PEAT ALTERNATIVES

I was very interested to read the article about peat in last weeks Inish Times. Having seen the destruction in the Midlands at first hand I can appreciate the problems inherent with using peat. Flat plains of lifeless desert, not like the bogs up here which are teaming with insects, frogs, and bird life as well as different varieties of plants and flowers. Up here in Donegal, peat is cut by families for their winter fuel and the bogs are sustained. In the Midlands, the peat companies strip the land of its natural resources with heavy machinery for commercial use. Not that I can talk, after all, I buy briquettes for my fire and peat moss for my plants. This does not mean I think what they are doing is right, quite the contrary.

ALTERNATIVES TO USING PEAT
The article last week mentioned alternatives to peat such as coir compost (these are the shells left over from the cocoa bean). Mind you these aren’t exactly a local product. They practically have to travel around the world to get to us. This of course takes up fossil fuels to power the ships, causing strip mining or pollution elsewhere and invariably making the product more expensive to buy in the shops. Mushroom compost and composted bark are very effective for mulching and established plants, and easy enough to get hold of locally, but they aren’t that suited to growing seedlings. Even some organic alternatives such as compost made from cattle dung and seaweed still has a percentage of peat in its list of ingredients. I think one of the best alternatives when buying these sorts of products must be the worm casts and vermiculite. After saying that vermiculite is a natural resource that has to be imported… and the debate goes on.

COUNCIL FACILITIES
The system that is in operation for recycling garden waste in Nottingham takes in 70 tonnes of organic garden waste a day and shreds it into fine pieces. This is then piled high until it has rotted down into fine compost and given away free. There would be drawbacks to this scheme for us. Living in a rural area we haven’t the population of Nottingham to produce this amount of material (never mind the income from rates to spend on such schemes. We would also have further to travel to a recycling centre, therefore burning more fossil fuels which causes more environmental problems and so on.
Well, there you have it, the only real solution is staring me in the face. It’s time for us as a community to get to work building up our compost bins and sterilizing our soil. I was in the library this week in Buncrana and there is a leaflet called “Composting Made Easy – A Simple Guide” which you can pick up for free. It’s also great to see local schools getting involved in composting. Composting your organic waste is not a quick way to get the compost you need for your plants. Even though the leaflets say you can make compost in twelve weeks, it usually takes my compost heap a lot longer (up to a year) as I just bung on my kitchen and garden waste and don’t worry too much about temperature, air, layering and all the technical stuff.

Horticultural,environmental.

STERILIZING SOIL

There is still the problem of what I use for my seedlings. One solution is to sterilize your own garden soil. There are products on the market that will heat the soil until all the bacteria is destroyed. The prices start at about 70 euros and will do a couple of shovels full at a time. I recall one year I decided to sterilize some soil in the kitchen by using steam. I used a saucepan with boiling water in it and put a metal sieve over the top with about a cupful of garden soil in it at a time and let the steam get to work for half an hour. This method took a full day until I had enough soil to fill a few seed trays. And another day to get the mud off the worktops! I did try just pouring boiling water over the soil, but this proved to be ineffective, as it didn’t kill all the weed seeds. I suppose there’s always the garden flame throwers, but maybe that might be a bit too dramatic…All these methods again use some form of fuel energy to make them work, so maybe the ideal solution is to use the compost from the middle of your well rotted compost bin. (The only energy used here would be walking to your compost bin!) There is a better chance of this being sterile as the center of the heap will get to the highest temperatures, killing all the nasty things that your seedlings won’t like. Mind you there’s not much chance of those temperatures in the centre of my compost heap, so for now I’m off to the Co-op, in my petrol guzzling car, to buy yet another bag of peat based compost to put into my plastic plant pots. How do I sleep at nights?

Horticultural,environmental.

PLANTING ROSES

Buying Roses

Bare root Roses- These will be available from October to March, usually by mail order. They should be planted as soon as they arrive, unless the soil is frozen or waterlogged. Some may be pre-packed in peat but they need to be planted out straight away too.

Roses in containers-Although March to August is the suggested time, some suppliers also have Roses available during the winter. They can really be planted at any time provided they are watered in dry spells.

Planting Roses
Soil preparation is important. Dig into the planting area about 5cm (2ins) of organic material such as well-rotted manure, garden compost or mushroom compost. DO NOT place fresh manure near the roots, as this will scorch them.

Bare root Roses
Dig a hole large enough to take all the roots. Fork over the base to loosen the soil. After placing the roots in the hole, replace half the soil and tread firmly in, adding a little water if it seems dry. Ensure there are no air pockets around the roots. Replace the remaining soil, tread firmly and water in. The join of the branches and the roots should be just above ground level when planted

Roses in containers
Dig a hole large enough to take the container. Remove the Rose from the container, taking care not to disturb the roots. Place the root ball in the hole and replace the soil. Tread in firmly.

Don’t work the soil if it’s too wet-If it sticks to your spade or shoe then its just the excuse fair weather gardeners like me need to put the job off for another day!

Horticultural.

TOP TIPS

Potato cleaner: Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.


COBS
When boiling corn on the cob, some people add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness. Do not feel that you have to do this but definitely don’t put salt in the water. This will dull the sweetness. If you accidentally over-salt any dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant “fix me up.”

Household.

SETTING YOUR FINGERPRINT

OIL PIPELINE

Ian
There is an issue burning at the moment about the oil pipelines off of the West coast. Protestors are bravely taking on the multinationals and are hopefully making people realise that there are alternatives. There is a theory about how large decisions can easily be made that are not in the best interests of the public such as the onshore pipeline. It is about how you can go in to a board of directors of a multinational company and get approval for building something immense such as a multi-million or even billion euro pipeline, or anything that is on a large scale, but if you want to build a shed in the garden you will be tangled up in endless discussions with people about what colour you can paint it. This is because an oil rig is so vast, so expensive and so complicated that people cannot grasp the complete concept, and rather than try, they fall back on the assumption that somebody else checked all the details before it gets made into a reality. A shed on the other hand can be built over a weekend. So no matter how well prepared, no matter how reasonable you are with your plans, somebody could seize the chance to show that he or she are doing their job by objecting to the colour. In Denmark this cause of action is called "setting your fingerprint". It is about personal pride and prestige. It is about being able to point somewhere and say “There, I did that!” It is a strong trait in politicians. So issues are left far too long before solutions are found and they escalate into the turmoil that is happening with the pipelines on the west coast. A couple of issues in Buncrana feel like this as well. The shore front development for one looks like an instance where assumptions have been made that the proposed development is worthwhile because of decisions made by apparent “professionals”. An old employer once told me to never assume anything and in cases such as this they are wise words.

Regards T.K. Buncrana.

Environmental.

MUSIC WHILE YOU WAIT

Photo Martin Tourish

Most of us have to wait for things at one time or another. We tend to be very patient in queues and welcome any distraction to take away the fact that our lives are ticking away. Banks have taken to putting adverts and sport on overhead televisions, which are all well and good, but they do give you a bit of a crick in the neck after a while. I have been in some waiting rooms that often put on an out of tune radio for our enjoyment. A doctors waiting room in Bristol England realised that waiting in a queue when you are not well surrounded by other unwell people isn’t much fun. It isn’t a barrel of laughs for the staff either. To counteract the problem live musicians have been employed to do turns throughout the day. The musicians play a variety of instruments ranging from the accordion to the violin. It goes down very well and the waiting public can even ask for special requests. Music therapy plays a very important part in the well-being of people who are not well, listening to soothing sounds releases vital chemicals in the body such as serotonin, which will aid recovery. The surgery has found that the patients are calmer when they go to see the doctor and one person said they even forgot why they went in, in the first place! The doctors are happier and so are the staff at the reception who whether they know it or not play a very important role in the attitudes of the patients by how they are greeted. If they are happy then everyone’s happy!

Environmental.