Green manure crop
The green manure crop of oats and peas, planted in May has now been returned to the earth. Rather than digging it in I prefer to cut it down. I use a brushcutter with a steel blade this gives a clean sharpe cut and leaves the grass long. By cutting it down the roots are retained in the soil and breakdown very quickly w hile the tops form mulch which protects the soil, holds in the m oisture all of which encourages the earthworms and micro organi sms. It is then treated with biodynamic barrel c ompost (also known as cow pat pit or ccp) This year I developed a home garden method of making th is so all biodynamic home gardeners can have their own supply. To use this I took 20grams of the barrel compost and stirred it (using the usual biodynamic method) in 5 litres of warm water for 20 minutes in the afternoon wh en the earth is breathing in. IN THE VEGIE GARDEN There are still good harvests of cabbage, turnips, carrots, celery, kale , broccoli, mustard greens, lettuce, mache, ...