VEG GEEK NEWSLETTER
The Day's best hand-picked ideas, tips to better grow your own Vegs;
and meet people you should know.
Friday, 2nd September, 2022
The Day’s hand-picked ideas, tips to better grow Vegs, and meet people you should know.
Share this Edition Tweet | Facebook
1
I’ll ketchup with you later
"The day I dream of is the day when I lay down in bed, and I close my eyes, and I think to myself, ‘I ate nothing but tomatoes today.’ I fall asleep, and that’s all I think of." — This is an exciting period for many gardeners - it’s Passata making weekends! Learn here more about growing more of what you love.
2
Nothing fishy about this small business
"Land use and agriculture are really important subjects which we at Bedfordshire Climate Change Forum keep coming back to. How could Bedfordshire feed itself...? Sustainably, without chemical inputs, minimising land use, creating affordable crops for the local market?" — We need your support for Luke’s Crowfunder to raise £35,000 to launch his project. Get involved and learn along - you might even want to launch your own Aquaponics project in your garden!
3
Discovering Music In A Container Garden
"Like many people during the pandemic, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Shapiro suddenly found herself at home staring at an empty calendar. To fill the time, she turned her attention to decorating the unattractive cement spaces outside her home. One potted plant led to another and another, and they grew into a gardening obsession which, at first, seemed so different from her jazz roots. But the deeper she dug into gardening, the more she discovered that nature held lessons that transposed beautifully into music. Lizzy’s garden changed not just the view outside her home, but also her view of the world" — This is a soothing podcast to take the time to reflect on the benefits of your garden, observe and see how to transpose what you learn gardening in other parts of your life. and of course do listen to her album at the same time.
4
Celery-brate this Weekend
+ What to job: that’s it, nearly the end of the summer but there is much to do in the garden still for this season and start preparing next season; in particular to sow leafy greens for the winter. Get your checklist!
+ What to Watch: In this fast paced world we live in, is it possibble to eat vegan on the go? Try those 10 vegan fast food options in this documentary.
+ What to Listen: “Which fruit and veg thrive in heatwaves? RHS veg growing experts Guy Barter and Matthew Oliver discuss what our record-breaking summer has taught us about the fruit and veg we can grow in the UK climate. BBC Gardeners' World presenter Frances Tophill shares her advice on getting the best from your houseplants. Jenny Berger, a researcher at the University of Reading, offers insight into how houseplants can improve our wellbeing - busting a few myths along the way.” Get the podcast.
+ What to Read: “The Bio-Integrated Farm is a twenty-first-century manual for managing nature s resources. This groundbreaking book brings system farming and permaculture to a whole new level. Author Shawn Jadrnicek presents new insights into permaculture, moving beyond the philosophical foundation to practical advanced designs based on a functional analysis. Holding his designs to a higher standard, Jadrnicek s components serve at least seven functions (classical permaculture theory only seeks at least two functions). With every additional function a component performs, the design becomes more advanced and saves more energy. A bio-integrated greenhouse, for example, doesn t just extend the season for growing vegetables; it also serves as a rainwater collector, a pond site, an aquaponics system, and a heat generator. Jadrnicek s prevalent theme is using water to do the work. Although applicable in many climates, his designs are particularly important for areas coping with water scarcity”.
What a great knowledge shared in this book - it will get you to reconsider the design of your garden and likely spot opportunities for more “functions” that you have been missing on. Grab your copy of The Bio-Integrated Farm and Home: A Revolutionary Permaculture-Based System Using Greenhouses, Ponds, Compost Piles, Aquaponics, Chickens, and More
5
Never a dill moment
Why eating microgreens?: "My wife and son love to watch the Food Network together. They’re always looking for new foods and new ways to cook. One Saturday afternoon, they called me to watch an episode about cooking with microgreens. There were many recipes using microgreens—soups, bruschetta, burgers, and salads. The host had a special guest, a doctor who talked about the high nutrition content of microgreens and the potential to help prevent chronic diseases. But at the show’s end, I was still asking, “Why eat microgreens?" — Andrew’s post highlights some of benefits of Microgreens: from increased nutrients uptake to fighting chronic diseases, reducing heart disease, fighting cancer, healthier eyes, improving digestion (you still should eat fully grown Vegs as well for more fiber) and lowering cholesterol. Grow Microgreens at home to get those benefits!
+ Nearly time to get back to school: "Outside-the-box hydroponic teachings and “Awkward Aquaponics: Cole Hintz provides hands-on teachings for big-picture learning and his educational YouTube channel Awkward Aquaponics showcases various types of hydroponic and aquaponic systems that students use at Strathmore High School in Alberta, Canada. This includes; deep water culture, drip emitter systems (ZipGrow), aquaponics, and most recently, a passive solar off-grid greenhouse dome. The videos also focus on how students get involved and the value of STEM teachings." — While Zipgrow often get a bad reputation for being too aggressively commercial, they also do invest much in supporting education and spreading the critical knowledge that will be needed to feed our growing populations and reducing resources. Check out Cole’s cool work with kids!
+ Experiment with Comfrey: "Growing comfrey is easy. Maybe too easy. Rather than asking how to grow comfrey, the better question may be how to stop comfrey from taking over your garden!" — Do an experiment to better fertilise your soils: take 2 plants (in particular fruit trees, grape vines, etc.) and plant comfrey at the base of one of them. Enjoy the results! ;)
6
Turnip the volume
From competition to co-operation: "Interplants - This method highlights the best of No Dig and I use it as much as I can. It still amazes me how I can put little seedlings between strongly growing and almost mature plants, and the new little seedlings grow so well. I was brought up with the belief in competition! Turns out it’s cooperation." — Read more on Charles Dowding’s progress in August and the work ahead in September to prepare the winter growing season.
+ "There’s still plenty to harvest this month including beans and courgettes, autumn raspberries and other berries should be plentiful too. Pumpkins should be swelling nicely, deepening in colour ready for harvesting from next month onwards." — There is much more work to do in your garden in September - it’s tempting to skip some of those tasks and enjoy the end of the summer. Consider you are investing for the winter.
Thank you as always for tuning in. If you're enjoying Veg Geek's newsletter, would you mind forwarding this issue to a friend?
Keep Growing-
Anthony - Veg Geek