Serious Growing; Allotment Photographs For June 2015

I am not really one for before and after photographs unless they tell a story.  Now, I understand all the arguments for and against digging, however I still like to go my own way and dig.

Digging does not destroy soil structure or kill soil organisms but it does noticeably reduce the amount of organic matter in the soil.  This is primarily caused by the addition of large amounts of oxygen as the soil is turned.  The addition of oxygen means that aerobic bacteria can break down organic matter producing carbon dioxide, relatively quickly.  The resulting loss of organic matter causes soil structure to deteriorate and, as there is no food, soil organisms to die or move away.

If digging is used continually over many years without a replenishment of organic matter then there will definitely be a degradation of the soil.  This is why you must add copious amounts of organic  matter when you dig.  The Victorian kitchen gardeners used horse manure. It was a bountiful source of organic matter because of the number of horses that were used during those times.

Now the resource is woody chippings, which are not as good as manure but are very plentiful.

So if I add this...

January 2015

and this...

in January 2015, am I increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil and improving its overall fertility? Well this is what this same dug area looks like now in June 2015.

June 2015 Kestrel Potatoes with a row of autumn raspberries at the front. The pots are growing Daphne
but, as is the way of Daphne, one died and I put some bedding plants in the pot. I hope to
propagate from these Daphne.

Digging does not seem to be particularly detrimental to the soil, if you add lots of organic matter and this is what they did in the Victorian and earlier times.  Only recently with the advent of inorganic fertilisers did digging become destructive to soils.  These fertilisers bypassed the need to add bulky organic manures and so they were not added to soil.

In order to maintain a soil that is not going to degrade or erode you must have organic matter in the soil.  Providing lots of organic matter for soil life to feed on produces inorganic nutrients for the plant and humus to improve soil structure. A shorthand for this is that you feed the soil not the plants.

Two beds of potatoes.  Nearest bed are the earlies and far bed are second earlies.  

This is the view from the greenhouse path towards the big shed.  You can see the supports I have put up for the autumn raspberries.  The autumn raspberries don't really need support but I want to keep them from falling across the path so I will tie them up.  The potatoes are beginning to make a canopy across the bed and this will shade unwanted plants growing underneath them.  The early potatoes are in the foreground and the second earlies are in the bed next to the shed.  As the potatoes have grown so much, you can't see the path or the seating area very well.

Maris Bard early potatoes where I had triple dug and added lots of organic matter in the
form of woody chippings.  

These are the potatoes from the hedge path looking towards the greenhouse.  I triple dug and sieved this soil putting in copious amounts of organic matter, primarily as woody chippings.

 If you look at the sundial you can see the relative positions of the trench and the potatoes growing in the same area.

Mixing in the woody chippings.

Adding barrow loads of woody chippings to the subsoil.

If you read carefully what Bill Mollison says in "Permaculture A Designers' Manual", then you start to understand that while he promotes no tilling there are times when digging is appropriate.   e.g page 456 where he says, "Use minimal or no-tillage systems in crop, maintaining or providing soil humus and soil structure."  He definitely against introduction of inappropriate techniques into climates where they would certainly degrade and erode soils.  The digging techniques are not bad within a temperate climate, it is just that they are disastrous in other climates.  Just because it works in the temperate and Mediterranean climates of Europe does not mean that it is high technology, modern or progressive particularly if it promotes the use of inorganic fertilizers.

Digging enables me to add lots of organic matter to the soil quickly and efficiently.  This increases the cation exchange capacity of the soil; improves the drainage and water holding capacity of the soil;
and slows mass flow of water through the soil retarding nutrient leaching and soil erosion.

Although you could possibly get your growing areas from this state ...  (and this is in January 2015 when all the herbaceous weed plants have died back to their underground roots and stems.)

Alongside the path  January 27th 2015

to this

Alongside the path in June 13th 2015.

using no dig techniques but it would probably take more than one season. I think that these last two photographs are the most indicative of the change in the allotment and what can be achieved with triple sieve digging.  However, there is also an indication of where I want to go now in that I have covered the whole allotment in a mulch of woody chippings and will reduce digging to the very minimum.

Pumpkin and squash bed (plus other things)

The curbit bed was finished on the 31st May 2015 and planted up almost immediately.  You can't see the oca that is growing alongside the path.   There is a support frame for the cucumbers just to keep them off the ground.

This is what the curbit bed looked like until about April 2015 taking about a month to sieve
triple dig it. 

The mess that, after some hard work, is now the curbit bed.  The bane of my life - blue plastic.
This blue plastic crumbled in my hands and now I am forever picking little pieces out 
of the soil.  

Cucumber and supports

Although the supports look a little rickety they are firmly tied to canes so should manage to remain upright for the season.  The cucumbers have suffered during the first part of June because of the cold easterly winds, however they are beginning to grow away now.

There is a row of blackcurrant bushes dividing the potatoes bed from this one.  They were originally growing where the sweet corn is now and I moved them in February.  They were big bushes and in order to make sure they survived, I pruned them back to about 5 cm. above the soil.  They have grown back very strongly and will flower and produce fruit next year.

The canes are for tomatoes.  I could not resist buying some discounted old seed from the garden center.  This was the only fee space that they could be planted into.  I have squashes next then a couple of small pumpkins and a block of sweet corn and a small row of asparagus pea.  Most of the allotment has at least a 5 cm. thick layer of woody chipping mulch over the surface.  This is the first year I have done this with any seriousness and I await to see if it has any bad effects on the growth or harvest of vegetables.

Sweet corn and curbits

The way that the easterly wind has cut back the curbits and stopped everything from growing has encouraged me to carry out my permaculture plan and plant an espalier apple "Pitmaston Pineapple" along side the new path.

Apple grafts at the back of the peach greenhouse.

I am keeping the newly grafted apples in the small greenhouse behind the fan trained peach just to give them a little more protection.  I could have planted them out but I want to make sure the grafts are really strong.   The peach was a really good feathered one but I cut it back to two really good laterals and tied them in to train as a fan.  The new branches are growing well but too small to tie in at the moment.

Victoria Rhubarb

In order to separate the peas and beans bed from the curbit bed, I have planted "Victoria" rhubarb. These are plants that I had on the old allotment and transplanted them here in December.  They have a particularly deep root run because I took out the subsoil to use on the new path replacing it with top soil from the path and topsoil from behind the big shed.  It also had a good dose of farmyard manure added to the top soil.  Although they are not as big as they were on the old allotment, they have grown well and we have had several feeds of them already.  I watered slug nematodes underneath the leaves to discourage slugs and this seems to have really helped them to grow on.

The old fruit cage was falling down in late 2013. It got a lot worse in 2014 because the cage was covered in bindweed.  This is where the peach greenhouse is now.  

Dwarf and climbing french beans.

Although the French beans have started to grow on now they were affected by the cold wind earlier in the month and stood still for over a week.  The climbing beans in the background are protected by scaffold netting primarily against the pigeons, however this meant that they were not held back by the cold winds and are growing up the canes now.  The beans in the foreground are only protected with plastic netting so were not so well protected from the wind.

Broad beans alongside new path.

These broad beans were put in at the beginning of April.  They are from saved seed so I am quite pleased with them.  They are flowering well and do not have any black fly at the moment.  As soon as I see any sign of this aphid I will nip off the shoot they are on.  This will slow down their spread through the plants.  These plants together with the other legumes on this bed will be dug in when the beans and peas have been harvested.

Tall climbing peas.

I have used the old fabric nets to support the tall peas.  They can climb up to the top of the 6 foot canes.  I saw yesterday that they need weeding even though there is a thick mulch around them.  

Bunyard's Exhibition broad beans.

I have only put in one row of bought broad bean seeds "Bunyard's Exhibition" because my saved seed plants are doing so well.  These have pods on already so I am expecting some good beans.

Fan trained redcurrant

Fan trained white currant.

I have used a fan trained white and red currant to separate the peas and beans bed from the brassica bed.  White and red currants are relatively easy to prune and train to fans and I am doing it on a post and wire frame.  The currants are growing on a raised bank with an alley way dug out on the brassica side.  The alleyway is full of woody chippings and looks fairly level with the rest of the bed but it will still slow down surface run off and allow water to soak in.

Kohl rabi and swedes

The kohl rabi and swedes were thinned out to about 1 foot apart and I found quite a bit of club root in the kohl rabi.  I will lime this area next year to make sure that I suppress this fungi.  I have cropped the spinach, rocket and radish giving me somewhere to plant the curly kale, borecole and winter cabbage.  I sowed seed for these vegetables in the cold frame and they will be ready to transplant in a week or so.

Cold Frame

I have some lettuce, radish and basil in the frame as well, however I will be planting more saladings when the brassicas have been taken out.  

Winter cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts and
purple sprouting broccoli.

A five centimeter depth of woody mulch
covers most of the bed.  

This is where I am going to plant all the winter brassicas so that they are not  taking up ground where I will want to plant early peas next year.  The winter cauliflowers usually form curds at the end of April and this is just when I want the ground to plant peas.  If I plant them here I can put the early peas on the summer brassica bed and later peas or the French beans here.

White currant and globe artichoke. 

I have trained this "Versailles Blanche" white currant to fan shape but it is in the wrong place at the moment.  I really want to put one of the espalier apples here.  It is growing well into the right shape so I might still leave it here.  I have squeezed in a line of radish and a line of turnips right next to the path.  

Marmande tomatoes grown in ring culture pots
on woody chippings.

Cherry tomatoes grown in ring culture pots  on
woody chippings.  

I have planted some of the tomatoes using good potting compost in ring culture pots and. just as an experiment, put them on woody chippings.  They seem to be doing quite well but I will hold judgement until they start to crop.  

So this is the part of the allotment that I cleared and planted up this year.  Time for a coffee Tone.  

Starting at the large shed again I will work up the next half allotment.   

Path alongside the hedge.

I dug out some of the top soil from under the hedge and replaced with subsoil.  I am planting comfrey and ransoms under the hedge. There are some summer and autumn fruiting raspberries alongside the path for easy picking.  The post and wire supports are to keep the raspberries off the pathway.  

Comfrey growing over the carpet.

Looking towards the little shed, you can see that the comfrey is growing over the carpet and making it look a lot more presentable. The raspberries here are over seven feet tall and producing abundant flowers.  Hopefully, these will turn into lots of raspberries.  There is a tayberry growing up the little shed concrete reinforcing wire.  

This compost heap was built over the path and was full of bind weed rhizomes.  The hedge was
cut hard back; most of the wood has been buried; and the rhizomes are being composted
 - carefully.

Top soil was dug out and replaced with subsoil and the area covered with paving slabs.
Top soil replaced the subsoil on the growing beds.   It makes an acceptable seating area.

The seating area is where the pallet compost bin was.  I removed the compost bin and laid the concrete slabs.  I just need a garden table now.  I dug out all the top soil from under the slabs and replaced it with subsoil and clay.  The top soil went onto the growing areas.  

Large shed.

The large shed has concrete reinforcing wire nailed to it on all sides.  This side has a fan trained redcurrant and a white clematis growing up it. The front of the shed has a fan trained gooseberry growing up the concrete reinforcing wire. I have put a hanging basket on this side with a few bits and pieces that I grew from seed.  The big blue bin is for water harvesting from the shed roof.  

Storage Area.

I keep nets and such in the old dustbins because they are water tight when their lids are on.  The comfrey digesting bins are in the background They are producing comfrey liquid continuously.  The top soil has been removed and replaced with subsoil and clay.  I put an old carpet over that just to get rid of it and then a good layer of woody shreddings.  I am going to plant a thornless blackberry to grow over the back of the shed.  It will be a cutting from the one on the lower right of the picture.  I am hoping the thornless blackberry will grow into the hedge to make the hedge a little more use.

If you look closely you can see the little
leaning apple tree.

Although the little leaning apple tree looks as though it is being swamped by the potato plants, it is producing a lot of apples.  Most of these will have to be thinned out if they do not drop off by themselves.  It is quite healthy and does not seem to be daunted by the potatoes growing around it.

Salad leaves

I have planted the salad leaves next to the big greenhouse this year.  Lettuce, lambs lettuce, good king Henry are still being eaten while the spinach and rocket have already been harvested and cleared away so that more lettuce could be planted.  

I have some Lollo Rosso and some Robinson lettuce to plant out soon - somewhere.  

The loganberries, wine berry and blackberries are separating the leaves bed from the peas.  They have flowered particularly well this year and I am hoping for a bumper harvest.  

Carrots under envirofleece.

The carrots are under the enviromesh.  I have had these two pieces of enviromesh for must be going on twenty seasons.  I cover the carrots when I sow them and keep them covered until they are harvested.  They still get eaten by carrot root fly though.  I cover the edges of the mesh with top soil to seal the edges.  I have put a thick mulch of woody chippings on this bed and it does not seem to have bothered any of the plants.  Also this bed has had two applications of snail nematodes to decrease the grazing pressure.  There are no slugs in the lettuce I have taken home - up to now.  

Parsnips

Parsnips have germinated well and are fairly healthy looking but they are bigger this end that the other.  Just shows you that this is a new allotment and I have not got an even spread of nutrients through the top soil yet.   There is a line of cos lettuce coming in succession.  The lavender are all from cuttings I made from a plant given to me last year.  Sweet cicely and the Glen Sarek blackcurrant are in the foreground and there are some oregano plants the other side of the lavender.  

The loganberry is throwing up a lot of new canes and these need to be tied in but I don't want to until I can cut out the old fruiting canes.  There is not really anywhere to tie them into at the moment.

Loganberry, blackberry and wineberry

I have dug out an alley way alongside the berries in order to catch surface rainwater runoff.  This has raised the level of soil under the berries and lowered it along the alleyway.  I filled the alleyway with woody chippings to make a path.

Peas in succession

I plant my peas in sectioned flats and bring them on in the greenhouse, planting them out when they are big enough not to be eaten by slugs.  I put chicken wire around them primarily for them to climb up but they also protect them from the pigeons.  These are mostly Early Onward and Lincoln pea but there are some of my own seed kept from last year and another I can't remember the name of.  I have had to cover the tops of the first sown peas at the back because the pigeons can flop down on them and eat the tops.  Early Onward is a top fruiting pea so the pigeons are eating the fruiting tips.  There is room for just one more row of Onward peas and these are already growing large in the greenhouse. They would have been planted today if it hadn't been raining all day.  I have left two foot alleyways along each of the rows and covered them with woody chippings as a mulch.  I will do this with the last row of peas too.  

The pea bed was not dug this year and, when the brassicas were taken out, I just hoed to remove the weeds  and planted directly into the soil.  I must admit that covering the topsoil with mulch has made it look a lot tidier and has decompacted it a little.  

Herbs alongside the path

I have planted the herbs alongside the path so that they can get reflected heat and light.  There is fennel, chives, various mints, rainbow sage and lemon balm growing here.  I was thinking of squeezing in another row of peas here but it might just shade the herbs too much.  Actually six rows of peas is much more than sufficient for me.  Most will get frozen and eaten over the rest of the year.

Summer brassicas

Stonehead cabbage and calabrese under the first  scaffold netting with a good depth of woody mulch. Two rows of cauliflower with a row of Romanesco inbetween under the next scaffold netting.  Not only does the scaffold netting keep the pigeons off the plants it also makes sure that cabbage white butterflies cannot lay eggs on them.

More summer brassicas.

I have protected these brassicas with a big one inch mesh net.  I am wondering if it will exclude the cabbage white butterflies as well as the pigeons.  I have red cabbage, more stonehead cabbage and calabrese here.  

Brunswick Cabbages.

I sowed these Brunswick cabbages in October last year and planted them out in March.  I want to see just how big I can grow them.  

Grapes

Last year the grapes got severely cut back by a late frost so this year I covered them carefully with scaffold netting and it seems to have protected them quite well.  They are certainly growing on now.  The main stem was covered in a scale insect Parthenolecanium corni which I scraped off with a knife into a bucket.  There are none on now that I can see.  The grapes already have flowers on them and I will restrict the number of fruiting bunches by stopping the shoots when they reach the top of the supports.  

Sweet peas

This year the sweet peas were hardly affected by flea beetle at all and this meant that they have grown on particularly well.  Mulching them seems to have improved growth as well.  I am going to grow these as cordons until they reach the tops of the canes and then I am going to leave them to their own devices.  I am not going to layer them this year.  I soaked the bottom of the canes in Jeyes fluid to disinfect them this year so that I can lessen the danger of them getting the yellowing virus.  They are doing well at the moment and beginning to flower.  

Opal Peach.

The Opal peach seems to be in the middle of nowhere but it was right next to the compost area until I made the compost area smaller.  I think it might have a little fruit on it this year although it has got some aphid damage.  I have sprayed with comfrey liquid and this seems to have improved its vigour.  

I have planted some lupin seedlings here to grow on.  I am going to use them as a perennial legume to improve the soil nitrogen level.  There are also some ropy old chrysanthemums and nasturtiums growing hopefully to cover the soil.  

Compost bins.

This is my experimental compost area.  I am composting mares tail (Equiseteum  arvense), bindweed 

Calystegia sepium) and couch grass (Elymus repens).  The bins are being turned every two days and I have to admit, after being very skeptical, it is working quite well.  I think that I will still make sure I have dried the rhysomes very well before I compost them but I have proved to myself that it can be done.  The compost will be carefully sieved to remove anything that still seems to be alive and this will be used to start the new compost.  I still have plenty of rhizomes to compost stored away in the large sand bag.  My faithful Raleigh Leeds Tour Electric Bike gets me to the allotment fairly stress free.  The panniers are big enough to get most vegetables home, however it is not very good at carrying big bags of manure.

Victoria plum

The Victoria plum has flowered quite well this year and there are a lot of fruitlets on it.  Something has been eating the uppermost leaves and I think that it is the pigeons.  I don't really want the tree to grow too tall so I am not too bothered by this.  It is  a good windbreak because it is growing on the north west corner of the allotment.  The allotment next door has been designated a carpark now. I have covered as much of it as I can with carpets to keep the weeds down.  I have mixed feelings about it being converted from a growing area to a car park.  Still I will benefit from hard surface rainwater run off.

Guild of plants under the plum.

This  is my half hearted attempt to produce a guild of plants under the plum tree.  It consists of gooseberries, raspberries, comfrey and mint.  They seem to be growing fairly well together so I  will leave them to their own devices possibly harvesting the comfrey for the bins a couple more times.

Espaliered Egremont Russet.

The espaliers here are dividing the sweet pea bed from the onion bed.  The Egremont Russet is probably the best espalier I have trained at the moment.  I am hoping to get much better at it.
You can see the elephant garlic, garlic and some of the shallots in the background well mulched with woody chippings.  This was the first place I  mulched and the mulch is disappearing quite rapidly.  I think that worms are taking it down into the top soil.  It seems to be alright for the alliums though.

Espaliered pear Doyenne du Comice

The alleyways have been dug out and used to raise the beds and filled with woody chippings as mulch.

Runner beans.

These runner beans are from my own seed kept from last year.  They are good plants but they were held back due to the cold winds early in June.  

Cambridge strawberries.  

After putting contaminated straw on the strawberries last year, I am very wary about putting straw on them again this year.  I have used the woody shreddings as an alternative and they seem to be doing the job very well.  I have netted the strawberries but not particularly against the birds... 

I have put two rows of leeks in next to the strawberries but they haven't grown very fast.  I want them to mature after Christmas so I am not worried.  They have plenty of time to grow.  I will protect them later in the summer against the new leek miner fly.  

Onions.

I have protected all the onions with the big enviromesh against the miner fly.  It seems to have worked because lots of unprotected onions on other allotments have been affected.  

Pond

All the water plants have regenerated and are growing well.  I might try to get some new ones, although the pond is quite full of plants now.  

Greenhouse.

The greenhouse has tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and melons.  All growing fairly well.  Peas are ready to be planted out as are the lettuce so that will be my next job,

Its not all hard work.

Tony's Permaculture Allotment.

This design focuses on a derelict allotment overgrown by perennial native flora and covered in builder’s rubble and rubbish.  An allotment is a small piece of land that can be rented from the local council in order to grow vegetables and fruit for the tenant and their family.  The tenancy agreements mean that there are many restrictions on the design.  Compromises have had to be made.  

Original state of the allotment. 

My aim is to reclaim the allotment for growing vegetables and fruit in one growing season by methods based on permaculture.  The allotment garden is situated at the top of the allotment site latitude 52^o 35’ north and longitude 2^o 11’ west. The nearest coast line is 80 miles to the west and 100 miles to the east. 

The climate is temperate maritime due to the effect of the Gulf Stream which ensures relatively mild weather and infrequent extremes for this latitude.  . 

The allotment site is on the western side of a big industrial conurbation which includes Wolverhampton and the village of Tettenhall.  Luckily, the prevailing winds are from the west so the allotment does not get wind borne pollution very often.  Very cold winds can often occur from the east.  These are winds blowing from continental Europe. 

The site is at the top of a hill 411 meters above sea level.  It is part of the West Midland plateau that stretches throughout the conurbation.    My allotment is at the highest point of the allotment site.  The source of the River Penk, a small brook, rises on the allotment site. The River Penk is a tributary of the River Trent which flows into the North Sea on the East side of the country.  On the other side of the hill Smestow brook flows south into the River Seven and the Irish Sea on the west.  

The allotment garden slopes very gently to the south. 

While the surrounding area is suburban, the allotment is fairly close to the countryside where the resources of farmyard and horse manure can be obtained.  Also, lawn mowings and shredded woody material are delivered frequently to the allotment where is it shared by allotment holders.

The soil is a gley with a clay and sand subsoil.  

The clay was deposited during the ice age by the Welsh glaciers and the sand comes from the underlying old red sandstone rock.  The soil has been depleted for decades by poor management.  Removal of top soil has resulted from people skimming off the top five centimetres of weed soil turf and disposing of it in refuse centres.  Also, crops seemed to have been harvested with little thought about replacing nutrients. Increasing the depth and fertility of top soil is a priority and will be undertaken by adding copious amounts of organic matter.

Allotment Zones.

Although this is a relatively small area, there are three identifiable zones within the allotment garden.

Zone 1 will be the main growing area for allotment. It is made up of raised beds in order to increase drainage, something that is necessary in this climate.  The raised beds will not be permanent and will be marked out by access alleyways to allow maximum flexibility.  The alleyways will be cut out 30 cm deep and the top soil added to the raised growing areas.  Shredded woody mulch will fill the alleyways.  This means that the width of the raised growing areas can be varied depending on the crop planted.  Rotation will mean that the crop will be changed each year so flexibility is paramount.  Although the raised growing areas will be flexible, there are  relatively permanent 60cm wide alleyways across the slope to allow access and to act as a mini swale.  Espaliered, cordon and fan trained top fruit and currant bushes have been planted on these swales in order to enhance the water retaining characteristics. The zone one area of the allotment is about 1/10 of an acre or 404 m².  (5 perches by 4 perches). The orchard, zone two area, is about 110 m^2.

Zone 2 will be a standard tree Orchard area.  This area will be scythed to reduce native flora cover and trees planted with minimum soil disturbance. 

Zone 3 the hawthorn hedge.

Surface Water Management.

Although tap water is piped to the allotment site, water conservation is a priority.  Hose pipes are banned except to fill water butts.  All structures should have gutters to collect rain water and this should be stored in water butts. 

Further water conservation techniques would be valuable in maintaining reasonable water usage.  Due to the number of days each month that it rains, with proper water management, there should be little need to irrigate the outdoor growing beds.  However, there are two greenhouses planned for the site and these will need to be watered.  Hopefully, the rain water butts will be able to provide most of this water. 

There are several hard surface areas to the north of the allotment including a car park, track ways and paths.  A drainage ditch dug alongside the zone 1 growing area and the hard surface car park and track way would allow capture of surface run off and slow soakage into the growing area. 

The slight slope to the south means that any nutrients produced and leached at the north end of the allotment will slowly infiltrate the allotment soil.  The compost bay will be sited here because of the easy access from the car park.  As this site is within an urban area, I will have to rely on imported organic matter to supplement the compost that I can make from the allotment itself.  Also run off from the compost area will run into the allotment soil. 

Zone 1 gardens do not lend themselves to large swales, however alleyways between the growing beds can be taken out 200mm deep and the soil put onto the growing areas to further raise the surface and provide a deeper top soil growing media.  The alleyways can then be filled with woody shreddings mulch and used as footpaths to give access to raised beds.  The alleyways will allow soakage of water into the raised beds when there is excessive rain.  The main 2 foot wide alleyways are more like mini swales and provide raised mounds planted with a range of fruiting trees and bushes.  The roots of these plants will further retard the surface run off and facilitate soakage.  As all these trees and bushes are in a zone 1 garden they will be espaliered or fan trained.  The Rubus fruiticosus, Rubus phoenicolasius and Rubus x loganobaccus canes will be tied to a frame.  This will mean that both top and soft fruit plants will not intrude into or heavily shade growing areas.

In this design, it would be pointless to make the beds curve or bend because the gentle slope to the south is fairly uniform.  The 410 metre contour line makes a U shaped intrusion into the bottom of the allotment.  Also, as the graph below indicates, in the British climate, water is not usually a limiting factor whereas light and heat is.  Roughly a third of each month has rainfall and this extends throughout the year. 

To facilitate both drainage and infiltration of water the paths have been designed to store and drain water from the growing area. 

All the paths were laid on top soil and this is a waste of a valuable resource.  The paths have been dug out and the top soil sieved and put onto the growing areas.  The foundations of the path will be builder’s rubble and stone sieved from the top soil.  Carpet found on the allotment will prevent clay and subsoil from falling between the rubble. A layer of clay on the top will facilitate levelling, increase the thermal mass of the path and suppress unwanted plants from growing between the slabs.  

This will give an ideal habitat for Mentha species to grow between the slabs and the curbing.  Alongside the path, herbs can be planted in order to benefit from reflected light, increased thermal mass and water soakage from the path sump. 

Tenancy restrictions mean that these ditches cannot be dug on contour; however the gentle slope towards the south allows maximum water harvest while remaining within the restrictions of the tenancy agreement.  Although the trackway is overgrown, any modification must reinstate the original trackway.  The ditches will be filled with stone and rubble sieved from the growing area tops soil.  Similar ditches will be dug to harvest hard surface run off from the car park. 

Topsoil dug from the drainage ditches will be sieved and put onto growing areas to make raised areas for tree and legume planting.  Along the north boundary Laburnum anagyroides,  Cytisus scopaius, Lupinus x hybridus, and Trifolium pratense will be planted on the raised area which will be the highest point on the allotment.  These plants will produce some organic nitrogen which may infiltrate the soil with the flow of water down the slope. The laburnum trees will be espaliered to produce a wind break against north and north west winter winds.

The hedge alongside the road must be maintained according to the tenancy; however it will be managed as zone 3 hedge – with minimum intervention.  The hedge does have some Rubus fruiticosus within it but more will be planted.  Also  Allium ursinum, Symphytum officinale, galanthus nivalis, calystegia sepium, Urtica dioica, Myrrhis odorata and Hyacinthoides non-scripta will be encouraged to grow.  Alongside the hedge there is a path and the top soil from under this path will be removed, sieved and put on the growing areas.  Stone and rubble sieved from the top soil will be used to make a foundation for the path.  The path will then serve as a drainage area. Furthermore, some water will be retained by the hedge bank allowing soakage in the growing area.  The path will be alongside a long row of Rubus ideaus which will allow easy harvesting without treading on the growing areas.  The bank and hedge will prevent pollution from the road reaching the growing areas.  The Rubus ideaus will aid in this screening effect. 

Cross section of hedge bank and path.

Cross section of small shed and foundations. 

Growing bed orientationTop soil will be removed from beneath the sheds and greenhouses in order to preserve it and use it on growing beds.  Builder’s rubble and stones sieved from the top soil of the growing areas will be used to make foundations for these structures.  This will achieve several functions.  This will act as a sump and water storage, will allow water to infiltrate through soil slowly and will also increase solar thermal mass storage under the structures.  The sheds will be used to store vegetables such as potatoes and onions during the winter and increased solar thermal mass storage will help to keep the sheds frost free.  The greenhouse will benefit from warmer temperatures particularly in colder months of the year. 

The guttering of the small shed extends over the water butt so that the down pipe can reach the bosh.  This means that I could attach a bird feeder to the gutter over the butt.  Any bird manure that is produced will fall directly into the stored water.

Planning around the greenhouse area.

In a similar way the main greenhouse will have increased solar thermal mass in order to maintain an even, low level heat in the greenhouse. The greenhouse has been sited to obtain the maximum amount of light and heat throughout the year.  As you can see from the chart below,  the sun is very low in the sky during the winter so greenhouses need to be sited where there is little shading from buildings or trees.  Deciduous trees are more of a problem in the summer when they are in full leaf.

In summer the sun is high in the sky above buildings for most of the daylight time.  The time that the sun is above the horizon lengthens considerably from December to June and this means that greenhouses, sited for maximum winter light, can get very hot unless they are shaded using a white wash on the windows.  (Days do not get longer in the summer - they are 24 hours more of less, throughout the year.)

Section through the greenhouse and foundations.

At a latitude of 52⁰ north which is the same latitude as Nova Scotia and southern Siberia, the outdoor growing season is at most six months.  Although the graph of annual number of days of frost for each month is a little pessimistic, we cannot reasonably sow or plant outside until the second week of April, while the first frosts usually return in October.  Any technique that ameliorates the cold temperatures during the year has to be employed and orienting beds north south will facilitate greater exposure to sunlight and heat particularly in April and November allowing a slightly extended growing season.

The allotment site is about 80 miles from the Welsh coast from where the prevailing winds come from. However, there are some relatively high mountains in Wales between the allotment site and the coast of Wales producing a slight rain shadow effect.  Regardless, a reasonable amount of water can be collected from the roofs of all the structures and stored in water butts. 

Peach Green House and Cold Frame.

Both of these structures have the top soil removed and replaced with shredded woody material. In Victorian time they used something called tan.  This was the waste material from the leather tanning industry.  It was the remains of shredded bark.  The Dutch found that it was a very good substitute for manure in hot beds.  The shredded woody material heats up and retains it heat for longer than manure. 

I will use this material to make hot beds both in the cold frame and the peach house.  So instead of a banana circle I will have a peach rectangle.   Peaches are hardy enough to grow outside in England, however they are vulnerable to late frosts and a disease called peach leaf curl.  Both of these problems can be alleviated by putting the tree in a greenhouse for protection.  During the summer the greenhouse door will be left open.  While most of the greenhouse top soil has been dug out the area where the peach is to be planted has been left so that the peach tree can be planted in soil.  About 1 meter deep of soil has been removed. The best soil will be put onto the growing beds while the clay subsoil will be used on the paths.  The surrounding growing beds are higher than the floor of the greenhouse so there is net flow of water into the woody mulch keeping it damp.  This will reduce the amount of watering the peach tree needs.  There is enough room in the greenhouse to grow 8 ring culture tomatoes.  The rings will be placed directly on the woody mulch and filled with homemade compost.  The tomatoes will be grown up strings attached to wires strung across the eves of the greenhouse.  When the peach gets bigger this will be less of an option.

Peach house on the allotment plan caption

 Cross section and plan of peach house.

Fruit in the Zone One garden.

Except for the dwarf standard apple tree which was already on the allotment, all the apples are grafted onto M26 rootstock in order to create a 4 or 5 layered espalier.  All trees and bushes are planted with mychorrhiza fungi to encourage establishment.  Most of the apple trees are heritage varieties, some of which are quite rare. These include Pitmaston Pineapple, an apple that originated in the West Midlands.

The fruit trees will be planted on the soil taken out of the larger more permanent alleyways cut out at right angle to the slope.  The soil will be used to raise the fruit planting areas.   This will help to increase surface rainwater capture and allow soakage. 

Espaliers on the eastern side of the allotment will reduce cold east and north easterly winds.  Although they are deciduous they will still have a wind calming effect during the winter.  Only the cover crops such as grazing rye and tares will be growing during the winter so there is less need for a massively effective wind break.  

The two grape plants are pruned to the double guyot system in order to make sure the vines do not overly shade the growing areas.  They are orientated north south in order to make the most of the sunlight reaching them throughout the daylight time.  They are planted on a raised bed produced by taking out a 60 cm. wide alleyway parallel to the slope. 

Fruit in the Zone Two Orchard.

I will be using mainly heritage varieties of top fruit.  Tettenhall Dick is a pear that was bred in local area. It is a very hard pear and is only useful for making perry.  Berry bushes will be planted under the top fruit and these will mainly be blackcurrant and gooseberry. The understory will be mainly native flora also used as a chop and drop mulch for the top fruit and berry bushes. 

The trees and bushes will be planted into original soil with no major tilling.  The ground will be disturbed to plant the trees and well rotted compost will be added to the planting holes.  Mychorrhiza fungi will be put into each of the planting holes.  A wide area around the trees will be mulched with shredded woody material to a depth of 4 or 5 cm.  (The trees have just been grafted on to M26 rootstock and are not big enough for deeper mulch.) 

The original understory of wildflowers will be retained and supplemented with further plantings particularly of Symphytum officinale which I use extensively as a soil amendment. 

Zone 1 Growing Beds.

Having used Hugelkultur beds for many years, I want to apply it to the new allotment growing area.  I have used Hugelkultur to raise beds and to regulate the mass flow of water through the subsoil.  I used it mainly as a drainage method.  As the method seemed so good for raising beds and providing a sponge like layer that helps to regulate water flow, I thought why not use it to raise the whole allotment?  The soil could be raised even further when the alleyways are cut out. Furthermore, without boxing the beds in with wooden borders, these raised areas and their alleyways could be temporary features that allow flexibility when moving vegetables from area to area.  Raised beds could be widened or narrowed depending upon the nature of the vegetables growing there rather than the whims and fancies of woodwork.   

 If trenches were taken out perpendicular to the slope then a primitive water control method could be devised that meant that water would have to negotiate clay sand subsoil ridges.  Also subsoil and clay could be mined for the paths and foundations. Furthermore if the top soil was sieved, stones could also be mined for paths and foundations.  While top soil was being sieved powdered manures, rock dust and manures could be mixed throughout the soil profile. 

The idea of burying large amounts of woody material is to regulate mass flow of water through the subsoil.  Water will tend to collect in the depressions and soak the wood.  When there is excess water the depressions will fill and there will be net flow at right angles to contour.  However, the mixture of woody shreddings and subsoil will further slow the movement and allow soakage and access by plant roots.  When there is a lack of rainfall the woody material will still retain water within the subsoil allowing some passage into top soil by capillary action. 

The extremely slow anaerobic decomposition of the organic matter means that there is little methane production and what is produced will be quickly utilised by methanotroph bacteria and archaea which are ubiquitous throughout the soil profile. 

The increased cation exchange capacity of the soil with added organic matter will allow nutrient capture and release as top soil manures and mulches decompose. 

The system will be fairly flexible because I can alter raised beds and move alleyways without having to dismantle woodwork. 

Once the garden has been raised by trench Hugelkultur the system will be in place for several years before the wood rots away completely allowing a no dig system to be employed for many years.  As the wood rots it forms a very friable growing medium, extending a rich carbon full top soil further down the soil profile. 

The system is based on the indigenous South American raised beds where brushwood was used to raise soil above marshy areas.    

This is a system that will work in the cool humid temperate climate of the UK.

Soil erosion will be greatly reduced because slow water movement will facilitate deposition of silt, clay and organic particles.  Furthermore, decomposer bacteria and fungi in the hugekultur wood will extract nutrients that have been leached from the top soil preventing excessive loss.  While I am building soil from underneath, I am also building soil from the top by adding a thick layer of mulch on the growing areas. 

There are many good reasons for applying a thick 60mm to 100mm layer of mulch over the whole surface of the growing beds, prevention of evaporation from the soil surface only being one of them.   Shredded woody material initially has a very light colour and will reflect light onto the leaves of plants in the growing areas.  Eventually this colour darkens and the effect is lost, however, if mulch is applied in the spring, the temperature and light levels would have improved greatly by the time of colour change.    As Bill Mollison says, mulches also enhances the ethylene/oxygen cycle necessary for good soil health.   

The zone 1 garden will be rotated one bed each season anticlockwise around the main greenhouse.  No particular reason for this – just that it has to go some way or other. 

Rotation has many benefits; it allows us to plan for winter cover crops that will best enhance the next season’s crops.  Most of the growing areas will have a rye grass and tares winter cover crop, however where the peas and beans are going to be moved there will just be a rye grass cover. 

The rotation will also trigger an assessment of soil amendments reviewing the need for nutrient supplements such as lime and rock dust. 

After the initial Hugelkultur and raising of the allotment above the level of the surrounding land the soil will be thickly mulched with shredded woody material.  This material is imported to the allotments from the surrounding area and will be used to cover the allotment until cover crops are planted in the autumn.  Tilling will be reduced to the minimum – harvesting things like potatoes, roots and clearing brassica plants. 

Vegetables will be planted through the mulch and compost added to the planting holes.  Plants will be watered in using dilute comfrey liquid “tea”. 

As wide a range of annual and perennial vegetables as possible will be planted to increase the diversity of the plants in the Zone 1 garden, however members of various genus will be planted together.  i.e. Alliums, brassicas, potatoes, curbits and peas and beans.  This will allow suitable soil amendments to be added to areas as necessary.  For example; lime to the brassica beds.   

 

Conclusion

While this may be an unconventional subject for a permaculture system, the allotment seems to make a very good focus for design.  Too many allotment gardens are taken over without proper thought or consideration of the work and rewards that it can engender.  A permaculture plan enables you to consider new ideas and combinations that would not be thought of without it. It also suggest the ways in which work can be reduced considerably to allow focus on less strenuous activities. 

Consideration of mass flow of water that does not just focus on drainage is a major change in the way I consider growing.  Deliberation on the way nutrients move through the soil and the soil profile needs careful thought. 

While large scale earthworks are not recommended for zone one gardens, they are used for developing water management systems within permaculture.  I would argue that earthworks to drain and manage water in a zone one garden are also acceptable.  Moreover, doing the earthworks by hand rather than with machines means that it is very unlikely that this will be undertaken with any regularity, if ever again. 

This is a new adventure after giving up my allotment on another site after 33 years of growing vegetables.  The new allotment needed to be planned to get the allotment just the way I wanted and within a permaculture framework. 

I don’t know if I have achieved this but I have made a big effort to do so.  I know that the allotment is beginning to look very different from others on the site.  This is engendering a great deal of interest.