Where there's muck

Growing fruit and vegetables on the west coast of Scotland is always a bit of a challenge.  A big advantage is that in early summer its daylight from 5am till 10 even 11pm but sadly its not always sunny and warm.

The weather  is so unpredictable and a cool wet week or two can sweep in and settle upon us at any time.   This can play havoc with germination and also seriously disadvantages the chances of survival for young plants in their battle with slugs.

Having spent years trying to control slugs with beer traps and torchlight night patrols I have given up and now grow most things outside by starting them off inside and planting them out as plugs in everything from loo roll cores, root trainers, plastic modules and mini pots home made from old newspapers. In my experience, well grown vigourous young plants can generally out grow the attacks of slugs.




Cool loving vegetables such as potatoes generally
 like living and growing and growing in Lochaber. As you can see from the picture 2010 was no exception.

But the key ingredient to success on the croft is the abundance of muck. Every day from sometime in October to sometime in May (when the cow and followers are in their sheds) 50 or so kg on finest cow muck is shovelled up and barrowed about the croft. Some is built into big piles for slow maturation, some is spread over bare ground to suppress weeds, be worked on by worms and turned into the ground in spring and so on. And some plays an important role in the polytunnel,  for it is used to fill the raised beds each year with fresh manure. In the shallower beds where salads, onions, leeks, beetroot, leaf beat and carrots etc. are grown six inches or so is burried under twice as much of last years muck which, a year later, is well rotted compost. The deeper beds have all their old compost removed for use elsewhere and are refilled to the top with fresh manure. 4-6 months later early potatoes and then tomatoes, cucumbers and corgettes/marrows are planted out into a pocket of old compost made in the now composting manure.   The pictures right above show how in 12 months fresh manure turns to worm rich compost.

In the polytunnel the manure/compost is not leached by high  rainfall and breaks down quicker in the higher temperatures while all its goodness and moisture retention properties enhance plant growth a well earned reward for all that barrowing.