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.