Ventnor Permaculture Meeting Sunday 20th July

This months meeting is at Angie’s (that’s me) in Upper Ventnor, sorry forgot to post about it, I knew where it was. 10:30 am - 12:30ish

I have several shrubs that are 2′ - 3′ too tall and one that needs a couple of foot off its width, so bring some secateurs. Need suggestions about further development of my garden and a few plants/shrubs identified. Hoping to persuade Ken to show us how to take a pallet that I have apart so that all the wood can be reused.

We meet once a month at one of our gardens and do a bit of work for each other, then the kettle goes on and we sit and have a chat about gardening/permaculture, swop seeds, plants etc

Anyone welcome. Please note: if you have never been to my place before please do not come wearing perfume/after-shave or any strong fragrances eg Bold, Aerial, scented fabric conditioners (if some one uses it on their washing 3 gardens away it is enough to drive me indoors), strong shampoos like head & shoulders, my daughter and I both have a severe allergy to them and do not wish to end up in hospital due to going into anaphylactic shock.

For address/directions please contact:
Email: ventnorpermaculture(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk
Mobile: 07766077336

Water Butt Challenge

Rainwater is far better for plants than tap water and cheaper, here on the Isle of Wight where water meters are compulsory for about 99% of residents.

We should all be doing our bit to save water regardless of water meters, it is one of the most wasted resources and one of the easiest to cut down your usage of. Also when you consider the amount of chemicals in tap water, sometimes the smell of chlorine is really strong, rain is so much better for the plants and almost an essential if you are growing blueberries or any other lime hating plants.

Photo: London Permaculture

There is now a huge range of water butts available, you can get slimline ones that bolt onto a wall from about £89, Moroccan Style Beehive ones from £59, Granite-Effect Rock Water butts from £139, Roman Water Column butts from £199 and many other types too. The ones I have listed above are all available from Waterbutts direct, delivery is between £5.95 - £7.95 (depending on where you live) per order, not per item.

Using Seaweed in the Garden

If you live near the sea here are a few tips on utilising a valuable free resource for your garden. Seaweed is almost good as farmyard manure, although it is lower in phosphates but richer in potash. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals

The best time to collect seaweed for use in the garden is right after a storm as the newly washed up seaweed has less salt in it than weed which has been lurking in a harbour for weeks. If it smells clean and fresh use it, if it pongs walk away. Only collect loose seaweed do not pull it off of rocks, by doing so you will be making numerous sea creatures homeless and damaging the eco system. Give it a quick swish in the sea and a shake to remove any residents. It is best to wash the seaweed with fresh water or leave in the rain for a couple of days to get more of the salt out, worms don’t like it and it kills them if strong enough, same principle as putting salt on slugs. Photo: Max Blinkhorn

Planting by the Moon 14th - 20th July

According to the book I am using ‘In Tune with the Moon’ this is what we are supposed to be doing this week. I will try and be organised and post every Sunday what the book suggests for the following week. My review of this book.

If you are planting by the moon for the first time have you had better results than normal or has it not made any difference? Please let us know by leaving comments below.

Sunday 13th from 11am right up to Tuesday 15th sow and cultivate leaves - basil, brussels sprout, cabbage, kohlrabi, sorrel, celery, chervil, chinese cabbage, cress, dandelion, curly endive, fennel, purslane, lamb’s lettuce, leek, lettuce, rocket, spinach, cardoon, parsley, swiss chard.

Toxic Manure

Important! Please read this post if you are growing vegetables,  some bagged composts contain manure.

Most of you probably know about this - gardeners all over the UK have been affected by using manure contaminated with industrial weed-killer. It is not just people who have used manure on their gardens and allotments, some bags of compost bought from garden centres contain manure too.

The herbicide Aminopyralid is manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, for the control of ‘injurious’ weeds such as docks, thistles and nettles and it appears that residues of it have turned up in manure. Animals eating grass treated with the product excrete it in their manure as it travels through the body without breaking down, it seems that residues of aminopyralid may last several years in manure heaps. The product has a label warning farmers not to sell manure that may have residues in it. It is not licensed for use on food crops although some farmers might have used it if they did not read or ignored the small print.

Dow AgroSciences state:

It has long been known that it is possible for low levels of product to be found in manure and that the use of such manure as a fertiliser or compost may, in some circumstances, cause damage to sensitive crops.

Call me suspicious if you like but if this product is excreted in manure is it stored in the bodies of food animals or finding its way into milk?

Allotments on Agenda at Council Meeting Mon 14 July

If you are one of the many people who are eagerly waiting for Ventnor council to provide some allotments you may be interested in this:

The Monday 14 July Ventnor Town Council, Planning and Winter Garden meetings start at 6.30 pm prompt as usual, under the Winter Gardens Stage.

Entry is at the rear of Winter Gardens through the car park. You need ideally to be there at 6.20 if you wish to speak in the public slot at the beginning, which lasts a maximum of 15 minutes, for everyone.

Remember the low archway when you go in!

The following are additional to the usual items on the agenda:

Allotments in Upper Ventnor at Havensbush and adjoining old council site.

If you want to see the list of other items to be discussed including Central Car Park and the proposed Children’s Play area on the Eastern Cliffs (Salisbury Gardens), please see this post on Ventnor Blog Forum

Something for this Weekend - 12th & 13th July

IW Permaculture
Monthly Meeting -
Saturday 12th June
10:30 -12:30ish
Do come along - its free and friendly.
We will be at Wendy’s allotment in Shanklin, we will helping her create a bog garden. If wet she said something about a cider press at her house.
You can come along offer encouragement and chat, the work is not compulsory!
If you need directions please contact:

Wendy: 07980601940
Email: ventnorpermaculture(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk
Phone: 01983 854968

Photo: Frances Bell

For more events, car boot sales etc

Propagation or Taking Cuttings

Taking cuttings is an easy way to increase your amount of plants and shrubs so you can keep a spare, fill a gap, give them to friends and family or sell at car boot sales to help fund your gardening habit.

This is especially useful for perennial plants as they do tend to look far better in groups of 3, 5, 7 etc, according to how much space you have. You can buy or scrounge a single plant and increase it by however many you want.

Potato, Runner Bean & Courgette July Update

I went back to the post of my last ‘Growing Potatoes in Bin Bags’ update last night and though how small they looked so here is the latest photo I took of them today.

From the photo it is hard to tell just how big they are,  so I measured them, they are 42″ tall and probably as wide.

I have had to tie them to the fence as I was worried that they would be blown over in all this strong wind. I must admit I was not expecting them to be quite that big.

In August I will be planting some more, which I might try and keep until Christmas. Have already frozen some raspberries for Christmas day as we don’t like Christmas pudding or cake.

Planting by the Moon 7th - 13th July

According to the book I am using ‘In Tune with the Moon’ this is what we are supposed to be doing this week. I will try and be organised and post every Sunday what the book suggests for the following week. My review of this book.

If you are planting by the moon for the first time have you had better results than normal or has it not made any difference? Please let us know by leaving comments below.

Monday 7th to Tuesday 8th until 6am sow and cultivate fruits - all cereals, aubergine, broad bean, courgette, cucumber, gherkin, marrow, gourd, pumpkin, melon, pea, peppers, runner bean, sweetcorn, tomato.