Survival Gardening Diary
May
Glasshouses, Cloches and Polytunnels
Small glasshouses and cloches can be easily made from recycled window frames, pieces of rigid perspex or even pieces of polythene stretched over some sort of frame. To work well however, DIY greenhouses should have easy access and some means of providing ventilation on sunny days. While complete weather-proofing is unnecessary, persistant leaks will create wet spots under which nothing will grow.
Greenhouses do not need to be high, as long as there is enough head room to get in, and sufficient space for plants to grow. Shelving will add to the available space. The simplest shelf might be no more than a wide plank placed across a couple of supports. The supports can be as basic as two large plant pots or buckets turned upside down. Higher shelves can be placed across wall brackets or suspended from hooks.
Even a very small greenhouse can considerably add to the options regarding crops. A space of 1 meter by 1.5 meters can provide sufficient space to start off all warm temperate vegetables (such as runner beans and pumpkins) that are intended for outside cultivation, plus a little room for tomatoes. Chilli peppers are also a good choice for greenhouses as they take up little room and produce some sort of crop in most seasons. Greenhouses are also useful places for drying or ripening crops prior to storage, and if big enough, can provide a working space for activities like potting up when the weather outside is unsuitable. Outside of the main growing season, greenhouses can be used to start off early crops or to produce winter salad vegetables.
Cloches are mini greenhouses just big enough to accomodate whatever is growing inside. They are usually portable so can be moved around the garden as required. As temperature can get quite high inside cloches, they can be used to bring on germination of seeds sown directly into the ground by warming up the soil. For years I used to bring on pumpkins by sowing them in a depression in the ground, over which I would place a small window frame. The frame would be left over the plants after germination, with the sides being earthed up to keep the glass above the plants. Eventually the risk of frost would be passed, or the plants were getting too big, and the frame would be removed, and stored somewhere safe until the next season.
I also used old car windscreens to good effect. When working with glass in the garden, one does need to be very careful in order to avoid breakage. There is nothing worse than shards of broken glass in a vegetable garden.
Cold frames are mid-way between a cloche and a greenhouse, a sort of scaled down greenhouse with a lift off lid that is usually permanently sited in a sunny location. These are very useful for progressing plants that have been germinated elsewhere but are not yet ready for planting outside. Usually serious pests such as slugs and snails are less of a problem in coldframes and greenhouses, and can be controlled simply by regular nighttime inspections just after the sun has gone down.
Care must be taken that any vegetable plants still in pots do not dry out if left unattended during a few days of sunny weather. If possible, greenhouses should be left open on sunny days.
A common mistake made by many gardeners (including myself from time to time) is to try to keep too many plants going. When potting up seedlings into larger pots or planting outside, do be realistic how many pumpkin plants, cabbage seedlings, climbing french beans etc are actually needed, and what space is available for them. Give away surpluses to friends - but be sure that the various species of New Zealand and Australian Flatworms (both aggressive predators of the garden earthworm) aren't present in your garden first.
Late Sowings
Lots of vegetables can still be sown in the garden for the whole month of May, and in some cases into early June. Most of the cabbage family ( cabbage, broccoli, kale, swede, cauliflower etc) can still be sown, as can peas, broad beans, carrots, potatoes and most salad vegetables. Sow seeds very thinly: it should be possible to sow seeds so thinly that no thinning is required for a considerable period after germination. This facilitates growth. I sow small seeds at about 1-3cm apart, larger seeds (beans for example) at up to 6-15cm. Most vegetables are best sown in double rows 15-30cm apart.
Seed potatoes should be planted 40cm apart, in double rows with at least a meter between each double row.
Pests and Miscellaneous Catastrophes
Insects, slugs, birds or rodents can wipe out a whole season's plantings in remarably quick fashion once they home in on a crop. The survival gardener may not have the luxury of losing an entire crop. Vigilance is the only answer. If something is disappearing, take steps to find out why. Usually slugs will be found on the plants after dark. They can be discourged by laying a line of dry wood ash, builder's lime, or soot around plants under attack. Table salt can be used sparingly in an emergency but is generally not a good idea as in excess it will cause the ground to become saline. Builder's lime on the other hand is quickly coverted into a plant food and helps balance soil pH. Soot is high in carbon and also helps darken the soil which increases the potential for solar gain during the spring. Wood ash contains potassium, an essential plant nutrient, as well as other important trace elements.
Birds like peas and will dig up a whole row of freshly sown peas once they have germinated and pocked their heads above ground. Protect using twigs, netting or whatever else works. If you find you are breeding a large colony of sleek blackbirds, consider putting blackbird pie on the menu.
If the worst happens and a crop is wiped out before it gets going, or simply hasn't appeared above ground after three weeks, sow replacements as soon as possible. Where there is still a chance seedlings might emerge, don't disturb the original sowings but sow a parallel line a few centimetres to one side. For this reason, it is never any harm having half a packet of seed left over after the initial sowing - it might be needed!
Opened seed packets should be taped shut and stored somewhere dry away from direct heat. If the sell-by day is removed once the packet is opened, write it on again with a biro. Most seeds will be good for a few years if stored carefully, but some seeds - notably parsnips - only germinate poorly the second year (an exception to this was some home saved parsnip seeds, which to my surpise still germinated when scattered on the ground three seasons after they were harvested).
Seed Saving
Any vegetables left in the ground from the previous year will be starting to go to seed. Salvage what you can for the table but consider leaving a couple of good strong plants to produce seed. In a prolonged supply chain collapse, vegetable seeds will no longer be available, and very few people know how to save their own. Start learning now!
Members of the Umbelliferae family (carrots, parships and parsley) seed very readily. The plant throws up a tall flower head during late spring, with seeds being ready for collection as soon as the first ones begin to fall off the head. Spinach beet is another good choice for seed saving.
Members of the brassica family produce seeds readily but will cross pollinate with themselves and with wild brassicas so seeds may not always come true. To improve the odds, concentrate on one vegetable only and remove all other brassicas before they flower.
Fruit Trees and Bushes
It is now too late to plant bare-rooted fruit trees trees and bushes unless copious watering can be carried out on a regular basis over the summer.
Pot grown specimens can be planted out without problem, provided watering is carried out immediately after planting. Firm down the soil around the trunk before watering.
All fruit trees and bushes suffer from competition from weeds during their early years. In order to increase the odds in favour of the trees, lay heavy layers of newspaper mulch around the trunk. Two or three newspapers per tree is a good amount to aim for.
The newspapers can be weighed down with stones initially to stop them blowing away in the wind. Once the paper becomes wet it will form a heavy mat which is resistant to wind. Not only will the paper suppress weeds, it will also rot down into the soil eventually and enrich the soil.
Cardboard may be used instead of paper. Large pieces of cardboard can be cut into a square or circle about 60cm across. If a slit is cut from the edge to the centre of the piece, it can easily be slipped round the tree trunk.
In order to provide assistance to the tree in getting rooted into the ground, it is recommended that trees are cut back to two thirds height. This reduces exposure to wind and also gives the tree less work to do while roots are getting established.
Many tree fruits have already flowered. In the early years, fruit trees should be discouraged from fruiting too heavily as this places a heavy demand on the tree and can stunt growth in the long run.
Instead, thin all clusters of fruit to one fruit, and be prepared to thin further if the tree looks over burdened as the fruit begin to grow.
Happy gardening!
Andy
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