Vegetable Garden, Australia Help.

reply to post by kangajack


I'd buy a bunch of red worms and throw them in. That's what I will be doing anyway.

reply to post by mrsdudara

sweet as, so where am i best off getting these

kangajack
Hey guys, couldn't find a more appropriate section to post if it is wrong please move to appropriate section.

So what I am basically after is some personal experience, tips and what ever else you can give me. This is mine and my mates first every proper go at a garden, we purchased the seeds from, Seeds2Freedom. We are Australian so it is Spring here for those from else where, I am situated on the South Coast of NSW, Well climate and starting to heat up nicely.

We are growing corn, tomatoes, carrot, potato, apple trees everything basically, herbs too (some ideas on herb gardens please)..

Our gards are say 1 meter wide and 3 long maybe little bigger just an estimate. We lined the bottoms of them with news paper about 10 sheets thick then put hay on top of the paper, about 10cm think and compacted it down by stamping on it. Used a few different types of organic soils and add blood and bone to it through out the soils, also a few layers of well made compost.

On the back ends of these 'patches' we have fences with pipes on the top to grow strawberries and the fence to let snow peas and other vine grown vegetables grow freely!

No vegetables are yet to be planted and we have about another 3-4 patches to set and and more to make,

We are considering germinating the vegetables inside under a heat light, to keep them healthier and contained. If we do this I have been told I should use a small fan so that the plant itself can adapt to the whole climate aspects of life before it is planted in its final position?

Also and tips at all to do with anything I need fertilizer opinion(i have been looking into a product called SeaSol, also am I worth while worrying about the ph level in the water I feed them anything at all ways to do things how you have etc.

Thank you in advanced for all help given

Let's start with spacing, apple trees, or any tree, you should plant them along the boundary of your property along with other bushes/shrubs (like rasberries) and train the trees so they grow out along several main branches in each direction to make a "fence" like this ... ====|==== Does that make sense? This saves a lot of space and sunlight.

As for the garden itself, look up "Deep bed gardening" the reason I mention this is if your plot of land is like most of Australia the dirt is pretty poor.

Also find a person with horses and horse manure they will be your best friend, build a nice pile of manure, maybe 3 feet high, as long as you can make it....seed it with worms. In months the center of the pile will be warm from composting, the worms will grow and thrive, feel free to dig into the pile and turn it, if you cut a worm in half it grows into two worms.

The castings of the worm (look up castings) becomes super fertile fertilizer for the soil. So when you have a good stock of worms, start digging into your "Deep beds" and mix the worms into the organic matter.

Regarding pH just learn the signs of the plants if they are in too acidic or too basic an environment and adjust accordingly.

Regarding what you've already built, sounds like a raised bed, just be mindful of water, in a raised bed the soil is above the surrounding soil and so loses water very fast, you'll have to make sure you water enough.

It all depends on space but I recommend the deep bed system the most.

If you have space, get chickens, they create a perfect fertilizer, research how to use your chicken coup/scratch pad as a pen to generate fertilizer. The method isn't complicated it just requires an area for the chickens to scratch for seed/grass/worms/grub, and an area for them to run and crap. The chicken run is where you scoop and harvest fertilizer.

If anyone in your area has chickens maybe they are doing this and you can get them to give you some fertilizer.

kangajack
reply to post by maybee

 

Thanks for that, I am defiantly going to try hard with herbs as we do enjoy herbal herbal remedies and other things.

Herbs have a life cycle and you should experience their entire cycle, for instance Basil doesn't just become a deep green leaf, it eventually becomes a light yellow green rigid leaf with brilliant purple/white flowers the size of a pin head which have the most wonderous geometric shape, and the basil changes from its familiar flavor to a more robust and minty/pine or evergreen flavor.

Oh and about rabbits if there are any feral rodents around, like a rabbit, be sure to have your fence up, they are crafty buggers and will eat everything.