Offshoots Permaculture Course

A few Photos From The Latest Permaculture Course

Please Email On Keswicklemon@gmail.com if you have any more photos to add to these

The Three Sisters Guild

An idea when you are planning your garden for next year is looking at companion planting and in particular Guilds. The most famous Guild that i learned about when i was doing my permaculture course is the Three Sisters Guild of Corn, Squash and Beans. I have been doing some reading about this guild and i'll copy and paste a little as some people have already written so much about this already and i can't really put it across any better than they already have !

Plant first the corn in the centre and then the Beans ring the corn, and squash is planted at the edges. The corn stalks create a natural trellis for the beans to climb, while the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, which nourishes the corn. The leaves of the squash vines ramble around the mound, preventing the spread of weeds and providing shade for the shallow roots of the corn. The symbiotic interaction of the three plants allow them to produce more food using less water and fertilizer.

With my friend Rachael's garden in mind i thought this might be a good way to go to create a more sustainable permaculture ecosystem. With the increased groundcover of the squash it will reduce weeding and make the garden a little more self sufficient.

have a look at this blog senda verde its got an amazing description of how its done properly !

the Permaculture Happens blog is also really interesting as its another alternative look at the idea permaculture happens blog

i found this diagram to show how to lay out the plants when you are planting in spring.

plant the corn first and let it grow waist high before planting the beans then plant the squash too. magic ! would advise looking into it a little and not just going by my description but its a good start for you and anyone who knows of any other guilds then i'd be very interested to hear of any that work well in Rossendales heavy soil !

happy autumn gardening.

Brassicas

I know it sounds like a really cool name for a brass band gig ! Actually Brassica is a group of edible vegetables that includes Broccoli, Kale , Cabbage , Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Swedes, Turnips, Cress, Kohlrabi, Mustard, and Bok Choi.

i have never heard of Kohlrabi (German Turnip) so if anyone has some seeds then please let them be shared around Rossendale !

after last weeks seed saving brassicas seem like a fitting follow up as a lot of them are flowering and going to seed at the moment so we should all be saving the seed and stashing it for next year and why not plant some of them now for your winter crop !

i found this amazing post with tonnes of information so much more than what i found out today from phil at offshoots.

Growing Cabbage

i was wondering as i cut these little collars for the cabbage seedlings why on earth i was doing it and i thought it was maybe to protect from slugs snails and creepy eaters. but in fact those collars around the stems cut in cardboard are to protect from cabbage root fly that i assume affects most of the brassica family. planting out brassicas also requires a little bit of thinking, the soil should be firm not loose you can use a plank to get a evenly distributed firmness throughout the soil if you just stomp around with your feet then it will just do damage!

planting brassicas requires a little bit of love and planning you need to think about how big your cabbage will grow and if its kale its going to take up less space. you plant the greenery to just below the lower leaves so quite deep in the ground not flapping around a lot it just means that then it is more stable in the soil...

if you fancy learning lots more about planting and caring for brassicas then have a look at the in depth link just above and that will probably answer all your questions !!!

brassicas are cool and brass bands love the many health benefits of this wonderful family of vegetables! vitamins, minerals and antioxidants these amazing super foods are both yummy and also protect against cancer, strokes, heart disease and even help your eye sight !!!

good news all round i think

Got another event planned for the weekend

As if im making bird boxes, playing giant jenga and throwing a whelly competion for work.

Scott Lancaster
Greenheart Project Assistant
Groundwork Lancashire West & Wigan
Tel: 01942 821 444
Fax: 01942 820 347

Groundwork Lancashire West & Wigan, 74- 80 Hallgate, Wigan, WN1 1HP