Editing Lazy bed (section)

{{Short description|Traditional method of arable cultivation}}
{{about|a method of cultivation|the play|Lazybed}}

[[File:Lazy beds, inishbofin.jpg|thumb|Lazy beds, [[Inishbofin, County Galway|Inishbofin]]]]
[[Image:Old lazybeds on North Harris.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Old lazybeds on North [[Harris, Outer Hebrides|Harris]]]]
[[Image:Ensayformercultivation.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Old lazybeds on [[Ensay, Outer Hebrides|Ensay]]]]
[[Image:Inishglora_lazybeds.jpg|thumb|200px|Lazybeds on [[Inishglora]]]]'''Lazy bed''' ({{langx|ga|ainneor}} or {{lang|ga|iompú}}; {{langx|gd|feannagan}} {{IPA|gd|ˈfjan̪ˠakən|}}; [[Faroese language|Faroese]]: ''letivelta'') is a traditional method of arable cultivation, often used for [[potato]]es. Rather like [[cord rig]] cultivation, parallel banks of [[ridge and furrow]] are dug by spade although lazy beds have banks that are bigger, up to {{convert|2.5|m|ftin}} in width, with narrow drainage channels between them.  The 1874 Canadian Farmer's Manual of Agriculture notes:<blockquote>A common mode practised in Ireland, and in some parts of the north and west of England and Scotland, is that known as the lazy-bed fashion, which consists in planting the sets in beds of a few feet in width, covered from trenches formed with the spade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whitcombe |first=Charles Edward |url=https://electriccanadian.com/transport/agriculture/canadianfarmersmanual.pdf |title=The Canadian Farmer's Manual of Agriculture |date=1874 |publisher=James Adam and Company |location=Toronto}}</ref> </blockquote>In addition to Ireland, England, and Scotland, the practice has been documented in [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[Saint-Pierre, Saint Pierre and Miquelon|St. Pierre]], the [[Faroe Islands]], the [[Swiss Alps]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Omohundro |first=John |date=2006 |title=An Appreciation of Lazy Beds |url=https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/quarterly/id/42670/rec/2 |journal=Newfoundland Quarterly |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=29–31}}</ref> [[Devon]],<ref name=":1" /> [[Orkney]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=John |date=1998 |title=The First Statistical Account of Parishes of Stronsay and Eday |url=https://www.orkneyfhs.co.uk/docs/sfndocs/7/7.pdf |journal=Sib Folk News: The Newsletter of the Orkney Family History Society |issue=7 |pages=11}}</ref> and the [[Isle of Man]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Page |first=CJ |date=2002 |title=Manx Farming Communities and Traditions. An examination of Manx farming between 1750 and 1900 |url=https://www.ssns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/08_Page_Man_2002_pp_115-135.pdf |journal=Scottish Society for Northern Studies}}</ref>  One early-20th-century critique of the practise suggests it could lead to overcrowding of plantings.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1936-04-21 |title=Farming and Gardening |url=https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/observersweek/id/2600/rec/3 |access-date=26 July 2024 |work=Observer's Weekly |pages=31}}</ref> Another critic wrote that the "system is too laborious and expensive to adopt except in wet districts."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=T.W. |url=https://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/the_book_of_the_potato_1905.pdf |title=The Book of the Potato |publisher=W.H. & L. Collingridge |year=1905 |location=London |pages=76}}</ref> In the [[Hebrides]] and the west of [[Ireland]], the method used is normally to lift up sods of [[peat]] and apply desalinated [[seaweed fertiliser]] to improve the ground.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} In [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]], lazy beds were augmented with seaweed,<ref name=":0" /> a process which continues into the early 21st century:  <blockquote>One method of applying seaweed is to spread it on a bed and cover it with soil from the trench. This method sometimes referred to as the 'lazy bed' system works well, especially in areas where the soil is shallow and drainage is poor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Traverse |first=Ross |date=1982 |title=Seaweed for Newfoundland and Labrador Gardens |url=https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/cns_decks/id/6794/rec/1 |journal=Decks Awash |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=46}}</ref></blockquote>