MULCHING

(Taken from November)

This week I’ve had some much-needed help in the garden. My friend Paul, visiting from England, has been hacking away at the undergrowth in the more neglected areas and planting small trees and shrubs to create what will eventually be a forest garden. This has given me some much needed time to sort out my plants in the front garden that have quickly outgrown their pots and need more room to spread their roots out in comfort. He has also been going out to work with me. It has been a pleasure working with some one else, not least because he has been going to choir with Julie and is practising while he digs! While Paul is here we are planning to have a morning session on mulching on Saturday 1st of December. Paul will talk a bit about mulching and there will be hands on experience (bring wellies, raingear, gloves etc) and handouts. Paul has brought over a few specialist tools and of course you are welcome to look around. The cost is a tenner (or a donation if you prefer). For more details call me on the usual number (see below). In the meantime, here is Paul to talk some more about what mulching is.

Last week I introduced the concept of mulching as a way of maintaining and improving your garden without working too hard. Instead of digging (or double digging) your garden before planting you can simply mulch. Mulching is applying a top dressing of organic or inorganic materials to suppress weeds and improve soil fertility. You can use well-rotted horse manure, mushroom compost, seaweed, carpet, cardboard and even old cotton rags. It is complementary to the use of compost but easier. Ian and I have been trying to put our ideas into practice but my aching bones are telling me that we might not have the art perfected yet (If any-one has a motorized wheel barrow let me know!) I have used this system in the past with excellent results however you need to keep your nerves as old bits of carpet and cardboard lying around the garden does not exactly have that “garden makeover” look. The system may take a year or two to look good but when the materials have rotted in the soil is wonderfully rich, producing great crops of veggies, loads of flowers etc. If you think that what I’m saying is rubbish “literally,” we are putting your money where our mouths are on the open day. At least you can come along and see what I am talking about it action.

Why dig anyway! It is a primeval instinct. Put a spade in the hand of a small child and they will immediately imitate a digging action. Though lazy to a point of fastidious principle I still see a spade and think dig. We have evolved the mind-set to dig but have yet to develop the back muscles and stamina. If you want a he man body go to the gym, if you want an Eden to laze about in put your spade beyond use and start to mulch (it saves on weeding too)!

Farmers are digging all the time. They call it ploughing and use big machines to take the strain. It is the technique that humans have used since they first settled and developed agriculture in the near east thousands of years ago to keep the forest at bay. It’s a great idea if you want to grow a cereal crop quickly in a semi arid climate but it requires lots of intense inputs both in labour and resources to maintain its fertility. It also damages the natural soil structure.

Soil is a complex and wonderful medium. A hand full of dirt is a source of endless fascination. Put it under the microscope and there is more life and drama than a week of soap output on the telly.

First lets consider the bacteria that live in the soil. There are two main groups, aerobes that live in the first few inches, thriving in the surface conditions and anaerobes that live a bit deeper and like it cold, dark and wet. When we dig we change this natural state of affairs and by turning the soil we put the penthouse dwellers into the basement and the basement dwellers into the penthouse. They do not like this at all. In fact they dislike it so much they die! Initially this has a beneficial effect and the soil is made more fertile as the bacteria decompose. In time however, the soil becomes less productive relying on expensive inputs of artificial fertilizer. So mulching makes sense. Looking forward to meeting any interested would be mulchers on Saturday 1st December. Cheers!

Horticultural.

OBSESSIVE GARDENING TEST

I’ve compiled a list this week about how to notice that the garden is taking up too much of our thoughts. I suppose you could say it is all about obsessive, compulsive behaviour. Now I’m not saying that I do all these things of course, but I must admit to doing a few of them in my time as a gardener. If you do any little things with your garden that I haven’t mentioned maybe you’d be better off keeping them to yourself!


You know your garden is taking over your life when:

You stay up until three o’clock in the morning browsing through your collection of gardening books and catalogues.

You have photos of your garden alongside photos of your children on your desk at work.

You wash your trowel in the dishwasher.

You go to the garden centre instead of the pub for an active social life.

You give individual names to your prized pansies.

The thought of receiving 8 tonnes of soil on your birthday thrills you.

You have a personal vendetta with the next-door neighbours cat.

You have a garden sitter when you go on holiday.

You just daren’t go on holiday and leave the garden.

You keep writing to Alan Titmarsh asking him around for tea on the lawn.

All your family and friends send you birthday cards with flowers on them.

You are lusting over your neighbour’s pile of manure.

You are on your hands and knees weeding in torrential rain.

Every meal that you prepare contains courgettes.

You send nasty letters to the winner of the Tidy Towns “Best Gardens” competition.

You have empty seed packets by the side of the toilet for a bit of light reading.

On bad hair days you get out the pruners.

You try to take your garden with you when you move house. (These are the same people that will take the light bulbs from the house too).

You fill your pockets with ill-gotten cuttings when you visit garden shows and centres.

You take up writing a gardening column in the local newspaper!


How did you score?

1-5. No problems for you. All is well in the garden of heaven.

6-10. You’re in the borderland of what is accepted as normal behaviour, be on your guard.

11-20 You’re in too deep, there’s no hope… you have left the planet. All that you can do now is build yourself a small shed at the bottom of the garden and wait for Alan Titmarsh to come knocking!

Horticultural.

TOP GARDENING TIP

Make a mini propagator from a clear plastic drinks bottle, ideal for Fuchsia cuttings or growing sunflower seeds etc. Cut the bottle in two, a few inches from the base, put in some compost, place the cutting or seed into this and water in. The two parts can then be sellotaped together. Leave on a bright windowsill or outside. The top can be taken off to allow for ventilation. Another idea that I’ve been experimenting with is to use a small plastic drinks bottle as a water reservoir for hanging baskets. Leave the lid on, cut the base off and make a succession of small holes down the length of the bottle. Tip upside down and sink into the middle of the hanging basket. This can be filled with water and hopefully this will soak the centre of the basket.

Horticultural.

SKY TUNNEL

Photo: I haven't got a photo of the sky tunnel so here is a picture of the church in Newtowncunningham

I was at the Inishowen Co-Op last week buying paint. (I started off by re-decorating the front bedroom but I have to carry on through the house, as everywhere else looks dull in comparison) I noticed the shop were selling a skylight dome that fits on to your roof and lets in daylight to where it is needed. The company is called Sky Tunnel and the device looks very interesting. It helps control the ventilation of your loft and displaces moisture. The idea is simple; the light comes through the transparent dome and runs down a thick tube made from a silver foil like material. This in turn fits on to a frosted plate that is fitted in to the roof. Each one costs the best part of €400 but this is probably less expensive than light reflectors made out of fibre optics. A friend of mine was looking into the possibility of using these fibre optic light carriers in a house design. He has the idea of living in a hillside, which sounds a bit daft but it makes very good sense. His plan is to carve out the hill and have the rooms underground with one large window at the front of the property. As the walls will be in the ground they will not be subjected to the chill factor of the wind and will stay at a constant temperature all year round. With the light domes in the roof it will be bright and when the grass has grown again the house will be almost invisible. You could walk over it and never know!

Environmental.

WART REMOVAL

Photo: Rubbing Echinacea on a wart could help to remove it.

WART AN ORDEAL

Ian.
I wondered if you knew of any remedies for getting rid of warts? I have three on my left hand and find them very embarrassing. I have tried a couple of the over the counter remedies but none of them seem to work. D.S. by e-mail

Reply.
Hand warts are very common and are caused by a virus called The Human Papilloma virus (HPV). This virus is not just responsible for hand warts. It is the cause of all warts. Hand warts make up a few strains of the wart virus. There are over 80 different strains of the warts virus and therefore warts can be found anywhere on the body. HPV is contagious and can be passed from one person to another, without the carrier of the virus actually having any hand warts or any other type of warts. The virus can lay dormant in the body for months without any warts surfacing. This makes HPV one of the fastest spreading viruses known today.

Getting rid of warts can be a bit of a trial and error. Here are a few ideas.

Warning: Even though these ideas appear harmless be very careful, as there could be side affects. Consult your doctor if you have and doubts. Never use any products with bleach in them

SIMPLE REMEDIES TO TRY

Lime juice: Drink diluted lime juice for a week or two.

Potato skin: Rub potato skin over the wart for a few weeks. Eventually the wart will drop off.

Sticky tape: Any form of sticky tape will do including sellotape or plasters. The tape is bound around the wart to cut off the air supply. Keep changing the tape until the wart disappears.

Clear nail varnish: This is also to cut off the air supply. Someone I knew used super glue to do it but this could prove to be a bit difficult to get off. I stuck my fingers together the other week with the stuff and it took a day washing in soapy water to get them unstuck!

Apple cider vinegar: Take the little cotton bit off a cotton bud and roll it into a ball. Soak it in the apple cider vinegar, apply it to your wart and tape it on. The first two days you might notice that your wart gets really big, but don’t worry- this happens to everyone because the vinegar is soaking in your wart. Normal white vinegar could be just as effective.

Raw garlic: Cut a section of garlic in half and rub it on the warts. After a couple of weeks they should disappear.

Witch hazel: Rub into the wart a couple of times a day until it disappears.

Banana skin: Rub in the same as above

Vitamin A and E: Increase these vitamins in your diet, this is said to help.

Dandelion’s milk: The white liquid that comes from the stem is rubbed on the wart a few times.

Tea tree oil: Rub oil on wart two times a day within a week or so it will be gone. Use good quality 100% tea tree oil.

Echinacea. Health shops stock this plant extract. Use as per the instructions on the bottle. The plant is said to increase your immune system and comes highly recommended by those who try it.

Power of thought: People can cure their ailments with the power of positive thinking. This might be just as effective as any of the remedies I have just mentioned.

Household.

WINDOW CLEANING

Most of the products on the market for cleaning windows are very powerful, considering the simplicity of the job, to get the glass clean. You might like to know that when you buy the products, the spray ones in particular, they contain mostly water. A vast majority of products contain large amounts of water, as it is a cheap bulking agent. (Bulking agents are found in other products too, especially the food industry -salt and sugar being the favourites, -think how your rasher of bacon shrinks when you fry it up). Back to windows, the spray type containers, whether they are aerosol or pump action are used at very close range to the face, inevitably you inhale a small proportion the contents. Some of the ingredients can be very irritating to the lungs. Apart from harsh solvents there is a chemical called ammonia that will irritate people with asthma. Don’t spray them near children, people or the elderly as they will be more sensitive the irritations.

If you have no choice but to use these products then choose the pump action ones in preference to the aerosol ones. The aerosol ones contain propellants that are highly flammable, damaging to the environment as well as your health.

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
Consumer research has found that water is the beat cleaner for windows. The statistics found that it was better at getting the grime off the glass than 60 per cent of the glass cleaning products on the market. Home made concoctions also came higher in the list and of course they are a fraction of the cost of the commercial brands.

Get the right tools for the job before you start cleaning. I usually use a lint free cloth, or muslin squares. We have the liners left from when nappies were used in the house, they are very good for the windows. This material is effective to get a shine after cleaning. Newspaper is another alternative for getting a shine; try not to use paper towels, as they are an expensive, wasteful method of cleaning.

GLASS CLEANER METHOD 1
Get hold of some plain club soda from the shop and put it into a spray bottle. People swear by this method and it appears to work because it contains a product called sodium citrate, which acts like a water softener and helps in the cleaning process. It is good for lightly soiled glass. The only disadvantage is that it doesn’t dry as fast as the shop bought products so you can go and put the kettle on and have a brew whilst it dries a bit.

GLASS CLEANING METHOD 2
Mix equal amounts of water and distilled vinegar in a spray bottle. Not only does the vinegar cut through the grease of fingerprints, it also acts as a room deodoriser.

GLASS CLEANING METHOD 3
If you would like a cleaner that foams to show where you have been on the window then here is a simple recipe.
½ teaspoon full of liquid soap
3 tablespoons full of white vinegar
2 cups of water

Put the ingredients into a spray bottle and shake well. This mixture will clean the dirtiest windows and it can also be used as a light, all-purpose cleaner for around the house.

More natural cleaning tips....

WINDSCREENS
It is very important that the glass in a car windscreen is kept clean at all times. Some of the additives that can be added to the water to clean the windows can be very harmful to health and the environment. A lot of them contain solvents such as ethylene glycol, which can cause blindness and damage to internal organs. Try to choose the ones that are detergent based. Treat them carefully as you would any poisonous substance.

Household.