Three Sisters technique for growing corn

I just came across an interesting agricultural technique called the 'three sisters' for cultivating corn crops.

It is an ancient technique first used by Native Americans. You start by making a large mound 60cm high and 50cm wide. You mix in plenty of manure. Now comes the interesting part. In the middle you plant your corn. When the seedling is 30cm high you plant pumpkin and runner bean seeds around the corn.

The corn then acts as a support for the beans, the beans add nitrogen to the soil and the pumpkin acts as a natural mulch, supressing weed growth.

I have already planted my sweetcorn so I will be definitely experimenting with this.

Orkney seaweed and other things

I have been on a spending spree recently. I've bought a giant poly-tunnel, some Orkney seaweed fertilizer and some large bell cloches. The cloches come in very handy protecting young seedlings from slugs.

Most of the seedlings are now outside in a specially prepared 'nursery' area. I've planted six of my seed potatoes. I didn't realise that potatoes took up so much room! I have placed them in one half of the big raised bed. The rest of the bed contains purple sprouting brocolli and a lone artichoke.

Yesterday I planted some lettuce, spinach and coriander seeds. Today I potted six runner bean seeds. I thought I would plant these again as they were a great success last year.

My next job is to weed the carrot plot and double-dig the marked-out plot for the poly-tunnel. Once I have done this I can plant the aubergines. I might also get some courgettes in under there where they will be nice a toasty warm!

Good news on the onion front. There are numerous shoots appearing!

I was thinking about how best to attract beneficial insects into the garden. Jake's wildflower garden should help a great deal. Maybe I should plant some more nasturtiums this year. I remember last year they were covered in caterpillars that would surely have been chomping away on my veg.

Bonkers

Things have been going bonkers in the garden of late. This has a lot to do with the prodigious amount of rain we've had for the last couple of weeks.

The rocket is threatening to escape from its bed and the runner beans are fighting to get away from their wigwam supports. The borage has started to flower and is attracting lots of bees and hoverflies.

At the back,what I like to call 'the wilderness', the nasturtiums have decided to climb up the trellis and have reached the top of the wall. The borage at the back has yet to flower but the leaves are massive compared its flowering brethren. Broad beans are going great guns. I'm hoping to harvest them in a week.

Weekend away

I have just got back from a well earned rest. I had been worried that the potted plants would have dried out but the tray I left them in was still full of water.

It has been hot over the weekend with lots of sunshine. The rocket and onion seeds have started to emerge and my makeshift coldframe has done the trick of protecting them from animal damage.

It looks like the slugs are back. Last night my basil plants were attacked. I've ordered some more nematodes to keep the slimy suckers in check.

We popped into the garden centre and bought some long canes to support the runner beans. I made a wig-wam and tied some lengths twine around it at several height intervals.

Still haven't finished the raised bed...

Building the raised bed

I thought it was about time to get things moving in the garden again. For the past few days I have been mooching around. Bit of watering there, bit of tidying here.

On Sunday I started building the raised bed kit. This task was quite satisfying. It involved little more than lining up the various pieces of timber and screwing them together.

The next task was to start digging out the area where the raised bed will sit. The reason I have to do this is because the garden slopes down towards the end so I need the bed to be nice and level.

The end of the raised bed closest to the house will need to be sunk a little way into the ground. Digging clay soil is difficult at the best of times, but when it has dried out it makes the going even harder. I'm pleased to say that I struggled on and got the bulk of the work done :-).

On the plant front, the beans are going great. Their splindly little tendrils are just beginning to grab the canes and start their path upwards. The lettuce has germinated somewhat haphazardly but the coriander remains a disappointment with only one plant making an appearance. The nasturtiums have germinated they should provide some colour, as well as being beneficial companion plants.

Last but not least the carrots have started to grow their frilly leaves. This indicates that I should start to thin them out, maybe this week.

Raised bed has arrived

The raised bed kit arrived yesterday. I have been wondering where to put it so devised a cunning plan by drawing a scale plan of the garden using Google Sketchup. It is free you download and once you get the hang of it, very easy to use.

On the plant front, the beans continue to do well. The lone garlic has been assaulted and is looking a little worse for wear. I have been researching on the Internet and will likely purchase some insect mesh to provide total protection for my veggies.

This evening I sowed some borage in my herb trough next to my runner beans. They are a great companion plants for beans because they attract bees. I also sowed some basil, so the herb garden is going well.

I have managed to give away all but one of my chili plants. We now have a little plant swap going on at work. Today I was given six little tomato plants which are now sitting in their own pots.

Trudi's pumpkins now have a nice roomy pot to live in. So this evening I have been busy busy!!

Down the garden path

It was a pleasant day so I set to on a few tasks. Firstly a long-overdue mow of the law and a bit of a strim around the edges. It looks great now. I'm hoping for a bit of rain tomorrow to feshen it up a bit.

I attached some bean netting to some canes and placed them in the raised bed. Those little guys are doing very well. The fourth one is just beginning to show itself.

In my carrot bed my long lost, presumed dead. garlic bulb has miraculously sprouted. I'll leave it a while then transplant it to my herb 'trough'. The carrots are still very wee so I think another week or so before I can start to thin them out.

My last chore of the day was to start marking out a path. The intended route is from the sleeper at the end of the lawn to the garden shed. Before marking out I moved the 'heap'. This resulted in three large frogs and one baby one leaping out. It was good to see them in my garden, and not wanting them to leave I herded them safely into the shady area behind the shed.

Let there be...beans

The foxes/squirrels have been vindicated! All four runner bean seeds I thought had been dug up have germinated.

The beans I potted as an emergency measure are also going great guns. So now I have lots of beans! I've put three in my herb planter and will put the others in my new raised bed. Hopefully they won't be too crowded. I don't know if I am being too paranoid but I've felt the need to give my 'raised bed' beans some protection. To this end I cut the ends off some juice bottles and have buried these into the soil. Try and get in there you nasty slugs!.

The beans have sprouted

I decided to bring in the beans last night. Lo and behold overnight they have sprouted 'triffid-like' from their pots. I will let them get to about 2 inches tall before putting them outside. Let's hope the nematodes have cleaned up the slugs.

Those pesky foxes

I planted my carrots and runner beans last night. Just before it got dark I went out with my torch to go 'slug picking'. I found several of the beasties inching their way to my marigolds. They were soon dispatched with some salt. I've ordered some nematodes in order to get rid of them organically.

The weather has turned thundery again. This morning it was raining heavily. I went out to see it there was any slug damage. No damage by the slimy beasts, thankfully, but the foxes have run off with my home-made 'beer trap'. They also have been digging where I planted my beans yesterday. Maybe they were looking for slugs to eat?