For the first time ever I have lost most of my gooseberry crop to birds. Not only have they taken most of the gooseberries they have broken many of the branches. I grow my gooseberries as cordons so that it is easier to deal with sawfly, lets more air in to reduce the chance of […]
Gooseberries and sawfly
After being reasonably successful last year with our gooseberries – we sheet mulched under the plants to stop sawfly – we are going to experiment with Poached Egg Plant this year. I came across this as a recommendation a few years ago and we now have enough plants to try them out under the gooseberries. […]
Planting under fruit trees (2)
So, following on from my previous post, here are some of the plants that my research has come up with for companion planting with fruit trees. I would welcome any comments from anyone who has tried any of these and I will report back on my experiments. – daffodils. These are early flowering and attract […]
Planting under fruit trees (1)
I have recently been researching what is best to plant under fruit trees. Traditionally many people have grass with a clear patch immediately below the trees as most fruit trees are relatively shallow rooted and it is thought that grass, and most other plants, will compete with the tree. Following my Permaculture Design Course (PDC) […]
Rumtopf
Like many people across the country we have had a fruit glut this year and we have been looking at different ways of storing the fruit for the winter. One exciting way of storing fruit is immersing it in alcohol, we have made sloe gin in the past but this year we are experimenting with […]