The Future - arriving at the past. .1. Introduction to Natural Gardening

In my garden, my focus is almost totally on the soil. Natural gardening is about improving the soil, which in nature is a living, bio-diverse medium, full of micro organisms, worms, grubs and a perfect balance of moisture and food (ie manures composts organic matter) to sustain and maintain a healthy soil. This in turn produces healthy plants, which thrive in the environment you co-create with nature. Use of long term artificial chemicals, produce only short term gains, whereas in nature it is totally sustainable. Modern techniques are dependant on external energies such as fertilisers and pesticides which tend to attack nature rather than working with it. The soil, in this approach, is first mined of its fertility to produce food and, from then on, there is a dependency to use non renewable resources to support further yields which is not only costly, but is slowly killing our soils. This is to the benefit of the multinational companies who fool you into a false sense of security only for their gain and their shareholders.

 

Working with nature, using organic, permaculture or natural techniques, takes into consideration all the cultures of the immediate environment of your garden – buildings, trees, animals, plants, water, sun, wind, people, insects, rodents, birds, plants, stones ….etc  and looks into their inter-relatedness. This is working with nature in preference to being against it, finding ways these cultures can work or function co-operatively rather than seeing them as separate individual functions. I believe too that  a vital asset to your garden is your intuition. This I see as nature itself speaking to your heart through the intimate relationship you build with it through your garden.

 

Crop rotation helps the health of your garden as does the inter-dispersion of flowers throughout the garden to  attract bees. The use of compatible herbs and companion planting attract other insects and organisms, or repel those you do not want. I create environments within the garden, such as little nooks and crannies, to attract creatures like lizards and rodents to keep the population of things like snails in check. I have made a fish pond in the vegetable garden to encourage frogs to feed on insects that if over populated may decimate my crops. I keep Rabbits and chickens for manure and the straw I buy for their homes make great mulch which help to control weeds and maintain a good moisture level in the soil in summer while breaking down to improve the soil with their uric acids and nutrients.

 

Recycling kitchen and garden waste in composts and using those pruned branches to create little retaining walls or place them in soil to impede the movement of the topsoils on inclines – they too over time break down leaving the nutrients and fibres needed to improve the condition of soil - plus of course help the world environment by not sending such things off to Land fill rubbish dumps. My garden soil is a seed bank too. I allow my strongest vegetables to go to seed instead of eating them. The seeds drop into the soil and appear as seedlings, in season, where the seeds lay. Some end up deep in the soil if I happen to dig the garden over and maybe a year or so later when I re dig they just pop up here and there. The seeds produced, genetically change over time and adapt over generations to the environment of my garden and build resistance to whatever detriments may be peculiar to my garden. Packet seeds from seed companies are adapted to other environments.

 

Weeds are also beneficial and not at all the scourge they are made out to be. I can use them as a sort of mulch to prevent evaporation in summer or as a way to recycle any nutrients that leech deep into the soil, unused. These are then captured by weeds with deep, penetrating tap roots, bringing the unused nutrients back up to their leaves and stems. So by lopping them before they seed I leave them to rot on the surface so the nutrients are then re-introduced to the topsoil. These are just some method ideas I use in my garden and over time I will devote blogs to each method independently. I will use and expand the concepts in photos and simple explanations to encourage you to start thinking and seeing how easy and enjoyable it is to grow your own. Even more so, that perhaps one day what I share here with you may help you through tough times in the future. For those of you who I know already use similar philosophies I hope you join in and co-blog or write your own experiences on subjects particular to your environment or focus

 

You often hear that organically produced fruits and vegetables are small, less appealing and less bountiful as a crop. This may be so to a degree but believe me they are healthier and safer for you, your family and the environment that we need to reclaim if this planet and us on it are to survive. The future is in our hands and we sure need to re-visit the past to ensure there is gonna be a future.

Too Easy

About one Year,im back in Germany and after 13 years of living in Brazil,i have become very lazy(Okay,not to much)I have learnt,how to make the best,without putting to much Effort.
When i went to the Supermarket and i saw the Quality and the Prices of Vegetables,i decited, to grow them myself again.There is nothing better.
There was only one Problem.We have a lot of Land,enough,to plant more,as we can eat.But it is all Grassland and to turn it into Vegetablegarden,its a real Trip.
So,last Fall,i started,to dig the Ground and pick out,Millions of terrible Roots,of Plants,that grow faster,then everything else.Leaving just a little piece of those Roots,they will come back,quicker as you can look.
This Year,when i was fed up with diggin, i had a Idea,how to prepare the Garden,without breaking my Back.
We have 3 Horses and they make a lot of Sh..! So,i took all this beautyfull Material and spread it out,allover the Piece of Land,that i decited,to be the future Vegetablegarden.
I put it about 30 to 40 cm thick over the Grassland,to kill the wheat and at the same time fertilize it.
In the Spring,i planted the Land,that i had prepared last Year and all Plants grew very good.
But im not satisfied,i wanted more.
So,i made the Experiment and planted Botatos,Tomatos,Beans and a lot of different things,directly into the (Sorry) fresh Horseshit,that i have spread out before.
You cannot imagine the result.
From some of the Botatoplants,i get more then 5 kg each Plant and everything else,i could watch it growing.
Some of the last Botatos,i planted,i just threw on top of the Horseshit,little botatos,where i did not think,that they will grow at all.I covered them,with the same Material and i was amazed of the outcome.Just a simple Botato,was so big,that just one of them was enough,to fill my Stomach.And such a taste.
Okay,there are many Plants,who dont like,if the Dung is to young,but i know,how i will prepare the Garden next year.

ANOTHER POND STORY- by Mia

Hello all Garden Gurus!

After having read Keith's great description of his garden and pond, I thought it might be of interest to tell how my partner Kevin built our pond.

The story actually started with Kevin having sold his house which had a tiny little pond with goldfish in it. We really wanted to bring some of the goldfish over, but of course had no where to put them here at my house. I think I had a chat with Keith about it and he just suggested building a pond. We decided that would be quite a good idea, after a bit of thinking. 

Here below is a pic of the fishies in transit lol (pic 1)

My front yard had a little garden bed in it with a rectangle made when the concrete was poured, so we thought of putting the pond there, as we absolutely didn't want to hack a hole in the aggregated concrete. The garden bed was no loss as it only housed a huge spiky succulent that I don't know the name of and a tired Hibiscus. So Kevin started digging those out.

Then Kevin built a box frame of treated pine timber which was larger than the hole in the ground. (See pic 2)

                                 Then he lined the edges of the concrete hole with some thick rubber matting. And created a smooth base in the bottom of the hole with sand. (Pic 3)

After that he laid in the pond liner which  was secured to the walls of the frame above the water level with some flat head nails.  (Pic 4)

Then the box frame was capped with dressed pine that was strong enough to sit on and the corners were bevelled to create a neat look. (Pic 5)

Kevin also put in two Water Lily plants and some other aquatic plants and we also added a pump with a little fountain. (See Pics 5 and 6). Gradually we added other plants to put on the edges and round the yard until we had a really lovely outdoor area, and it all started with the pond!

                           Pic 6

As many of my Photographer friends know, I have taken many pictures of this pond and it's inhabitants and the pond makes a world of difference to the feeling and ambience of our little front yard.

I hope you all enjoyed this story and please come back to me if you have any questions.

Blessings

Mia

Just us - a flower in the mist

We found this delightful flower growing wild in the hills of Dunagiri (Kumaon, India). Internet tells me its also known as the 'falling star'...
wish we could catch it and put it in our pocket so it never fades away :)

ITZDAPAPPARAZI's GaRdEn

My garden is quite large but a lot of it kind of takes care of itself. The weather has been unkind for a long time lately, and last weekend was the first time in a long time I have been able to start getting it back to looking like it is cared for. I tend to like the jungle look though. I am situated in the south west of the North Island of New Zealand. Weather is not that extreme. Frosts in winter sometimes, summers can be dry but not scorching. Most the time the garden is not too badly affected by climate.

A lot of my garden is easy care, a large part of it is planted in native trees. These dip down a bank and then there is a row of pines at the back which is the boundary between garden and paddock. It is fairly well established now and does not require much care, every so often I zip around with the weed-eater. In the beginning it was a lot of work nurturing the seedlings and baby trees. Alot of it came down to survival of the fittest and trying again. The natives attract a few species of native birds, such as tuis, wood pigeons and fantails. The work was all well worth it just to see the bird life and seasonal changes in the trees.

Fantails are pretty cute, they flit around after you looking in disturbed ground for insects etc to eat. I was lucky to get this photo. Usually they dance around in the air and dont stay still for long at all.

 

this is the native area

If you are interested in attracting birds to your garden there are books and websites about what you can do to lure them in. One simple idea I just read is this. Find some pine cones which are open and attach string so you can hang it from a tree. Smear a mixture of peanut butter and rolled oats in the open parts of the cone. It should attract small birds such as waxeyes. (I don't think the bird population here has discovered my cones yet! )

 

 

 

 

   

Other parts of the garden are shown here. A row of camelias are a break from lawn to paddock at one part. Along one fence is a salvia hedge, I just cut it back 2 weeks ago. It needs to be cut back to almost ground level every year because it is such a rapid and rampant grower. But mid spring and all of summer it is lovely with masses of cornflower blue colour flowers. It attracts lots of bees. Apparently there is a world shortage of bees so do plant anything that will attract bees. I do not know how true this is..but I heard that if there were no bees, then the human race would die off in 4 years. Every species co-exists.

The white thing there is my cat, he is deaf. I can mow around him while he sleeps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old shed is where the fire wood and junk is. There is a pale pink old-fashioned rambling rose that climbs over the shed and in summer it is in full bloom and looks lovely. And then of course there is the compost and worm area, the worm farm under the blue plastic cover is new and there is another blog about making that. I do have a vegetable garden too, but that is such an embarrassing mess I decided not to include that here. The vege garden is my NEXT project. The soil here dries out quickly as it is close to the river. It can be good in that it drains quickly when there is a lot of rain, like we have just had. But in summer it gets very dry. I try not to water too much because some plants can adapt to dryness if you do not baby them too much. I water when plants look like death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open Garden Tour - Keith's - East Coast of NSW Australia

Every garden is unique, each with its own set of conditions creating all sorts of unique consequences. Mine sure has its own, making it interesting to work with.  There are two conditions that stand out creating a bit of a challenge - sun and light! The small piece of garden I rescued from the surrounding tropical garden with its tall palms and lush, dense vegitation is facing SE to about NE and as such is really borderline so far as the minimum amount of sunlight needed to produce food

You can see by the above photo that the rich tropical vegetation builds an impressive barrier preventing much of the sun from penetrating through to the garden once the sun is past the northerly point during the day. The strawberry patch you see here is not good for growing anything over winter because the sun is lower in the sky and the garden shed shades it too much. However back under the overhanging palms I can grow summer crops over the autumn, winter and spring ( lettuces, zucchini, sweet potato, tomatoes etc) because that area of the garden the plants are tricked into thinking  it is actually spring, summer and autumn. From the summer solstice onward the sun reaches far back in the garden and as the summer approaches that part of the garden gets less sunlight each day as the sun moves back toward the south, so to speak, so the plants think it is coming on to Autumn and start to mature or head up.


In the next photo the retaining walls of the strawberries in the foreground and main garden beds all face the North East. The fences run North/South and East/West so you can imagine the direct sun is very limited. For you Gurus in the northern hemisphere this is the same as a garden facing South east. Basically I get the early sun till about midday or a bit earlier and this combined with having a small area to grow means I have to grow things intensively. I do not have the luxury of room to have small beds with wide paths to make access to the plants easy or push wheelbarrows about. Those bricks and bits of wood are my paths - I even utilise that rickety retaining wall as a path. I have to balance my way around on these carrying whatever or balancing as I tend to the plants.


Anyway here are some other photos for you to see what I have in the small area dedicated to the vegetables. The first one is to show you how I garden intensely. notice the small area between the wooden path and the fence line which has peas growing up it. What I have done is planted some bean seeds there on the open soil which will grow to about half a meter more or less and produce beans. The peas behind do not produce flowers and peas till they are about 1 meter high and also the bean plants will not block their sun nor interfere with harvesting. Note too the bk Choy plant which is now in flower - this I will leave in the soil to collect seeds while harvesting the beans and peas. So in such a small area - so much is happening and as long as they have enough water and food they are happy and produce healthy produce.




































See too how the cat enjoys overlooking the garden and that chook (chicken) sneaks in from time to time to pick at the fresh vegetables and visit the bunnies. In this photo you see my composts that I have built - there is actually two there and a third is in the shaded part of the photo - each at a different stage of composting. The other photo is the bunny enclosure - the manure producer for the garden. every now and then I collect up the straw from the cage and use as a mulch for the garden. it is full of urea and manure so perfect for fertilization of the garden as well as a mulch to keep weeds down and moisture up to the plants. It is worth noting that with a good mulch the moisture stays at least 40% longer in the soil - in fact more depending on the depth of the mulch another great advantage to mulch while we are on the subject is that it stops soil splattering on your crops when it rains and so needs less cleaning.


























Anyway that's it for now - How about a look at all your gardens and its personality and needs - would love top see them all as I know you all would too
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Mums Camellia: The Czar.

Camellia Japonica The Czar.

It was officially the first day of spring here yesterday and even though the afternoon was a wet one and thankfully gave us more rain, today is a beautiful Spring day. Birds chirping under a blue sky and just a slight breeze. In the garden buds are appearing aplenty.

 

I was visiting my mother and noticed her camellia was very much in flower a few weeks back , and so as I do I reached for  my little camera and took a few photos of the camellia as we chatted.

Mum has this beautiful 35 year old Camellia Japonica planted in an old washing machine drum and growing oh so well, for the upheavals of relocating to a few different locations over this thirty five year period. From hills to seaside it has successfully traversed in the big old tub and the fact that it is in a tub where maybe it is by now root bound has probably been it's saviour. Not that you would know that it has lived in different places because as you can see by the photos here it still looks pretty good. 

I love Camellias and this one called The Czar is quite striking with its dark green leaves and these big double flowers in a gorgeous crimson pink with streaks of white appearing over some of the petals.

 

 

A little bit about the Camellia taken from the net:

The earliest recorded information of camellias coming to Australia is towards the end of 1786 when preparations were under way for fitting out the fleet that was to convey the first convicts to Australia. In Sir Joseph Banks list of plants and seeds to be transported to Australia were two tea plants. These were sent on the ship Sirius and came under Governor Phillips direct supervision. No account of the safe arrival of the tea plants or their subsequent cultivation in Sydney has so far been found.

 

In 1789 two more tea plants were sent aboard the ship Guardian but on Christmas eve the Guardian was lost at sea. When this news reached Britain the Gorgon was fitted out as a replacement. While lists of the plants and seeds sent on the Gorgon have not been traced, it has been assumed that they were the same list to those sent on the Guardian. Phillip Gidley King who returned to Australia on the Gorgon ship, wrote from Sydney in October 1791 that the fruit trees and other plants were all ina very good state on our arrival in Sydney.

 

While we do not know how successful these efforts by Banks to introduce C. sinensis were, we do know that it had been successfully established by 1796. in that year William Paterson, the soldier botanist friend of Banks who had lived in N.S.W. since 1791, returned to England. William discussed with Banks the plant requirements of the colony and Banks annotated his Guardian list, noting all the plants marked with a pencil tick,Col Paterson tells me are growing in the colony. Tea was one of the plants Banks ticked. So the first recorded camellias to be brought to Australia were C. sinensis in 1791. In 1798 two more tea plants were sent on the ship Porpoise under the care of George Sutter. Sutter bought 18 boxes containing plants. Box 14 contained 2 tea plants, 1 Averhoe, 3 Brucca and 1 Jalope plant.

 

George Sutter was given a land grant of 186 acres at Baulkam Hills which he names Chelsea Farm. George established the first orchard and nursery in Australia and in a few years was supplying Sydney with fruit particularly oranges and lemons. In 1843 George Sutter published a small book on grapes and oranges, and died May 5 1859.

 

Though these Camellia sinensis plants survived and lived for a while all of them eventually died.

 

The oldest tea plant growing in the Botanic Gardens Sydney was planted in 1828 and had been introduced from China in 1823 by John Reeves.
Charies Fraser reaches Sydney in 1816 as a Private in the 56th Regiment. Governor Macquarie placed him in charge of the garden of the government. that was to develop into the Sydney Botanic Gardens and in 1821 appointed him Colonial Botanist.

The following manuscript, Catalogue of Plants Cultivated in the Botanic Gardens Sydney was prepared by Charles Fraser, dated by him January 1828.

Link here to read more from this site

History of Camellias in Australia by John Fowler.

 

The Camellia surely is a beautiful flower although it does not do as well as a cut flower. It is best to sit the flower itself in a float bowl for the prettiest of results.

I hope that you have enjoyed The Czar and here is a last photo before the flowers yellow off and drop to the ground therein making a very pretty carpet across the earthen floor.

 

 

Milli 2008

 

 

Ponds in the vegetable patch

Well it was clean up time for my garden this week and part of it was to pull my pond apart and re-lay the facade  covering the pond. I thought it a perfect opportunity to show you all how easily and inexpensively it can be made.

Here you see the pond as it was,

This following photo is what the pond really looks like. It is just a depression made in the earth then lined with black builders polythene. For me I chose the platform style made up from old fence palings and laid out to form the look below. You can choose to landscape yours with soil, stone plants , pother's or whatever you like - the possibilities are endless. Please note that I have not used any nails or fasteners for easy dismantling of maintenance
























The advantage to the pond is that it attracts other animals plus what I like is adding another element to the garden - the missing one -Water. Bit too out there for some but I think the idea of the four elements air fire water earth is part of the balance in gardens. Introducing things like frogs, insects, fish and water plants creates a new eco-culture in it's own environment and this in turn has an effect on the culture of the garden you are creating. Diversity is the key to balance and this in turn determines the levels of health.

Anyway hope this may interest someone out there

Making a worm place

Worms are good for your garden because they eat decaying material and they help break up soil and are good for fertility. Here is an easy way to make a worm farm.

You can make it out of old tyres or crates. Here's what you do.

Get a piece of old perspex or corrugated iron and lay where you want it. Raise one end with something. I used an old phone book.and bits of old paving stones.

Next you soak some newspaper and cardboard in some water. Enough to stuff around the inside part of the tyre. This is where the worms will lay eggs and it serves also as food for fungi and bacteria that break down food for the worms.

Then you get some lawn clippings,, more wet shredded paper, compost and soil. Just enough to make like a 3cm layer on the bottom. Then you get some food scraps and put on top. This is food for the worms. The next part is the hard part. Finding worms. You can buy them, but I just went on a worm hunt around the garden. Next place another tyre on top and when the compost is ready you remove the lower tyre and the put it back on top again. Feed the worms with veges and food scraps and wet shredded paper. Add water if paper dries out and once a month dust with garden lime. Lastly cover the tyres with plastic weighed down with something to keep it in place. I used a couple of bits of wood and a pot plant

I didn't find too many worms so I'll look again tomorrow.

Ladybug/ladybird babies and teenagers

Recently I was geeking out over the ladybug nymphs and pupae on my sunflower. Some of the neighbors came over to see what I was so excited about. Not all of my neighbors knew what ladybug nymphs and pupae look like and I thought it was important to show them lest they accidentally mistake them for pests and kill them!

On the left is a ladybug nymph. Some people think they're ugly little alligator-looking thingies but I think they're kinda cute! They're also very important in the garden, I can't remember the exact numbers but ladybug nymphs eat far more aphids than the adults!

On the upper right hand side of the top photo are two ladybug pupae. Obviously, they can't eat while they're pupating but it's still important not to harm them because soon they will emerge as adults and eat more aphids for us! And if we're very lucky they'll stick around to lay more eggs. This is actually the second generation of ladybugs on my sunflowers. Ain't nature grand? It's so grand that I didn't even plant this sunflower that I'm enjoying so much! I suspect that the birdies planted it for me, wasn't that nice of them?

Below is another photo of a different nymph, so you can see a little bit better what they look like.

 

As a general rule, when you see a pest in your garden you should wait two weeks before spraying anything, because even "organic" sprays can kill beneficial insects such as these ladybugs. If after two weeks you don't see any beneficials then spray if you must but with the least toxic spray possible. For many insects a good hard spray of water is enough.

I would also add that if you see an insect in your garden and you don't know what it is then don't automatically assume it's naughty and start spraying. It's very possible that your unidentified insect is nice, or even simply neutral. If it is naughty then it will attract nice insects, and while you're waiting your two weeks insects you can do research to find out what your insect is.