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

PERMACULTURE!... Putting it into Practice

Maybe you've done some Permaculture study and reading and are now getting a bit overwhelmed by starting to put it into practice, or maybe you're well into a project but want to re-develop an aspect of it and have got bogged down in the detail... Or maybe you just need a bit of physical help with a daunting amount of work.
Either way, this is where Ruth and I love to help.
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
We've spent many years living, visiting and working on eco/permaculture projects, farms and gardens all over the UK and in Portugal and have now got a wealth of practical experience. We've made loads of mistakes! which is a particularly good thing, because we can help you avoid some of them yourselves...

Mistake 99 - taking on more than you have energy for. Ruth and I were actually thinking of developing that whole field behind us. We did do some interesting stuff with the two strips in the foreground though.

LITTLE AND LARGE
No project is too big or too small. Our clients' gardens range at the moment from a 8 foot by 3 foot patch to a vast walled garden, and we've planned for and worked on 100 acre farms, eco-villages, orchards and community gardens.
WOODLAND - THE CORE OF SUSTAINABILITY
My special interest is the woody aspect of a project, from planting trees, to renovating and managing orchards and woodland, setting up forest/woodland gardens, to making the things we need from local wood - not just raised beds and so on but also low impact housing homes and furniture.

Me at work on the verandah for the LogCabavan - it made a HUGE difference to have somewhere to sit outside

The LogCabavan itself, a static caravan clad with garden fence panels and insulated with waste plastic. The trusses for the extra roof are local poles and bits of palette

PRESERVING
Ruth is the one with the deeper knowledge of plants and also with the skills and experience for food preserving. Here in the UK we will do well to relearn these skills as soon as possible. With so much of food coming from abroad and are our local food yields coming mostly in quite a narrow part of the year, our food security is terribly fragile.

A shelf full of delicious jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles and the best maramalade ever - reminds me of my mum's larder

They may not taste of very much on their own, but courgettes/marrows absorb flavours brilliantly so are great for storing bulk

GET IN TOUCH!
So get in touch and see if we can help:
ianecowatt@gmail.com
07450 332 430

A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2018 TO ALL!

Ruth and I are happily settled in to our new home in Perth and looking forward to getting gardening in and about the Fair City.
JANUARY - PRUNING
If you're lucky enough to have a fruit tree or two, this is generally a good time to give them any pruning they need. I mostly come across trees that have been long neglected but find that even trees that haven't been cared for in years respond really well to the attention, coming back to abundant fruity life.

Pruning a damson tree back in the orchard we renovated at Treflach Farm - more about fruit trees and orchards here

In a year or two they can be providing you with crates of delicious, accessible fruit. Pruning can deal with any dead, damaged and diseased limbs and it's an opportunity to reshape and thin out entangled branches.
If you find yourself with fruit trees to look after I'd be delighted to work with you and show you what to do, the tools you need etc, or can just do some renovation work for you, do please get in touch.
MAKING A START
And January is also a great month to get started if you're planning to grow some veg and herbs. If you have a bit of turfy-weedy ground you're going to develop you can make life easier for yourself by laying down a cardboard mulch and compost in a no-dig system now and getting your patch ready before everything's goes crazy in Spring.

Starting a no-dig patch on my allotment down Brighton way. N.B. You still have to do some digging. Also, the carpet's just a temporary cover but the cardboard stays and rots away.

Then you cover the cardboard with compost and plant through it - this is used mushroom compost which worked really well. The sawn-off bottles work like mini greenhouses.

And here's one I did earlier... It's just magic to see the first shoots of your plants coming up

Again, I'd be delighted to show you what you to do and work with you a bit to help to get you going.
Just think about all that delicious, healthy, un-plastic-wrapped food you're going to be harvesting.... and do please get in touch :-)

mobile: 07540 332 430    email: ianecowatt@gmail.com