Category Archives: experiments

The experiments that I am conducting for research into Food Production, Small Scale Grain Growing, Vegetable Growing, and Forest Gardens.

Crop Rotations, Digging, and Soil Fertility

I’m using a wet day to take the time to commit to writing my thoughts on soil fertility and soil building.

I’ve not made a secret of my belief that the ‘digging is bad for the soil’ argument is too simplistic. I liken it to the way that you warn a child about fire by repeatedly saying ‘HOT’. Eventually your child will need to know how to make and use fire for themselves. In gardening terms the argument that digging is harmful is fine as a general warning, and for people who are happy not to delve deeper into soil and its’ workings, but once you have a decent knowledge of the subject it is possible to be more specific.

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Chicken Scavenging System Ideas

It’s funny how ideas, or inspiration, comes into us. This one relates to my Chicken Scavenging System. I have been using a shredded Miscanthus product for chicken bedding. It is about the same price as a bale of chopped straw, but is grown without chemicals, is a perennial, and most importantly works well. My long term aim is to house a single flock of chickens, and possibly another of ducks, on a deep litter system, with the raw materials coming from on site. Probably a combination of Common Reed harvested from gray/brown water systems and Swale, along with tree and shrub prunings, straw from my grain growing, and bamboo. In the medium term, I have two deep litter systems, along with two conventional poultry houses, and another house due to be used soon.

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Small Scale Grain Growing 2012 and beyond

After a year of growing grains, it became clear that I needed to create a more formal research strategy for my Small Scale Grain growing Experiments. I have carried out quite a bit of research, and have devised a plan that should enable me to do this more effectively.

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Maintaining Soil fertility

Hi All

It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve got loads of things to write about now that the nights are getting longer, but thought that I would start with a short post about maintaining soil fertility. Some of you may have read a post that I wrote back in March, describing building a compost heap incorporating ideas/techniques culled from the book, Farmers of Forty Centuries. The post can be found by clicking this COMPOST link. I wanted to show you the results.

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Polyculture Update and Small Scale Grain Harvested

Well today was a busy day, with the first harvest of grain from my Bonfils Polyculture. It wasn’t all great news, but this is the first example of small scale grain growing, and grain harvested using the Bonfils method, and a good start to my polyculture experiments.

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