Mid June- things are very slow, it's the coldest spring in many decades

It feels like the Little Ice Age
And it has been raining, raining, and raining. It is the coldest June in many decades, after the coldest May for a long time. Guess that it is almost late June and the dandelions are only now starting to bloom, as well as the daffodils and tulips!

With an average daily temperature of 10ºC for the past weeks, I cannot hope for a bountiful harvest.

In fact, everything is growing slow, except perhaps the peas in the huegelkultur, the volunteer kale seedlings from last year self-seeding plants, and for oats and barley grown in the backyard of my house, in a place sheltered from the winds, but not that much sunny.

Potatoes are just sprouting, as are the sunchokes. I have no idea whether their harvest is going to be a fine one, with such a short season ahead.

Same for beets, carrots and salads. I had to buy larger transplants, because the ones I had were still tiny.

Last year the squash was already giving fruits by mid May. This year it hasn't even flowered in June!

Guess this is what people endure through the climate of the little ice age, when rivers froze in winter in Europe and fairs were held in such solid frozen rivers. In iceland, famines were frequent as oats, rye and even potatoes were complicate to grow. What can you eat in such conditions other than fish? Of course, animals do also grow, but only if there is an effort of providing them enough food and this summer food grown in such crazy climate must be stored for the 9 month winter ahead, when no food is available.

An explosion of color
The good news is the explosion of color in the many newly planted tulips and daffodils.

The cherry tree is blossoming, so perhaps I could have some cherries this autumn. That is a big unknown.

Cherry blossoms. The hope for the first cherries this far inland in Iceland (and still outdoors).

The siberian tomato is also flowering, and that is a major improvement over the experiments with conventional varieties last year, but the painted mountain corn still looks stalled in growth. The same goes for many small trees in containers outdoors, beans, the groundnuts outdoors, the asparagus, the maca, and the chinese yams.

Seedballs
Some of the nice experiments include tossing seedballs around, and tossing seeds in unprepared soil beds and seeing what happens there (especially under such chilly summer).

Basically the layout out there is still the same: 8 m2 of grain, 4m2 of potatoes, 3m2 of broad beans and peas, 1m2 of broccoli, spring onions and garlic, 1m2 of turnip and swedes, 1m2 of pak choy, leeks, carrots and walking onions. I haven't planted much of anything else except for a few perennials and some experiments.

The 6m2 of grain in the picture is growing nicely, despite being mostly shade. But the climate has been very cloudy, rainy and chilly. The question is: how strong will this harvest be?

More updates, in gardening in the 2013's year without summer, in soon

Early June - Summer moods, rushing towards growth

A quite cold summer weather
Finally summer has arrived after a freezing April and a very wet and cool May. We had continuously rain in the last few weeks and cool weather (always around 10ºC). But now the first days of sun and warm weather (up to 20ºC) are just starting!

Colorful Flower edges
I planted many flowers outside, lining the edge of the garden beds, to make it beautiful and attract wildlife and repel pests. Mostly pansies and tagetes! Besides that, we just have also an explosion of color from all the tulips and other spring bulbs planted last October!

Fritilaria

Tulips

Flower edges!

Experiments outdoors
I transplanted out (to the garden soil) the cold resistant varieties of painted mountain corn and siberian tomatoes. They are doing fine even with cool weather.

I also planted many perennials outside (the siberian pea, good king henry, indian ricegrass, crambe, and groundnut). I transplanted out the sunflowers (one dwarf variety is doing much better than the common one), and I am about to transplant out also the squash, melon and watermelon. I digged holes and put a lot of compost and seaweed on them. But these plants are sown quite late. Guess the most important thing about gardening in Iceland is growing the strongest possible transplants until early June, when it's time to plant out.

This is the sheltered spot, south oriented, where broad beans and rye grow stronger,  and where we planted siberian tomatoes and painted mountain corn.

Speaking about seaweed, it has been a party of fertility on the garden. Last summer I refrained of adding any ammendments because I wanted to see how far non-input I could go in my garden with poor soil. This year I am building heavily on the fertility side, with seaweed I picked from the coast some 50km away, and plenty of compost, green manure from the rampant lupins, and of course, the experiments with huegelkultur. Actually, many vegetables seem to thrive way better in huegelkultur than in normal garden beds.

The best thing outdoors has been really the discovery of our self-seeding kale and pak choi last summer. I let those plants flower last year and drop all their seed back into the garden beds. Now I have literally a thick forest of kale volunteer seedlings everywhere in the garden, even spreading across the nearby lawn! The pak choi is not pure variety, it seems rather a mix of turnip and pak choi. The intention now is to create an even further self-sustaining garden.

A forest of kale seedlings, growing wildly. This is Fukuoka's farming!

Finally, we have our newest flowering cherry tree, "Stella" self-fertile variety, growing outdoors still in a container. Hopefully, we will have cherries this year. At least that's one of our main goals.

Experiments indoors

Indoors I transplanted a lot of quinoa, into medium size containers, and it's doing great because I added there plenty of compost, branches and a mix of sand and rocks to provide good drainage. And I just move them outdoors because quinoa seems to need cool temperatures in order to flower and set seed.

Quinoa growing very happy, with cool weather and a fertile soil

But I am still failing with amaranth. I know now that the spider mites and mice are to blame. I also had to took the corn and millet outdoors to prevent the spider mites. It's also because I haven't been watering my indoor plants as much as I should, so the room atmosphere is rather dry. Best to have a moist environment to grow your plants indoors.

Other than the thriving tiger nuts, I have not so much to report from indoors. I am moving almost everything outdoors this summer.

Community garden

We planted a lot of vegetables there, mostly using companion planting and mulching. There were also a lot of colorful flowers there and a small emphasis in perennials (such as asparagus, chives, strawberries walking onions, raspberries, rhubarb). Today we chose a perfect spot, the most sheltered one, and we planted the painted mountain corn, squash and siberian tomatoes there, with plenty of compost and a wooden wall, to provide extra shelter.

Beautiful flowers!

Pansies and tagetes, lining the garden edges

Less known tulips

Beautiful color now in our garden!

General perspective of the garden

Daffodils, also coming into bloom

More to come in soon!

Late May - Spring has finally arrive but its a rainy one!

Hello everyone,

May has been a much expected month. After a mild winter, almost without snow or freezing temperatures, March and April had the worst to come, with severe freezes without snow cover and a few blizzards. But May has seen mostly mild temperatures, the first half was very sunny, mild afternoons but with plenty of night frosts, with some days with very windy and drying causing loss of many seedlings, whilst the second half of May has been very rainy, with a general lack of sunshine.

Still, we have the first flowers of the year: crocus and tulips. Very late for their normal flowering time.

The first tulips. They flowers last only a short time because of the rainy and windy weather

Losing seedlings for birds, drying winds and minor frosts
The broad beans and peas have been growing nicely, as well as the different grain crops (barley, oats, rye and perennial rye and wheat). Birds sometimes cause trouble when they go digging stuff for their nests, and sometimes eating seedlings of leeks or peas. How to keep them away? I don't know yet, but the fleece or the cold frame seems to be the best solution.

The seedlings of walking onions, spring onions, leeks, pak choy and kale, have endured the first few weeks after transplant outdoors, under a fleece. However many seedlings (about a third of them) having been lost for ocasional harder frosts or during strong and very drying cold winds. I also lost about a third of the garlic that has rotten during the last two very wet weeks!

The multiplier onions and chives are doing great but they surely cry for warmer and sunnier weather. I have gathered some wood to build a raised bed and cold frame, in our garden beds, but I am not sure how it will end up. Even after decades of experience, I am still an impractical and inefficient gardener. Still I have lots of fun developing skill mistake after mistake. This is my sobering conclusion.

The salads have been a total failure when sown outdoors. Often seedlings dry during windy winds (even if I water them twice a day), then birds mess up with the soil and eat the remaining seedlings. One solution was to grow salads in trays first indoors, then outdoors.

Perennial hopes
I am now very excited to try perennial crops, rather unconventional, just to overcome the troubles of having to grow always every year, plants from seed trays, which is a lot of work! These are the key for a self-sustainable garden in the Icelandic climate. This is an extremely important insight. Basically, these will be roots like scorzonera, multiplier onions, chives, walking onions, groundnut and chinese yams; pulses like the siberian pea and honey locust; cereals like perennial rye, ricegrass and lyme grass; greens like miner lettuce, good king henry, asparagus, perennial broccoli and crambe; and a few fruit trees and berries.

Experiments outdoors
The big attraction is planned to be the painted mountain corn and siberian tomatoes, but will also include food production from sunflowers, squash and cold tolerant varieties of watermelon and melon. Second is trying to keep the trees I am growing since last year (mulberries, pecan nut, honey locust, etc). These trees were not enjoying being indoors (too warm temperatures, pests, messing up with their natural cycles), so I moved them outdoors but they were burnt during frosty winds, but are still alive. I also bought a 3 year old and flowering "Stella" cherry tree (that I will place in the most sheltered and warmest spot in the garden); its a big gamble whether or not we will be able to have cherries this summer; I also have plenty of flowers ready to plant outdoors (mostly viola, tagetes, clematis), and plenty of turnips and swedes. Some plants will surely be a failure but with so much diversity something will probably work!

Moving the cold frame around protects young seedlings from birds and cold drying winds

Experiments indoors
The largest bets are for several varieties of millet, teff, trying to get an harvest from quinoa, having a larger harvest of amaranth; as well as the experiments with pigeon peas and jícama. The best growing plants are the tiger nuts, turmeric and passionfruits (I have one plant flowering and even setting the first fruit, after 2 years from seed), the worst were the lima and winged beans lost recently for spider mites. Complicated is also to keep the macas, good king henry and chenopodium paudicaule (the non-saponin quinoa) past the seedling stage. I got a new variety of ocas after losing the ones planted in late winter (basically to a lack of sunlight and aphids). I also have stone age wheat, ready to transplant outdoors.

Community garden
Here at Sólheimar we are proud of continuing our new project, a community garden that will also be based in organic and permaculture principles. We planted raspberries, red clover and mints the other day, in addition to the spring flowers already there, as well as cherry and apple trees that survived since planted last autumn. I hope to carry a few perennials from my garden to the community garden, which will be labelled to any visitor interested in discovering them. As well as some of the broad beans and cereals.

More to follow in soon.

Mid May - cereals, legumes and other permaculture species have survived freezing weather!

Hello everybody!

The freezing weather has just ended!

Spring has arrived!
In fact it has lasted on and off since mid March until the first days of May, with about 3 separate periods lasting about a week, where the temperature dropped to almost -15ºC at night, for a few days in a row. And the first day of May marked a record low of -14ºC for May since records began. But in the last week, we had temperatures almost always above zero, and a mix of sunny spring days and rainy cool days.

Spring has finally arrived in Iceland. Crocus start flowering.

The broad and beans under just a double fleece and a black plastic sheet, have nearly all survived! Fleece rules! Sometimes I lost up to 10% of the seedlings during those freezing spells, but then I planted new ones. These will be indeed a selection of the most cold hardy seedlings I could ever have! And now they thrive!

Inside the cold frame, peas have survived several deep freezes. And we have now planted many more crops!

The perennial rye, hulless oats, spring onions, garlic, multiplier onions and broccoli, also survived under such a protection. This ought have been the most challenging spring gardening I have ever had!

Broad beans and perennial rye have survived deep freezes, under a fleece. Notice the moss mulching that ensures survival during a severe freeze.

Cereal party!
I planted finally a field of 4 types of cereals: perennial rye, hulless oats, hulless barley and kamut wheat. And some rows of pak choy, walking onions, red siberian kale and carrots (sown). I planted a plot 2m by 3m, enough for 15 days of grain for a person.

Our cereal bed for a 1 month grain harvest. It has hulless oats, perennial rye, hulless barley and kamut wheat

Fleece covering the cereal bed. When weather is very cold, one of two plastic layers were put over it.

Everything seems nice outdoors, although the awakening of plants is just starting and slowly. I therefore moved all my tree seedlings outdoors since they were in such bad shape or still asleep, while growing indoors.


Indoors
I have now ready a large amount of seedlings of more brassicas, onions, beets, celery, fennel, turnips, and less known species such as scorzoneras, the siberian tomatoes, the painted mountain corn (both tolerant of frost and snow), the perennial species of multiplier onions and walking onions, and more warm loving crops such as squash, watermelon, sunflower and quinoa.

Often I lost seedlings that become weak due to improper soil or watering or insect pests or unnatural temperature.

One thing is sure, growing plants indoors is a lot more effort, due to the unnatural growing conditions of a greenhouse, especially for most species which are more used to temperate climates.

Growing seedlings indoors, requires a lot of sunlight. A thin transparent plastic creates extra moisture, and then you don't need to water as much.

A renewed wish for perennial crops....
But growing outdoors is a lot of work! So I have been thinking more lately of slowly introducing more perennial species as food staples, for the cold climate outdoors, rather than the common annual crops that demand so much effort and attention!

These will be: siberian pea, honey locust, mesquite; groundnut, chinese yams and arrowhead; scorzonera, skirret, perennial onions, good king henry, crambe, perennial broccoli, indian ricegrass and perennial rye.

Apios americana, groundnut. I think this can be a good potato-like crop to grow in Iceland.  They are very cold hardy, when dormant (the aereal part dies in winter). They have survived -15ºC without snow cover.

 

Chinese yams are another hardy perennial root crop to grow (experimentally) in Iceland. Their "tropical" like leaf growth stands minor frosts.

Tiger nuts produce plenty of tasty tiny tubers. They are frost sensitive,  but easy to grow; they are a perfect indoor crop.

Bean troubles
Another sad topic has been the infestation of beans with red spider mites that devastated my lima beans, red beans and winged beans. I thought it was a viral disease or a nutrient defficiency, but apparently the cause for their demise was just spider mites, due to low humidity.

The lima bean crop was severely damaged. A nutrient deficiency? A virus disease? Spider mites? Irregular watering?

Quinoa, amaranth and chenopodium
These were affected by root rot and also something eating the seedlings. But I am protecting the containers and having a lot of them, just to assure that I will have some crop saved. However, these crops are way better to be started outdoors, if the climate would allow.

Survivors of cold! 
The painted mountain corn survives well an ocasional frost outdoors, down to -3ºC, just as well as the siberian tomato. The chinese yam, good king henry, crambe and maca, also survive well minor frosts.

Normal corn is severely damaged by minor frosts (left), while painted mountain corn is fine (center). Siberian tomato has survived several minor frosts and shows new growth, despite minor leaf burn.

I will keep more updates in soon. Especially new videos!

Early May - videos showing the latest permaculture updates!

I did another set of videos on the latest updates of our indoor and outdoor garden!

Part I. Beans, siberian tomatoes, quinoa, lima beans, rocotto pepper, corn salad, winged beans, groundnuts, almond tree, jícama, teff, yams, mulberry, squash, corn, scorzonera, and other crops

Part II. On a cold freezing day in late April, broad beans and peas grow under a cold frame, while a few other perennial species remain dormant. I also show a few tulips coming, our cereals plot, our newly made huegelkultur and also kitchen compost.

Late April 2013 - freezing weather persists in Iceland

A very cold spring!
Things are more hard than in previous years. This spring is surely very cold. Still no sign of spring, snow every few days, hard frosts every morning, and sometimes freezing nights down to -10ºC.

This, and a series of failures, made me write what is probably the most pessimist post of this blog in recent times.

Grains
I also lost plenty of the rye I have sown, but thankfully not the perennial rye and hulless oats, because I prepare the soil as light as possible, with sand and compost and I protect each and every rye seedling with peatmoss, a double fleece and a thick plastic over it. The soil almost did not froze with such a protection after a night frost of -10ºC.

I received seeds of barley and wheat but I haven't started them yet. Its already quite late, but weather is also not cooperative. I am going to try them, but I don't think I am going to have a grain harvest, because the season will be too short, and also my garden does only have partial sunlight during the day (but at least one part of it is sheltered from extreme and cold winds which can destroy any grain crop)

Now I can understand why people had so many famines on the past medieval times. It is easy to have crop failures when weather is unexpected and plants die.


Seedlings are like babies: they demand constant attention
Indoors I am losing seedlings of squash, sunflower, tomatoes and peppers because of a lack of space and plants are being neglected and lacking plenty of sunlight. Any careless with moisture and light can quickly weaken these warm-loving seedlings and then they eventually die. Aphids also contribute to the weakening of seedlings.

I lost a few seedlings of broccoli, beets outdoors when aclimatizating the plants and after the temperature dropped so quickly that soil promply froze hard in a few evenings, even before sunset.

Because it is so much work to garden in Iceland, I think gardening with annuals is really not worth the effort and one ought to work with perennials, because they are much easy once established! Once again, permaculture has the solution.

I also think plants in general do not like to grow in greenhouses. Plants suffer much more from diseases, need much more watering and fertility, and the temperature and light profile is unnatural. Therefore, it costs much more money and effort to keep them, and it is way easier to grow them outdoors.

Outdoors

Outdoors however the garden is looking nicer. The broad beans, peas and recently planted broccoli and spring onions are now surviving these hard freezes. They have peatmoss to protect the root from freezing, where it encounters the surface. Above it, a double fleece and thick plastic sheet, ensure that soil remains only lightly frozen. Still most spring bulb flowers I planted last autumn are very delayer and I think some will never come out.

Mid April - delayed plans but new hopes

Peas and Broad beans survive a freeze down to -16ºC under a cold frame
This last week was the coldest temperatures of the winter. But nevertheless the broad beans and peas survived well! Although some broad beans seedlings died; these were the ones that were just at the edge of the plastic sheet covering them during the hard freeze. They froze hard and therefore died. But they were 3 out of 30 seedlings. The remaining stood a constant -3ºC and frozen soil, but not deeply.

The next ones to be moved outdoors
Now that the worst seems over, and the spring temperatures returned (although with night frosts still down to -6ºC) I decided to change the coldframe and cover a new area of the garden, where I planted some garlic (and which apparently survived the deep freeze). I will now plant the remaining of the garlic and also multiplier onions, and possibly some parsley, lettuce, leeks, broccoli and kale. They were seedlings but in principle should stand frost and snows under the cold frame. I plan to let them there between now and early May.

Most of the spring onions seedlings, that were outdoors, died. I had planted them before the deep freeze; they were 10, only 4 survived but damaged. They were too small and only covered by a light fleece. I guess they would do much better under the cold frame. My plan for them is to let them grow more indoors, and then transplant them outdoors next month, together with some larger broccoli and other vegetables.

Potatoes are doing fine even with significant frost
To my surprise, some potatoes which were sprouting and were set outdoors, are fine even after these last 3 days of night frosts. They even stood some snow, but they were next to a wall and covered with plastic. Some shots showed some frost damaged but this was little.

Cereals for self-sufficiency: delayed plans
About half of the rye I have been diligently transplanting outdoors died during the several freezes of the last two months, especially the one in more exposed areas. In my experience, it was not only the freezes but also the extreme wind that created very dried soil. I still only have a little more than 2 m2, far from the desired 10m2. Several problems occurred recently: first the grain I bought in a store is all old (near expire date) and therefore only about 5% of the grain is viable seed. I haven't found fresh grain nearby where I live. Second, I tried ordering grain through the internet but most companies do not ship to Iceland, or they charge large sending costs. Third and worst, much grain seed I have ordered online is stuck at the customs. It seems I cannot grow enough grain this year.

However I had a few seeds of hulless oats and perennial rye and I did a few trays of these. Not enough for the desired grain area but enough for perhaps an extra 2 m2. Because young grain is tolerant of frost but sensitive to freezes, I am waiting one or two more weeks with the trays indoors.

Quinoa and amaranth
Unfortunately quinoa and amaranth are a little complicate. When just sown, seedlings rapidly emerge but are sensitive to temperature, light and moisture changes, or aphids. I often had sudden losses of many seedlings without reason other than root rot or insufficient bright light. I tried quinoa seedlings outside but they were also damaged by frost; however the plant seems very hardy when acclimatized and big enough. I am sowing more quinoa and amaranth today.

Beans indoors
I have peas, cowpeas and dried beans indoors. The cowpeas were greatly damaged by aphids and I lost most plants I have been trying, but peas are giving their first pods yet also suffered by excessive moisture and root rot. Both suffer in greenhouse conditions and prefer outdoors, but the cowpeas are obviously a warm weather crop. I have also a large box with red beans and they are forming many pods now! We also are excited with our growing plants of pigeon peas, lima beans and winged beans. Overall, with the remaining broad beans and peas outdoors, I should have enough pulses to eat for a month or two.

Alternative roots
I am growing a lot of tiger nut tubers. They are easy to grow if temperature is warm but moisture is kept on the low side. Oca strongly dislikes the greenhouse. I try often to freshen plants outdoors. It is tolerant of chilly weather but I haven't tested by frost, which probably would damage the plant. I also have a pair of rampant jicama growing indoors (a tasty root is expected by the summer, after 9 months of growth).

Corn, sesame, sunflower, melon, squash
I have small plants of these. I had a few losses of sunflower when a slug ate some seedlings indoors. Sesame is also another of those sensitive to excessive moisture. I plan to plant all these crops outdoors, by June, when frost is gone and plants are big enough.

Failures and hopes
Besides this I have been unlucky trying to grow luffa, okra and snake gourd from seed.  Not only the seed can be tricky to germinate, but seedlings grow intially slowly and are rather sensitive to light, temperature and moisture. Another thing that I have tried and also failed were sweet potatoes and peanuts. The sweet potato died over the winter, and a new root is still yet to sprout. The peanuts also got stuck in their growth a couple of months ago and I haven't tried new seeds since then.

Yes, there are a lot of failures and delays, but also a lot of hopes and wishes. I plan going larger this summer on turnips, beets and other roots like scorzonera. Roots can feed you well, so I want to include them in our self-sufficiency experiment.

Next post we will speak in more peculiar crops we have been growing. Stay tuned for updates!

Permaculture in Iceland - Videos

This is March 2013 and its snowing heavily outside in south Iceland. In this video we will see how we are growing seedlings indoors to later plant out. We have a wide variety of annuals and perennials: first hugelkultur indoors: peas, millet, spring onions, pak choi; bamboo; followed by siberian pea shrub, hulless oats, lima beans, broad beans (fava beans) (also planted outdoors, under plastic and snow), avocado, radish, cowpeas, kale and perennial broccoli 9 star, and oca.

In this video we will see: tiger nuts, winged beans, galangal (thai ginger), broccoli, indigo root (blue dye), groundnuts (edible roots), amaranth, peas, millet (a drought tolerant alternative to corn), chenopodium paudicaule (non saponin type of quinoa), asparagus, neem (natural insecticide), okra, siberian tomato, rocotto chili pepper, luffa, corn salad, rocket salad, spring onions, walking onions and leeks, rye, jícama, passionfruit, chilean mesquite, date palm, teff (drough tolerant cereal), oca, siberian apple, silverberry (elaeagnus), pigeon peas, moringa (dormant), tiger nuts, runner beans, princess tree, mulberry, honey locust (dormant). Also a short explanation about our outdoors cold frame.

Videos were done in March 2013.

early April 2013- We are back to the winter

14 April - Early April
The weather outdoors has been fine, with mild days, except in the last few days, where the temperatures went downhill and we got the coldest freeze of the year yet!

The survival of siberian tomatoes!
The major news was the survival of the siberian tomatoes tested outdoors. Not only they were unaffected by the brief frosts down to -3°C but also they survived an entire day below freezing with snow, at the same temperature. One plant showed irreversible stem damage but others only had minor leaf burn and quickly recover when brought indoors. And yes, the entire plants (around 10cm tall), with pot and soil included, froze solid hard. The siberian tomatoes only experienced a little bit more than 24 hours of a constant freeze at -3ºC. I did not want to submit the plants to the freeze we got yesterday down to -16ºC.

Surprise were also some pumpkin sprouts. I test them outdoors during a few days with frost and even snow, and a third of them survived. I moved them back indoors, but those will be my selected seedlings.


The cold frame ensured most peas and fava beans survived the -16ºC deep freeze
Under the cold frame, the peas and favas enjoyed the warm temperatures when there is a calm spring day (outdoors can be 10°C and inside the frame goes up to 25°C). During a minor frost, the soil does not freeze there, and during a day around -3°C the soil barely freezes. This is no problem for the peas and favas. Now, during this second deep freeze, they seem to have mostly survived.

A small seedling of broccoli and brussels sprout was totally unaffected under snow and mild freezing. In my experience from last winter, if the seedlings are more woody, then will survive even a long term deep freeze, under mulch. A kale seedling also survived this deep freeze, but most spring onion seedlings were seriously damaged (they were too small and soil was rather naked - no mulch was a mistake).

I have started many seeds in trays.. Alpine strawberries and more asparagus; more spring onions and leeks, calendula, snapdragon, perennial flowers,  and some fancy stuff I have got in the post: potato onions and perennial rye. One great development are the first pods forming in the peas and lima beans, also the bush beans are putting their first flowers. They are not affected by the aphids as their companions, the cowpeas. One worry is the oca which is showing some leaves dropping in their stems and then the stems start to die. This apparently is because of both warm nights and excessive moisture. The ocas seem to enjoy the chilling days outdoors, a mild frost is ok, but not too much cold. Likewise for the groundnut. The jícama showed some slowth in their growth and needs transplant. What I have transplanted were many of new seedlings of siberian tomatoes, after I was so happy with the performance of this variety. I also transplanted more broccoli and mini chili peppers.

On the self-sufficiency plants, I did some frantic sowing of grain: namely perennial rye and hulless oats. I would like also to try the buckwheat but I sown quinoa and the chenopodium paudicaule. I might have done a few changes to my 100% 1 month food self-sufficiency plan.

late March 2013 - and the first signs of spring in Iceland

It´s late March. Spring finally arrives. Days are sunny and mild, above freezing, but nights still always have some frost. Days are decently long now. The soil is thawing, and inside the coldframe the peas and fava beans are now thriving. I also transplanted some spring onions, leeks and kale under a fleece. They do not seem to mind a minor frost. And I have seedlings of maca, good king henry, crambe and indian ricegrass growing outdoors - very tiny ones, but alive nonetheless.


The pea and fava bean experiment
The pea and fava beans experiment was a success! They survived 3 weeks of frosty weather.

This period was 2 days of a freeze (down to -9ºC), followed by 2 days of thaw (up to +5ºC), 6 days of a deep freeze (down to -13ºC) and 15 days with deep morning frost (-4ºC) followed by mild thawing afternoons (+8C).

Only around 40% of the peas, and 75% of the fava beans survived the first long deep freeze.
After that I planted many more seedlings and  90% of the peas and fava beans survived the remaining two weeks of frosty morning but mild afternoons. What makes a difference is transplanting the seedlings when they are small (not more than 3cm) so that they do not break under a deep frost.

Beneath the cold frame, spring onions also survive a deep freeze, if having mulch protection. Otherwise only larger plants will survive undamaged. The same for the brassicas. Small seedlings survive significant frosts but not constant freezes, lower than -6ºC. Only larger plants can survive these, but not if these deep freezes are repeated and alternating with thaws.


The cold frame
Inside the cold frame, the soil does not freeze if there is a minor frost. It starts to freeze partially if there is a night temperature of -6ºC (temperature inside will be -2ºC). During a deep freeze (even down to -15ºC), the temperature will remain constant at -3ºC, provided the soil is also covered by a sandwich of plastic and peatmoss.

At day, the temperature can easily climb to +15ºC even during a day around freezing (with the sun shining and warming the inside of it). With an afternoon temperature of +10ºC, the air inside the cold frame can warm up to +30ºC!


Indoors: flowering beans
Indoors, I am very happy to see the first flowers in the peas and lima beans. Meanwhile some pulses have shown signs of some disease (possibly the bean mosaic virus which is carried by aphids). This seems to affect the already vigorous growing of the winged beans. The groundnut struggles to sprout but two have done it. The siberian pea is greening a little bit and the mulberry put on some growth show. Still dormant are the moringa, princess tree and honey locust, which worries me. Perhaps I should not have submit the last two to some cold during the early stages of this winter (I did it so as to induce dormancy and apparently it was a mistake).


Self-sufficiency plan continues...
I planted, in small pots, around 25 seedlings of sunflowers and sweet corn, and a few of squash, and varieties of cold tolerant melon and watermelon. I expect to transplant them outdoors, when the frost is over. My plan towards 100% 1 month food self-sufficiency still goes with much motivation, although sometimes the task seems overwhelming (especially when it comes to start everything indoors first).

So far the plan is to plant 10m2 of grain, 3m2 of potatoes, 3m2 of pulses, and 3m2 of other vegetables, with small plots for sunflowers, squash, quinoa and corn.

I am trying to plant as much rye outdoors as possible, however I discovered the store bought seed is not really that viable (the one used for breakfast grain), so I must order new one. I also have been fertilizing plants indoors with a liquid feed based in compost and seaweed, and outdoors I amended the soil with limestone, a natural rock rich in calcium and magnesium (to correct the excessive acid pH).

Stay tuned for more updates!

How to plant out seedlings in deep freezes of the winter

 The excellent ways that Permaculture can help us increase soil temperature!

In cold winter days of -13ºC, the soil remains unfrozen and seedlings of peas and broad beans are growing alive and well, under a thick cover of black plastic, peatmoss and inverted plastic cups.

It is a very cold morning. Soil is frozen solid but not underneath a thick plastic cover, near a  sheltered corner.

The cover has a triple layer: black plastic + peatmoss + black plastic

Under the both layers of plastic, there is a thick layer of peatmoss

 

Under the thick cover, there are seedlings covered by recycled plastic cups

The seedlings are alive and well, almost unfrozen. They are sheltered by a little bit of peatmoss.

Here is a close up of a pea seedling. Very much alive and well.

The soil is not frozen.

Even seedlings of broad beans are growing well under the moss mulching.

Further out in the garden, there is a cold frame, to protect from the winter winds.

The outdoors temperature is -13ºC (around 8 ºF). It was colder during the night.

Inside the cold frame, there is a layer of peatmoss over the black plastic that covers the soil.

Under that layer, the seedlings are also protected by inverted plastic cups.

The temperature near the seedlings is just slightly below freezing point (around -3ºC or 28 ºF), much milder than the outdoor temperature.

The soil is unfrozen and seedlings are very healthy and protected, under the cover.

mid March 2013 - planted peas and fava beans outdoors, in freezing weather

10th March.  I transplanted for the first time this year, some seedlings to outdoors! It was a sunny but freezing day, with a low of -6ºC, and a high of +3ºC.

However since I got a plastic cold frame, even with these night temperatures, the soil does not freeze completely. And it does not freeze at all, if further protected by a black plastic sheet and peatmoss.

Therefore I planted a few snap peas and a few broad beans (fava beans). Just a few.

They will have a week ahead with very low temperatures, almost a week of a constant deep freeze. Will they survive, under this protection?

Stay tuned for updates!