Down to earth... with Anne Morris (From Salisbury Journal)

Down to earth... with Anne Morris

10:07am Thursday 26th March 2009 in Going Green

WARM and sunny weather last week has made everything seem suddenly possible, after the ice and snow of the first real winter for nearly 20 years.

Seeds are being sorted ready for sowing when the soil has warmed up a bit, and the First Earlies potatoes are in the ground.

For the first time, I am trying a “very early” variety called Swift which, apparently, will be ready to dig in an amazing 70 days, as opposed to the 90 days First Earlies take to mature.

It will be great to eat my first new potatoes at the end of May but, for now, it is time to dig in the green manure, before it flowers and sets seed. I wrote about my experiment with green manure in October. Green manure are plants grown as manure crops whose roots improve the soil structure and whose foliage acts as weed suppressant.

I chose three crops - fodder radish, Hungarian grazing rye and field beans, all suitable for overwintering.

The fodder radish grew extremely well, smothering weeds completely and, better still, needing no digging in as it has rotted down completely, leaving the soil ready to plant.

I have not been so successful with the grazing rye, which grew far too thickly (possibly due to erratic sowing), and, when digging in at the weekend, proved challenging, due to the tough fibrous roots.

After consulting the Soil Association’s website, the grazing rye has been cut to the ground and the roots chopped up to be buried in the bottom of a trench. This should make a good patch for the courgettes and squashes at the end of May.

Field beans proved the hardiest crop of the three producing lots of lush, vibrant top growth, though its spacing did allow for chickweed to grow alongside. The beans have been cut down and left to wilt into the ground before gently digging into the soil in a few weeks.

Green manures can be used on any vacant plot at any time, and you can purchase seed through the Organic Gardening Catalogue website at www.OrganicCatalogue.com.