This Sustainable House

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One of my favourite plants to grow is the good ‘ol humble spud. I think it is because the potato is such a staple of our western culture, much like bread or wheat. I often feel a similar ‘satisfaction’ when baking bread or making yoghurt.

So today I planted my potatoes, utilising Peter Cundall’s ‘Potatoes under Straw” method.

The basis of the method is to lay some newspaper/cardboard down over the ground, place the seed potatoes on the newspaper, and then cover with a thick layer of straw. As the potatoes grow through the straw, you keep applying more staw leaving approx 30cm, or 12 inches, of the plant exposed. The potatoes grow in the straw producing a terrific crop. The key to this method is keeping the light off the potatoes so that they don’t go green. NEVER eat green potatoes.

You can see the method on YouTube here.

Into the beds today went approximately 70 tubers, which should produce 5-600 tubers at the end of the season, more than enough for a good part of the year to come. Varieties planted included Desiree, King Edward, Pink-eye, Dutch Cream and Cranberry Red.

I’ll post some updates as they grow and, of course, when I harvest!

Potatoes Under Straw (~9m2)

Do you purchase Free Range Eggs?

Why do you buy them? Is it because they;Free range chickens merrily picking their way over lush green grassy slopes

* taste better?

* are more nutritious?

* have a better ‘energy’?

* the chickens are more humanely housed?

All the above are reasons that many people shell out the additional sheckles for Free Range eggs but the sad truth is that there is little protection for consumers. This article, on the Green Phoenix Permaculture website, looks at the ‘definitions’ of Free Range Eggs, focussing on the housing requirements within the standards, and considers the question “Can bought eggs ever be considered Free Range?”

Check out the article here.

A few weeks on and the indoor gardening trial is showing GREAT potential. The plants are all growing quickly & strong and the flavours are excellent.

Please see the video below for more information on the trial…

As you may remember from the pond video, I planted some comfrey root cuttings in the pond filter though I wasn’t sure how they’d go. Well today I assessed the cuttings and they weren’t, on the whole, doing well.

It would seem that although comfrey can be quite happy in boggy situations it isn’t all that happy with it’s roots continually submerged in water. This was evident from the colouration of the leaves, indicating some nutrient deficiencies, and very poor growth.

All three cuttings have now been removed to a soil-based garden and I’d be very surprised not to see a marked improvement in their growth. I will need to find another candidate for the filter but will begin with true bog plants to see if a solution can be found.