Veganic gardening - its that time again

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Zippy

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Veganic gardening - its that time again
« on: October 20, 2009, 00:41 »
Its that time of year again when everyone goes daft and strips their plots bare, heaping their spent green vegetation into a heap and setting fire to it with paraffin and fire blocks. Earth which once bore the fruits of the year now stripped bare and exposed to the elements.

Then the digging frenzy begins as bare earth is chopped up and thrown around, killing hundreds of earthworms and bringing weed seeds into the light to compete with next year's veggies. Water retained in the settled soil layers is thrown into the air to evaporate away.

And then the conveyor belt of heaving and complaining gardeners begins, wheeling endless barrows of animal muck from farm and stable and shop and field. Hope its not ammo contaminated - no way to know until next year.  Radox make another killing as countless allotmenteers rest their aching sprained backs in the copious depths of hot mineral waters.

As I stand at my plot, lush with green manures which I sprinkled only last week from a packet in my pocket and I look forward to another year of succulent, rich veggies from my undisturbed soil, tilled and tunnelled by my immense armies of undisturbed earthworms and minibeasts - I can't help feeling (in a nice way) - You're all mad you are!  :D

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DD.

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2009, 02:08 »
No Zippy - we are not all mad.

Please have the grace not to tar us all with the same brush you use on your neighbours.

Your posting I'm sure will not sit well with a lot of members of this forum who employ different gardening techniques to you with good effect.

You would not expect other members to criticise your methods, please have the courtesy to respect the way of others.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2009, 02:31 by DD. »
Did it really tell you to do THAT on the packet?

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Zippy

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2009, 08:21 »
DD - my apologies if my posting was out of hand or hurtful. It was certainly not meant to be. It was actually meant to be a celebration of the diverse and often somewhat eccentric ways we have as a collective group of gardeners with as many ways of bringing the best out of our plots as there are people, and I celebrate that.

I personally have strong viewpoints about disrupting the soil structure and that will have come out of my posting, but I also know many gardeners who swear by digging the whole plot annually and get wonderful crops year on year and that is great, but what I find amusing is that one gardener fills their car with manure and sweats and strains to bucket great loads of stuff onto their plot at this time of year while others sprinkle a packet of green manure seeds. Both are equally right; just an observation.

My comments were meant to be humerous, tongue in cheek and yes - a little bit contraversial. After all, the beds need turning over once a year do they not?

I am sorry if my posting is not received in good humour. Please remove it if it offends, but sometimes it is good to have an injection of controversy to keep a forum alive and lively.

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Leedsniner

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2009, 08:41 »
Zippy is quite right in many of his assertions. Once you have got your beds sorted then much of the work will be done by natural means. Like most people I dig in a little compost from my heap - almost natural , except that it rotted down a few yards away from where it is now dug in. The more compost you add the more the worms like it!

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gillie

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2009, 08:48 »
I took Zippy's original posting as a good humoured way of asking "why do all this hard labour?"

I am not veganic - I have a good quantity of horse manure to recycle - but I increasingly wonder what digging is for.

Cheers,

Gillie

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2009, 09:07 »
I didn't even know what veganic meant!  But yes, I too took it a bit tongue in cheek.  I'd love to sprinkle a packet of green manure and let nature do its work, but then what do I do with the piles of chicken poops I get every time I clean out my coops and my overf ull compost heap!  Still takes a lot of digging.

You were on a bit early there DD????

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Nobbie

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2009, 09:23 »
I like digging  :tongue2: Great exercise and very satisfying to see a well turned over plot at the end of the season. My new plot definately needed it as it's heavy clay and you could smell the rotting organic matter that didn't have enough air to break down properly. Each to their own :)

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Ivah

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2009, 09:30 »
When I read posts like this it brings to mind a couple of things. Historians will tell you the adoption of the plough is an early sign of civilisation. The cultivation of crops via the tilling of the earth was developed by subsistence farmers who spent all their time trying to stay alive. The work involved wasn't done for fun or to pass the time of day, if it wasn't effective it wouldn't have been done.
'Nullius in verba' - 'Take nobody's word for it'

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gillie

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2009, 09:47 »
The first thing that any agriculturist or gardener has to do is get on top of perennial plants that occupy the space he wants to cultivate (we call them 'weeds').  That certainly takes some digging.

Then he has to provide a tilth which his seeds can prosper in.  That may take digging, but with successive cultivations it becomes less necessary.  So why go on doing it?  'Turning the soil over' is not an answer - why does soil constantly need turning?

Cheers,

Gillie

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robbodaveuk

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2009, 10:38 »
I personally didn't find the post offensive. I thought it quite humorous and poetically written, not as a criticism, but as an observation from his own point of view. I think the last line put the post into it's proper perspective.

'I can't help feeling (in a nice way) - You're all mad you are!'  

By the way, I am that gardener, except I don't murder worms with a spade, I use a fork.

  Robbo.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2009, 10:40 by robbodaveuk »
If at first you don't succeed, maybe failures your thing.
Don't take life so seriously, it isn't permanent.
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WirralWally

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2009, 11:27 »
Well done, Zippy.
A humorous and poetic post that will certainly promote discussion.

If I was a wordsmith and made a similar post, the aim would have purely been to poke a stick into the ants nest and get everyone's opinion.

Making a simple statement such as 'this is how I grow my onions' or 'this is how I support my runner beans' would have got as many responses as everyone promotes their own (and thereby the ONLY) 'proper' way of doing things.

This thread will quickly go downhill if people start to take themselves or their opinions too seriously.
I certainly don't think that Zippy was doing that nor did he expect others to fall into such a trap.
The successes and failures of each year keep me motivated for the following year.

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poppies

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2009, 11:47 »
Hi I was'nt offended thought it was funny,  even if it does sound like have written it about me

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crh75

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #12 on: October 20, 2009, 12:22 »
I have a very heavy soil so a deap dig is really needed to break it up and improve the drainage.

I thought green manures were best for lighter sandy soil, do people agree with that?

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RichardA

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #13 on: October 20, 2009, 12:29 »
I am with DD, I employ a wide variety of techniques, sometimes I dig because I like digging. I think I do very well -- very rarely do we or our childrens families buy any veg. I very rarely use any chemical interventions other than lime and I love nature in all its forms and moods.
However I think others are entitled to do things their way as I am entitled to do it mine. Criticism that is not constructive is offensive.
R

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8doubles

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Re: Veganic gardening - its that time again
« Reply #14 on: October 20, 2009, 13:39 »
I am very far from being a vegan but have to admit (grudgingly) that Zippys post made a lot of sense , a lot of the gardening we do is just for the sake of the doing. :D



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