Page 30 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2023

Intensive
vegetable
growing
KELVIN MASON
Back in 2020 I mentioned in an edition of Simply Vegetables that I had done some research into no-dig growing, during that research a book called Intensive Gardening by R. Dalziel O’ Brien and published in 1956 was mentioned on a number of occasions. I was intrigued
to see what information was in the
book and looked on Amazon and Abe books to see if I could get a copy, but they informed me that it was out of
print and no copies were available. I eventually managed to borrow a copy from the British Library, and it makes
an interesting read. Below I have summarised some of the main points that may be of interest to members
and may still be relevant today. The book was aimed at new commercial growers looking at using intensive methods of growing like the Dutch
and French growers sometimes use. It
is based around a smallholding sized establishment using mainly Dutch lights which are used for small commercial greenhouses and cold frames. This method of growing is not used these days as polytunnels have taken over and there are a lot less small holdings than there used to be in the UK.
Dalziel O’ Brien was a small commercial grower who worked in East Yorkshire, Norfolk and then Leicestershire and
was one of the first veganic growers (remember from a previous issue of Simply Vegetables!) and also an early proponent of no-dig growing although he did use surface cultivations. I was also interested in the intensive aspect as I like to get as much out of my growing area as possible and feel that many gardeners will need to do the same in the future if we are to grow sufficient to feed the increasing population. I have written an article on intensive growing which has yet to be published in the magazine so will cover some aspects in this article and more in the future article. The aim of intensive growing is to get
the maximum productive crop from the ground over each year which often means close planting and getting at least two and sometimes three crops off the same area of ground.
Back in 1956 there were no large polytunnels like we have these days, nor large modern greenhouses and growers
Peas ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ netted
like Mr O’ Brien made use of Dutch lights for both greenhouses and cold frames neither of which were heated and also had an area of open ground for outdoor crops. He grew all the year round and sold to the wholesale markets and some local shops and restaurants.
As well as being veganic (not using anything from animals) he was also an organic grower and made great use of QR compost (Quick Return) which is a method of making compost developed by Maye Bruce a well-known early organic grower. As he did not use any animal manure
all the organic matter added was plant based and included compost, leaf mould, composted straw, and similar materials.
In his early days Mr O’ Brien used cultivations like digging but changed to no- dig as he felt the cultivations were harming the soil flora and fauna (earthworms and other soil inhabiting creatures). He was well ahead of his time here as we are only just realising the affects digging has on
the soil flora and fauna. He used surface cultivations to no deeper than 75mm using a tool similar to an onion hoe. He did
not use chemicals but used a lot of soot from domestic chimneys, now no longer available. In the book he admitted to some weed growth but not a great deal and often left the weeds especially chickweed to grow as a cover crop like green manure
which was hoed off and composted, which he considered a method of recycling nutrients (which is true and reduces leaching in heavy rain). He added compost to the soil before nearly every crop or at least once a year.
In his book he goes back in history to the early market gardeners who grew vegetables around the major cities that would take their produce into the markets on a horse and cart and return via the stables to collect a load of horse manure (from the many horse drawn vehicles) to use on the growing areas. This was how they built up the fertility in the soil so they could grow intensively as well as construct hotbeds for the early crops.
As well as not using animal manure
he did not use artificial fertilisers so was reliant on the compost to feed the crops. He did not turn the compost heaps either but built quite large heaps that heated up to produce good quality compost and kill any weed seeds. As well as composting weeds he also composted any crop remains, green manures and materials he could obtain from other sources. The green manure was largely vetch or other legume plants that all nitrogen to the soil. The walls of the compost heaps were made from straw bales which was also composted. The paths between the raised no-dig beds were covered with straw to keep them
30 Simply Vegetables