Root crops such as swedes and parsnips can be left in the ground all Winter. However, if possible a little extra protection can be given to the plants be packing mulch around the base. Straw is perhaps the best, but bracken or dried grass also works well.
Author: Tim the Gardener
Shredding Oak Trees
Straight oak wood, free of knots is one of the best materials known to man. However, oak trees do not grow fast, and producing good-quality oak timber takes time and patience. When the trees are small, all the lower branches should be removed, and this process carried out repeatedly during the entire life of the… Continue reading Shredding Oak Trees
Pruning and Felling
This row of trees hasn’t been coppiced for a very long time, and needs a lot of work to bring it back in shape. The ash trees had outgrown everything else, and needed to be cut to the ground. There was also a lot of holly which also needed to be cut. A couple of… Continue reading Pruning and Felling
Restoring Banks
This photo shows part of a field which is about 3 acres in size in total. The part on the left has been allowed to lie fallow for the past four years – just being cut once per year. It had previously been used to grow cereals, and had been ploughed once or twice a… Continue reading Restoring Banks
Cider Apples
November is the month to collect apples for making cider. Cider uses apples that are a bit bitterer than eating apples, and should be left for several weeks to become soft before they are crushed and pressed. A common mistake made by newly-installed smallholders is to plant lots of apple trees, all of which yield… Continue reading Cider Apples
The Vegetable Garden in October
The work done earlier in the year can be seen to be paying dividends as the summer progresses. The picture above was taken at the beginning of October, when the vegetable garden is at its peak; chicory and leeks can be seen in the foreground, green manure (phacelia) has been sown on the left where… Continue reading The Vegetable Garden in October
Linen Retting in Pond
Cutting Buckwheat
Farmers used to grow a greater variety of crops than they do now – buckwheat, for instance, was once widely grown in many parts of Europe and Asia, and formed a staple part of the diet in many areas. Crops such as buckwheat have fallen into relative disuse because they do not fit in with… Continue reading Cutting Buckwheat
Drying wheat grains
The basic principals of cereal growing are quite simple: select the seed, sow it in well-prepared ground, harvest it, thresh it, winnow it, and grind it – and you have flour from which you can make your own bread. In practice, things are a little more complicated, mainly because farming works best as a communal… Continue reading Drying wheat grains
Wheat and poppies
Traditional farms were not weed-free. Weed seeds are present in the soil, in the compost that you spread, and even mixed in with the seeds that you are planting – which is probably the case with poppies. Over time, however, the plants that one does not want to see in the fields – such as… Continue reading Wheat and poppies