There are times when one looks back and wonders whether I should have set up the seabuckthorn project differently.
My clay soil moves from waterlogging in winter to baking rock hard in summer. This is not a friendly environment for seabuckthorn. But then, neither is high altitude; nor cold desert – it is a hardy and adaptable plant.
The natural response to living in harsh conditions is survival of the fittest.
So when I walk my seabuckthorn rows, there are areas where some plants have not established or are taking a long time to establish.
The field I am using used to be a grazing field for our dairy herd. Then in 1996, it was used as the headquarters site for the scout jamboree that came to the farm every four years. Inbetween the jamborees it reverted to arable.
I can remember when I first started to plant the seabuckthorn, certain areas in the field were thick with wild oats. As we planted, the soil was variable across the field with patches maybe of 10 metres square of heavy clay that would blend into more manageable heavy but more manageable land. So it is no wonder that in places plants have taken more time to establish. But establishment is not the issue – unfriendly soil conditions are creating stress, both in the form of nutrient/moisture availability and the ability for roots to spread.
As I have been cutting back the grass and other growth around each seabuckthorn plants it is clear that only Elizaveta seems to have maintained surface roots. Other varieties seems to have used the deep cracking that occurs in this soil to develop root structure. Interestingly it is also Elizaveta that suffers worst from the disease dieback that I have learnt to dread.
So I should have paid more attention to the seabuckthorn management manuals and ploughed the ground the year before planting and applied a good amount of organic matter. It is easy to say, but this project has grown from one year to the next. The budget was tight and expectations of success were 50/50. In hindsight I should have been more confident. But the results now are showing success. It is possible to grow seabuckthorn in heavy soil, but it needs soil management and regular foliar feeding to help the plants through periods of stress.
Elizaveta in particular will get some extra attention and a light foliar feed every two weeks. This will and is creating lush growth, but while these plants are young and still growing I do not see this as a problem.
I will be applying compost to each row over the next three years to lighten the soil, and hopefully this will create a more balanced soil – reduce stress and there will be less need to treat the plants with as much TLC.
The other consideration will be in the quality of the fruit and the concentration of nutrients within them. It is difficult to know what to expect. My plants are under stress – will that be good or not for nutrient quality – only time will tell.
Quality and standards are a topic that will feature at the Euroworks conference (October 14-16th),Naantali in Finland this year.
It is a subject that is important but it has to be relevant. As a grower it is relevant as I must grow a fruit that will provide a viable ingredient that provides consumer benefit. It is a subject that I want to debate at the Devereux farm Open Day. I need to fix a date – but that has to relate to when a good selection of varieties are ripe. As this is the first time that the plants have produced berries, there would be some variation in the accepted normal period.
The classic Chuiskaya ripens in the second half of August; Inya, the first 10 days of September; Altaiskaya late August to early September. I need to have confirmation and advice from Lisavenko first but I think it will be late August/ first week of September.
So at this stage the Open Day will be focused on Quality and the market for seabuckthorn – not just UK produced, but European as well. I would hope to attract potential growers, researchers, processors and buyers. But it is early days yet.
