Latest Post: All the signs have changed.

All the signs have changed.

Well not all of them, but most of the garden markers in the edible garden have been forced to change. If you remember back to this blog post  > Change is afoot < where I discussed necessary changes to the layout of the garden in an attempt to defeat the dreaded Tomato Potato Psyllid. The format I chose was a loose version of square foot gardening that would have poor Mel Bartholomew turning in his grave. But I was never one for following instructions, and as a bit of a control freak in the garden, the One Square Metre concept of mixing things up appealed to me.

The problem was my signs and my crop rotation. I like to keep things moving seasonally to keep ahead of pests and make sure the soil gets a break from the incessant demands of hungry crops seeking the same nutrients. When I was effectively monocropping I just needed one sign for each bed and then at the end of the season I just moved everyone one spot to the right. It worked well because crop rotation is confusing and I only really want to think about it once.

In the new system I wanted to do the same thing, but it required greater thought because instead of worrying about what was ahead and behind one group each season, I had a load of little groups to think about. After a lot of deliberation I thought I found the answer and put my plan into the above-mentioned blog post – all proud of my efforts. Then I went to plant my onion in sector two, only to find the peppers were still hanging in there. (They still are and I have to decide what to do with them – normally nature takes the decision out of my hands, and I hate pulling out plants that still have life in them). So, the plan got tweaked again. I found turning the whole sector upside solved the planning problem. At the end of next season each square metre just needs to go one bed over to the right – easy!

From there, the issue became the physical identification of each area. I was spending too much time in the garden with my laminated map, trying to work out who went where. I knew I needed some kind of signage but had no idea what it would look like. While wandering around in the great big internet looking for inspiration I came across someone making labels out of ring pull baked bean cans and this created a spark of imagination. But I wasn’t about to eat a squillion baked bean so I could have signs in my garden.

Then I remembered I don’t like to waste things. I won’t go as far as saying I’m a hoarder but for some reason I haven’t thrown out all the used metal preserving lids. Maybe past me knew I needed them for something! So, I had a vast stack of them, just waiting for their time to shine.

The first thing I did was tentatively drill a hole in each one to make them hangable. Once that was done and the concept seemed possible, I started to prepare them for the harsh life outdoors where the salty wind will lick them often. The first step was to key them up with a wire brush on a drill so they would accept paint. Followed by a quick wipe down with isopropyl alcohol to remove any dust and grease.

Once they were all set, I used a rust proofing primer to encase the lids. I gave them two coats to be sure. But I didn’t want to keep the black aesthetic, so I borrowed some paint from my garden office renovation (spoiler alert – watch this space). The lids got two coats of this lovely wall paint and now it is matchy matchy with the office and ties everything together nicely. Finally, with a paint pen I wrote the contents of each of the squares in the garden onto each of the painted lids. I only spelt one wrong.

To get them standing in the garden, I used a bit of nature and some wire. I grabbed a load of bamboo poles – although it was cheaper to buy longer ones and cut them down to size. Most of them had a nice deep hole in one end, and others were created with a drill.

The hooks were made with a strong but bendy wire, I’m not sure of the size because it was a roll I had hanging around and the label was long gone. I cut it into 18cm length and, with a pair of plyers, bent them into shape – with a hook on one end and a long bit (splayed out slightly) to wedge into the bamboo pole. I was so pleased with how they all came together.

The last thing to do was to take my map and pop them in the garden where their crops will go. Overall, I love how it turned out. It didn’t cost much, they look great, and in the breeze create a lovely windchime-esk click clack, and most importantly they will do the job of supporting the crop rotation.

Come again soon – now I can get on with the business of growing things!

Sarah the Gardener  : o)