I've decided not to do a new not-GAMCOD plot after all this year; I just have too many projects on the go! Also I don't think I will be able to make it look very easy, as although not cold enough to qualify, my climate is still rather challenging! I thought I'd revisit my original GAMCOD strip from last year instead, and see if I can do better, and how much easier it is the second year.
First of course no real digging! The plot was just left overwinter with whatever weeds were left after the attempts at harvest last year. I was hoping to plant it up with some fruit bushes, but that hasn't happened. This is still the plan longer term, so one thing I have done is start to improve the edges to the plot. It was left with a step where the turf was cut away, which just bugs me! There is no particular reason though, there are advantages and disadvantages for the step: It's not really big enough to be a navigation hazard, but I prefer things to be smooth flowing. I cut another spade width of turf around the North edge of the strip and inverted it, inserting some comfrey roots transplanted from elsewhere in the field. These will grow vigorously enough to keep the grass away in a year or two and provide a border that can be cut for mulch handy for the bed. The underside of the turf was easy to ramp down with a stamp of my boot.
planting a comfrey mulch border
After planting my main potato bed I found I had quite a few potatoes left over (a mix of pink fir apple and 'Skye blue') so I stuck them in the North side of the bed - just scooped a spade of soil up on the bed and buried a potato in with a trowel. I can put some mulch on the top of them to help feed the soil a bit and pull the soil down to earth them up in a few weeks. In the basket with them are some nice silverweed roots which got stuck in as well.....
left over seed potatoes
I also planted some fava beans - these are seed that is getting a bit old now, but should be fine. Last year the mice had the lot before they grew, I think there are still some mice in the area, so I'm not sure whether these will survive, but the seeds won't grow in the packet and are a bit old to give away as gifts now, so nothing lost! I found a nice bent stick that was perfect for making bean planting holes.
handful of beans
I didn't even bother weed out the buttercups much - which I may live to regret! I haven't really got a plan as such, I'm just winging it, and hope to get an extra harvest for little effort.
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