Heated Seed Bed Saves Duckling’s Day

Thankyou for dropping in on my article on how to create a heated seed bed. As the Highveld winter approaches with it’s nippy cold, it’s time to look at ways to keep your seedlings safe and keep those seeds sprouting and your vegetable production going during the winter months.

We recently stumbled on a lovely resource, written for the poverty stricken farmers of Nepal.
This simple booklet led us to attempt a heated seed bed in our yard, as the night time temperatures are already dropping below 10 Degrees Celsius.

As a current Permaculture student and future designer, I am fully aware of making sure that everything you do will be in tune with Permaculture principles of
Caring for the earth
Caring for humans
Sharing the excess well

To be honest these where not top most in my mind when we rushed out with 1 hour of permaculture home school class to be achieved, this morning.

However this little bed , which generates heat from underneath through the use of animal manure , and traps the day’s heat through the use of a plastic cover, proved to be the saving grace for little ‘Quacky’ only 4 hours after it was built.

The little duckling was suffering from the cold night in his housing, without his young owners having realised what the problem was. Upon inspection by the controlling authorities (Mom) at lunch time , this little creature was found to be immobile, frozen stiff and only just squeaking instead of quaking.

He was rushed to the emergency room immediately and put in the oxygen tent in ICU……which happened to be the heated seedling bed. His chances of survival being slim, his owners where put on guard and instructed to pray.

With tears and fervent prayers, he was left in their care while daily activities resummed.

Not even 10 minutes later, great laughter could be heard from the seed bed.

Quacky was back up , walking and eating again.

Eating my newly planted seeds I might add, but that is a small price to pay for a happy moment.

This seed bed is a true permaculture asset:
creates food in the form of seedlings,
resuscitated ducklings and
provides joy for little pet owners.
All in 4 hours.

 

 

SO without further ado, here is how you make a heated seed bed.

Heated Seed Bed

• Tools required
  Hoe or spade
  Grass clippings or hay
  Potting soil or garden soil with compost mixed in
  Animal manure – cow or horse are best otherwise shop bought ‘Moopoo’ will work
  Seeds
  +- 6 Cut-off branches about 30 cm long and one longer one. Alternatively you can use conduit that you bend into shape
  Clear plastic to cover the whole thing
  Around 30 minutes to 1 hour of time

Procedure
1. Dig a small ditch about 1m long and 30 cm wide . Put it an area that is close enough to be looked after. I used a previously dug swale (water furrow) to save time , which is about 15 cm deep
2. Put a layer of grass clippings or mulch or hay down in the base of the ditch
3. Now put a full layer of animal manure down, about 5 – 10 cm thick
4. Follow this up with another layer of hay or grass clippings to completely cover the manure
5. Now spread a 2cm layer of garden soil with compost, or alternatively potting soil evenly over all this
6. Drench the whole lot well with water, without letting the water wash all your soil away
7. Make rows in the soil with a stick and plant your seeds.
8. Cover your seeds lightly with soil
9. Plant your seeds to a depth of 2x their thickness and no more.
10. Now plant your branch cut offs evenly around your seed bed with the taller branch in the middle to support the plastic.
11. If you prefer you can bend plastic conduit into a greenhouse shape and plant those over your seed bed.
12. Place your plastic sheeting over the whole lot carefully , so as not to puncture your plastic with the sticks.
13. Use sand to seal the edge of the plastic to the ground so that no heat can escape through any openings.

PS this can also be achieved on your balcony or patio by using a flower pot, acting as your trench, into which you put the above ingredients and then cover in a see through plastic bag which you seal with an elastic band to trap the heat.
IT may be beneficial to wrap the pot in Hessian or hay or other insulating material to retain the night time heat that will be generated from the manure.

Remember to check on your seeds every 2 or so days , keep them watered and well weeded. They will be a useful asset to your vegetable bed once the seedlings are a reasonable size for transplanting.

Happy planting, stay warm

Malinda

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