GARDENING HINTS
Last week I had a glorious day in the sunshine dealing with leaves – there were so many! And still the lime tree, which is huge, was hanging on so there are lots more to come down.
We are lucky to have part of the garden which we call ‘The Shrubbery’ where we have been able to hide two large bags the kind which gravel is delivered in from a lorry- and they are both full to over flowing with this year’s leaves. Then there are three large wire bins made from posts with wire netting stretched around in a circle and they are full of leaves in various stages of decomposition. We emptied two of them. Lovely dark brown, soft compost some of which we sieved and filled dustbins in the potting shed to mix with shop bought peat free compost. Some, non-sieved, has gone onto a big pile for mulching flower beds.
And then, in order to have the whole experience, we did do a mix of our very own potting compost- roughly a third of sieved leaf mould, a third horticultural grit and a third peat free loam (Sylvagrow by Melcourt), plus some Fish, Blood and Bone feed. I can’t tell you how satisfying that was. All that free goodness and entirely in keeping with ‘nothing leaving the garden’, which is what our last Gardening Club speaker was advocating in his talk on Permaculture.
And just because it amuses me, here are the Micro seasons from the traditional Japanese calendar:- Dec 7—11 Cold sets in. Winter begins
12-16 Bears hibernating in their dens
17-21 Salmon gather and swim upstream.
22-26 Self-heal sprouts
27-31 Deer shed antlers
Jan 1-4 Wheat sprouts under snow
5-9 Parsley flourishes
10-14 Springs thaw
15-19 Pheasants start to call
20- 24 Butterbuds bud
21-29 Ice thickens on streams
30 -Feb 3 Hens start laying eggs
And take note of the Full Moons – And take note of the Full Moons – even if you just go outside and look at them for pleasure. December 15th – the Cold Moon, January 13th -the Wolf Moon. And for those who want to garden in tune with the moon….
With a waxing moon, when light increases towards a full moon, sap flow is drawn up. This is the most suitable time for sowing and transplanting flowering annuals, biennials. Basically, any short lived plant that we want to harvest its leaves, seed, flowers or fruits. It’s also a good time for applying liquid fertilisers, pruning and grafting as increased sap flow produces new growth more quickly. With a waning moon, when the light is decreasing as the moon changes from a full to a new moon, the sap flow is drawn down. This focuses the energy towards the roots, which is more suited to root crops and perennials, plants that live longer than two years. It’s also a good time for applying solid fertilisers, pruning dormant plants and harvesting, as there is less likelihood of rotting.