2019 - !! GET GARDENING !! - 2019

Do you want to grow some tasty, healthy food?
Do you have access to even a tiny area of garden, greenhouse or conservatory?

Are you a complete beginner and would just like a bit of help to get started?
Are you a bit daunted by a patch of weeds or concrete?
Are you more experienced but just need a hand for a day or two to get started on a bigger part of your project?
Then get in touch! I'm available to help in and around Perth and charge £12.50 per hour. (I try to get blocks of at least four hours of work if possible). Phone, text or email: 07450 332 430 - ianecowatt@gmail.com

NEED ANY HELP?

Ruth and I have been delighted to find that all the experience we've picked up in our travels and work over the years on eco/permaculture projects, farms, small holdings and gardens around the UK and in Portugal is proving so useful now in and around Perth. The basic patterns of Nature's way are of course the same here in the city as they are half way up a mountain in Wales.

Fruit and nut area taking shape in Dundee

We've been getting pleasantly busy helping people with gardens of all shapes and sizes, ranging from small town gardens, to an allotment, to village gardens, (which tend to be that bit bigger), not forgetting lending a hand with Craig Barnett at the excellent Perth Community Farm

Perth Community Farm - inspiring stuff!

NEED ANY HELP?
We are delighted to give you whatever kind of help you need in your garden, whether it's with some of the heavier work, eg clearing veg beds of heavy weeds which can be a bit daunting on your own, or with advice on techniques and design, companion planting, biodynamics and so on, or just chatting over plans and ideas. A lot of my own work involves trees, whether it's woodwork for gardens or looking after fruit trees and orchards, or managing larger areas of woodland. Ruth is the one who knows more about individual plants, how to propagate them and what ones grow happily together. So do please get in touch if we can help at all! Text me: 07450 332 430 or email: ianecowatt@gmail.com

Back at the eco-edge!

I've just started giving a client a hand with his allotment in Dundee, and what a brilliant experience it's proving to be.

Brilliant Scottish inventiveness to be seen in shed construction here

There's about 80 allotments on the site, all of a decent size. A feature that stands out straight away is the wild variety of sheds, clad with everything from reclaimed wood to floor tiles, like finding yourself at the centre of the recycleverse. The site has been established for a long time with a kind of leaning towards annual veg crops and less in the way of fruit or perennials. My client wants to develop his permaculture and forest gardens ideas, slightly against the grain of the site committee, but all very dear to me and Ruth of course.

It's wonderful for us to find that all the practical experience we have gained in our eco travels can now be put to good use at what, to me, is the real cutting eco-edge, helping people to grow food in a sustainable way right in the heart of the city. We can tell people what works and what doesn't work, how to make the most of your time, energy and money, give tried and tested tips on keeping pests at bay, drop the odd idea into the process that may open a whole new understanding of working with Nature, and just put in a bit of vital energy when you're faced with a daunting amount of work at the beginning of a project. I'm looking forward to seeing the plot here flourishing into multi layered, natural abundance.

A less regimented style on one of the other Dundee plots, rather frowned on by the comittee...

Get gardening!

The weather seems to have changed here overnight. The snow and ice have vanished and we've had some wonderful weather, time to get gardening again...

This is a garden I'm helping with in a village just outside Perth. My client there already has lots of great stuff on the go but just wanted a bit of help and advice to develop what she's doing further. I've been explaining a few of the ideas of working with Nature which Ruth and I have seen work so well during our eco travels: biodynamics, forest gardening and permaculture. It's brilliant that these can be applied at all scales - if it works for a farm it will work in your garden.

One area we are going to develop is the section down by the wheelbarrow in the photo above. This looks like a prime area to me, it gets plenty of light and has a handy stretch of fence to support climbing plants. We've started a narrow no-dig bed there for peas and beans. There's room for a fruit tree or two, I suggested planting a couple of nut trees further along as well. (I think nut trees will become more and more important at all scales as we move away from mono-culture grains through choice and necessity...) I've suggested that the area around the trees will be perfect for perennials such as herbs and fruit bushes, making a mini forest garden effectively.
Finally, I've been meaning to post up this photo of Ruth with a giant parsnip back at Barmolloch for ages.

It's always great to have Ruth on hand for advice. She's the one who does all the reading; she'll read three or four books about a plant before growing it, taking a kind of average of all the information and mixing that with her own intuition. Whereas for me, it's no doubt a man thing, but reading a book or a manual is absolutely the last resort...