Some Gardening inspiration

Look at some of these wonderful veggie plots, I only wish I could re-start mine. The keyhole example would definitely suit small yards as would the yin/yang round bed. As for the weaving, it just goes to show that you can have a beautiful creative garden and a productive one too! do as the lady with the little star garden is and Enjoy

What an entrance!

These could easily replace front lawns.

The ultimate water wise garden utilising a herb spiral permaculture water recycling and inter-planted with beneficial plants and vegetables.

I wish i had seen these before i designed my patch!!

This is how they do it in Africa, where soils are so poor they build em up and in the middle add the water and nutrients which leaches through. KGI has this video of keyhole gardens in Africa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjcjCCx3BWY








And finally weaving some magic. A lady in the Adelaide hills uses her prunings in a most beautiful way.

Black Magic

This is an extract from a gardening Australia shown in Nov 07 I have included it because I believe lessons learned are often those that we learn by example, and Pete’s patch is an excellent example of a garner sharing his knowledge and secrets. The charcoal mix I tried with my sweetcorn and they had excellent results. I'm trying it this season with broad beans and onions , both of which I added a good handful of dolomite lime as the soluble trace element. I have also used it as a side dressing rather than at planting. I purchased the charcoal at Bunnings cheap at $4 and used a heavy rock to pulverise. Please try and let me know your results..

Gardening is nothing more than a series of experiments - we have successes and the occasional failures and that's how we learn. I'm going to experiment with an ancient method of retaining and increasing soil fertility using charcoal that’s been impregnated with organic fertilisers and micronutrients.Charcoal or any kind of charred organic matter is a highly absorbent form of carbon. It does not decompose in the soil.

The recipe:Use one third of a standard bucket of pulverised charcoal Half a cup of fish emulsion, half a cup of seaweed concentrate and 4 teaspoons of mixed, soluble trace elements all dissolved into 2-3 litres of water in a separate bucket to make a strong, nutrient concentrate.

Method:1 Place the charcoal safely in a strong bag. Moisten a little for safety reasons. Use a hammer or similar implement to crush and pulverise it into a fine dust. Then place the dust into an extra-large bucket. Avoid inhaling the dust – you might wear a protective face mask or respirator.

2 Pour the fertiliser-based nutrient concentrate into the charcoal dust. Leave to soak for 3 days.

3 Then add one third of a bucketful each of dry river (pit) sand and ordinary soil (not clay). Mix together thoroughly.

4 Don’t use a stronger mixture than suggested.To use with tomatoes: Place a double handful of the impregnated charcoal, soil and sand mixture at each planting point and mix widely and deeply into the surrounding soil. Plant a seedling in the centre and water in.

To use with sweet corn: Make a 50mm deep drill or groove and widely dribble the charcoal mixture in and alongside it at the rate of a double handful per metre. Mix with surrounding soil. Sow sweet corn seeds into this and water. (When seedlings emerge they must be thinned so those remaining are spaced half a metre apart).

To use with seedlings of cabbages, cauliflowers, broccolis, kales, silverbeet and lettuces, add a good handful of the charcoal mix to each planting point and mix into the surrounding soil.In order to make the experiment more reliable, plant or sow some vegetables into soil that has not received any charcoal treatment.

Also try adding pulverised charcoal alone (without any fertilisers), to the soil around similar plants to help in arriving at more balanced results. The aim is to compare plant health, growth rate, yields and flavour.Don’t use the enriched charcoal when growing carrots or parsnips as it may cause wasteful root-forking.

This is purely an experiment. It is roughly based on ancient techniques used by the people of the Amazon Basin over a thousand years ago.We are asking interested Gardening Australia viewers and readers to try out this method and to let us know of any beneficial or other results.

NOTE: The charcoal we used in this experiment came from an old pile of burnt wood. Charcoal lumps (not ash) can also be retrieved cold from an extinguished wood-stove or fireplace.Please do not attempt to make your own charcoal. Doing so can be dangerous and also cause serious atmospheric pollution.

Gardening Q & A

I often get asked lots of questions about gardening some more complicated than others, so I will attempt to answer most of them, here is the first installment. If you have any questions, just click on the Q&A link.

Q. What’s a good size for a first garden?
A: Carefully managed, even a 1 x 1 m plot will produce quite a bit of food and will leave you time to learn about and enjoy caring for a vegetable garden. If you have lots of space and want to try a larger garden, make it about 3 x 6 m . The bigger and the more beds, the more you have to do and keep on top of. Keep in mind that the ideal size for your garden depends on the types of crops you want to plant, too. Crops like bush beans, lettuce, spinach, peppers, and carrots are perfect for a small garden. However, if pumpkins and winter squash are high up on your planting list, you’ll need to prepare a bigger garden, since just one of these plants can cover an entire vege patch if allowed.

Square Foot Gardening Mel Bartholomew is a good read on making easy & productive gardens.

Q How do i garden organically?
FIRST, STOP USING CHEMICALS
Safely dispose of all your chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides so that you are not tempted to use them. This is important as the harm they do will hamper your efforts to build up an organic system

• Design Properly.Find the Right Spot, a successful organic garden is all about the right location. Find a spot in your yard with full sun (at least 6 hours, you may need shade in summer though our summer sun is too harsh on most veg, shade cloth is very handy here), well-drained soil, and one that's within easy reach of the house. Create raised beds by mounding the soil and flattening the top. Soil in raised beds warms up and dries out faster in spring and is easier to work. You can reform the beds each spring or make the beds permanent by framing them with rot-resistant wood, plastic or stone Design your garden with a mix of flowers, vegetables, fruits and herbs. A mixed planting is less likely to get completely destroyed by insect, animal or disease attacks



• Beef Up the Soil.Think of the soil in your garden as a living environment in which earthworms and beneficial bacteria convert organic material and inorganic soil minerals into plant food. Fertile, humus rich soil is a storehouse of plant nutrients which are made available to plants as required and in balanced form. Soil structure is important. Soil must be friable to permit air and water to enter and to allow plant roots to forage through it. This is achieved by the addition of organic material in the form of compost, mulches and green manures. Add organic matter such as grass clippings, leaves, compost, manure, hay and straw every time you plant, dig, or till. Here’s a basic plan that will improve any soil, from clay to sand: Add before you plant. When preparing a new garden bed, spread a thick layer of compost, well-rotted manure, or other organic matter. Then add a new layer of organic matter every spring after that. Plant a cover crop. Once you’ve pulled out a crop at season’s end, sow an annual cover crop like red clover or hairy vetch to protect the soil over winter, control weeds, and add more organic matter. Dig it into the soil a few weeks before planting in spring


• Composting is possibly one of the most important activities of the organic gardener. It is an extension of nature's own system of recycling vegetable matter and returning it to the soil.It is a perpetual cycle that ha been going on in nature since time began and there is no better way of keeping the soil in your garden fertile and healthy. There are other materials that can benefit the soil which organic gardeners make use of. These include animal manures, blood and bone mixture, seaweed extract, fish emulsion, dolomite and rock minerals, to name a few.



• Grow What You Like. Although it may seem obvious, grow crops you and your family love to eat. While bush beans, lettuces and tomatoes are some of the easiest vegetables to grow, if your family doesn't enjoy them, why grow them? Grow varieties of vegetables and fruits adapted to your area. Check with local gardeners to find the best varieties to grow.



• Start with seedlings. Seeds are necessary for root crops, such as carrots and radishes, but seedlings of most other vegetables are more likely to be a success. once you are used to how and when things grow, move onto sowing and saving your own seeds. there is nothing more satisfying than



• Plant Correctly. Don't plant too deep, this is often a common mistake, follow directions and plant at the proper spacing and depth. Thin seeded crops to the proper distance. Crowded plants become easily stressed and don't produce well.



• Encourage Nature
  Strong vigorous plants will resist disease and insect attach, but the most effective agents operating to control insect pests are, and always will be, those that occur in nature. The organic gardner does all he or she can to encourage these predators which include birds, frogs, lizards and may beneficial insects such as ladybirds, lacewings, preying mantis, and several species of wasps. The good bugs or beneficial insects are ones that eat the bad ones, you can into the garden by planting a mix of flowers amongst your veges, such as, rue, yarrow, cosmos, Sweet Alice, dill, tansy, Queen Anne's lace, Chinese mustard, parsley and daisies. An attractive collection of these plants is available as the Good Bug Mix from Green Harvest. Inspect plants every few days for any insect activity. Handpick destructive insects and drop them in a can of soapy water. Use garlic & chili spray to rid of large infestations but don't overuse as this kills the good bugs
  

How do i make Compost?

Any organic matter, material which was once living, will break down eventually in the composting process composting is simply the recycling of organic matter. Compost will be only as good as the materials which go into it. You need a variety of materials to give you a balance of nutrients: grass clippings; kitchen waste; leaves; weeds; manure; hair, mouldy bread; meat scraps; egg shells; sawdust (from untreated timber); tissues; vacuum cleaner dust; feathers, twigs. The list goes on and on. There are several methods and i often find the following books a good reference Soil Food Jackie French 1995 or Recycle Your Garden – The Essential Guide to Composting Tim Marshall 2003. Whichever method is used, it is essential that the bottom of the bin or heap is open so that soil micro-organisms and worms can enter the compost

With autumn leaves falling, lush grassy lawns springing back from summer's heat and drought, and gardens generating heaps of tired vines and other vegetable wastes, this is the perfect time to start a new compost pile or breath some new life into your old one.

Q. Where do you get all your info?

The book I refer to most on vegetable gardening is Backyard Self-sufficiency Jackie French 1992, and Jackie French's Top 10 Vegetables. Her thoughts on growing and preparing these vegetables are both delectable and entertaining. Australian Vegetable Garden Clive Blazey 1999 is another great reference book

The Complete Book of Fruit Growing in Australia Louis Glowinski 1997 is the Fruit Bible, and often borrowed from the local library
Bill Mollison's books on Permaculture are also fascinating.

The monthly magazine Organic Gardener is one of the best magazines I’ve found on the subject. Also Gardening Australia ABC is an essential part of our weekly TV.

Most of all opening my ears and asking questions in groups such as our seed savers.

Vegetable Gardens Revolution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."-Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978) US anthropologist

Reading an article on the Kitchen Gardner's website http://www.kitchengardeners.org/, recently got me thinking that, in the face of Global Warming & Oil shortages, that our skills as seed savers and vegetable growers will not only be required, but will become increasingly valued. It made me feel a little needed, in this ultra-conservative community, it also gave me a little hope.

Being a greenie at heart, my fruitless actions of my youth were insignificant against the tide of conformist attitude. So when the idea of growing your own food first could be a simple approach to farmed foods and the impact they have on the environment, first presented to me I jumped for joy. I also jumped at the opportunity to become involved in whatever way. Scouring the net I came across Seed Savers and lucky for me a local group. Along the way I have met some wonderful and caring people, picked up invaluable knowledge.

By growing my food, I have avoided fruits & veg that in their production, is fertilised, pesticide (several times), preserved, packaged and then transported and cool stored, all using synthetic chemicals and processes both wasteful and harmful to the environment. so you see, I'm doing my little bit and becoming more aware of the food on my plate and the natural processes and cycles from which good food comes.

Gardeners are in tune with the natural world, the weather, and the seasons. They look for ways of working peacefully and harmoniously with nature, rather than fighting against her. Growing our own reconnects us with skills and sensations that we have largely lost in the late 20th century. There is a connection with the soil, land, and water, whether it be a farm or a window-box. Gardeners understand where good food comes from and how it is produced, they tend to seek out food that is authentic, local, seasonal, and minimally-processed whenever possible.

Very few of us would be able to grow ALL of the food we need to live, but all of us can make an often significant contribution to our diets from our gardens, allotments or even balconies and windowboxes. ... As well as reducing the pressure that each of us places on precious land resources. By sharing this wondrous thing, whatever way i can i m involving people that would never usually sign up to a petition saving the natural environment, or they would never buy organic foods they are the ones that have no idea on soil ecosystem and the benefits of permacultre principles in gardening. However subconsciously they are absorbing these ideas, through Gardening!!! Simple and very conventional, very status quo.