Stephen Smyth

hi , just started to get serious about grafting and i came  across this book  , manual of worldwide temperate zone - fruit & nut tree rootstocks completed & editied by lowell corda. Would anybody know where i could borrow,buy or copy via pdf, or maybe recommend  another book of the same calibre . Thanks Stephen

Hi, i have found it difficult to reproduce sloe from suckers , especially  when  removed via the parents umbilical cord, the sucker has hardly any fibrous roots, i have lifted many as trials. I  presently  have scraped a small ring of bark, plus coat with rooting powder and closed inside a 5ltr container with good compost, keep moist, and bury.   Open after a year to see if rooted and then detach from parent.  I mention this in case you buy suckers without the fibrous roots .                                                                                        I have grafted sloe scion wood to other prunus rootstocks st julian, prunus avium, etc. There was a nursery in the isle of wright uk that was selling grafted sloes. For us they have bud break as its warming up, we live in ireland.  For next year i do not mind sending you scion wood, but you will have to pay for all the red tape. If you sow your seeds and graft to an established prunus/plum , you probably could have fruit in 5/6yrs.   hope this is some help, Stephen

hi, we have been running a horticultural  4 acre smallholding on the west coast  of Ireland for 33yrs .This has certainly opened ours eyes, markets,production,the elusive crops and especially weather, then and now, obviously more importantly the future. We had scorch this year on our 100yr old crab apples. A couple of years ago we came to France for a few weeks, with the same idea as yourselves, only  in reverse .If  any information from our coal face can help you please send a message and we can take it from there. Stephen

hi, just wondering if anybody has a read an article  comparing  the different methods of preserving and  measured the available nutrients before and after, specifically  all soft fruit, rosa rugosa, elderberries, hawthorne ,apples and maybe afew examples of green vegetables ,kale, sprouts,carrots.There are obviously lots of different methods, i am  interested in alcohol and fermenting.  Thanks, Stephen

Hi. Just wondering if anybody has grown or is growing a commerical crop of blackthorn , prunus spinosa either  on there own authentic roots or grafted  and could help advise on there management. We run a small market garden in Eire and would like to expand and learn about native wild fruit . There are a few in our existing hedges  which we  cherish. Thanks Stephen

hi, all our beds are raised by 7" min , probably upwards of 2 x acres. They range from 85 ft long - 130 ft x 5 ft average width ,the maximum you can comfortably reach to pick from either side without standing on the bed. can you prolong the growing season , interesting question with loads of variables . Our range of beds are inside polytunnels and out in the open field.  In direct answer to your question i would say yes both in the autumn and spring, BUT !!!, the objective  is to remove as much rainfall as possible, it freezes, water-logs,rots ,leaches nurtrients, and generally slows growth down. We can always replace water via irrigation . In the spring and autumn we have designed a comprehensive cloche system that keeps the rainfall to a minimum and pushes the water into the paths. Most of the beds face East-West. Once the soil and air temp drops below 8  centigrade, growth is seriously effected. The art is to keep the crop alive until the soil warms.  Without all of the above i doubt we would be picking in the spring. The cloche also greatly deflects the wind which can reach gale force. We have over wintered delicate salad crops for over 15 yrs and unless the cloche falls down with 3 x days of gales, we are always the first back to market. It may sound big headed but the idea has required many man hours of labour  and bad language to prefect. The west coast of Eire in winter is difficult.

Mike Haasl wrote:A question for the Doctor (or anyone else for that matter).  If I want to save summer coffee grounds for composting in the winter, how could I do that?  Could I dry them on a tarp and then store them?  Or would they lose their goodness?

hi, we grow small scale salad crops on the west coast of eire. Twice a week after deliveries we collect used coffee grinds from our clients in 16 litres recycled buckets with a sealed lid, this is very important. I have used the grinds up to a year later and 98% of sealed buckets are as though we picked them up last week. High season we may collect upwards of 320 litres per week. I try to stock pile, we could use 35 x full buckets per raised bed, when we are changing crops. I also used white IBC tanks(they hold 1xcubic meter), cut in half, punctured bottom for drainage,up on a pallet and in a tunnel over the winter. By spring maybe 2xmonths the grinds had been completely comsumed by airborne mycelium, making them a solid mass and difficult to us . I always make sure the buckets are full allowing very little air space in storage. We also utilise 10 x cubic meters IBC tanks as wormeries  , also collecting food waste(no meat) and see no need is composting coffee grinds, although it can be useful in holding a worm culture from one IBC to another. I hope this helps.

Hi, we are market gardeners on the west coast of Ireland and have been for the last 30 years.  We have noticed a steady increase in the length of winter over the last few years and an increase in winter storms/winds.  The window each year in which we can make a living from growing and being financially independent grows smaller each year.    We've gotten to the stage where we are seriously considering moving further south.  And so to the question we wish to ask.  Is there anyone here who has first hand knowledge (such as long term experience of growing a variety of crops and whose livelihood depends on the weather) of the climate in the south west  region of France near to the coast?  Certain meteorological web pages, in my opinion, filter climate change statistics.  I feel someone on the cold face would be more helpful to me.  Or is there anybody out there with similar thoughts or who are on the same page?