Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
high raised, no till beds
Best way to plant seedlings - love this trick !! Recycle and Re-use
Learnt a really great way of doing seedlings at my first hands on permaculture course with the wonderful Andrew Mugford.
Need to share with you all, just because.
here's the video - part1 of 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdae2N34Sv4
here's the video - part1 of 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdae2N34Sv4
Plant seeds out into anything really an old box, seed trays, anything you can find.
The soil can be simple soil taken from the garden for this phase (the seeds have most of what they need for the first 3 weeks of growth so won't need too much fancy stuff for this part) - (a note - please check my facts, they are most likely not too accurate as I tend to remember things in a visual way and play around with what I have until it works for me, never remembering ingredients or time frames but rather just how things look and feel.
Anyone who has been with me in the kitchen when I'm cooking will confirm that.. ahhaaha).
At about 3 weeks (3 or so leaf phase) - transplant into their final resting place.
Make little cups from rolled up newspaper (we used a recycled cardboard tube (bigger then a toilet roll inner). Wrap the newspaper around and fold in the bottom and slide off the tube.
Pack closely together and fill with delicious soil mix.
This is a perfect job for kids to do when they are tired of digging or just feel like sitting in the sun and chatting while working. When friends visit we rope them in to help too, so if you are coming for tea get ready to make some newspaper cups. hehe.
This is a perfect job for kids to do when they are tired of digging or just feel like sitting in the sun and chatting while working. When friends visit we rope them in to help too, so if you are coming for tea get ready to make some newspaper cups. hehe.
The soil for this phase needs to be the good stuff as the plants need lots of nourishment so that they can get a good start.
We mixed - volcanic rock dust (some people use bone meal) , soil from the garden , Vermicompost, (beautiful stuff that red worms make, we have a worm farm made form old tyres) and some ground up horse or donkey manure. If you don't have all of the above, get what you can and play around.
Fill cups and gently put seedlings in. They stay in these cups and after about 2 more weeks go straight into the ground. The newspaper disintegrates and the roots don't need to be disturbed again.
This is our first batch this way - I've seen how beautifully it works for other people and am very excited to compare this method to the one we were using of planting straight from the first seed tray into the ground.
Will keep you updated.
The secret garden part 2 (Bush and thorns cleared, seedling going in, grey water! YAY!!)
WOW so much has happened in a short space of time.
Most of the thorny stuff taking over this beautiful space is out. We left a high canopy of beautiful existing trees (pics of before in previous post).
This is where we are now.
Here we have cut up the branches of the trees that were suffocating our other trees and used them to make a fence to hold the leveled out a piece of the land for sweet potatoes soon soon. this is as you enter this space.
YES I KNOW - the bare soil freaks me out too don't worry - IT WILL NEVER BE BARE AGAIN that I can promise you.
Theres a baby grapevine near the little out house on the left and will be planting more soon soon. (our dream to have it covered in grapes and sit inside on a big puffy outside chair with a book in the dappled light, picking sweet grapes straight from the vine, hehheehehhe... DREAM BIG PEOPLE)
Below the other half just getting beds ready for mulching up and planting seedlings and perennials for our bushy layer. trees are recovering from being suffocated so will bush out soon soon.
The last corner in progress. Poor trees!!! rescued and will be leafy soon soon. we used the thorny plant on the edges as a windbreaker and are going to grow creeping plants over them. Maybe Su su, granadilla creeper, cucumber, pumpkins...
Below - using our GREY water!! YES - finally we managed to stop the precious water from our baths and showers from going into the septic tank and into an outside accesable tank instead. We have so much precious water now and water seedlings everyday!.
To think that all of this that precious water was just going no where!! NEVER AGAIN.
The climate is so perfect in that secret garden space.. high canopy, just enough shade and sun.. Just going to get some herbs and medium sized layer going..
Much excitement.
Such a beautiful breathtaking space in our secret garden. Those pesky thorny vines are down mostly, Seedlings so so happy! High canopy prrrrfct! Beautiful soil and thick blanket. Working wonders. Still working on our bushy layer.
There is nothing like growing food. Seeds are organic. We catch them and reuse and are learning seed saving techniques slowly but surely soon we will be able to share the love with you again
PLEASE notice the rich black soil! this is from being in a natural forest system with the leaves falling and sticks and mulch over years. We won't use and abuse what nature has given us here by not filling the soil with more leaves and Gods Blanket. Worm tea, mulch and more.
Thick blanket of dry grass - keeps the moisture in.
squash, pumkin and cucumber growing nicely but I think that it might be a bit late in the year to hope for no mould.. We can only wait and see I suppose. Lettuce and swiss chard. LOVING this space.
Staye tuned for part 3 - as we go Ill update..
Most of the thorny stuff taking over this beautiful space is out. We left a high canopy of beautiful existing trees (pics of before in previous post).
This is where we are now.
Today I had time to be in the soil for longer than usual. Hanging with my boychild, (who loves this as much as I do), getting excited about growing more stuff. Lately life has taken over and my heart was just longing to be there.
My hands are dirty, my new prennial additions are happy, boychild & I learnt something new about nurturing life and always love doing it together, my longing to be outside has stopped until tomorrow
& resisting big AGriculture and their corrupt GM and poisons and CONTROL.
& resisting big AGriculture and their corrupt GM and poisons and CONTROL.
Its all pointless to me if I'm not creating a solution in my own space and with my own family. #resistanceisfertile .#theorganicrevolution
 |
dirty therapy
|
Here we have cut up the branches of the trees that were suffocating our other trees and used them to make a fence to hold the leveled out a piece of the land for sweet potatoes soon soon. this is as you enter this space.
YES I KNOW - the bare soil freaks me out too don't worry - IT WILL NEVER BE BARE AGAIN that I can promise you.
Theres a baby grapevine near the little out house on the left and will be planting more soon soon. (our dream to have it covered in grapes and sit inside on a big puffy outside chair with a book in the dappled light, picking sweet grapes straight from the vine, hehheehehhe... DREAM BIG PEOPLE)
Below the other half just getting beds ready for mulching up and planting seedlings and perennials for our bushy layer. trees are recovering from being suffocated so will bush out soon soon.
The last corner in progress. Poor trees!!! rescued and will be leafy soon soon. we used the thorny plant on the edges as a windbreaker and are going to grow creeping plants over them. Maybe Su su, granadilla creeper, cucumber, pumpkins... 
And this is the other half that we have been working on the most... As before, trees in rescue phase. beds in with thick Blanket of dried grass and seedlings in!!
Check out this cool use for old recycled pallets.. Our main pathway.. We used some fo the others for a gate.. love them to bits
Below - using our GREY water!! YES - finally we managed to stop the precious water from our baths and showers from going into the septic tank and into an outside accesable tank instead. We have so much precious water now and water seedlings everyday!.To think that all of this that precious water was just going no where!! NEVER AGAIN.
The climate is so perfect in that secret garden space.. high canopy, just enough shade and sun.. Just going to get some herbs and medium sized layer going..
Much excitement.
There is nothing like growing food. Seeds are organic. We catch them and reuse and are learning seed saving techniques slowly but surely soon we will be able to share the love with you again
Thick blanket of dry grass - keeps the moisture in.
squash, pumkin and cucumber growing nicely but I think that it might be a bit late in the year to hope for no mould.. We can only wait and see I suppose. Lettuce and swiss chard. LOVING this space.
Staye tuned for part 3 - as we go Ill update..
Saturday, January 21, 2017
The Secret Garden part 1 - Time to change things up a bit.
Time to relook and change things up a bit part 1 - The secret garden
Drought, water restricitons, empty rain tanks all trees still babies - there goes the shade.Mulch packed high so which made everything last longer than it should have but SCORCHED veggies.
AGAIN !! Weve been here for almost 3 years and for both of the summer seasons the same thing has happened.. I feel like a bit of a poopal for having to go through it TWICE before waking up.
Ok we planted a zillion trees which are growing nicely but still hardly past the height of me. No shade or relief from there.
We are changing things up this time.
Remember the secret garden? jungly area close to the house with passages and canopies, so overgrown only the big fat pig and small children could get through the little pathways.. Really cute and exciting but not used as much as you would think..
After being inspired by some of the garden walkabouts that I'd been on - using this space for crops that needed a bit of shade made such perfect sense.
I could kick myself for not thinking of it sooner - AND it's closer to the house so zone 1 - yes please.. Keeping the piggy out of the b veggies might prove to be a bit of a challenge.
First things first - create a high canopy. Eish - its a mission, especially when some of the trees in there are big thorny hardcore terrifying creeper things that look like the thorns the wicked witch put around the castly on sleeping beauty.
They are climbing and and over the other beautiful trees and suffocating them.. One branch even wrapped so tightly around anothere tree that it fused into it and even when roots were cut, continued to survive as part of the nice tree !!! quite amazing.
Our trees are looking like they can breathe again and the soil underneath is so rich and mulchy and beautiful.
BUT with the help of our amazing farm guy who lives with us and helps maintain the farm, grow the food, fix stuff and generally just be supehero AND our new family member, the chainsaw and boychild, with wild mom - we are managing.
My two coffee trees went in soon and we are just keeping clear of them during the ripping and hacking of mangled vines. (they are thriving by the way).
TO THINK all of these years weve been TRYING to grow my own food canopy instead of using what we have.
Down in the field - Big crops - mielies, popcorn, sweet potato, orchard etc (once we catch that dreaeded porcupine and spinache etc when it cools down - up here - other veg. Pet piggy will be allowed into that area to eat fallen fruit and leave his treasures bhOrchard already on its way and the baby moringas we are protecting from the dreaded porcupine the a makeshift cage.
see.. happy pig, happy tree.. Im liking.
so - we are giving ourselves 18 days to get it cleared and ready (keeping all the gorgeous trees, cutting low branches, ripping out thorns and scary stuff and digging out roots etc.
During that time making the 18 day compost, planting seedlings and getting woodchips ready and grew water system in place.
Will update you in part 2
WATCH THIs SPACE
Drought, water restricitons, empty rain tanks all trees still babies - there goes the shade.Mulch packed high so which made everything last longer than it should have but SCORCHED veggies.
AGAIN !! Weve been here for almost 3 years and for both of the summer seasons the same thing has happened.. I feel like a bit of a poopal for having to go through it TWICE before waking up.
Ok we planted a zillion trees which are growing nicely but still hardly past the height of me. No shade or relief from there.
We are changing things up this time.
Remember the secret garden? jungly area close to the house with passages and canopies, so overgrown only the big fat pig and small children could get through the little pathways.. Really cute and exciting but not used as much as you would think..
After being inspired by some of the garden walkabouts that I'd been on - using this space for crops that needed a bit of shade made such perfect sense.
I could kick myself for not thinking of it sooner - AND it's closer to the house so zone 1 - yes please.. Keeping the piggy out of the b veggies might prove to be a bit of a challenge.
First things first - create a high canopy. Eish - its a mission, especially when some of the trees in there are big thorny hardcore terrifying creeper things that look like the thorns the wicked witch put around the castly on sleeping beauty.
Our trees are looking like they can breathe again and the soil underneath is so rich and mulchy and beautiful.
BUT with the help of our amazing farm guy who lives with us and helps maintain the farm, grow the food, fix stuff and generally just be supehero AND our new family member, the chainsaw and boychild, with wild mom - we are managing.
My two coffee trees went in soon and we are just keeping clear of them during the ripping and hacking of mangled vines. (they are thriving by the way).
Down in the field - Big crops - mielies, popcorn, sweet potato, orchard etc (once we catch that dreaeded porcupine and spinache etc when it cools down - up here - other veg. Pet piggy will be allowed into that area to eat fallen fruit and leave his treasures bhOrchard already on its way and the baby moringas we are protecting from the dreaded porcupine the a makeshift cage.
see.. happy pig, happy tree.. Im liking.
so - we are giving ourselves 18 days to get it cleared and ready (keeping all the gorgeous trees, cutting low branches, ripping out thorns and scary stuff and digging out roots etc.
During that time making the 18 day compost, planting seedlings and getting woodchips ready and grew water system in place.
Will update you in part 2
WATCH THIs SPACE
Monday, July 18, 2016
Raised beds and my love affair with mulch
Raised beds are the best best best - and I am officially in love with mulch
Video here - how to make a raised bed on the contour
I am learning so much I cant tell you how excited it makes me. Growing food, discovering and learning, being in nature and watching how it all comes together is the most rewarding experience.
So here we have it
1. Dig a trench about 70cm - 1m wide and 30cm deep- on the contour of the land (try and keep it an even depth as you would a swale) - I am using these as I would a swale.
2. On the grass next to the trench put some cardboard (make sure the tape and plastic is all off) - no need to weed, the cardboard will smother the existing grass and it will eventually turn into organic matter and nourish the soil.
3. Throw the soil from the trench on top of the cardboard (you can use dry grass instead of cardboard if you prefer) - on the downhill side of the trench - (The trench/mini swale, will capture water and it will seep into the ground on the downhill side)
4. Add a layer of newspaper on top of the soil (flatten the top a bit) - approximately 1m wide - wide enough to be able to pick food from either side of the trench
5. Add compost layer - Make your own 18 day compost (video up soon) or dry horse manure or find a friend who makes and buy
6. Add a thick layer of mulch (we use dry grass, its free, easy to get and works brilliantly) - As neighbours to dump their grass clippings at your spot instead of taking them away MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T USE ROUNDUP or any other poisonous Pesticides or herbicides before taking. - It must dry out before using - OR WOOD CHIPS -
I can't tell how much the plants love love love the mulch - keeps the moisture in and the weeds out.
7. Make little holes and put your paper cups with your seedlings straight in
8. Fill the trenches with broken up sticks, bark, dry leaves - they keep the water in and will eventually turn into compost that you can pile on top of your beds.
9. REMEMBER to make pathways in between the beds so that you don't have to walk on them. (NB - NEVER walk on the beds - the soil mustn't be compacted - good luck training doggies and kiddies with that)
Video here - how to make a raised bed on the contour
I am learning so much I cant tell you how excited it makes me. Growing food, discovering and learning, being in nature and watching how it all comes together is the most rewarding experience.
So here we have it
1. Dig a trench about 70cm - 1m wide and 30cm deep- on the contour of the land (try and keep it an even depth as you would a swale) - I am using these as I would a swale.
2. On the grass next to the trench put some cardboard (make sure the tape and plastic is all off) - no need to weed, the cardboard will smother the existing grass and it will eventually turn into organic matter and nourish the soil.
3. Throw the soil from the trench on top of the cardboard (you can use dry grass instead of cardboard if you prefer) - on the downhill side of the trench - (The trench/mini swale, will capture water and it will seep into the ground on the downhill side)
4. Add a layer of newspaper on top of the soil (flatten the top a bit) - approximately 1m wide - wide enough to be able to pick food from either side of the trench
5. Add compost layer - Make your own 18 day compost (video up soon) or dry horse manure or find a friend who makes and buy
6. Add a thick layer of mulch (we use dry grass, its free, easy to get and works brilliantly) - As neighbours to dump their grass clippings at your spot instead of taking them away MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T USE ROUNDUP or any other poisonous Pesticides or herbicides before taking. - It must dry out before using - OR WOOD CHIPS -
I can't tell how much the plants love love love the mulch - keeps the moisture in and the weeds out.
7. Make little holes and put your paper cups with your seedlings straight in
8. Fill the trenches with broken up sticks, bark, dry leaves - they keep the water in and will eventually turn into compost that you can pile on top of your beds.
9. REMEMBER to make pathways in between the beds so that you don't have to walk on them. (NB - NEVER walk on the beds - the soil mustn't be compacted - good luck training doggies and kiddies with that)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)