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Planting the soft fruit
Planting 20 soft fruit plants (raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and blueberries) was my main job for Saturday. This is part of our plan to refocus our main allotment on fruit production and poultry and move most (but not all) vegetable production up to Dad’s allotment in Marley Hill. The bed on which I planted most of them has not previously been used by us. When we took on the allotment, it was completely derelict. This is the last part to be brought into use. The original plan was to put in potatoes as these would help break up the ground. Once we took the decision to refocus the large allotment on fruit and eggs (to beat the flooding and because the chickens and ducks will eat any unprotected veg), we bought some additional soft fruit bushes and canes.
I had to put some netting around this blueberry as the moment it was in the ground, the hens started to peck the leaves.
We do not however want to spent lots of money buying many more fruit bushes. The cheapest price we have been able to get them is £3 each. To ensure we are able to fill the space we are allocating to fruit growing, we have taken cuttings from our existing canes and shrubs. Some have gone into a pot outside the greenhouse to get them to root. The rest have gone into jars in our kitchen (a temporary location). The ones in the kitchen are doing far better than anything we have growing on the allotment, whethere they are cuttings or established plants. Clearly the warmth in the house is a boost to them.
Until 2009 I was working in London, UK, but I gave it up to pursue a life of self-sufficiency. My aim is to grow or forage for all my food, produce my own power and live a healthier and greener lifestyle. I left London to return to my home village of Sunniside, near Newcastle, in the North East of England. I have a couple of plots of land there as well as the garden of my house. Our village is a commuter area for Newcastle but we are surrounded by countryside which we use for picking wild foods. My mission in life is to show that it is possible to live well without destroying the planet in the process. I am also keen to ensure knowledge of historic recipes and cooking is kept alive. I regularly try out recipes from old cookbooks using the food we have grown. I make videos about our progress and about how to cook home-grown foods. These can be viewed on www.youtube.com/jonathanwallace.
www.self-sufficientinsuburbia.blogspot.com
2013-04-08 04:46:19
Source: http://self-sufficientinsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/04/planting-soft-fruit.html
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