potato and onions were bought on "Cyber Monday" when the DT Brown Seeds had a free p&p promotion. They will be delivered next year (potatoes most likely in January while the onions in March)

I still have plenty of seed and most are still viable so will also be sowing them in spring indoors before moving them into the polytunnel and greenhouses. I miss my courgette and winter squash as well as sweetcorn but they can be bulky. Also cucumber, peas and beans, tomatoes and peppers. I think I'll be spending the winter planning what I can grow and where they'll be growing! So roll on 2019 - from garden rescue to actual gardening this time

[Gwenoakes]

Looking at what you have wrote LL, you are making me feel rather tired. You have been extremely busy and I look forward to the products you produce next year.

[Mo]

The bit about twigs breaking down is interesting. My garden is an acre - quite a big orchard strimmed twice a year, a bit of grass that's rapidly being taken over by nettles (can't get the gardener to come long enough to strim that more than once), a big pond (I think Jim dug in out as a 'dingly dell' but it has slowly filled so that each winter it is bigger than the last though it shrinks a bit in summer), and a shrubbery with paths winding through (we used to take the grandchildren on a bear hunt there when they were small. The paths are mulched with chopped prunings (though I've not added to them). Each Autumn a large patch of field mushrooms grow on them. I also have a large heap of prunings - put there 'for the wildlife' though I would prefer something other than rabbits that live under it.

[lancashire lass]

Hugelkultur is not some fermented beer, cheese or yogurt - Wikipedia explains:

Hügelkultur is a horticultural technique where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass plant materials is later (or immediately) planted as a raised bed. Adopted by permaculture advocates, it is suggested the technique helps to improve soil fertility, water retention, and soil warming, thus benefiting plants grown on or near such mounds.

I have to confess I've only just learned what Hugelkultur is about when I was researching for my "garden carbon sequestration" project and came across this blog titled Roger Brook - the no dig gardener (the no dig gardening and burying wood sort of conflicted) I have been looking at ways I can use the tree trimmings for carbon sequestration but I'd more or less resigned myself to just "composting" them in my big tree trimmings pile. I think "burying" the wood under soil would work very well and ties in with the project. Just one snag - there is no way I'll be able to bury the wood in my garden but ... I have already created a mound with all the trimmings this summer alone with a pallet surround to stop it from sprawling all over the garden, and just needs soil on top and things to grow (I know it's not that simple - just getting soil alone would normally be a problem but ... it might be possible if & when I start digging a hole for the wildlife pond)

There is more about Hugelkultur in this link, also Hugelkulture: the ultimate raised bed and many more. I particularly like this article in Permaculture on "The Many Benefits of Hugelkultur".

[lancashire lass]

more research ... I found this article on Wikipedia which lists a number of suggestions to incorporate into gardens to make them "climate friendly". Although the majority are obvious, I thought I'd post some quotes as a reminder.

Carbon dioxide:

Gardeners may cause extra carbon dioxide to be added to the atmosphere in several ways:

- Using peat or potting compost containing peat
- Buying garden furniture or other wooden products made from woodland which has been destroyed rather than taken as a renewable crop from sustainably managed woodland
- Digging soil and leaving it bare so that the carbon in soil organic matter is oxidised
- Using power tools which burn fossil fuel or electricity generated by burning fossil fuel
- Using patio heaters
- Heating greenhouses by burning fossil fuel or electricity generated by burning fossil fuel
- Burning garden prunings and weeds on a bonfire
- Buying tools, pesticides, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers (over 2 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent is produced in the manufacture of each kilogram of ammonium nitrate), and other materials which have been manufactured using fossil fuel
- Heating and treating swimming pools by burning fossil fuel or electricity generated by burning fossil fuel
- Watering their gardens with tap water, which has been treated and pumped by burning fossil fuel, with a greenhouse gas impact of about 1 kg CO2e/m3 water
- Gardeners will also be responsible for extra carbon dioxide when they buy garden products which have been transported by vehicles powered by fossil fuel

Methane:

Gardeners may cause extra methane to be added to the atmosphere in several ways:

- Compacting soil so that it becomes anaerobic, for example by treading on soil when it is wet
- Allowing compost heaps to become compacted and anaerobic
- Creating homemade liquid feed by putting the leaves of plants such as comfrey under water, with the unintended consequence that the plants may release methane as they decay
- Killing pernicious weeds by covering them with water, with the unintended consequence that the plants may release methane as they decay
- Allowing ponds to become anaerobic, for example by adding unsuitable fish species which stir up sediment that then blocks light from and kills submerged oxygenating plants

Nitrous oxide:

Nitrous oxide, N2O, is a natural part of the nitrogen cycle, but human land uses often add more

Gardeners may cause extra nitrous oxide to be added to the atmosphere by:

- Using synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, for example "weed and feed" on lawns, especially if it is applied when plants are not actively growing, the soil is compacted, or when other factors are limiting so that the plants cannot make use of the nitrogen
- Compacting the soil (for example by working in the garden when the soil is wet) which will increase the conversion of nitrates to nitrous oxide by soil bacteria
- Burning garden waste on bonfires.

Black carbon:

Black carbon is not a gas, but it acts like a greenhouse gas because it can be suspended in the atmosphere and absorb heat.

- Gardeners may cause extra black carbon to be added to the atmosphere by burning garden prunings and weeds on bonfires, especially if the waste is wet and becomes black carbon in the form of soot.
- Gardeners will also be responsible for extra black carbon produced when they buy garden products which have been transported by vehicles powered by fossil fuel especially the diesel used in most lorries (this could also include transporting garden waste for recycling)

Gardening to reduce greenhouse gases and absorb carbon dioxide:

There are many ways in which climate-friendly gardeners may reduce their contribution to climate change and help their gardens absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Climate-friendly gardeners can find good ideas in many other sustainable approaches:

- Agroforestry;
- Forest gardening;
- Orchards;
- Organic gardening;
- Permaculture;
- Rain garden;
- Sustainable living;
- Vegan organic gardening;
- Water-wise gardening;
- Wildlife garden.

Protecting and increasing carbon stores in gardens

After rocks containing carbonate compounds, soil is the biggest store of carbon on land. Carbon is found in soil organic matter, including living organisms (plant roots, fungi, animals, protists, bacteria), dead organisms, and humus. One study of the environmental benefits of gardens estimates that 86% of carbon stores in gardens is in the soil.

The first priorities for climate-friendly gardeners are, therefore, to:

- Protect the soil's existing carbon stores;
- Increase the soil's carbon stores.

To protect the soil, climate-friendly gardens:

- Are based on plants rather than buildings and paving;
- Have soil that is kept at a relatively stable temperature by shelter from trees, shrubs and/or hedges;
- Have soil that is always kept covered and therefore moist and at a relatively stable temperature by groundcover plants, fast-growing green manures (which can be used as an intercrop in kitchen gardens of annual vegetables) and/or organic mulches

I seem to be on the right track albeit unintentionally in some cases (such as not having the garden waste collected for recycling due to costs, and as an asthmatic I hate it when people burn their garden waste, privet trimmings in particular. I never liked the annual bonfire at the allotment site which coincided with Bonfire Night and increased air pollution) but still a lot more to put into practice ... if I can ... Addition of some fertilizers has been a big part of my veg gardening - I still have stocks from my allotment days so in terms of using fossil fuels to produce, it's already done and I think container gardening will be difficult without them.

I am also looking more closely at composting better to reduce how much I put in both the recycle and waste bins. Of course it doesn't reduce the fossil fuel of weekly collections but hopefully reduces some of my "personal" carbon footprint which is what this project is about. I'm no different from most people - I'd rather take the easy route. Having the time and the inclination to put into practice seem to be my limitation so I'll need to think of ways that makes it easier.

[Mo]

A lot of those points also apply to our other activities. Doesn't it all sound complicated though.

[lancashire lass]

A lot of those points also apply to our other activities. Doesn't it all sound complicated though.

I was thinking the same

After an early morning heavy rain, the sun came out and it was a surprisingly lovely day albeit a little chilly for a Sunday. I was determined to spend some time in the garden but which job to do first.



As I want to get the polytunnel (currently without the cover) ready for the potatoes in spring, that seemed to be a good place to start. First, trim the hedge - I leaned through the frame to trim but I really needed to be on the other side which meant trimming the hedge between the greenhouse and frame first to get access. I was quite brutal with the hedge, cutting my side to just under 5 feet height and cutting all the branches right up to the trunk ... I'm hoping to put a small fence up against the hedge some time in the future but such that my fence is actually on the boundary. The previous owner of my house stupidly put a fence up on the other side but my boundary is actually 18 inches/2 feet into the neighbour's garden At the moment they have been okay with the arrangement particularly as it would have cost as much to move the fence as the cost of having it erected. I'm not so sure the other neighbour would keep to a similar arrangement.

I never had any intention of doing the entire privet hedge today but to make a start. However, instead of trimming the hedge behind the polytunnel, I ended up going behind the polycarbonate greenhouse instead. And even that small length will need more cutting back but the problem is where to put all the trimmings as my pile is now as tall as the greenhouse and very difficult to reach LOL In the photo, there are also elders in the hedge - some on my side but there's definitely one on their side. You can also see the original width of the hedge used to be up to the log roll fence which I had erected soon after moving in the house (when my dog decided to wander through the gap in the hedge into the neighbour's garden - the children went hysterical when they saw her even though she only wanted to say hello and play. The log roll was just tall enough to make her think twice) It's got quite a noticeable gap after the trim:





Inside the greenhouses, the garlic continue to grow. In the glass greenhouse, all 5 supermarket garlic have sprouted, as have 6 (out of 7) of the Albigensian Wight. No sign of the Early Purple Wight or the Russian Red - perhaps we need some really cold weather to kickstart them.



In the polycarbonate greenhouse, all 10 Cristo Wight have sprouted. The ones seeded with mycorrhizal fungi are definitely in the 2 leaf stage while the non-seeded are definitely lagging behind. Of course I'll be more interested in the final bulb stage as to whether seeding with the mycorrhizal fungi is worth doing but so far it's definitely looking good and the experiment is quite obvious (the pots with a seed label are the seeded ones):



While I was trimming the hedge, I realized that despite the hedge being tall and cut a lot of light out of my garden, it did protect the greenhouses and polytunnel from the winter storms. Some of the panels on the polycarbonate greenhouse were loose and could easily lift up in a gale force wind so I thought I ought to do something. Ideally I would have liked to use something like bathroom sealant but tape would have to do. This black & yellow hazard tape I "borrowed" from work was surprisingly tacky and did the job though I did have to clean the frame and window of any dust and water first.



Inside the greenhouse, even though the hedge was still tall on the neighbour's side, the trimming had definitely made it a lot lighter inside. I decided to then give the outside of the greenhouse windows a much needed clean to remove algae and dirt. And just as well as I found 2 more loose panels on the side which I fixed later with tape. I didn't have time to clean the roof but I removed all the leaf litter and moss and cleared out the gutters. Some of the panels have gone a little opaque from the sun but overall it looked much better. I'll clean the inside of the panels another day.

Meanwhile a couple of photos by the pergola - all the leaves have dropped off the hazel and willow so it not only makes it much lighter down at the bottom of the garden but I can see what else will need trimming before spring. The hazel:



and the bare Willow:



On a completely different note, I'm still feeding the fish! I peek under the covers in a morning and they are all gathered waiting for food. Last year I only put covers over the pond when we had snow and ice and started to have casualties but this year I had put them over when the temperatures had started to drop and the neighbour's ash tree was shedding leaves and seeds. Perhaps that has helped to keep the heat in the water longer, and I also boxed in the biofilter so is partially insulated (plus earlier this year I dug a small pit and partially buried it below the patio paving as I hoped that would help to keep the filter warmer) The pond no longer gets any direct sunlight now that the sun is lower in the sky (it will after all be Winter Solstice in less than 2 weeks) Apparently I am not the only one to find their fish are still asking for food this late in the year. With the covers over I barely see the fish so it's always a surprise when I do see them.

And finally, Scary the hen is now sporting her new winter coat and looking very smart. I am a little worried her comb is smaller and paler than usual - I'm just hoping this is only because it is now winter but I don't remember it being like that in the past. She seems well enough and eager to see what treats I might have so fingers crossed.

[lancashire lass]

It was a dreadful wet day on Saturday and overnight but Sunday morning was bright sunshine and blue skies but everything & everywhere was soaking wet and cold. I did a walk round the garden (I noticed 2 Early Purple Wight garlic have started to sprout!) and to see what jobs I could do (should I carry on trimming the hedge, prepare the frames for the potato beds, rake the last of the leaves onto the beds ...) but it was distinctly chilly and damp and instead I went indoors. With the Christmas break (we finish work on Friday 21st December, go back 2nd January), there might be an opportunity to work off some of that extra waistline then ...

Meanwhile more research for my garden carbon sequestration. I have looked at Biochar and seen some promising high praises about its performance and as a means of locking up carbon in soil but I decided I'd look into it more when there seemed to be some disparaging remarks about it too. So time to do what I know best - look things up from a scientific point of view which I understand rather than listen to opinions. It seems Biochar is not all wonderful but it does seem to lean towards improved soil and higher crop yields in some cases. That's where the science comes in - I learned it works best in the tropics where there is low carbon in the soil (as it is all found in the tree growth instead) than in the temperate zone. Like-wise, sandy soil benefits from addition of Biochar better than in heavy clay which shows no difference.

So what is Biochar? Pre-Columbian Amazonians are believed to have used Biochar to enhance soil productivity produced by smoldering agricultural waste and covering it with soil in pits. European settlers called it terra preta de Indio. Basically it is charcoal where material (wood, crop waste) is burned under very low oxygen conditions (such as covering with earth) so that instead of releasing loads of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, only some is released and the material is turned into carbon. Unlike wood which decomposes over a matter of years or centuries (depending on the conditions it is sited) and releases carbon dioxide, the carbon in Biochar will be locked up for 1000s of years in the soil. Biochar is being considered as a serious way of dealing with the current climate change and sequestering carbon. If all farmland and gardens across the globe had Biochar added to the soil, it could potentially reduce large amounts of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere particularly if it was combined with reducing emissions (well, that's an entirely different story all together ... moving on)

Anyway, some of those benefits are:

1. better water retention (particularly in sandy soils with low humus)
2. even though it is low in nitrogen, when humus/compost is also added, the extra nitrogen supplied seems to be more beneficial to most crops compared to soil alone with only humus/compost added.
3. root crops like carrots, radish and beet seem to do well (research on carrots indicate less forking possibly due to a decrease in bulk density brought about by the addition of biochar which may help to increase air and water infiltration)
4. nitrogen fixing bacteria on legumes (peas, beans, sweetpeas, clover, lupin, peanuts) are enhanced and improve growing conditions for plants
5. leaching of nutrients from soils are reduced
6. favours leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce & beet, seedlings start off better. Sweetcorn (maize) trials show higher yields
7. the presence of Biochar in soil reduces natural carbon dioxide emissions (from microbes, plants, decomposition and animals like insects and earthworms) from the soil
7. methane and nitrous oxide emissions (serious greenhouse gas emissions worse than carbon dioxide) are generally much lower in Biochar amended soil than untreated soil
8. provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases
9. improves fertility of some acidic soils which means higher yields and producing food on previously poor farming land

The unfortunate downside:

1. Biochar raises the soil pH so it is unsuitable for acid loving plants like onions and garlic (or the ericaceous plants like Blueberries, Rhododendron, Camellia, Azalea and Acers) and can be irreversible once applied in large quantities (emphasis here on land used for farming)
2. Adding too much Biochar can have an effect on natural soil microbes (factors such as raising the pH may favour more tolerant species with the demise of acid loving ones) with loading over 4% Biochar into top soil having a permanent and adverse effect on microbial activity and ultimately affect established plant life and soil ecosystems in some cases.
3. Not all Biochar is the same - some crop waste (biomass) are less effective than other types.

Of course there's always the ones who post comparison photos on their blog of treated and non-treated soil showing a massive improvement in crop yields and then someone shows a completely different result for the same crop with a poorer yield. Potatoes seem to be in that group - my concern is that the raised pH would encourage scab (which usually occurs in soil that has been heavily limed and blotchy patches appear on the skin but the potato itself is fine to eat) Instead, research showed a dramatic drop in yields due to adding Biochar while another praised it. Such is life.

I think the lesson here is to experiment in small batches rather than treat the whole garden and see if there are any benefits first. In my case, my veg gardening plans next year will mostly be in containers rather than direct in the soil so I will have better control of the conditions and able to do a few mini experiments for comparison. But where to obtain Biochar? Biochar produced for horticulture is a commercial enterprise which uses agricultural waste, heats it up to extracts some of the organics that can be used as biofuel and the solid mass heated up to about 450oC before grinding it down into granules for use. It's not that cheap to buy though I did find a seller on both ebay and Amazon which sell a 5 kg pack which seems affordable to test out. The alternate is purchasing lump charcoal (ensuring no chemicals have been added to aid burning in BBQs) and crushing it. I think I might just put the horticultural version on my Santa list for planning some mini trials next year ....

[sandy]

LL i have had a good catch up today, you are always so busy but it must be so rewarding. Have you identified that insect?
I am sure Scary's comb is due to the weather or maybe her grand old age.

[lancashire lass]

LL i have had a good catch up today, you are always so busy but it must be so rewarding. Have you identified that insect?
I am sure Scary's comb is due to the weather or maybe her grand old age.

I'm afraid I could not identify the insect and I tried several nature sites - I have now just presumed it was some sort of adult aphid. Scary seems to be okay and eating but getting terribly fussy these days.

The weather this Christmas holiday is mild but dull and damp. I was expecting delivery of the new pond liner (£15 off ebay for a 5m x 2.5m size) on Christmas eve and hoping to make a start for my wildlife pond over the break as it would take some time to dig and line before it's back to work and the weather turns colder. I really want to try to have the pond filled before the frogs start spawning. Meanwhile my living room got a good clean and polish while I waited all day so that I didn't miss the postma/courier but alas no sign of the delivery

Meanwhile, Boxing day is normally a time for me to get out and be a little active and burn off some calories after an indulgent Christmas day - in the past it would have been a visit to the allotment but yesterday I was in the garden. Time to face the biggest challenge yet in the 2018 Garden Rescue and finally finish ... the privet hedge once and for all. So loppers at the ready, I decided to start at the glass greenhouse and work my way behind the polytunnel up to the trim behind the polycarbonate greenhouse.

Well, I'm not sure my neighbour will approve as the trim was particularly brutal and I can see into their garden now. Worse, I slightly misjudged the height I had cut the earlier hedge and this time was even shorter. If I'm right, the hedge should "bush up" next year and thereafter the next trim above the trim line can be done at a height which will retain some privacy. I managed to lop most of the branches but there are some which will need sawing but that was for another day. As before the trimmings had to be cleared which took longer than the lopping and alas the trimmings pile in front of the glass greenhouse is once again back, sigh.



The hedge has a lot of wild ivy (2 different types)



and long lost footballs LOL



After taking the photos I went for a walkabout in the garden and found these - called Jew ears (aka Wood ear / Jelly ear), a fungus that grows on dead Elder wood. Originally known as Judas ear because it was thought he hanged himself from an elder tree, the name was corrupted to Jew ear. See more about them on this First Nature link Auricularia auricula-judae- Jew ear are edible but apparently bland in flavour and can be chewy.

[lancashire lass]

In summary, this year has mainly been about sorting out the pond and a major garden rescue.

January

After the bitter cold (snow) of early December 2017, the temperature was mild but the weather was also very windy and very wet. An unnamed storm rattled down my street on the evening of 18th January and tore a ridge tile off the bay window which hit the car. I had hoped to make a pre-spring start on sorting out the garden but it was too soggy and damp, there was also a permanent ankle deep puddle outside the chicken run doors that just wouldn't drain suggesting the garden was well and truly saturated. I lost a couple of goldfish.

February

Seed potatoes that I had ordered at the end of 2017 arrived. I ordered some strawberry plants and raspberry canes during a free p&p offer.

March

I'd arranged to take the car to the bodyshop for repair after the January storm to find the Beast from the East had arrived and it was snowing heavily and was bitterly cold. For the first time ever my employer shut the campus for 4 days (Thursday - Sunday) for safety reasons as the snow continued to fall and freeze. A large crack across the front window on the courtesy car appeared - more expense. Two weeks later the mild weather returned - checking the pond after the thaw, more goldfish had died. The losses seemed to be every time we had a cold snap despite PVC covers which kept the pond surface ice free so I planned on making changes before the following winter. The pH was low so I added some sodium bicarbonate to raise it and thereafter there were no more losses. The strawberries (5 each of Mara des Bois and Gariguette) and raspberry canes (6 Polka, 3 All Gold and 3 Glen Ample) arrived. The strawberries were planted in pots and put outside - all recovered and started to grow.

April

Hopes to sort out the polytunnel before spring planting were dashed after paying for repairs on both the car and courtesy car - I did not have enough money to set up the raised beds nor enough compost for the big pots. The cover on the older polytunnel was ripped beyond repair. Garden plans over the Easter break were dashed by yet more rain. The raspberries were split across 4 big planters on the patio. Concerned about the pond water quality, I converted Nectar points and bought a proper testing kit on ebay for a fraction of the cost. I used it to test both tap and pond water and compared the results with the all in one dipstick method (2 different ones) - there were variances across all the tests but all suggested the pond water was fine. Algae had started to make an appearance in the pond so I invested in a low wattage UV sterilizer as suggested by a pond forum - instead an 18 W UV sterilizer arrived and the seller let me keep it. Blanketweed started to grow and form great large clumps so I started an effective treatment (repeated a month later leaving the pond blanketweed free for the rest of the year)

May

There were swings of cold and mild weather but by mid-May temperatures were well into the mid-high 20s and nature had spurred forward and caught up - it seemed as though early spring was soon into mid spring in the blink of an eye, blossom replaced by leaves on trees and everything was just so green. After the cold winter, I decided to reorganize the pond filter and ended up lifting paving stones to partially bury the water butt so that it would offer some insulation in winter, and make the top more or less level with the height of the planter - I accidentally broke the tap off at the bottom of the butt and ended up putting the blue barrel from the allotment in its place. I installed the new UV sterilizer inline and bought a solar powered aerator. Both came in very handy over the coming months when temperatures soared and we had long spells of hot sunny weather - the UV checked the rate of algae growth and the aerator kept the water oxygenated. Only 7 goldfish survived the winter. At work it got very busy as the lab was shut down and cleared for refurbishments over the summer break, leaving me too tired to think of gardening tasks. I realized that I simply didn't have time to get the polytunnel and greenhouses ready to grow any vegetables and my plans had to be changed.

June

The pond occupied a lot of my time as the filter box posed a lot of leaking problems but I finally figured out I had put the filters in the wrong way. I decided to replace some of the lost goldfish but after looking at the new koi in stock at the local pond shop, I bought 2 - both were about the same size as the biggest goldfish but have since got a lot bigger. They spooked the goldfish a lot at first so I didn't see any of them for several weeks even at feeding time but thereafter the fish were regularly waiting for breakfast and supper feeds and the 2 koi now seem to be there first. I treated myself to some new plants for the pond planter - a Dutch Rush, Musk Sedge - and 3 Water Lettuce for the pond. By the end of the year, there were well over 100 water lettuce as it readily buds and breaks off. The Japanese dwarf bulrush produced their first mini bulrushes. I enjoyed my first strawberry harvest. By the end of the month, the big "Garden Rescue" was started - clearing weeds, laying weed suppressant, trimming the fruit trees and finally reaching the pergola at the bottom of the garden. I also did a patio rescue - replacing the roofing felt on the awning, painted the door and frame, put hanging baskets up and planted up with some white, pink & red Busy Lizzies, fitted a cat flap and finally sorted the pond electrics into an outdoor box. The grape vine finally got moved into a big pot and enjoyed the new location sited by the warm south facing brick wall at the back of the house. All at a time when the temperatures started to rise and signs of drought started to become apparent.

July

The drought and high temperatures continued - a pigeon and a blackbird died trying to get water from the pond, and I even found a frog trampolining across the pond net. I set up a bird bath at the bottom of the garden (my first visitor was a grateful bumble bee) and a puddle on the patio for the frog. The garden rescue continued but unlike the big changes in June, these tasks took longer - the trimmings pile at the bottom of the garden was finally fenced off with pallets, the pergola was cleared of the overgrowth. All the pots of old compost in the polytunnel and greenhouse were finally cleared and contents dumped on the fruit tree, rose and jasmine bed as mulch. I planted up 2 big pots with 2 different fuschia, a pink jasmine and in the other petunia and a lavender by the front porch .... I managed to strain my back just as I bent over with the potted lavender ... The yellow raspberries started to ripen quickly followed by Polka. Pest-wise, wasps had moved into the pond wall - despite wasp treatments, I never truly got rid of them though I did knock the numbers down with each treatment. Other than that, there were very few insects around and for the first time since forever, I didn't even need Jungle Formulae for protection - no wonder the robins in the garden followed me everywhere (they certainly enjoyed a few woodlice that I uncovered while clearing woodpiles)

August

As the contractors at work finished the lab refurbishment at the end of July, I had just 4 weeks to get everything moved back and equipment up and running - and as everyone had taken their annual leave over August, much of it was done single handed. Very little gardening was done but after the earlier rescue and continued heatwave and drought, there was very little that needed to be done except to keep the patio plants watered (using the filter box water which was rich in fish poo so also fed them) Although I was annoyed that I did not get to grow any vegetables, in many ways I was glad I didn't have the added stress.

September

I had 3 weeks leave after the August bank holiday weekend but I needed a week to recover from exhaustion. Once I started to get back into it, the garden and patio rescue continued. The pergola was completely cleared and the back fence painted white - it made such a difference. Dark brown fence paint was used to paint the pergola and some of the wood lengths off the top. The chicken run got a coat of paint, the ledge on the patio fence by the shed was rotten and replaced. The biofilter (water butt) for the pond was boxed in with a lid for easy access all from recycled wood mainly from the old composter, while the paving next to the chicken run behind the biofilter was leveled off. There was a bumper crop of hazelnuts, apples and pears despite losses throughout the year as temperature remained high all summer and the birds had pecked a lot of the fruit in desperation for water. The rain arrived with Storm Ali but luckily the damage was minimal in the garden.

October

Temperatures dropped early in the month and it was as though late summer was going to bypass autumn altogether and go straight into winter. There was still plenty of sunshine while leaves quickly dropped from the trees - I particularly wanted to keep on top of these so that the weed suppressant membrane would not get wet and slippy and regularly raked or swept them. Much of the leaves ended up on the fruit tree, rose and jasmine bed to build up "mulch" and just as much ended up in the big trimmings pile. I ordered some garlic cloves of different varieties off ebay. My chicken enjoyed the last of the Polka raspberries as they finally started to dwindle - despite growing the raspberries in big pots they were quite productive this year but hopefully will be better next year!

November

I had booked Friday the 2nd off as annual leave but my plans for the day were dropped so I spent it getting the garlic cloves ready for planting. I decided to use big pots but didn't have enough compost for all of them so each pot ended up with layers of soil from the old compost bin, compost from the chicken bed composter, some sand from the empty chicken run and a bit of commercial compost. All the garlic cloves went through a treatment process to try and eradicate any possible pests and fungus and then all but 5 cloves were seeded with mycorrhizal fungus and planted in the pots put into greenhouses. The last of the weed suppressant membrane was put down. Early November was mild but the days were getting shorter so I decided to put the PVC covers over the pond earlier as the leaves off the neighbour's ash tree landing on the netting weighted it down. It probably helped to keep the water warmer for longer as well. The fish continued to feed throughout November despite dropping temperatures.

December

Before I could start to set up the greenhouses and polytunnels, the overgrown privet hedge had to be dealt with as it cast a lot of shade for much of the day. It was a shared hedge but I seemed to find myself with the lion share so the trim was brutal and much shorter than usual in the hope that it will bush up and be more manageable in the future .... time will tell. As a result, the trimmings pile is bigger than ever. I managed to order some seed potatoes (Elfe) and onion sets (Hytech F1) for delivery in spring.

As the gardening year almost draws to an end, I started to see the potential of using the garden as part of a carbon sequestration project. I had done a few online courses on climate change and similar on other subjects like soil and ecology over the past 18 months and concluded that although the issue of rising carbon dioxides were on a global industrial rate of which I had no direct control, I could contribute by reducing my personal carbon footprint and even sequester it. As I could not afford for garden waste collection, I did have a lot of wood and tree trimmings after the garden rescue so I looked into how I could deal with it and learned about Hugelkultur which led me to looking at biochar though I have no plans to make my own. It started to give me some project ideas (I like to experiment) for next years gardening plans. Meanwhile I bought a 5m x 2.5m length of pond liner for the new wildlife pond ...

Plans for 2019

My finances this year have been especially tight since the (double whammy) car repairs and a significant rise in household bills (my monthly electricity bill alone had doubled after the Beast from the East and other cold spells in winter) so some of the plans to build a gazebo over the pond and even turn the pergola into a gazebo are on hold. With giving up the allotment, I have seen my grocery shop get a little more expensive - with Brexit as the big unknown in the near future, planning for some vegetable crops next year seems to be have become a necessity. I still have plenty of seed much of which should be viable so getting the greenhouses and polytunnels ready is high on my list - the potato and onion beds will need to be prepared and ready well before spring but at least I don't have to do a garden rescue first.

I plan on setting up a small wildlife pond at the bottom of the garden behind the pergola - it should give the birds, insects and frogs somewhere to go. It won't be particularly deep or wide but long enough to cater for different wildlife and I hope to build in bog gardens so that it can be planted up to encourage different insects. It is also high on my list to do before spring arrives.

Overall I feel that 2018 has been a success even though I had to change my original plans and did not really grow much except for some strawberries, raspberries and some flowering plants in hanging baskets or big pots.