JULY KITCHEN GARDEN TOUR - growing polycultures, succession sowing & preparing for heat

[@claudiakoprowski8925]

Wool for mulch is brilliant! Also lay it down under a new bed for drainage. Put soil and other mulch atop.

[@jwstanley2645]

One grieves for the loss of you. Peace, and joy to you in your new-to-you dimension.

[@LeesChannel]

Oh no, she died!? Edit: I see comments from her that are newer than this one, I don't know why you would say this.

[@jwstanley2645]

@@LeesChannel I see now she has a new video. I did not mean that she died, only I thought, wrong, that she had decided not to make more videos, and put her energies into some other endeavor. Anyway, thanks for the comment, as it alerted me to look again.

[@jeannedelaurent1708]

Hi Vera, I have mulched trees with our sheeps wool, especially fig trees and it has worked really well. It insulates young trees from heat and cold weather, and suppresses weeds. It decomposes in place after 2-3 years in my climate (South of France). I find it too coarse to mulch vegetables, but some of my friends use it

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you for sharing, Jeanne! I was also wondering whether wool is not better suited as mulch in the forest garden...

[@heikedeubner9073]

We have 4 ewes and a vegetable garden. Have used the reject wool I skirted off the fleeces in our compost heap as nitrogen component and around cabbage as a mulch. Both applications took a very long time to decompose (years), perhaps due to the natural lanolin deterring bacterial/fungal action. As mulch, unfortunately, it did not effectively deter cutworm (moth larvae) or slugs in our setting. I've heard (but not tried) that it can be a good mulch for water retention around trees.

[@amypearce8242]

Lovely to see an update from your garden. I got an allotment plot here in the UK for the first time this year. I tried using wool (from insulated packaging) around my radishes in early spring, unfortunately I found the small slugs would just hide underneath it. I removed it and picked off the slugs and my radishes faired much better without it. Now I’m just adding it to the compost although I think it would have helped temporarily for the extreme heat however I didn’t get time to try before going away on holiday. My 2 year old is very much enjoying broadcast sowing at the moment so I’m planning a polyculture bed inspired by you for next year where can can broadcast sow (throw 😅) the whole lot at once 😆 x

[@marie-pierberrouard7725]

We’ve sheared our two sheeps for the first time in the spring. I’m using the off cuts or too dirty to spin leftovers for the compost heaps as nitrogen or around beans seedlings. It’s been working great so far. I’ve hear about people putting some at the bottom of pot when they start seedlings, for moisture retention and root development. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and experience too!! Happy high summer, be careful in the heat xxx

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you, Marie-Pierre - great tips! I think I'll try to mulch my beans with some of the smaller pieces and use the bigger matts in the food forest?

[@marie-pierberrouard7725]

@@GrownToCook I haven’t used it to cover big areas yet so I can’t really say. For newly planted seedlings, I take smaller pieces that I stretch (a bit like you would during spining) so that it’s flatter and goes around the base of the plant.

[@user-kt4ju1bg9z]

Yes, I will be done at 6:00.

[@esthersmith4168]

Hi Vera I am from Ontario Canada and our land is near Parry sound. I love to watch and learn from your gardening and cooking videos. I would love to see you benefit from all the work you put into your informative, helpful, and inspiring videos. I have learned so much from you. Thank you for all you have done to enhance your watchers knowledge.

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you so much for your sweet message, Esther! It warmed my heart :)

[@theallotmentkitchengarden3694]

Thank you for the video - it’s great to see an update! Would love to hear more about the perennial edible flower varieties! 💚🌼🌻🌸🌺

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you! I'll try to film a video about the perennial edible flowers once more of them are flowering - there's not much to see there yet :)

[@jeremybird5739]

I have a curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), that was too big. I used a little of it as mulch around strawberry plants and the slugs disappeared. I thought it was maybe just coincidence, so I cut some more and mulched around my strawberry plants that were being devastated by slugs and the slugs again disappeared. It also worked around my brassicas. I'm hoping this will work every year.

[@GrownToCook]

That is so interesting, Jeremy! I do have one curry plant too and will try to test is next spring! At this moment, there's almost no slug damage because it's so hot and dry

[@mandytaylor1008]

Love your videos havnt watched you for long and I have just purchased your book from Amazon. This year we are growing the polyculture way mostly. We went no dig 3 years ago. We have a full plot and / half plots either side of our main one. We have taken down fences and made paths to make it as one large plot. We have fruit trees fruit bushes aswell as veg beds with flowers intermingled some perenial as we trying to get lots of different perennials established. We have had asturian tree cabbage and Taunton dean kale but lost them in severe frosts in winter. But we have asparagus Egyptian walking onions babbington leek and Welsh onions. We have rhubarb and hoping our elephant garlic will go on and on. Also Jerusalem artichokes as if you leave some in the ground they always regrow. We are not using nets and coverings this year to see how we fair with pests as we don’t like the look of beds all covered and it’s more difficult with mixed beds. The thing we worry about most is the carrot root fly. We are just trying to be self sufficient in fruit and veg and herbs and cut flowers in the summer and a nice place to sit and have a barby. Thanks for your advice and ideas I am going to try to grow sea kale and sea beet now.👍🙋🏻

[@GrownToCook]

So lovely to hear, Mandy! And thank you so much for purchasing my book - it means a lot since it is the only way people can support my work (I don't have income from KZbin and don't do sponsored videos)

[@deborahcoyle7612]

Not sure how I missed this episode! Your garden is amazing and so inspirational. Angela (of the Parkrose Permaculture channel) talks about using wool and even dog hair as a way to protect against slugs and snails. Hope the intense heat in your area has dissipated.

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you so much, Deborah! The worst of the heat is over (for now) and we even got a bit of much needed rain (though nowhere near enough). I’ll have a look to see whether I can find Angela’s video! So far the wool mulch seems to be working very well!

[@deborahcoyle7612]

Great to hear the wool is helping. Here’s to some lovely, soaking rain for you - and us.

[@totalmentezsana1187]

Keep da good job on ! We waiting for your next video. May i add an idea ? Talk about crisis and how we can form our garden these days to have enought food !

[@GrownToCook]

Thanks for the suggestion, Jennifer! I ma currently working on my next book and that's taking all my focus and energy but this is surely a great topic to cover!

[@suedunlop3514]

Fabulous video. I used sheep fleece two years ago. It got very wet (I live in Wales) and sadly did not deter the army of slugs we have, but it was a great weed suppressor. My garden is much like yours, but on a smaller scale. I will look out for your book once it is readily available. Sue

[@GrownToCook]

Than you, Sue!!

[@cozyhomemakingvibes]

lol... i always leave my flowers for last too. thats a good tip❤️ i'll try it next year. the wool is interesting! Very neat about the spinning!

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you, Casey! I am becoming dangerously obsessed with spinning and already bought my second (second hand) spinning wheel. My husband recently remarked that my hobbies seem to take up more and more space ;)

[@potagermalo]

Magnifique vidéo bravo j'adore

[@GrownToCook]

Merci 💚

[@potagermalo]

Avec plaisir 😉 A bientôt

[@marieboileau950]

Hi I'm here in the west of France , I do follow up with you , seriously I have admiration for your garden it's so inspiring and a motivating factor many thanks for charing around ! A bientôt

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you so much, Marie! Is your climate similar to ours, do you think?

[@marieboileau950]

Hello dear well ,I think we have a few more degrees than you ,we start our seeds bedding , early April and can have a few spring vegetables as soon as may/June ! many thanks again for sharing your garden with us .

[@tiffcat1100]

I’m a Brit & a beginner gardener this year but everyone used to grown snapdragons when I was young, so I want to grow those & wallflowers (amongst others). You & your compatriots are top linguists, chapeau! 💖😊💖

[@GrownToCook]

Isn't it strange how flowers go out of fashion sometimes? And snapdragons are such great cut flowers! I love wall flowers too and am already growing seedlings to plant in the potato bed after I harvest the potatoes together with other biennials such as sweet Williams :)

[@tiffcat1100]

@@GrownToCook fun fact, my ancestor’s sister Charlotte Stainer from Somerset (England) was married to the horticulturist & sweet pea hybridist Henry Eckford from Scotland. There is still an annual sweet pea festival in Wem, Shropshire (England) in his honour ;)

[@GrownToCook]

@@tiffcat1100 Wow, how nice! I hope you grow sweet peas in his honour too :) I don't have any this year and am missing them!

[@tiffcat1100]

@@GrownToCook Um, um 😌 I’ve only just sown my first seeds ever, sunflowers, and 11/12 are doing well so far. I have many seeds and bulbs to sow/plant so need to get cracking! (It’s a question of breaking the fear barrier only as I have pots/compost/& now time! I have been building up (small beds) rather than digging down, and grass clipping mulching, using nettles to make feed, chopping & dropping, so am under way … 😍

[@tiffcat1100]

@@GrownToCook ps I have quite a big (rented) garden & up until now it’s been mow, mow, water, water, privacy, privacy but there has been so little rain I’ve had a break from mowing, privacy has worked well, & I’ve had the time to create 2 little flower/herb beds which I love plus I’ve made 2 small makeshift raised beds (one using the upside down top of a small square Ikea table and the other where it was resting on the grass temporarily). Foxes come & visit at night and there are bees in a hive so it’s a bit of a wildlife reserve ;)

I really like your videos, Věra. Are you planning to publish your book in Czech? It would make me very happy 🤩

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you, Petra! A Czech edition would be nice but there are currently no plans yet- I do not have contacts with any Czech publishers so it’s a little difficult

[@corinne6545]

I have used wool slug ‘pellets’ in previous years and noticed that they were great as a mulch as well as deterring slugs. Last year I obtained a whole sheep fleece from the local farmer - I swapped it for a carton of eggs as he said it was essentially worthless (and he ends up burning them). I used some in my compost and then put more round my seedlings. It seemed to do a good job, but unfortunately I’ve now moved (and currently have no veg beds 😭), so I’m not sure how it’s standing up to the current heatwave as a mulch. Will be very interested to see how you do with yours, as we’re surrounded by sheep where we’ve moved to and I hope to do something similar when I get my new veg beds in 🤞

[@GrownToCook]

Thanks for sharing, Corinne, that is very encouraging! I have not heard about wool pellets yet, sounds interesting! Sorry to hear that you lost your garden and I hope you can get new beds going soon! Once you're used to eating the super fresh homegrown produce nothing else compares :)

[@choxfleur1381]

Hi Vera, I just borrowed your book from the library and I shall be buying it for myself soon as it becomes available in Europe and again 🙂

[@GrownToCook]

I’m so happy you like it!

[@GrownToCook]

I’m so happy you like it!

[@GrownToCook]

I’m so happy you like it!

[@hugelpook]

I'd love to know which perennial flowers you had in your perennial edible flower bed.

[@GrownToCook]

It's ten different varieties and I'll try to film something about that bed when they grow a bit and start flowering :)

[@melstill]

I really enjoy your penchant for experimentation and trialing. Even though I often cant get the same varieties in my area, I still learn from your experience and I'm inspired to try things I might not otherwise. Also, I just like the walk through your beautiful garden. I planted less this year compared to previous years. But what I have planted is doing really well because while we commonly have 38-40C temps in summer we've actually had less this year, just three days so far compared to 12-14 days last year by this time. I'm enjoying that. I guess the plants are too!

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

While you may not be able to get the same varieties, remember, gardening is an experiment anyway. You can do similar experiments!

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you, Mel!! I'm glad your garden is doing so well!

[@elizabethhoulton2502]

Sun Sugar is like Sungold only it doesn't split as much. We grew it successfully last year. However, in the greenhouse you may be able to control the water better, which would mitigate Sungold's proneness to split.

[@GrownToCook]

We're not growing Sun Sugar yet, thanks for the tip - I will try to get seeds to trial next year! I find Black Cherry is the most prone to splitting out of the varieties we've grown

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

I let crops go to seed in my garden. I try to let only the ones that grow the best do that. I save some seed. The seed is more "adapted" to my climate. I have a true polyculture because I end up with volunteers growing all over the garden!

[@GrownToCook]

That sounds great! I also let many plants self-seed - there's even a chapter on the best edible self-sowers in my book :)

[@cristinedoerig9962]

i tried to juse wool as mulch this year. slugs can easyly walk over it but its nice to ceep water in de ground :)

[@GrownToCook]

Thanks, Cristine! How long did it take to decompose in your experience?

[@cristinedoerig9962]

@@GrownToCook hi :) last year i justed it under my tomato plants and i still find many pices of it. I guess it needs at least 2 years. just some more things about my use of the wool: my sheep is black wich is a problem for the stems of young plants. It gets realy hot on the surface and burnt some of my tomatosplants last year. this year i placed the wool not directly around the stems. a other nice way to use of the flees is to cover compost heaps or as an althernativ to silage tarp to kill weeds underneath. I'm curios about your experiances :) thank you for your work, I get inspired a lot by your diverse garden

[@gotlaufa]

Another lovely video. I'm curious what method do you use to trellis your tomatoes / how much do you prune off and when?

[@GrownToCook]

I prune my tomatoes to a single stem, removing all side shoots and I twist the stem around the twine. Otherwise the greenhouse would turn into a jungle :)

[@lainelorbera1130]

hi, is your book based in your own actual garden? I am blown away with your variety and I would like my permaculture kitchen garden be as yours (mainly the vegetable house with cucumber and cherry tomatoes 😃) as well the way you use to combine the plants getting along growing in a smart way to confuse bad insects and they protect each other. is all this included in your book? with this I refer as well about the order plants needs to be plant. for example, between my list are corn, beetroot, sweet potatoes, potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes.. mostly the ones you have already, so I need to know in which order the should be plant and, where (indoors or special house for plants and then in which season they can be transferred outside in order to have food the whole year) all this exactly as you did. does this information comes in your book?

[@GrownToCook]

Yes!! My book is based entirely on my own garden with lots of photos and different polycultures described in detail. There is also a monthly guide which tells you what garden jobs you need to do and what you can sow (indoors and outside) every month. It is a very practical book!

[@ourcozygarden]

Love this update

[@GrownToCook]

happy to hear that :)

[@mariawhite1328]

Try book depository, that’s where I got mine from.

[@GrownToCook]

thanks for sharing this, Maria! And of course, thanks for getting my book!

[@minglebong]

@GrownToCook I had accidentally deleted my comment!! But as to your reply. Though the swollen roots are edible and while the young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, we have never tried eating it. The beans however are best to harvert the young ones as older ones are more fibrous. Recipes are from curries, stir-fries or soup from various culture such as Indian, Indonesian, Malay and even Chinese. However the young leaves of yard long beans are something I am familiar with. Some says they cook them straight but our family would wash and mash it repeatedly with hands as the leaves texture can be quite rough and fibrous. We loves them in soups or as one of dish to accompany with rice podridge as it has a flavour which can be refreshing. Best also in soupy noodles or even ramyum!! The hakka recipe would add it as one of the leaves to make lei cha but as it is not a leaf which are not widely sold as compared to the bean, the paste are normally made from mint and thai basil leaves. It's one of my favourite food. Here are some of my favourite asian channels either or the traditional life, recipes or preserving etc. China Liziqi | Dianxi Xiaoge | Guangxi Grandma | Fujian Grandma | Longmeimei | Wild Girl | Kangzai Farmers | 二米炊烟ErmiChuiyan South Korea 키미 Kimi 손맛할머니 sonmat Sri Lanka Poorna - The nature girl | Traditional Me | Village Kitchen | Village Kitchen SRI LANKA India Life in Wetland Village Life Channel Vietnam Bếp Nhà Mình Khói Lam Chiều Azerbaijan Country Life Vlog

[@GrownToCook]

Thanks so much for all the tips, super interesting and useful! I will check out the channels you've suggested!

[@minglebong]

@@GrownToCook Your welcome. Hope you'll get inspired by them and excited with the various plants and fruits featured. I know I do! Maybe we'll see some of them too in your garden next!!

[@adysveggarden]

hello, I really enjoy the information that you give out in your video's especially the different test that you carried out. The early sweetcorn is that something like "swift" and the late plant one something like "lark"? In Holland the straw that you mulched your beds with do you test for herbicide?

[@GrownToCook]

Thank you! The straw we're using is unfortunately not organic because we can't get organically grown straw anywhere. I have decided to us it anyway because it seems better than not mulching at all, as the heat and draught is very detrimental to the soil and means we're have to water a lot more otherwise. It is definitely not ideal, but a compromise :)

[@rb8954]

Leuk kanaal! geabboneerd!

[@GrownToCook]

Dankjewel en welkom!

[@frankschulte-ladbeck6434]

I am dealing with most days being 40C or above in my climate. I have found that plants that have self seeded are doing alright, but plants that I started are struggling. Even when they are the same variety.

[@GrownToCook]

That sounds like tough conditions for gardening! I have noticed the same thing - for example self-sown calendula grows well without any watering - I think the plants that start in situ develop a much better and resilient root system. I read that this is also an argument for starting fruit trees from seed though it means that they will take very long to start bearing fruit

[@marjanhelder7988]

Dank weer voor een fijne video. Leer ik veel van. Een vraag of de stro die je gebruikt biologisch is... Bij ons is goede stro (dus zonder pesticiden) moeilijk te vinden

[@GrownToCook]

Hoi Marjan, ook wij kunnen helaas niet aan biologische stro komen. Ik heb de afweging gemaakt tussen niet biologische stro en kale grond en denk dat (vooral met deze droogte en hitte) de grond zoveel te lijden heeft dat mulchen met een niet-ideaal materiaal beter is dan niet mulchen. We gebruiken ook andere materialen, zoals grasmaaisel, blad en zo voorts maar daar hadden we op dit moment niet genoeg van. Plus de stro is van een lokale boer op een kleine afstand van de tuin.

[@Waumalu]

About cucumbers. Why do some of them taste bitter? Is it the seeds, the sun, watering,....?

[@GrownToCook]

It seems that bitter cucumbers are a result of the plants being under stress (not enough nutrients or water, too much competition from there plants/weeds). I think munching should help here too!

[@perryleopold7555]

I like Nigela in the garden, however, it reseeds easily.

[@GrownToCook]

We'll see :)

[@ronaldandsusanshaws-growing]

👍👍👍

[@tiffcat1100]

💖😊💖

[@edcarlosribeiro2316]

🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👏👏👏BRazil São Paulo

[@notforwantoftrying1]

shaky camera is giving me motion sickness

[@GrownToCook]

Sorry about that - we are unfortunately no professional film makers, just doing our best :)