Some of the crops are more easy to store than others and we’ve pulled up a huge number of onions and garlic, which are now drying on the seating area under the horse chestnut tree. We thought this would provide a nice and dry place for them and it seems to be doing the trick. Sue, one of our regular volunteers, has dug up a lot of potatoes and there’s plenty of mint and parsley to go with them – what could be better?

I’m always touched by the dedication and enthusiasm of the people who come and volunteer here, and thoroughly enjoy the diverse conversations we have here. At the beginning of the week, with that long overdue sunny weather, people were more than happy to spend a couple of hours watering the plants and then have a well-deserved homemade elderflower cordial, courtesy of Francesca, and some biscuits. It was so hot here that I was tempted to stand under the sprinkler myself a couple of times!

We have done loads of jobs over the last couple of weeks, including: digging up the beds of rockets when they had gone to seed and replanting them with salads, chard, rocket, and herbs; collecting wood for a corporate group who are coming in a couple of weeks to make a path through the orchard; tidying up the woodland path; mulching and watering the fruit trees; propping up the peas and the mange tout and of course doing a lot of harvesting, weeding, and watering.

Daisy

Please follow the link below to find an invitation to an event at the Royal Edinburgh Community Gardens to be held on Monday 20th June.

The purpose of the afternoon is to demonstrate the value of the project for all who have used the gardens over the past year and a half or so. If you’re able to make it along for all or part of the event, that would be splendid. We’re also looking for help to set up on Friday 17th, if anybody is available.

http://recg.eventbrite.com/

Many Thanks,

Sean Jacques.

A Permaculture workshop & film day

Saturday 21st May 2011

The Basics of Permaculture

A Public workshop for people with little or no prior experience of permaculture

with Claudia French & Jonny Watler of Edinburgh Permaculture Network

11am-1pm followed by a shared lunch

Royal Edinburgh Community Gardens, Morningside

Please bring shared lunch (made with local ingredients where possible), notebook & pen,

camera (if desired), suitable footwear and rainproof clothes if applicable

further info: claudiafrench

Then in the evening:

Dirt! the Movie

The film takes you inside the wonders of soil. It tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility – from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation – and what we can do about it.

The film will be at Sarah’s house in Marchmont. 6.30 for 7pm start.

Please bring a snack & drinks to share.

For location details, ring Sarah on 0759 947 6599

So these are the unmistakeable signs that it is time to begin gardening in earnest. For starters there is the constant battle with the Docks and Comfrey that require almost constant weeding at this time just to keep the beds clear for planting. As the rabbit fencing was completed around the top garden it is here that the majority of the planting has taken place. Along with the Apple, Pear, Plum and Damson trees that were planted back in early March and the Garlic that has been over wintering there have been sowings of Broad Beans, Peas, Onions (Red and White), several varieties of Potato, Elephant Garlic, Parsnip and Radish. We also received delivery of 1000 Root Stock that have been planted and that will be grown on and then eventually be grafted with Apple tree cuttings to create our fruit tree nursery. None of this could have happened without the sterling work of our many volunteers, including those from the Grassmarket Community Centre, Carr-Gomm Scotland, the New Cledonia Woodlands project, the children and teachers from the Steiner School and Bruntsfield Primary and all the many individuals that come to the gardens, thanks to you all.

In the bottom Garden the rabbit fencing is yet to be finished but we have managed to get some more beds in and these are beginning to be filled with a mix of fruit canes and bushes, a variety of Rhubarbs. The rest of the beds in this garden will be filled with the herbs, salads and squashes that have been planted up in the Glasshouse. The Glasshouse a new and very valuable addition to the gardens this year, is beginning to fill up with a vast array of Brassicas, herbs, salads, beans, tomatoes, squashes and as of yesterday 150 Strawberry plants.

There is still plenty more to be done and sown so we welcome anyone that wants to come along and lend a hand, we’re open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am onwards.

John talked us through some of the theory behind when, why and how to prune a tree. We learnt that pruning is done in the dormant season (over winter) while the sap and energy of the tree are in the root system so cutting off bits of the tree does it no harm. The reasons why we prune the tree can be varried, generally trees are pruned to promote health and increase yeild but in our case we where also intrested in pruning for biodiversity benefits and asthetic considerations. This meant that we left standing dead wood on the trees where possible as this provides valuable habitat for invertebrates and in turn feeding opportunities for birds and other wildlife.

The basic principles that guided our pruning invloved looking to create a open centre to the tree, you are looking to create a tree that has a good goblet or fountain like Y shape. There are several reasons for this, as it opens up more light to the fruting buds and also allows a good air flow around the tree which help to prevent disease and also incourages pollination and fruting. This is achieved by getting in close to the trunk of the tree and then looking up to see which branches are growing into the centre of the tree and then removing these. Another principle is to try and remove any branches that are rubbing across one another as this rubbing can lead to the bark wearing away and leaves the tree more susceptible to disease.

The general rule of thumb is that it is acceptable to romove up to 1/3 of the biomass of the tree, any more that this and you begin to endanger the tree. Pruning allows you to control and manipulate the growth of the tree as depending on where and what you prune you can get the tree to grow in the direction you desire or stop growing in a direction that you don’t want it to. This is done by cutting budding stems back to a bud and the new growth will go in the direction of the bud. Also we learnt to differentiate between water growth and stem growth, the latter being the growth that carries the fruting buds.

It was a great afternoon and we managed to get a lot done in the Orchard, hopefully to the benefit of the trees, the bugs the birds and to us (more apples). For more pics of the day please follow this link.

We only had to go a few short steps from the entrance of the portacabin where our motly crew had gathered before we encountered our first edible plant. In one of the beds we idenified several so called “weeds” that in fact have culinary uses. The first of which was Chickweed Stellaria media.

Chickweed is a good addition to a salad and is abundant.

Also in this bed we found Sticky Willie (Galium aparine) Most people will know this plant as the one that attaches itself to you clothes on country walks and can be pretty stubborn when you try to take it off. What most people don’t know is that this little sticky plant is edible, although it can be eated raw ideally the young shoots but cooking is advised as the hooks that give its stickiness can be a little unpalletable.

Next we moved onto the woodland walk:

Where we came across some Ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraia).

Another good salad crop.

Next we spotted the Comfrey (Symphytum) that is growing in abundance along the side of the path. Comfery is a plant much loved in Permaculture and Organic Gardening circles as it has many beneficial functions. Comfrey is is what is know as a dynamic accumulator, being a deep rooted plant it can bring minerals up from deep in the soil and accumulates them in the leaves which can then be cut and used as mulch or added to water to create a liquid green manure. Comfrey is also a great bee foder plant with its blue flowers providing a great nectar source. And if all this wasn’t enough Comfrey is also edible!

We then came across some Dead nettle (Lamium) alongside a regular Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Both plants are edible and also can be made into teas but obviously cook the stinging nettles before you eat them, the dead nettles are called dead nettles as they have no sting. Nenya also told us that the Stinging nettle is a Dioecious plant meaning that an individual plant is either a male or a female. Whereas Dead nettles are a Perfect flowers meaning the are both male and female.

We then had a look at some Winter Aconite (Eranthis) not an edible flower but nice none the less.

Then we spotted the remnants of some Jelly Ear fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae) which is an edible species mainly used in oriental cooking, on some dead Elder (Sambucus nigra).

It’s always best to be pretty certain of what any fungus is before you eat it and a good resourse for identifing fungi is Roger Phillip’s Book:

The last species that we saw was Jack-by-the-hedge or Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). Which, as its name suggest’s is recognisable by its garlicie sent and is often found in abundance along hedge rows and woodland edges. It’s another good addition to salads.

Nenya also had the following books with her that she recommended for various ID/uses purposes.

Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the day and we agreed that we should make the walk a regular event as this will enable us to see what’s on offer at diffrent times of the year. No dates as yet but I’ll keep you posted.