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Food Group -> A Black Isle Growing Guide	Message format

Agric

Posted 2010-03-26 22:08 (#51)
Subject: Growing guide content ideas

Veteran

Posts: 214
100

The purpose of the growing guide is to give people, especially locally, useful information about what they could grow and how to grow it. Think of it as an online gardening book geared towards The Black Isle and The Highlands.

We'll need to provide information on basic gardening techniques, local conditions, individual crops. Ideally there will be 3+ people doing the work of creating the guide's contents supported by an army of many local growers who contribute constructive criticism, ideas, specific information (like what varieties do well, what techniques work well).

If we do a good job it could become a unique resource to help people grow food in this part of Scotland and even become a template for other similar resources for transition and like minded organisations in UK and beyond.

Bold aims, I know. Possible, I'm sure. What we need is a small team of maybe 3 to 5 people who will create the content plus lots of others contributing their help through this forum.

A while back I sketched out the following list of contents. I'd like people to help improve it - I'm sure I've missed some important things, then we can try to impose a sensible structure on the information, then start creating it.

When I wrote this list there was a split between the theory and practical aspects (2. and 3.) to get a feel for training course content. These two sections should probably be merged together for this guide.

1. Black Isle specifics: soil, climate, weather, crops which benefit, crops which suffer

2. Basic Theory
- Plant requirements
- Space to grow
- Nutrients, fertilisers
- Sowing techniques (out, in, seedbed)
- Transplanting, + vs direct sowing
- Protected sowing & growing
- Watering
- Weeding
- Pests & diseases
- Crop rotation
- Soil management
- Compost, manure
- Continuity of supply
- Food all year round
- Crop storage, preservation
- Seeds: buying, storage, life, germination, saving
- Planning
- Growing calendars
- Propagation

3. Practical skills
- clearing new ground
- digging
- prep for sowing, planting
- seed beds
- sowing, planting, transplanting
- protected growing
- hoeing, weeding
- composting, manure, fertilisers
- thinning
- harvesting, storage
- seed saving

4. Specific crops, groups of crops. There will be lots of these!

maggie dove

Posted 2010-05-10 21:12 (#119 - in reply to #51)
Subject: RE: Growing guide content ideas

Regular

Posts: 85

I am currently having trouble with flea beetle attacking my brassica seedlings.
As far as I am aware the flea beetle only attacks the seed leaves and the suggested organic treatment is to spread thick grease on a piece of card and move it slowly over the seedlings about 3-4 inches above.
The disturbed beetles jump, and stick to the grease.
So if anyone else has this problem ??
I`ll let you know how they get on.

Agric

Posted 2010-05-10 22:15 (#120 - in reply to #119)
Subject: Flea beetle

Veteran

Posts: 214
100

That sounds like it might work OK, or something similar like fly paper or a coating of golden syrup. You might need to do several passes, worth trying different methods, times of day and weather. Could be a good experiment comparing methods etc. Will be very interested in what you find the best techniques.

Bad news is: flea beetles munch any small tender leaves, not just the seed leaves. But once the plant is big enough they are a near insignificant problem to it unless you have a veritable plague.

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