Your Vegetable Plots & The Soil:
Your vegetable producing areas (plots) will most likely be square or rectangular places of exposed soil with the grass or pathways around them. These will need to be rotated and rested in your vegetable gardening plan for a number of reasons which can be parasites, disease and the need for the ground to replenish and stabilize itself.
An open vegetable plot is an open wound in the ground. It is an area which has had it's skin removed so the animals and organisms which normally live near the surface in the grasses, have either died off or gone deeper in to the soil to avoid the extremes of the weather or to escape being picked off by those that prey on them. These animals and organisms play an important part in the fertility of the soil at different levels and when they are removed, the soil in your vegetable plot will not function or may start to become sterile.
This is what happens to intensively farmed agricultural soil and the result is that it requires vast amounts of expensive manmade fertiliser and chemicals to be applied every season to get any kind of vegetable crop from the farmers soil.
In the days before intensive agriculture, farmers would have masses of dry rotted animal fertiliser mixed with straw from their housed animals, and this would be applied during the dormant winter months to enrich the soil and feed the animals and organisms which enrich and stabilise the soil. They would then break down and digest this manure in to nutrients which would then feed the thriving crops. Then after crops are harvested, each field would be rested and a ground covering crop of grass and clover or (green manures) to grow every 2nd or 3rd year, and these systems were used for hundreds of years until modern day agriculture has taken over.
Your vegetable plot is an open wound which is being washed of any remaining nutrients whenever it rains throughout it's dormant time during the winter months. Unless you replace these nutrients with manure and organic material such as straw and rotting grass mulch, then your soil will also become like intensively farmed soil and will require huge amounts of expensive manmade fertiliser and possibly become less and less productive over the years. .......... Do you think this is a strange statement? Well think about it. Never in nature does this occur, never in nature does a bare patch of soil exist as it is instantly recolonised with varied plant life all of which add to the soil and protect it. Everywhere in nature the soil has a skin of plant life that is absolutely covered and riddled with life from bacteria to all kinds of insects and invertebrates which are regulating the soil and its nutrients. It is no accident that the richest? or productive of soils are those of natural woodland which have their own little eco system. Each tree, shrub, plant and fungi growing in this local woodland setting is taking and adding to the soil and then any animal organisms will digest organic matter so providing a stable soil to allow whatever grows there to flourish. Your vegetable plots are exactly the same. You will notice that some vegetables do better than others in certain areas and this is no accident. Take this skin away and do not replace it with something and the elements will just wash the soil. Depending on how washed or nourished your soil is will determine what plants can re-colonise it or in your case what crops can thrive it. If your vegetable plot has been open to the elements all winter, then you can be certain that the rain has washed the soil and undone some of your earlier hard work.
Your soil in your vegetable plots must be replenished with manure and organic matter every year and rested on rotation to replace what your crops and the elements have taken from the soil. Preferably your soil between your crops should have some kind of replacement skin to protect the soil to maintain the nutrients in the soil to feed your crop. This could be just manure/mulch applied to the surface and let nature do it's work beneath it. Some people even cover their vegetable plots with old carpet in the winter months so the soil is clean when planting begins. Any digging can be done just prior to planting.
Even if the soil is covered with the grass sod which is dug up and turned over and then replaced, this would still form some kind of soil covering (a very good one) and this is how people grew their vegetables not so long ago which obviously worked. Vegetables growing through the upturned grass so the skin was still in place protecting the soil and your vegetables but also suppressing weed growth.
Some vegetables need the soil prepared during the winter months, if this is so then after digging or if your soil is being left until the start of the new season, then apply as much organic matter as possible to the surface, such as a mulch of straw, grass or/and seaweed (thick as possible) which will protect the soil from hard rain. This will keep all of the animals and organisms near the surface and keep your soil fertile and in perfect condition. Also prepare around the situation with a "vegetable gardening plan" so that you can rest your vegetable plots after 2 or 3 years just as the old farmers did and this will provide you with productive, rich soil that should have it's own little eco-system which will keep parasites and disease in check. In fact there is no reason why this blanket mulch of rotted grass, straw/seaweed cant be left in place around most of your vegetable crops as they grow, as this ground covering will keep weeds out and keep moisture in when you need it during those summer months. So the mulch is actually providing a temporary protective skin for your soil until you can replace it with a permanent one, when you rest this soil and grow a "green manure" crop. One of the oldest and widest used are the various types of clover which will blanket the ground and provide food for those of you who also keep bees as well as helping to re-energise and regulate your soil.
This isn't a new "arty farty hippie" idea. .... It is proven and it works ....... That is how you and me happen to be here, because our ancestors discovered a sustainable farming system working in harmony with nature which would be also by todays standards be classed as organic, and they used this system quite successfully for hundreds and maybe thousands of years.
Sowing & Harvesting Times:
There really isn't any exact week in Ireland for vegetable planting out, in the south west we have the Gulf Stream giving us a warm wet time and this continues all the way up on the west coast.
Inland we have frosts sometimes until the end of April but these frosts may never visit the west coast.
On the east coast we can get weather/temperatures totally different to the rest of the country.
So as a general rule the east and south will be one week ahead of the west, and the north could be 2 weeks behind or even longer.
Last year in 2010 a lot of people lost their entire newly planted crops because of the late frosts well in to May, some even lost their crops twice. This year 2011, the west and the south had great weather in March and April, and then winter weather right through into June setting us weeks behind in the season and destroying lots of planted crops. Now maybe this is down to global warming, but as yet we do not know and could just extreme weather conditions, all we can do is wait watch and learn and then just hope we get this right.
A lot is said on times to do things but this changes from year to year. Look for the leaves just starting to sprout on the trees, then you will know spring has started, and when the blossom comes on the Whitethorn, then you will know that spring is definitely at the point of no return, but that's not to say you wont get the odd hiccup along the way one year (like this year 2011), as we know the weather can be totally unpredictable in Ireland and mother nature can be very cruel sometimes.
Spring has definitely arrived when the Whitethorn flowers strong.
What Crops To Produce:
Don't just start sowing or planting anything, work out exactly what you want and exactly what you can sell or trade. Remember this is suppose to be a part or self sufficiency venture.
Then see if you have enough room for the quantities that you think you need and the time they will take.
In other words do your homework first then decide what....where....and when, otherwise all this could be a complete financial disaster.
Producing any vegetables can be hard work. I once went to a small farm which had every vegetable you could think of in the fields and polytunnels, and the place was over run with weeds because the work involved was too much for the owners to keep up with and find markets or people to purchase and trade with the stuff. Instead they should have just produced what people needed and ate from day to day, like...spuds...carrots...etc etc, instead of everything under the sun which ends up just left in the fields.
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Golden Rules When Producing Vegetables:
You must never have the same vegetable in the same spot/soil/bed in the following year. There must be a break, and the reasons are very simple. Any pests or disease which may have found your veg in the first year but didn't get a foothold, will get a foothold in the second year and basically wipe your vegetables out. So if something different or even better something that your first years vegetable pests hate are grown in the second year then you should limit the amount of pest and disease species in your vegetable garden area.
Companion plant.....Plant vegetables that work together in away that some vegetables repel pest species of other vegetables or plant vegetables and other plants that attract or harbour predators of any pest species of your vegetables.
Have in place a weed control policy that you weed as often as possible. Weeds are just plants that will take advantage of the area you have provided for your veg and if you pull out or destroy these weeds often this will make the whole process so much easier.
Any vegetables or vegetable parts which are affected by pests and disease and cannot be used, DO NOT put them into your compost! You must destroy these vegetables or feed them to your animals in a way that the vegetables are totally consumed. If you compost them there is always the chance that the disease or pest may still be present after the composting process has finished and the disease could re-emerge when added to your vegetables next season.
Make sure your vegetable gardens/plots are secure before you plant as one night visit from hungry rabbits or other animals could wipe out your entire vegetable crop.
This is your food crop, if this fails this lost process WILL cost you money, do not take chances.
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Vegetable Plan:
Make a plan of your vegetable garden areas and keep this somewhere safe then record exactly what you attempting and where. Record everything that happens to each part of your vegetable garden from drought to flooding in summer downpours. Record attacks by pests and diseases and also how good or bad the crop was in each area. By doing this you can have a good rotation of your crops and know where to plant and where not to plant certain crops next season.
Know your soil!! Know exactly how deep and what type of soil you have in each spot, then improve the soil if it needs to be and record how much manure and lime has been applied and where. Remember that some crops may not like heavily manured soil so bearing in mind a crop rotation method you will have to allow for this when improving the fertilisation of your soil.
Allotments For Vegetable Gardening:
Allotment costs have to be taken in to account before you start getting in to producing your vegetables. It is ok to get caught up in the latest fad and rush out to sign up for an allotment. Do not take on an allotment which is expensive, as your vegetables may work out costing far more than the most expensive shop bought items. Do your homework and calculate all costs involved.
Make sure you have an agreement in place where you will have your allotment for a number of years as the longer you have it, the longer you can plan your vegetable growing venture.
Make sure your allotment has security, water, storage facilities provided and make sure your landlord is interested in providing a service and not just in it for his money.
Ask about chemicals and chemical usage. The last thing you want is some fanatic next to you who relentlessly sprays every kind of poison when you are trying to grow organic veg. Make sure all this is written in to any agreement you require.
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Vegetable Growing Costs:
Besides the initial seed costs of your vegetables, there are many other costs involved such as the costs of your raised beds, the cost of your polytunnel, your tools, your wheel barrow, bamboo canes, string etc etc. All these costs have to be included and divided over the time that they will last and that price added on to the "True" or "Real" cost of your vegetables in the setting up of your vegetable garden.
If you are producing for yourself then this at least gives an insight to what this venture is actually costing you. If you intend to barter or sell your produce then these figures are essential so that you know you aren't giving your produce away or trading at a loss.
Vegetable Gardening Trendy Fads:
Recently some people make out all trendy ways of doing things and now this has spread to vegetable gardening. People have been producing vegetables for many thousands of years quite successfully (or else we wouldn't be here) without all the trendy rubbish. Some of this trendy growing involves using things like railway sleepers and old tyres for growing your vegetables, and now they are discovering that these old sleepers and maybe next old tyres are breaking down and the toxic products could end up being absorbed by the vegetables and then by YOU!
Tyres aren't just made of rubber, they are made of many other man-made substances which are designed for use on roads not producing food. Also tyres are held together with steel wire which may have been galvanised to stop it rusting, this substance contains zinc and cadmium. The inside of a tyre was never designed to support wet soil and grow food even for one day of it's life, and this wet soil and the roots of your vegetables may be assisting the leeching out of the chemicals that are contained in the tyre. According to some sources (Reference 42 Chalker-Scott Linda. bottom of Wiki page) it has now been found that certain chemicals are leeching out from old tyres that could cause liver damage and who knows what else?. Do you really want your vegetables to absorb these chemicals and do you really want to eat food produced this way?
Also plastic containers for vegetables. Can the plastic break down and leak some of it's chemicals into the soil and get absorbed by your vegetables. I have had plastic buckets which have turned a misty transparent colour after the dye or chemical which gave the bucket it's colour has washed out over time. Is this chemical colour toxic? Would this get absorbed by my vegetables and harm me? There is evidence from all the plastic which has been dumped into the sea that the marine life is absorbing these toxic materials. So why cant your vegetables? If you must use containers for growing vegetables why not use untreated wood? Or better still, Grow your vegetables the natural way and that is how this was done very successfully for many a year. Besides plastic buckets or really plastic anything do not seem to last to long on a farm/smallholding or when producing food because of the knocks and bangs and sometimes abuse these implements get. So if you can stick to metal or wooden implements which are stronger, repairable and completely recyclable or can be disposed of in an environmentally way. They may cost more initially but probably work out costing far less over time.
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Know Your Ground:
One thing i think is vastly over looked and i think most important is the area and/or the soil in which you are attempting to produce your vegetables in your vegetable garden. I am not talking on the condition or how good the soil is here but what exactly is in it and what was it or was used for before.
For example: The previous occupants of your house, did they dump the ash from their fire in this area? Ash from coal fires isn't great have any veg in. Did they use this area for dumping rubbish or burning rubbish, burning plastic, burying old tins or containers which may contain chemicals etc.? I don't mean to be alarmist but if you when digging your soil over start to find ash or blackened objects, rusty old metal, bits of plastic and old containers, then chemicals from these substances could have leached out or mixed with the soil and these chemicals could be absorbed by your vegetables and then consumed by you and your family. So definitely not an ideal place to set up a vegetable garden or in fact produce any food.
This all may seem obvious to some people, but remember that a lot of the contents of a garden dump may have completely rotted away and all that is left besides the odd visible sign is the invisible chemical remains contained in the soil which may be not very nice if they ever got inside your body, and even after building a house there is a spot where the waste was dumped and maybe burnt and there could be toxins present in this area so not a great place for vegetables or any food.
So inspect your soil. Dig it well over, make sure it is clean and do not produce any of your food in areas where you know or suspect may have been used for dumping or burning.
Bought In Materials:- I once had a delivery of manure from a farm which turned out to contain all sorts of rubbish. Needless to say the manure wasn't used, but remember this when you purchase manure or topsoil. Find out exactly where the manure is from and inspect the contents prior to delivery and also inspect the contents as much as possible before they tip them on your land because removing dumped manure will be expensive to remove once tipped, as I found out!
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Notes for grow it yourself vegetable production:
If you are growing your own food or to sell, what is the point if you are causing more food to be thrown away than what you would normally be doing if buying from a supermarket, or causing more energy to be used in your little venture than what would be used in a more efficient operation?
Your food producing venture has to be efficient, cost effective and have zero waste, this can only be achieved by making a plan and sticking to it but also allowing for mishaps and disasters. Producing too much food than you need is ok as long as that excess food is put back into other food production like animals so reducing the amount of bought in animal food, it is pointless to dump or compost excess food. So the keeping of animals is important for ensuring that your vegetable production plan is efficient and has zero waste, or the trading of this excess food which can be used as animal feed to someone who can provide you with meat.
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