Almeria´s Greenhouses

From the lens of a passing satellite, County Almeria is one of the most recognisable spot on the planet:  the roofs of tens of thousands of closely packed plastic greenhouses form a blanket of mirrored light beaming into space.

The sea of plastic covers 20.000 ha of the Campo de Dalias around El Ejido and Roquetes de Mar.  Further west, a similar but smaller, coastal plain around Carchuna, south-east Motril, is similarly enveloped.  The technique is not restricted to the plains.  It is also applied to wide terraces of the sides of shallow valleys, as the valley north of Castell de Ferro shows.

One significant component of plasticulture is the disposal of used ag plastics.  However, technologies exist which allow for many ag plastics to be recycled into viable plastic resins for reuse in the plastics manufacturing industry.

Sources: The Guardian, Wikipedia, Youtube.

Square Foot Gardening Project (Lima, Peru)

More than 30,000 men and women from 16 districts of Lima will benefit from an urban agriculture program called `My Huerta', as part of its policy to generate green areas to benefit the environment and help reverse malnutrition, because of extreme poverty. 

This program aims to support and promote urban gardens, helping to improve family nutrition and eating habits through the cultivation of vegetables, aromatic and medicinal herbs. It also will contribute to the greening of the city with green areas productive. 

The mayor of Lima, Susana Villar, says it will support families, community organizations and schools which want to practice urban agriculture. Stakeholders will receive inputs, tools, training and technical assistance to produce crops.

She also indicated that the cultivation of the products will be made in the form of an agricultural and ecological manner , without using chemicals, and participants of the program will be taught to make their own fertilizers and organic fertilizers, as well as control pests with biological preparations and have a bank seeds .

Food security and social inclusion

The city of Lima plans to generate 2014 orchards , for which started its activities in the Cercado , where a demonstration garden was implemented in the Parque La Muralla .

Every week , neighbours , families and schools in vulnerable areas of Barrios Altos and Manzanilla, devote their time to growing and caring for vegetables that grow in the land today .

Innovative initiatives

The mayor said authority with ' My Huerta ' program recognizes and supports innovative initiatives taken by the people of Lima to improve their nutrition and have an additional source of family income.

The Lima municipality promotes these activities, whose success depends on the enthusiasm and commitment of families, community organizations and schools in Lima and working jointly with the district municipalities .

High-level training

` My Huerta ' foresees the participation of 50" urban Yachachiqs "who are urban farmers from different districts of Lima agro-ecological gardens that have developed and work will enable participants to enrol in the program.

The program also features the participation of renowned Peruvian chefs as Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, who will support the marketing of surplus production through the articulation of a supportive network of restaurants that can buy these products.

Source: Serpar Peru

Windowfarms Project

According to their web site, Windowfarms are vertical, bioponic garden systems designed to help you grow food indoors, such most herbs, greens and small vegetables.  Windowfarms are designed for "cut and come again" harvesting.  Instead of killing a whole plant and condemning it into the fridge, it can be harvest weekly, like generations past, letting our food regenerate.

The company does not only sells windowfarms but also explain how to build your own from recycled materials.  If you want more information, please, visit http://www.windowfarms.com/

DIY: Drip irrigation

Drip irrigation is a method that saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing and emitters.  It is done through narrow tubes that delivery water directly to the base of the plant.  

Bottle drip irrigation

It is a cost effective method of watering your plants thorough a recycle plastic bottle.

• Get a 2 litre plastic bottle with the cat still on.  
• Take the cap and poke 2 holes using a small nail and a hammer.
• Take the actual body of the soda bottle.  Cut the bottom portion, around 3 cm. from the bottom, with a sharp knife.  This will turn the bottle into a funnel and it will also allow for the drip irrigation to be refilled with water easily.
• Dig a hole near your plant or group of plants, which is deep enough to bury around one third to one half of the bottle.
• Place the bottle in the hole, cap side down.  Make sure that the opening of the bottle remains above the ground and is not covered by soil.
• Place a few stones around the bottle to help prevent the soil from getting inside the bottle.

Fill the bottle with water, and leave your drip irrigation to do its work.  Make as many as you need for all of your plants.

B&M Potatoes and Onions

Onions

- Stuttgarter onions are a favourite which can be planted earlier than normal varieties.   Stuttgarter are a sweet, smooth and very mild tasting onion and they are an excellent variety for storage.

- Setton is a classic spring planting variety that produces high yields of great tasking onions.

- Red Baron is an excellent traditional onion and one of the longest storing onions we know.  It is a very attractive red skinned variety with pink and white flesh.

- Golden Gourmet shallots are easy to grow and store well.  This variety has good resistance to bolting and it may be planted out from January.

- Sturon is a good old fashioned variety with straw coloured skin and good resistance to running to seed.

- Centurion onion have a lovely straw yellow, semi round bulbs.  It has a good crisp flesh.  It is a heavy crop variety and an excellent winter storer.

Potatoes

- Pentland Javelin it's a popular first early potato.  It has white skin and white flesh, high yielding but tendency to bulk late.  Equally good if grown as a main crop, Javelin is one of the most disease resistant potato varieties.

- King Edward are commonly available across major retailers, are versatile potatoes that taste great boiled, baked, mashed or roasted.  It has a white skin with a pinkish tinge and a creamy floury flesh.

- Charlotte potatoes are classic salad potatoes, widely available across all major retailers.  They are small, waxy, with a pale yellow skin and buttery yellow flesh.  It holds an RHS AGM award.

- Maris Piper are a favourite potato grown since the 60s.  It produces dry, floury tubers with creamy white flesh of good flavour.  It rarely discolours on cooking.

Poundland Potatoes and Onions

Each packet contains an average of 8 potatoes.

- Pentland Javelin it's a popular first early potato.  It has white skin and white flesh, high yielding but tendency to bulk late.  Equally good if grown as a main crop, Javelin is one of the most disease resistant potato varieties.

- King Edward are commonly available across major retailers, are versatile potatoes that taste great boiled, baked, mashed or roasted.  It has a white skin with a pinkish tinge and a creamy floury flesh.

Each packet contains an average of 80 sets.

- Stuttgarter onions are a favourite which can be planted earlier than normal varieties.   Stuttgarter are a sweet, smooth and very mild tasting onion and they are an excellent variety for storage.

- Setton is a classic spring planting variety that produces high yields of great tasking onions.  

- Red Baron is an excellent traditional onion and one of the longest storing onions we know.  It is a very attractive red skinned variety with pink and white flesh.  

- Golden Gourmet shallots are easy to grow and store well.  This variety has good resistance to bolting and it may be planted out from January.

Composting

Why make compost?

Compost lightens heavy soil, helps light soils hold more water, feeds plants and helps control diseases.  Also it saves you money by helping cut down on buying soil improver products, fertilisers and mulches.  Furthermore, it reduces pollution and it contributes towards a cleaner environment.

 What can I compost?

If it can rot, it will compost, but some items are best avoided.  Some things like grass mowing and young weeds rot very quickly.  They work as activators, getting the composting started, while older and tougher plant material is slower to rot, but gives body to the finished compost.

Quick to rot:

• Comfrey leaves.
• Grass cuttings.
• Poultry manure.
• Young weeds.

Slower to rot:

• Fruit and vegetable scraps.
• Tea and coffee bags.
• Old straw or hay.
• Plant remains.
• Straw manures.
• Old flowers.
• Old bedding plants.
• Young hedge trimmings.
• Soft pruning.
• Perennial weeds.
• Vegetarian pet bedding.

Very slow to rot:

• Autumn leaves.
• Tough hedge clippings.
• Woody prunings.
• Sawdust and wood shavings.

Other compost-able items:

• Wood ash.
• Cardboard.
• Paper towels.
• Bags.
• Packaging.
• Cardboard tubes.
• Egg boxes.

Best avoided:

• Meat.
• Fish.

Do not compost:

• Coal and coke ash.
• Dog faeces.
• Glossy magazines.

Let´s speed the process

Usable compost is normally produced after at least 12 months.  A dry compost bing can slow down the rotting process.  Add a little of water gradually with a watering can.  Green and sappy materials add more nitrogen.  Add grass cuttings or young stinging nettles.  If you have veggie rabbits or piggies, add a little of their bedding or manure.  Always chop everything you put into your compost into very small pieces and give it a good mix regularly.  Once your compost has turned into crumbly dark material and looks like thick moire soil, you know it´s ready to be used.

Resources:
- Great Aycliffe City Council.
- Woking City Council.

Making a compost bin by Which

Growers Calendar: January

• Start collecting preserving jars, plastic bottles and other plastic containers as cloches and toilet roll inners, as they make great make-do containers for sowing seeds. 
• Get organized and plan what I will grow.  Order the seeds, potatoes and onions.
• Split the rhubarb plants which are at least five years old.