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Elsanta strawberries for pruning

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Frail and discoloured stem removed to encourage new growth

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Removed plants from the pot, cut 1/3 from the roots to rejuvenate roots and to check for  weevil worm.

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Repotted the plats with a mix of MPC and Perlite (50/50)

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Strawberries potted with MPC, Perlite (mixed at a ratio 4:1) and osmacote pro (150g per 30 ltr of compost mix))

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Our plants have begun to flower

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The plants were raised in a tray with water to create a water barrier for any weevils that maybe in the plants.
Checked our 'Elsanta' for aphid infestations. Some plants were worse than others. Some had approx more than 200 in one pot which contained four plants.
To be safe they were sprayed with an organic spray containing natural pyrethrum.
This pesticide has a very short persistence and so may require reapplication to keep aphid numbers in check.

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Removed the stolon from our Fragaria x ananassa 'Elsanta' to encourage the plant to focus on producing fruit

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Using a nematode to control vine weevil. The nematodes are placed into a 10ltr watering can and watered into the plants.

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Aphid Control using Ladybirds is something that nature came up with a very long time ago and as usual, nature knows best - and that's why introducing adult ladybirds into the garden to help in the constant battle against greenfly and blackfly is proving very popular and effective.

Aphid Control using Ladybirds uses adult ladybirds (adalia bipunctata) - very effective predators of aphids - for indoor control, where in a contained environment such as a greenhouse or conservatory they can eat up to 5,000 aphids in their lifespan!

Aphid Control using Ladybirds arrives with you in the shape of a simple-to-use shaker tube containing 25 adult ladybirds and application could not be easier; just tap the tube onto leaves of affected plants and let the ladybirds get munching!

They can be applied to any plant that has an aphid infestation, strawberries, carrots, tomatoes etc.

PLEASE NOTE: the pest MUST be present before introducing this predator for control to be effective - please do not order beforehand.

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Microgreen sown on 27/10, used MPC and Perlite (50/50 mix)
They are on the heat bench in the poly tunnel @ 22 degrees

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Microgreens sown on 10/11/20 were harvested.
Daikon radish 1.54kg
Red Rambo radish 0.74kg
Sunflower 0.5kg

Washed and sterilized our hands and scissors. With the trays tiled slightly away from us we cut as close to the compost as we could, watching out for any imperfections or roots that may have been taken out. In the sunflowers we also kept an eye out for any mold that may have been on the shoots.

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Mixed MPC and perlite (50/50).
Added 60g of Daikon radish and Red Rambo radish per tray (4 trays of each done).
Soaked 240g(60g per tray) of sunflower seeds for 4hrs, drained and washed them off. Added these to MPC  and perlite (50/50 mix).
All trays are in the classroom and will be taken to the propagation bench when the germinate.

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British Queens, Kerrs pinks and arran Victory to be dug and stored

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British Queens, Arran Victory and Kerrs Pinks all gathered, excess soil taken off potatoes and in storage to be used as needed.

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Fresh leaves of Comfrey are harvested

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Comfrey leaves balled up to make sure they fit in to the Comfrey Press

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The Comfrey press is filled up and 2ltr bottle put in to the chute to extract the raw fertiliser

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7 great uses for Comfrey

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Rheum x hybridum, 2yr old root dug for division. Checking for crowns with good roots. Can be halved or quartered depending on crowns and roots.

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Removed any weeds and pruned the roots to encourage growth

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Divided in to 2 parts. the roots and crowns would allow for quarters but halves will give the plant a better chance at rooting

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A better view of the roots, no rotting visible

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A hole is dug aprox 50% bigger than the root being planted to encourage exploration by the new growth. Crowns planted slightly higher than soil level

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Before planting place some Mycrological Granular 3-3-3. This will aid in the establishment of Mycorrhizal fungi. 50g applied per root.

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Placed a layer of cardboard around the plant ton help the OM in the soil and also to help keep the weeds at bay.

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Covered the bed over with mulch again to aid and add to the OM and supress the weeds

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Adding some mulch, almost 4", to our rhubarb plants to add to the humus.
This will suppress weeds and hold in moisture in the soil.

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Removing the flowering stalk from our rhubarb is not necessary but it will affect the harvest from the plant. As the plant uses a lot of energy producing a flower and seeds.
Typically it is only heritage varieties that boltlike this.

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Checking beds for New Zealand flatworm. These are an invasive species. Found and disposed of.

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We sowed 5 beds of Secale cereale.
- Hand removed any weeds and large stones
- limed the beds using 1.2kg per bed @ 75ft length
- Broad forked the beds for aeration
- Flame weeded the beds at 75° to kill weeds above soil level and open the roots below soil level, all will help form more OM
- Placed new compost on the beds.
- Used the BCS 740 to finely mix the surface compost and lime, this was then rolled to firm the soil.
- Used the Jaga (with A6 wheel) to sow 4 lines per bed.
- Replaced mulch on the walkway between beds.
- Covered the beds with climate netting

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Harvesting Zea mays convar. saccharata and planting Brassica napus Red Russian

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Harvesting Zea mays convar. saccharata and planting Brassica napus Red Russian

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Harvested the sweetcorn, putting the cobs in a container and stalks removed. We weeded the beds removing any perennial weeds, the two most common were -

Cerastium vulgatum and Hypochaeris radicata (some rust disease was discovered on these). Raised beds were flame weeded and new compost was put on. The Jang was the used to sow the Red Russian Kale @ 5 rows per bed.

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This is a good companion plant as it is maintenance free, suits poor soil but also attracts beneficial insects, including ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies, which prey on aphids.

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Rosemary is a herb and by it binomial name it is medicinal. It is used for gut health, improve memory and reduce inflammation but to name a few uses.
It is a winter hardy plant and generally pest and disease free.

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This is a 2 year plan i have done for the planting and maintenance of an orchard

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Here are a mix of cherry trees we were asked to select a cultivar to plant.
I have chosen the 'Morello', very hardy H6 and has beautiful red fruit ready to be harvested in autumn. Grafted on a G5 rootstock these trees would grow between 8 - 10ft.

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We were asked to select a pear cultivar to grow at home, I selected Cydonia oblonga. Grafted to a Quince C rootstock it would grow between 6 - 10ft.
I liked this cultivar for the fruit mainly, when cooked the flavour sweetens they are used to make jams, pies and tarts. mmmmmm

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Grading the harvested and cured onions.
Sorting them in to different sizes from 45mm to 75mm. Anything smaller or bigger can be graded out as animal feed.

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Tiding the beds around the Ribe rubum and nigrum.
Started by cutting the grass between the beds, cleaning out any grass growing up between the plants, then we put some cardboard down around the plants to prevent any grass coming up in the coming months. This was all topped off by adding wood chip mulch to aid the OM.

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- Seeds can be naked or treated for soil fungi
- Sown 500 to a box in early January, with a mix of MPC and osmacote (80/20), placed on a heat bench at 25º.
- Base fertilizer with K is essential for bed prep, good moisture and protection from spring cold
- Spacing depends on target size, 3 rows 14”, 12” in the row,

planted in bunches of 3 is a good guide (Longer growing season = bigger bulb)
- Plant in mid April when soil has warmed, making sure to trim both tops and tails, add liquid seaweed to provide natural nutrients.
- Weed every fortnight (also helps aeration of the soil), check for irrigation, add more liquid seaweed on a monthly basis, keeping an eye for any Puccinia allii.
- Harvest in late July for bunching / mid August for bulk harvest and drying.
- Dry on ventilated areas for 6 weeks, top & tail.

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Sown in early spring, they can be sown in to pots or trays (using 80/20 mix of MPC and osmacote) or can be sown in their permanent positions.
- Sow 2 seeds per module. We want 2 leek plants per cell so don't thin the second seedling out.
- Place your trays in your greenhouse, polytunnel, cold frame or windowsill to germinate. They should be ready to plant out in about 8 weeks.
- Water the bed the day before if the soil is dry.
- Plant in holes 6" deep and 6" - 9" apart depending on size required.
- Weed on a fortnightly basis (also helps aeration of the soil), check for irrigation, add more liquid seaweed (Allium porrum are greedy plants) and keep an eye for any Puccinia allii.
- Cut long dark leaves back in early - mid summer so they do not rest on the ground.
- May be harvested from mid autumn through to the end of late spring, depending on the time of sowing and the variety. The hardier varieties are left in the ground until they are needed. Never pull the leeks out of the ground by force or they will more than likely break in two, leaving you with just a handful of leaves. Instead, lever them out with a spade or a fork.  Dig up the largest ones first, if you leave the smallest ones in the ground until the spring, they will put on some more weight before they flower.
- Store them in some sand in a cool place, where they will keep for about a month.

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Growing space at 23cm (9″) apart in rows 38cm (15″) apart.
Sow from early April to late May depending on your location, hopefully avoiding frosts but fleece if frost threatens germinated seed.
should be ready to harvest by October or November but can be left in the ground through to February. Otherwise store as parsnips and carrots in damp sand.
You can intersperse a row of scorzonera with carrots as it is said to repel the carrot fly.

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Ewiger kohl

Seeds can also be sown outdoors from April to early May. Sow 3 seeds 1.5 cm deep every 45cms. Thin out seedlings after 2-3 weeks to leave 1 plant every 75 cms. The spacing is 45 cm between plants and 45 cm between rows. Cover seed beds with fleece or enviromesh to protect against cabbage root fly at least until mid May when the risk will be reduced. Where 2 seeds have germinated in a single cell remove the weaker one by cutting with a small scissors. Don’t pull them out to avoid damage to the neighbouring seedling. Remove any yellow, discoloured leaves from the plant as they may harbour disease which will spread to your crop. Apply a liquid seaweed feed about 14 weeks after sowing. Can be harvested in August and September depending when you planted them.

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Walking stick cabbage

Brassica oleracea longata plants are almost as easy to grow as regular cabbage or kale. Walking stick cabbage growing should occur in neutral soil, with a pH of between 6.5 and 7. The plant does not do well in acidic soils. The soil must have excellent drainage and should be amended with a few inches (5 to 10 cm.) of organic compost before planting. Start walking stick cabbage seeds indoors about five weeks before the last projected frost. Keep the containers on a windowsill in a room around 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12 C.). After a month, transplant the young seedlings outdoors, allowing each plant at least 40 inches (101.5 cm.) of elbow room on each side.  Remove any yellow, discoloured leaves from the plant as they may harbour disease. requires weekly irrigation. Immediately after transplanting, water to field capacity, do this every week during the growing season. Stake the plant as it starts to grow taller.
Add supports to the plant as it grows.

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Delicious sweet stems, that is reliable, early and easy to grow. Will grow in all soil types except waterlogged. Plant in an open, sunny spot with fertile, moist but well drained soil. When planting multiple plants, plant crowns in intervals of 1mtr.
It is important that the stalks are not harvested in the 1st yr as this will affect the plants vigor. Cut any old, yellow off in autumn. Harvest no more than half the stalks in 2nd yr allowing the rest to mature. This will help the plant generate more energy for the following yrs crop.

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A small presentation on Jamboard I gave on Frost damage on Apples

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Black polyethene was removed from beds.   Checked for any Arthurdendyus triangulatus, when found they were disposed of. The beds were flame weeded and broad forked. A chicken manure fertilizer was added t the beds at 250g pre m² along with a mix of worm cast.
The beds were power harrowed and a mix of "Orla" and "Coleen" were used to fill two beds of each cultivar as early crop.
The Sarpo axona were chosen for the main crop as they are a blight resistant variety.

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Part C Section 1 Applying Blight spray on Potatoes

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Part C Section 1 Applying Blight spray on Potatoes

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In our placement, OURganics gardens, they made their own blight spray from Equisetum arvense.

Horsetail has powerful antifungal properties that are effective on blight and other fungal infections (in both humans and plants!)

Here’s the recipe we used:

1. In a large glass or stainless steel pot, mix 1/8 cup of dried horsetail leaves in 4 1/2 litres of unchlorinated water

2. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 1/2 hr.

3. Cool, strain, bottle and label. The infusion will keep for a month which is long enough for you to keep reapplying to your crop. Any left overs can be used as a wonderful hair rinse.

4. To use, dilute the 1 part horsetail concentrate to 5-10 parts unchlorinated water. Spray infected plants once every week or two in dry weather or daily if it is raining.

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Harvesting snowball turnips , Rapa 'snowball'. Turnips were harvested, put in bunches of 3s. The bed was broad forked, flame weeded, approx 2" of compost with a top layer of chicken manure fertilizer added. Kohl Rabi planted in the beds @ 3 rows 10", 12" in row.

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Beds were flame weeded, a layer of compost added and fertilised using a chicken manure fertilizer (250g per m²).
The plants were spaced at 30cm apart. Tomato hooks and bio twine were hung from the propagating bars in the polytunnel and the twin was buried under the plant. Side shoots were removed and the plants were planted approx 3" deeper to  encourage the growth of new roots.

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Once seeds germinate, they need light, moisture, air, and warmth. To prepare them for their permanent home, the goal over the next few weeks is to establish a strong root system and stocky, leafy top-growth. Gradually move them from the perfect conditions in which they sprouted to the relatively unprotected environment of the garden while providing healthy growing conditions all along. This process is known as hardening off.

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The reasons for pricking out are to eliminate competition between the various seedlings and to space the plants further apart from each other.

Plants crammed together for too long end up tall and drawn as they fight to get to the light. In the process of this struggle, they support themselves on one another. When it comes to prick them out, they have no stability and fall over.

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The seeds were soaked for a few hours before planting to help break the dormancy of them. Using the soil blocker and the 80% peat compost (mixed with water to help them hold their shape) to create the soil blocks in which one seed was planted in each. The holes were covered with the remaining compost and water mix, a layer of vermiculite was spread on them and the tray was put on the heat bench.

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Planted up some Beta vulgaris 'chioggia', 5 per row with 6" spacing. Lay some woodchip along the path.

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Pruning a grape vine black Muscat, cut back any branches that were crossing over others, kept the cut above the last node to prevent the vine bleeding out. All bunches of grapes had 1/3 cut off them to help ripen them evenly.

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A copy of our sowing dates, How we keep track of crops, sowing dates, transplant dates, amendments used, pricking out, maintenance and harvesting dates

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We transplanted our Romaine lettuce in to the polytunnel. The beds were prepped and top dressed before planting. Planted 8 rows using the earthway seeder, this will give us a good size of vegetable but also is planted close enough to suppress any weeds. The bed on the right has been watered and the bed on the left will be after the picture

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Applying a seaweed extract feed to the plants.  Seaweed extract increases the strength and health of seedlings and plants. seaweed only contains a little K – potassium. But it has many other minerals, vitamins, and enzymes that are natural growth stimulants. Many of these are not found elsewhere. These nutrients fuel the plant cells’ growth and this results in healthier, stronger, and more disease-resistant plants.
This was set at a rate of  1.0% application.

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Cut back fruited canes to ground level after harvesting; do not leave old stubs. Select the strongest young canes, around six to eight per plant, and tie them in 8 –10cm (3–4in) apart along the wire supports. Remove the remaining young stems to ground level. Cut back all the canes to ground level in February.

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Tomatoes planted in a bed in polytunnel 2 with a drip line, for irrigation. This bed was chosen for the cropping bars to support the plants as they are being grown using a 'grow and lean system'. Side shoots are removed as the plant grows to allow the plant to concentrate on the producing and ripening of the fruit on the trusses. As the fruits grow the trusses are cut back to allow for up to 12 fruits  per truss this will help with even ripening of the fruits.

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Thinning nectarine trees allows the energy of the tree to go toward selected fruit, engendering larger, healthier fruit, reduces the possibility of breaking a limb due to overly burdened branches and nectarine fruit thinning increases the plant’s ability to produce flower buds for the successive year.
Once the fruit has attained a size of between ½ and 1 inch in diameter, it goes into a bit of a dormant phase, This is the time to thin the nectarines.
Simply select healthy looking fruit and remove others surrounding it, spacing the selected fruit 6-8 inches apart to allow them to grow. If the fruit set is overly abundant, you can thin fruit to 10 inches apart on the branch, removing damaged fruit first. Next, remove fruit that is at the tip of branches that can potentially drag the limb down due to weight and break it. Start at the tip of a branch and systematically remove fruit.

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The blackberries were planted in a straight line. Stakes were added along the same line with some biodegradable cord tied to help the blackberries stay straight. This will help when it comes to harvesting and will also prevent any tip layering from the plant.

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The bed was prepped, top dressed and flame weeded prior to planting. Cucumbers were planted 24" apart with a cord planted beneath the plant and running vertically to enable the vine to climb upward. This will prevent the plant taking up a lot of room in the polytunnel and keep the fruit off the ground.
In the same bed marigolds are planted between the cucumber plants. This will attract lots of beneficial insects and they can help control any aphid infestations on the crops.

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The weeds in this bed were pulled out by hand and the soile was disturbed on top using an oscillating hoe to disrupt and seedlings.
Using bamboo canes and string to support sugar snap peas that were planted in a garden bed.

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Carrot Root Fly (Psila rosae) can be a severe pest to Carrot crops. The fly is small measuring 5-8mm in length with a black body and yellow head. They have red eyes and pale yellow legs with clear coloured wings. Eggs are laid in the soil surface around the Carrot plants.

Depending on the temperature, these eggs hatch into creamy coloured larvae after about 7 days. The larvae move through the soil to the Carrot plants and start feeding on the roots, eventually burrowing into the Carrot roots forming mines. The first symptoms are a reddening of the Carrot leaves, which start to wilt.

There are normally two generations of Carrot Root fly a year. The first generation appears late April/early May and the second towards late July/August. Carrot Root Fly traps should be in position just prior to these times and throughout these months. The traps will help monitor Carrot root fly populations and reduce the number of egg laying adults by catching them on specially coloured sticky traps, which acts as an attractant.

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Legumes – think peas, beans.

Nightshades – think tomatoes, eggplant, peppers.

Chicories – think lettuce, endive.

Umbels – think carrots, parsnips, fennel.

Chenopods – beets, swiss chard, spinach.

Brassicas – think cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.

Allium – think onions, garlic, leeks.

The principle of crop rotation is to grow specific groups of vegetables on a different part of the vegetable plot each year. This helps to reduce a build-up of crop-specific pest and disease problems and it organises groups of crops according to their cultivation needs.

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Flame weeders can also be used to destroy the seeds of invasive weeds, which weed killer sprays cannot do. Once you've completed flame weeding, test the leaves of the weeds exposed to the heat. If light pressure leaves visible thumbprints, the flame weeder has successfully killed the weed.

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Cover cropping is the method least likely to be practiced in home gardens. There is a reason for this: Information on using cover crops is tailored to the needs of farmers who use tractors to make short work of mowing down or turning under cover crops. But when your main tools for taking down plants have wooden handles and you measure your space in feet rather than acres, you need a special set of cover crop plants, and special methods for using them.
A cover crop is any plant grown for the primary purpose of improving the soil. Since the early 1900s, farmers have used cover crops to restore fertility to worn-out land. In addition to helping bulk up soil with organic matter, cover crops prevent erosion, suppress weeds, and create and cycle soilborne nutrients using the power of the sun. Recent advances in soil biology have revealed two more ways cover crops can improve soil.

Rhizodeposition is a special advantage to working with cover crops. Many plants actually release sugars and other substances through their roots. They are like little solar engines, pumping energy down into the soil. With vigorous cover crop plants, this process goes on much more deeply than you would ever dig — 6 feet for oats and rye! If you are leaving your garden beds bare in winter, you are missing the chance to use cold-hardy crops such as cereal rye or oats to solar-charge your soil. Thanks to this release of sugars, the root tips of many plants host colonies of helpful microorganisms, and as the roots move deeper, the microbes follow.

But so much for scientific talk. If you’ve experimented with cover crops, perhaps you have dug up young fava beans or alfalfa seedlings to marvel at the nitrogen nodules on their roots, or watched a stand of buckwheat go from seed to bloom in four weeks flat. Or how about this one: It’s April and the soil is warming up and drying out. After loosening a clump of fall-sown wheat with a digging fork, you pull up a marvelous mop of fibrous roots and shake out the soil. What crumb! The soil’s structure is nothing short of amazing! These are the moments an organic gardener lives for.

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Installed a pigeon netting over the brassica sp. to protect them from pigeons.

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Moving a C. ovata in the classroom, I was not sure of the weight of the plant, I used the manual handling technique by keeping my back straight and lifting with my legs.

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The reasons for pricking out are to eliminate competition between the various seedlings and to space the plants further apart from each other.

Plants crammed together for too long end up tall and drawn as they fight to get to the light. In the process of this struggle, they support themselves on one another. When it comes to prick them out, they have no stability and fall over. It is important when handling the plants you lift them by the leaf and not the stem, as this can damage the vascular system and kill the plant.
A celled tray filled with compost and used to transplant the

Nicotiana seedlings. These will be potted in to single 1ltr pots as the roots develop.

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Some of the tools and equipment used throughout our time on the course include, spade, shovel, rake, hand trowel, seeders, lawnmower, aerator, scarifier, broadfork, hoes, flameweeder, a bcs tractor. Most of these tools are very dangerous if not used in the correct manor. Concentration is very important when using these.
To ensure these tools are kept in good working condition they were washed clean at the end of every working day and stored safely in the tool container.

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The chemical store on site.
This was locked at the end of every day once anything that had been removed was returned. There was a record of all the chemicals in the store, keeping chemical storage records helps to prevent employees from inadvertently causing a chemical hazard by storing incompatible hazards together. Storing incompatible chemicals together may result in generation of heat, fumes, gases and vapours that can give rise to a fire or explosion.