Potash, Pee and Comfrey

An interesting article from Rose Prince that sums up the issues surrounding the current interest in potash in agriculture.

I like her writing, she knows how to connect the big issues with the food we actually eat, and hopefully enjoy.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about where to obtain the macro nutrients N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (potassium or potash) for The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm. I'm "growing without the use of artificial pesticides or fertilizers" (I don't pay the relevant certifying bodies, so I can't use the "O" word). so buying chemical fertilizers is out. They are bad for the biodiversity of the soil and bad for plants anyway, so it isn't a big dilemma for me.

But the question remains - I am exporting veg from the site, so where do I get N, P and K from to grow the next round of veg? And when I start exporting fruit and eggs from the site? What about the pigeons that get shot and eaten.

It is great to see that Rose Prince highlighted the human waste recycling question. This was the solution used in traditional Chinese agriculture, as described in the classic tome Farmers of Forty Centuries, and no doubt in countless other systems of agriculture, including the traditional back garden privy here in the UK. A neighbour at The Oak Tree recalls digging the night soil into the animal manure heap as a boy, leaving a marker to indicate where so the next lad with that particular responsibility could choose a different spot.

But back to The Oak Tree. The question of recycling human waste isn't one I can tackle wholesale on my own. It wouldn't be a great marketing move to request that customers drop off their night soil when they buy their veg :) Now (and don't be shocked, please, it is quite hygienic) I do pee into a glorified bucket on the farm and then use it on the comfrey bed. I use hand sanitiser and clean everything scrupulously from time to time.

Comfrey is deep rooted and needs a great deal of potassium, and pee provides it. I don't eat my comfrey, but I will use it as a mulch around plants, but only with a very long delay between applying pee and harvesting the leaves. And even then I won't let the leaves touch anything I am planning to harvest, they will be spread around the plants, on the ground.

But this is just me, unless kind visitors are willing to donate some potash (and some have been :) According to Iain Tolhurst, co-author of Growing Green, a book I refer to a lot for The Oak Tree, much of the potassium needed for veg is simply locked up in soils with any clay content, and these can be released from the top and sub soil with microbial activity. I was astonished to read this, but Tolhurst Organics market garden is living proof that it can work. So for the moment, I am trying these techniques and I'll keep testing the soil...

Harvesting, hard work, happiness and a shrinking waistline

A few people have commented recently that I've lost weight since working on The Oak Tree. Jumping on the scales for the first time in ages, it turns out they are quite right, I've lost a stone this year. No bad thing, and I could do with losing a bit more, but it certainly isn't due to eating less. I eat an enormous amount, including a huge quantity of vegetables :)

The reason is simple, and pretty obvious - I'm doing a lot of physical work! Today I harvested vegetables not only for my self-service stall but also for the Ipswich Country Market, Lux Farm shop and for my latest customer, the Suffolk Food Hall. Harvesting and preparing vegetables is a lovely job, but it does take quite a bit of time, and energy. This is the most I've picked in a day so far, and I'm really delighted with how popular my produce is proving. But I didn't do much else today, so I'd better get more efficient!

Richard and I are working on some home made projects to make my harvesting easier and more efficient. Firstly a sunshade/rain cover for my cart to collect produce as I harvest it. Secondly a bigger, outdoor table for preparing produce with a temporary roof over it, and finally an individual harvester which will work in a similar way to this one only without an engine and for just me - initially I'll pull myself along on a rope. Picking dwarf beans is hard on the back and slow - I think this device will make it far easier, and quicker. A similar device

Meeting with Ben Gummer, my local MP

I had a very constructive meeting with my local MP last week about The Oak Tree, raising issues I've mentioned before here about planning permission and grants. I'm looking forward to hearing back from him, certainly he didn't sound too impressed with some of the grants being doled out for unsustainable agriculture, such as the ones described here:

http://www.ukia.org/eabooklets/EA%20Reservoir%20booklet_final.pdf

his basic message seemed to be:

Firstly the planning system will be simplifed (hooray!)

and

Secondly, grants are going to be cut back all round, which should at least make it a more even playing field for businesses like The Oak Tree.