The Art of Hope, Garden Visits & Tomatoes | Huw's Garden Journal #3
From why I am so drawn to permaculture, to the sowing list for the next 7 days.
Hello and a very warm welcome to Huw’s Garden Journal #3. It has been yet another strong week of growth in the garden, helped by an equal share of sunshine and rain. In this week’s journal:
Why permaculture?
Garden visits (and a request for help)
Underplanting tomatoes
What to sow this week
Image: Yesterday evening at the plot
Permaculture
I think one of the most exciting things for me about Substack is having a place where I can dive as deep as I wish into tall things permaculture. This will be coming from a rather inquisitive and experimental angle with the view of sharing the lessons and solutions I have learnt as a result.
Permaculture is about reconnecting and working hand-in-hand with nature. It is a design approach with a series of principles inspired by nature, that we can apply to our homes, gardens, farms, and communities.
Why am I so drawn to permaculture? It is a harmonious blend of logical, creative, and optimistic thinking. In short, permaculture is the art of hope.
The way we shape a positive future lies not in the technology we create, but in the soil we regenerate.
And this starts in our gardens, where we get to create our own micro-ecosystem that provides an abundance of food for us, and a home for nature. At the root of this abundance, quite literally, is the soil.
Permaculture offers the tools and opportunities to make this a reality, and to make soil the solution. Or, as I like to put it. The soilution.
And so that is why permaculture is my biggest influence when it comes to the way I approach working with the land, and will be a prominent element within my regular journals and subscriber posts. If there are any elements of permaculture you would like me to explore in particular, please do let me know.
Image: An example experimental pairing inspired by layers of a food forest; runner beans growing up a cordon tomato. Verdict? It will definitely be featuring in my garden in 2025!
Gardens
Last weekend I headed to a local garden to me, Outbloom flower farm, a micro cut-flower farm that specialises in growing both annuals and perennials for their bouquets, and integrate many herbs and edible plants in their displays. I had such an incredible time there, and was fortunate to film their pre-market day harvest during golden hour - hopefully a real visual treat for when the video comes out over winter!
On the theme of flowers I will also be visiting Milli Proust and Paris Alma of Alma Proust to learn more about why they are choosing the seed saving route, and explore the role of ornamentals in a kitchen garden.
Image: Outbloom flower harvesting bucket in action
In their neck of the woods is the renowned rewilding project, Knepp Estate. I will be visiting Knepp this Friday (tomorrow( to capture their incredible market garden and sustainable growing techniques and experiments, learning from head gardener Charlie Harpur. Plenty of filming will be done, of course, and I will be releasing early snippets here on Substack.
I’ve been following fellow YouTubers Dan and Laurie of Freedom Forest Life who have a fascinating permaculture garden, and have one of the most abundant gardens I have seen. They have inspired me in many ways, including a proper attempt at growing Yacon this year. Apart from the initial slug onslaught, it is so far so good!
Another visit lined up is to film at the breath-taking kitchen garden at Gravetye Manor. It has one of the most unique patterns thanks to its oval-shaped walled garden, and I really look forward to capturing this on camera.
Image: The Kitchen Garden at Gravetye Manor (img credits)
A small favour, please.
If you are in the UK and know of any inspiration places I should go and film, preferably organic/no dig/permaculture gardens, then please do let me know! The hardest part about creating films for my inspiring gardens playlist which I release every winter is finding new places to go and visit, and so I am always on the lookout.
Skill of the week - Underplanting Tomatoes
If you have tomatoes growing undercover, then chances are you’ve been removing lower leaves from the base of the stem to encourage good airflow. As a result this creates a wonderful opportunity to create a living mulch of additional harvests to grow under your tomatoes.
Underplanting tomatoes is a great way to use up spare seedlings from late-season sowing (such as the ‘what to sow list’ further below). All you need to do is give the ground a generous water, and you can either mulch with a light layer of compost, or add a handful of compost at the base of the hole when transplanting.
Measuring roughly 20cm (8in) and further from the stem of the tomato, I plant out a random assortment of seedlings. The image below is sisho as an example, but leafy greens, annual herbs, spring onions, and some root veg including radish and beetroot are fantastic options.
Once planted, ensure they are watered regularly, which in turn will benefit the tomatoes and reduce issues such as blossom end rot. If you liquid feed your tomatoes, the new underplantings will benefit too from this process, soaking up any missed nutrients.
When it comes to removing tomatoes, I will then plant out larger crops to overwinter such as kale, using the potting on technique I explained in my previous journal to make this possible.
What to sow this week
Whilst very similar to last week, there have been a few small changes to the list as the opportunities for sowing begin to dwindle. If I could only pick 3 for this week, it would be spring cabbage, winter radish and pak choi.
Note: Get 10% off any Kings Seeds order with code HUWR10. Premier Seed Direct links are affiliate at no extra cost to you. For my top varieties, visit my list here.
Image: My seedling area busy raising plants to maximise late-season yields
Leafy Greens
Larger brassicas
Roots
Winter radish (Mooli and Spanish Black Round in particular - sow direct)
Others
Spring onions (undercover only)
New potatoes in tubs for winter
Final words
I’ve just got back from filming a video showcasing just how abundant my polyculture garden is, demonstrating the foraging approach to harvesting I outlined in last weeks journal to showcase just how fun it is, and how much food can be grown in a ‘wild’ planting style - so stay tuned!
See you next week,
Huw
PS - If you are a paid subscriber I will be releasing the video early for you via the Substack chat, and also have planned something really fun coming out this weekend.
Image: Mashua (perennial nasturtium) climbing up onion flowers.
"It is a harmonious blend of logical, creative, and optimistic thinking. In short, permaculture is the art of hope." Beautifully written!
Thank you Huw. I love your ethos and your creative perspective on gardening. Also, the regular reminder of what to sew now!