Food Gardening In Small Spaces

If you live in an apartment or only have quite limited space to grow your food plants, don’t despair. There are numerous solutions to gardening in small spaces.

Space can be at a premium, especially these days when apartments and condos are so popular. A simple solution for those wanting to grow at least a few basic herbs and vegetables is to grow in containers.

Maybe you don’t have the time to maintain a large vegetable garden, or you have a physical condition that prevents you bending down or using the usual gardening tools. Whatever the reason, container gardening can be a great way to produce some of your organic food needs.

You will be pleasantly surprised to learn how many plants will grow quite happily in containers, providing you give them what they need.

And in return you will get wonderful organic food, filled with life energy. I think that’s one of the things I love most about organic gardening – that I can pick something that I know has grown with no chemicals and eat it within 1 – 20 minutes. It’s something nutritionalists and the like don’t seem to consider – the value of the life energy from that plant becomes part of your life energy when you eat it.

It’s little wonder that there are so many health issues these days. People end up eating more and more processed foods that are unrecognizable from their original form. But that’s a whole other topic....

While container gardening may have its limitations, there are some great benefits.

• You have the advantage of being able to bring containers indoors through the coldest part of winter, prolonging the season.
• Your pots / containers can create a focal point on a balcony or patio area, adding interest, colour or foliage.
• Planters can be made from just about any type of container that holds soil and allows adequate drainage.
• Potting mediums are easy to work with as they are the correct pH.
• Weeds are much less likely to become a problem.
• Less likely to be attacked by snails, slugs, insects or soil borne diseases.
• The tiniest space – even a windowsill can be used to produce some fresh herbs

Soil

You need to purchase premium potting mix for growing in containers. Don’t be tempted to use soil from the garden in your pots as it will become compact and heavy, not allowing water to drain well. A premium potting medium is a must. It is lighter and so provides excellent drainage.

You will need to provide all your plants nutrients as most potting mixes do not come with organic fertilizer. Remember that more is not better when it comes to applying fertilizer. Too much fertilizer in contact with your plant’s roots will burn them. Always follow the directions on packaged fertilizers. There are many organic fertilizers available to choose from so look for blends suited to the type of plant you are growing - leafy, flowering, vegetables, etc.

Container plants need watering more frequently than normal garden plants, and as a result the water leaches away fertilizers. So container grown plants benefit from liquid feeds on a regular basis throughout their growing season. You can purchase organic liquid fertilizers if you don’t have room or time to make your own. Use them for foliar feeding and drenching the soil around your plants.

Watering

Because container plants are above ground the sun and wind will dry potting soils out quicker than plants grown in the ground. During summer you will need to take care that your pots do not dry out.

Water containers when the soil dries out to a depth of 1-2cm (1/2 inch). Apply water with a soft flow to be gentle on your plants and the soil. In really hot weather I usually re-water about 30 minutes after my initial watering. This is beneficial in containers as plants cannot always take up the water quickly.

It is important to make sure that your containers have adequate drainage or your plants will suffer and ultimately die if the roots are permanently sitting in water. If your containers sit on the ground, bottom holes may not drain readily.

If they are on a patio or are just off the ground, there should be no problem with bottom holes. If you’re not sure, make side holes or sit the pot on up off the ground on bricks or pavers.

Pieces from an old broken clay pot or fly wire placed over the drainage holes will keep the potting mix from packing around the holes and reducing drainage, as well as keeping it in the pot.

You can add some mulch to larger pots in summer to help prevent them from drying out. I like to use pea straw.

Choosing the right plants

When you’re growing in containers you will need to look for varieties that are the most suitable for growing in small areas. Many herbs make excellent container specimens. Try growing several together in one pot that like similar conditions.

As for vegetables you could start with some of the smaller vegetables such as radishes, lettuce, onions, capsicum or chillies, eggplant, short varieties of carrots, bush beans etc. Container planting is ideal to try out some companion planting techniques. You’ll have better success if your plant combinations are happy ones!

You can even grow tomatoes in pots. Look for smaller varieties such as cherry tomatoes or bush tomatoes that don’t require staking.

If you plant in three weekly successions you may be able to achieve continuous production of some plants, such as lettuce and radishes.

Strawberries grow well in containers, particularly hanging baskets if they are not allowed to dry out.

Location

Choose a position for you container plants where they get about six hour sun each day, preferably morning sun rather than afternoon sun.

You may also need to protect your plants from falling over in strong winds. If you have many pots they might provide some protection for each other. Place the tallest plants along walls or trellises.

And if you do have a trellis you can also try some climbing plants providing there is enough support. You might like to grow a passionfruit if you have a sunny wall. Or what about snow peas or sugar snap peas?

If space is really at a premium then you do really need to think about growing vertically. There are dwarf varieties of many fruit trees now that will happily grow in a good sized pot. You could espalier your fruit tree along a trellis if you have one.

Get creative. Hanging baskets could give you extra plant space for strawberries, cherry tomatoes or a basket brimming with herbs.

Many conventional gardeners find themselves with more than just a few plants growing in containers. I wouldn’t think of any other way to grow mints as they are just impossible if they escape into the garden. And how many people have the space for a full grown bay tree, when they only use a few leaves each week?

Tips For Container Growing

• Use a premium potting mix
• Add a slow release organic fertilizer when you pot up your container
• Also add water crystals to help keep the soil moist
• Re-pot your plants each spring to encourage vigorous growth (add slow release fertilizer every spring when you re-pot)
• DO NOT OVERWATER – allow the soil surface to dry out between watering
• And DO NOT ALLOW TO DRY OUT
• Keep new growth trimmed to promote bushiness
• Choose a sunny position – at least 4-6 hours a day

Yes, container plants take a little extra care, but we are well rewarded with our bounties. Try growing a few pots together. They look great and they provide a suitable micro-climate for each other. Good luck with yours!

Organic Food Profits

As a beginner to organic gardening you probably won’t have an excess of produce in your first growing season. If you have extra produce that you can’t use fresh, you can try your hand at freezing, bottling, canning, dehydrating and storing.

If you still have an abundance of produce – well done. You are clearly an excellent gardener. Friends and neighbours will be delighted with any organic food you are willing to share with them.

If you decide you want to grow much more produce than your family can use, you’ll be thinking about selling your excess. You need to research your country’s laws for organic certification.

In most cases it takes three to four years of growing to strict organic regulations before you can be certified as organic. In the mean time you can still sell your produce, but you must not call it organic until you are legally certified, but you can say that it has been grown without chemicals.

Of course the main benefit in getting the rubber stamp for organic certification is that your customers have the security of knowing that you definitely grow organically and so you can ask a far greater price for your wonderful, healthy food.

There are many other ways to make money from your garden. Craft items are always a good seller at local markets. Be as creative as you can. You will be able to grow many of the things you might need to create gorgeous gifts.

You could create seasonal or holiday themes, such as gifts for valentine’s day, mother’s day, Halloween and Christmas. I’m sure you could come up with thousands of ideas.

Table Preferences : How much do I plant?

How much do I plant?

This section is intended as a guide as our food needs are so varied, depending on how many there are in your family, how many meals you eat at home, how much you like to eat, how many visitors you get.

Then there’s your families personal taste preferences to consider. There’s not much point in growing 10 eggplant vines if only one person likes it. But if you like to make your own batch of tomato sauce to see you throughout the year, you’ll want to grow extra tomatoes, onions and garlic to provide your own delicious, organic ingredients.

The following plant numbers are roughly based on the needs of a family of two adults and two children (assuming your children eat vegetables!), so add or take to suit your own requirements.

Some seasons you’ll end up with an excess of some things. I’ve never found it to be a problem when there are so many great recipes for pickles, preserves or sauces – not to mention my friends and family who are thrilled when I turn up a box of goodies for them!

Of course you will also need to consider how much available space you have. If space is limited grow the things you like most – or vegetables that cost the most if you had to pay for them – or hard to get vegetables, that perhaps won’t be particularly fresh by the time they get to your table.

Beans	We usually grow several types – climbing and bush varieties. A seed packet in spring, then another in summer when the last lot is flowering. Grow more if you want to dry some for winter.
Beetroot	12 – 20 plants early spring, the same late spring, and again mid-summer
Broad Beans	Plant blocks of about 2 square meters late autumn / early winter. Grow more if you want to dry some
Broccoli	Twenty or so plants in mid-late summer
Brussels Sprouts	Twelve plants mid-late summer
Cabbage	12 cabbages and red cabbage in spring, plus 20 – 30 small cabbages late summer
Capsicum (peppers)	One dozen plants in spring
Carrots	Plant about a square meter per month, during spring
Cauliflower	20 – 30 plants in late summer
Celery	Around 15 plants, 30 plants if you want a lot for salads
Chilli	2 or 3 plants every other year
Corn	30 – 50 plants (in blocks) in spring, then more throughout summer
Cucumbers	6 plants in spring, then another 6 plants mid-summer
Eggplant	2 – 6 bushes
Leeks	50 – 100 plants, depending on what you use them for
Lettuce	If you eat a lot of salad 6 plants every week most of the year, except mid-winter. Plant extra late in summer for winter lettuces or grow cut & come again lettuce
Melons	6 plants or more! You can grow them among your flowers
Onions	About 400 seedlings + spring onions + chives + garlic
Parsley	A dozen flat leaf & a dozen curly leaf plants – feed well
Parsnips	Parsnip seed only germinates if it is really fresh, so you may have to sow a lot of seed your first time. But then if you let one go to seed and self-sow you’ll always have enough
Peas	At least 3 packets in autumn and 3 in spring – more if you want to freeze some
Potatoes	You’ll need about 200 kg a year. Plant a large sack of seed potatoes. You’ll find you miss gathering some and they will produce some of your next years crop
Pumpkins	10 or 12 vines, include several bush varieties
Radish	Sow a packet of seeds every other month throughout the year
Silverbeet/Spinach	10 – 20 plants, a combination of Silverbeet, spinach & chard
Tomatoes	12 plants (double if you make sauce), 2 grafted plants, a cherry tomato, an egg tomato & a climbing yellow or heirloom variety
Zucchini	2 - 4 plants in spring, 2 mid-summer

How To Make Your Own Liquid Fertilizers

We all need a bit of a “pick-me-up” from time to time and your vegetables, herbs, fruits and soil will also benefit from a boost of liquid tonic every now and then. It’s not a good idea to force your plants to feed when they drink, so I don’t recommend regular weekly feeding, but just as a boost.

We all want the best results from our efforts in the garden. Giving your veggies a liquid boost can provide them with nutrients and trace elements that are not always available to them.

Making your own liquid fertilizer is a simple task that can be done in just a few minutes. Then it’s just a matter of waiting for it to mature, which can take up to a month.

The basic equipment you need is a large plastic container with a tightly fitting lid. The container must never have been used for toxic chemicals.

Make different brews, depending on what you’re wanting to accomplish. When it has matured, dilute to a pale yellow colour, otherwise it may be too strong. Then use as you need it, both on the soil and /or as a foliage spray.

 

Weeds

Often if you have a particular weed problem in your garden, it is there to help restore the balance of nutrients in the soil. If you make a liquid manure from that particular weed and use it as a foliar spray, it will often reduce the recurrence of that weed.

Also, deep-rooted weeds such as dandelion, dock, yarrow, burnet and wire-weed bring nutrients to the surface that have leached down into the sub-soil.

 

Nettle ‘Tea’

A brew made from stinging nettles (Urtica) will encourage growth in spring. Use gloves when pulling up the nettles. You need to fill your container with nettles and completely cover with water. Allow the mix to ferment until the nettles have completely broken down.

 

Fish

Place fish scraps in your container and just cover with water. Make sure you have a tight fitting lid to prevent flies getting to it (and the smell from getting to you). Let it ferment for about a month. It should be mostly decomposed by then. This brew is a rich source of trace elements, so you need to use it very diluted.

 

Comfrey

If you want to give your fruiting plants, such as pumpkins and tomatoes a boost, try a liquid manure made from comfrey as it is very high in potash. It will break down quickly and with very little solid residue as its leaves contain a high amount of water.

 

Compost

If you need a fungal preventative, make a tea from compost. The compost must have some animal manure included for this to work. Put some compost in a hessian bag and soak in water for a few days. You’ll need to dilute it to the colour of weak tea, then spray on plant leaves every 10 – 14 days.

Keeping On Top Of Weeds

I’m sure we’ve all heard the old saying that weeds really are just plants growing where you don’t want them to. Unwanted volunteers (or weeds) can be easily controlled with just a few minutes each week. A hoe makes shallow cultivation very easy, without disturbing your precious vegetables.

Weeds are quite easy to pull when they’re small, especially if they’ve grown through thick mulch – plus they are far less likely to germinate under thick mulch in the first place. So that’s my number 1 tip – always mulch heavily!

Some other ways to quickly get rid of weeds are:

• Build a compost heap over them – the heap will heat up and everything underneath will “cook”. Move it to the next patch when it has matured and grow vegetables where the original heap was.
• If you have a larger area, build a raised bed over the area. Fill it with layers of good soil, compost and mulch. Any weeds that manage to survive this treatment and poke through the top will be easy to remove.
• Grow a patch of potatoes over them – they end up smothering out other plants when heavily mulched.

BUT, it’s not always such a bad thing having some weeds in your garden. “WHAT?” I hear you scream. Well it’s true. There are a number of benefits for having weeds in your garden.

Firstly, many weeds attract beneficial insects – that is insects that prey on pests that might be causing problems in your garden. Some weed flowers are a food source for insects such as hoverflies, bees and wasps. These beneficial insects eat aphids and other pests. Can you see how it could be a good thing to have them on your team? Besides, it’s always easier to work with Mother Nature, than against her. And after all, that is the premise of organic gardening.

Secondly, if you do some research you will find that many plants that may now be considered weeds, were once considered food. These include dandelion, horseradish, nettles – and yes, they are still quite edible. My mother makes a great veggie soup, and with the addition of nettles means it will be rich in iron.

And thirdly, some weeds are really deep-rooted. They excel at mining minerals from deep down in the soil, which are then stored in their leaves. You can use their leaves in your compost heap, where the minerals will then be released and made available to your vegetables as you add the compost to them.

Deep-rooted plants also help break up heavy soils, leaving tunnels when the plant dies and breaks down, for air and water to penetrate deeply.

You can either harvest their leaves by hand or you can mow them and then add them to your compost heap.

If you keep harvesting the leaves and don’t allow the “weed” to go to seed, you will eventually weaken them over the years and they will die. You just have to be vigilant and not allow the weeds to flower and produce seeds.

Growing Your Food From Seeds and Transplanting Established Plants

Growing Your Food From Seeds

Propagating plants from seed is what nature does all the time. Most seeds have certain basic requirements to germinate successfully – the right amount of moisture, warmth, air and light, although most will germinate in the light or dark.

Larger seeds can usually be successfully sown outside, directly in your garden beds, but for the rest you can give them the best start by sowing them under glass or in seedling trays or pots. Once seeds have germinated, light is essential for healthy growth.

You need to have an idea of the best time of year to sow particular seeds for your area. Talk to other gardeners nearby, friends and family. If your area suffers from frosts throughout winter it is best to leave sowing your spring / summer vegetables until the last of the frosts. Use the charts at the end of this book as a general guide.

Of course if you have a glasshouse or a sunny spot inside you can get a bit of a head start. Some plants are meant to be grown through the winter, such as most peas and beans, onions, many root crops – and others will cope through milder winters, so your location is very relevant.

All in all, growing your own food and saving the seed is a very rewarding pastime. I must emphasise again that good record keeping is essential in all aspects of organic gardening, but especially for seed collection and saving.

Your garden diary and the seeds you save can become a great legacy to leave for your children – along with the love of gardening and giving your body healthy fuel.

I developed my love of gardening from watching my grandpa in his garden. He truly loved to spend time in it. It would have been wonderful if he had kept a journal of some kind. But he did save seeds, which I was given when he passed over. Those memories, along with his saved seed encouraged me to create my own organic garden.

I encourage you to get growing with your own seed, your neighbour’s seed, seed from anyone who’s willing to share, or even purchased seed.

 

Transplanting Established Plants

Enrich your soil.

Before you reach for your spade, consider if you have chosen the best position for your plant – does the spot you’ve chosen have enough shade or sun for that particular plant? Have you allowed enough room to accommodate the height and width of the plant when it is mature?

If you have poor soil where you intend to place your lovingly selected plant, you’ll give it the best chance of thriving by improving the soil before planting. You can do this by making several successive applications of organic matter to the soil around where you are planting.

You can use compost, well aged animal manures, lucerne hay, worm castings etc. Apply each layer to the soil surface, about 10cm (4inches) deep. Don’t dig it in – worms and soil microbes willingly take on this task for you. It will take a while and several applications over a few months for your soil condition to show improvement, but it will happen!

When you’re ready to plant, dig the hole about double the width of the pot, but only slightly deeper. Loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole and score the sides of the hole with your garden fork.

Push a little of the soil back into the hole and settle your plant onto it, making sure that it is no deeper or higher in the ground than it was in the pot. If the plant was a little pot-bound, tease the roots and spread them out over the mound of soil in the hole, removing any damaged roots with a sharp pair of secateurs.

Gently back-fill the hole around the plant and water in well.

Cover the soil surface around the plant with a 10 cm (4inch) layer of mulch, such as wood-chip, compost, pea straw or well rotted manure. Your plant should quickly adapt to its new home.

Don’t add compost to planting holes.

We are often advised to add generous amounts of compost in the planting hole. I recommend against this for several reasons. For one, it can be particularly harmful in poorly drained soils.

The natural process is for leaves and other organic matter to fall onto the soil and break down slowly, which nourishes plants and builds up the topsoil.

Filling your planting hole with a concentration of topsoil can lead to problems.

If the organic matter isn’t fully composted, the composting process will continue underground, removing nutrients and oxygen from the soil, rather than enriching it.

If the surrounding soil is poor, the plant’s roots will not explore further than the hole it was planted in, virtually making it ‘pot-bound’ in the ground.

As the organic matter continues to break down it will decrease in volume, causing the plant to sink in the planting hole. If it was planted in poorly draining soil, the plant will be sitting in a ‘plug’ of water and most likely suffer root-rot.

Back-fill the hole with the soil you removed. Add compost or mulch to the surface and water in well.

Gardening : Create a Small ‘No – Dig’, Raised Plot

This method of vegetable gardening is what I prefer. As you might have guessed, it doesn’t involve digging. This method is particularly suited to older people or people with physical disabilities. But I just prefer it because I think it’s better for the soil and easier to manage.

When soil is turned over it destroys the soil structure. When you create a no-dig plot you are not disturbing the topsoil at all. This means that the soil microbes, worms and other creatures can continue doing what they do best in your garden.

For the best results in your garden, you want to aim for no compaction of the soil as well. Water, air and nutrients travel through the soil by pathways made by worms and plant roots. When soil is compacted these pathways are destroyed.

I don’t even walk on my veggie beds. By designing your plots to be no more than say 1.25metres (4 feet) across (and however long you want) you can avoid having to stand in it. You should be able to reach in from both sides to do your planting, mulching, fertilizing and harvesting.

If you start with a small bed, (say 1.25m x 2.5m / 4’ x 8’) you can plan it so that you can expand when you are ready.

No matter what your location, no dig vegetable gardens are a great option. It means that it doesn’t matter what sort of soil you are starting out with as the layering of materials over the surface will continue to feed and condition your soil.

Eventually you will end up with dark, nutrient-rich soil.

A No Dig garden bed is made on top of the ground. It can be built over existing garden beds, lawns and even hard or rocky ground – even concrete. It should be situated in an area that receives at least six hours sun (preferably morning sun) a day and that has good drainage.

When preparing the plot it is not necessary to pull up lawn or an existing garden, you will be ‘smothering’ what is already there.

 

Building your plot

I like to install irrigation before building my plot as I find it saves me so much time and trickle irrigation (on a timer) is a far better way to water than by hand or sprinkler.

One thing to always remember when handling manures, soil or any organic matter is to always wear tough gloves to protect you from bacteria getting into any cuts. Then wash your hands thoroughly when you’re finished in the garden.

1. Form the outside walls of your plot. You can use logs, old planks (make sure they haven’t been treated), pavers, bricks, stones, sleepers etc. If you have disabilities you may need to get help with this.

2. Lay down a thick layer of wet newspaper (I use an old baby bath filled with water to soak the newspaper), making sure it completely covers the enclosed area. It should be at least 6mm (quarter inch) thick and overlap by about 75mm (3inches). This will kill off any weeds or grass and prevent more from growing. Only use newspaper as glossy, coloured paper has chemicals.

3. Lay down pads (or biscuits) of lucerne hay or pea straw, making sure there are no gaps between the pads.

4. Add a 20mm (¾inch) layer of good organic fertilizer (mature chicken manure is great).

5. Cover with about 200mm (8inches) thick of loose straw.

6. Add another 20mm (¾inch) layer of good organic fertilizer (blood & bone etc).

7. Finish off with a top layer of compost, about 100mm (4inches) thick.

8. Water well and allow to settle.

9. Plant out seedlings after 2 or 3 weeks (not seeds).

Some of the benefits of creating a no-dig, raised plot include:

• can be built anywhere, any time to any design
• keeping your garden tidy, with easy access
• stops birds from scratching your mulch everywhere
• it mirrors nature by creating a rich, organic environment for your plants
• once set up, it’s virtually maintenance free
• helps prevent destruction from snails, rabbits etc.

In your new raised garden bed the best veggies to start with are potatoes, lettuce, brassicas (cabbage / cauliflower family) and cucurbits (cucumber family), depending on the time of year. Root crops are better after a few seasons, when your plot has matured.

Keeping your beds topped up with compost and / or mulch helps prevent weeds, retain moisture and nourishes your plants, promoting steady healthy growth.

This is how my plot started – very humble beginnings. Just to quickly recap; no digging, just build a structure and start adding the good stuff.

This photo was taken on September 2^nd.

This is the very same plot just 10 weeks later – photo taken on November 11^th.

We’re already enjoying some vegetables on our dinner plates.

How to Make Your Own Compost

Credit to : blog.yourgardeningtools.com

 

So Why Make Compost?

 

There are so many benefits to creating your own compost that I think it’s not only worth the effort, but an integral part of your organic gardening system.

1. Wherever you make your well made compost heap it will get so hot that the soil underneath it ‘burns’, along with any weeds – so it will even kill Couch or Kikuya grass. Native soil life can bury down under the hot surface area to survive. Enough nutrients leach down into the soil under the heap for them to feed on. This area under your compost pile becomes a very fertile, cleared planting bed – too good to waste by building the next compost pile in the same place. Consider building your next compost pile where you want your next planting area.

2. Compost gives an initial quick boost to the population of soil micro-organisms when you are first establishing an area. Using compost to plant out (at least for the first time) provides your garden beds with starter cultures of micro-organisms.

3. Use your compost to create your own seedling raising and potting mixes. Combined with worm castings and river sand, compost based seedling raising mix has the right texture, water retaining and draining qualities and is nutrient-rich enough to give seedlings and cuttings a great start.

4. To provide additional nutrients in the garden when planting out heavy feeders following another heavy feeder.

5. To incorporate organic matter into the garden that isn’t suitable for feeding to the chooks. So many household and garden materials can go into creating wonderful nourishment for your plants that would have to be otherwise disposed of. By turning it into compost instead, you are greatly reducing the burden on the environment while keeping yourself fit in the process.

6. Compost is often used as a nutritious layer of mulch, reducing evaporation and helping keep down the weeds.

 

The Simple Science of Making Compost

Compost is a living culture – a colony of micro-organisms that convert organic matter into humic acid, locking up nutrients in large molecules that are not readily water-soluble.

This means that they don’t leach out of the soil like soluble fertilisers do, and that the nutrients are not ‘force-fed’ to your plants as they take in water. Plants can absorb and digest these nutrients with their feeder roots, taking just what they need for healthy growth.

Making compost is a process of cultivating micro-organisms. As with all living things, for them to do well they have specific needs which have to be met. Your compost heap will flourish if the micro-organisms are given enough water, air, carbon-rich food, not too much nitrogen-rich food, micro-nutrients, an acid environment and heat.

• Water comes from wetting down each layer of the pile when making (and turning).
• Air comes from allowing holes in the pile, using some ingredients that are bulky (providing air pockets), not compressing the pile and turning it over etc.
• Carbon-rich food comes from dry-ish or woody plants like hay, straw or dried leaves, cardboard and paper.
• Nitrogen comes from green plant materials (such as lawn clippings, comfrey, azolla and legumes) animal manures and human urine. (Urine needs to be diluted and allowed to stand for 24 hours before use).
• Micro-nutrients come from mixing in as broad a variety of materials as possible, including herbs, weeds, seaweed and waterweeds.
• The acidic environment occurs on its own accord, providing you do not add lime, dolomite or wood ash to your pile.
• Heat is generated by the compost micro-organisms themselves. You need to help conserve it. You can do this by having the minimum surface area – the best shape that does this is a sphere, but a dome shape is close enough.

 

What Can I Compost?

If it can rot it will compost, but some items are best avoided. Some things, like grass clippings and soft young weeds, rot quickly. They work as ’activators’ or ’hotter rotters’, getting the composting process started, but on their own will decay to a smelly mess.

Older and tougher plant material is slower to rot but gives body to the finished compost - and usually makes up the bulk of a compost heap. Woody items decay very slowly; they are best chopped or shredded first – the smaller the ingredient, the quicker it will break down.

For best results, use a mixture of many types of ingredients. The right balance is something you will learn with experience.

Compost ingredients

1. Activators :

• Comfrey leaves
• Yarrow
• Young weeds
• Grass cuttings
• Chicken manure
• Pigeon manure
• Human Urine

 

2. A balanced diet

• All biodegradable kitchen waste
• Tea bags
• Coffee grounds
• Old flowers
• Bedding plants
• Old straw & hay
• Vegetable plant remains
• Strawy manures
• Young hedge clippings
• Spent hops
• Feathers
• Seaweed (Kelp preferably – washed)
• All nut shells and husks
• Egg shells
• Prawn heads, crab & crayfish shells
• Vacuum cleaner dust
• Human & animal hair and nail clippings
• Soft prunings
• Perennial weeds
• Gerbil, hamster & rabbit bedding

3. Other compostable items

• Cotton rags (unprinted)
• Cheesecloth
• Cardboard
• Jute bags, Hessian and Canvas
• Paper towels & bags
• Butchers’ paper
• Cardboard tubes
• Egg boxes

 

4. Slow cookers - very slow to rot

• Autumn leaves
• Tough hedge clippings
• Woody prunings
• Sawdust
• Wood shavings
• Old under-felt (not chemically treated)

 

5. Do NOT compost

• Coal & coke ash
• Cat or Dog litter & faeces
• Disposable nappies
• Glossy paper or magazines

Credit to : blog.yourgardeningtools.com

How to Feeding Your Soil

Feeding your soil organic matter is one of the foundations of gardening the organic way. By adding organic nutrients to the soil we are emulating nature.

The ways that we can provide nutrients organically to the soil include adding mature or well composted animal manures, green manure cover crops, mulch, compost, or mixed organic fertilizer.

It is a critical step to growing food organically to maintain a supply of nutrients ready for your plants to take up as they need them. This way your plants will grow vigorously, which helps prevent attacks of pests and disease.

It also means that you will benefit from higher yields and quicker growing times.

Benefits Of Building Up Your Soil With Organic Matter

1. Improvement of the condition and structure of your soil;

2. Improves the ability of your soil to hold water;

3. Provides additional nutrients to the soil;

4. Allows nutrients to be released slowly;

5. Improve the soil’s microbiological activity;

6. Releases insoluble natural additives such as ground rock into plant-usable forms;

7. Helps dispose of your organic waste materials.

8. Encourages earthworms and micro-organisms.

How To Create Healthy, Fertile Soil

In your organic garden it is very important to have fertile soil to create the best possible growing conditions for healthy, tasty vegetables and great yields. Soil fertility is best when essential nutrients are available to your plants and when the humus levels are at 5% or more.

Humus is the stable decomposed remains of plant tissue. It is a product of composted vegetable matter, or if you like, your mature compost. The cellulose in humus acts like

a sponge and holds moisture in the garden soil, making it available for growing plants, creating better drought tolerance. It has a water-holding capacity of up to five times its own weight.

It helps prevent water-soluble nutrients from being leached from

the soil via watering or rainfall by binding itself to the nutrients, but at the same time making them available to plant roots.

It helps bring about a loose, crumbly structure in heavy clay soils, while allowing free drainage during excessive rain; and provides cohesion in sandy soils.

So you see that humus is really the best way to overcome whatever problems you may have with your soil. Humus is also necessary to maintain healthy levels of essential soil organisms, fungi, bacteria and earthworms.

Making your own compost is an integral part of organic gardening.

 

Sandy soils

Sandy soil has large, freely draining particles. Any nutrients present are quickly leached by watering and / or rainfall.

If you have sandy soil you will need to apply to the surface, or dig in, large amounts of humus to retain water and provide nutrients. All organic matter breaks down over time, so sandy soils will benefit from a large amount of compost, which will need replacing regularly.

Always mulch well to reduce evaporation. Did you know that a 20cm (4 inch) layer of mulch can reduce evaporation by up to 70%?

Sandy soils can become non-wetting soils, where any amount of irrigation will just run across the surface. If your soil is like this, you will need to add copious amounts of organic matter to correct this nasty problem.

Some organic soil wetting agents include vegetable soaps, plant and seaweed extracts and microbial wetting agents. When you’re buying a wetting agent, just check to see if it’s certified organic. Then you know that it’s safe to use on your garden.

 

Clay soils

Clay soils are made up of tiny particles. It will hold water well, but the spaces between the soil particles are so small, there’s little room for air, or space for water to escape. Clay soils tend to become boggy in wet weather, and dry out and crack in hot, dry weather. Clay soils often have high reserves of mineral elements, but roots are unable to mine them from the clay.

Gypsum is a well known clay breaker. Dig it into the soil for good effect. The clay will become friable and can then be made more workable by incorporating river sand and organic matter. You may want to construct raised beds to increase drainage.

 

Testing Your Soil

So what kind of soil do you have? Most soils are somewhere between the two extreme soil conditions above. A very simple, but effective way to test your soil is to use a glass jar. Add a handful of your soil, fill it with water and shake vigorously. Let it stand untouched for a few hours (or overnight) until all the suspended materials have settled. You will see quite distinct layers.

Course sand will be the lowest layer, then finer sands, silts, clays and lastly organic matter.

A good garden loam will have approximate equal proportions of clay, sands and silt, with a good percentage of humus or organic matter.

These jars are samples from my own yard. The sample on the left is from my vegetable plot, which has been built up with compost and organic matter. The layers are not so clear in the photo, but it is very good soil.

The sample on the right is the soil I started with here on this property – taken from an area where I haven’t made any improvements. You can clearly see the bottom layer is very distinct and is mostly course sand, the rest being a small amount of clay and organic material. This is very difficult soil to work with as any watering just runs over the surface, without penetrating the soil.

If you have this type of soil I would recommend creating raised beds and bringing in loam with a generous top layer of compost. That way you’ll have excellent drainage and fertile soil for your plants to thrive in.

 

Soil pH

The acidity or alkalinity of your soil is also an important consideration. The measuring of the acid / alkaline balance is called pH. The scale is from 1, being very acid, to 14, being very alkaline. 7 on the pH scale is considered neutral.

Most vegetables need a neutral to slightly acidic soil for optimum growth, with a pH of about 6.5. If your soil pH isn’t right, then some nutrients will be unavailable to your plants. It really is a good idea to find out the pH of your soil so that you can correct it if necessary.

You can buy a pH testing kit at your local nursery or hardware store – they are cheap, very easy to use and can be used over and over. They come with full instructions. You will need to test your vegetable patch every year. Plus it will come in handy when you include other food plants with specific pH preferences.

If you discover that your soil is particularly acidic, say around pH5, you can add lime or dolomite (lime and magnesium) to bring up the pH. If your soil is too alkaline, around pH8 or higher, you will need to add iron sulphate or flowers of sulphur. You can also reduce alkalinity by adding leaf-mould, peatmoss or old pine needles.

If you’re starting with bare soil just follow the instructions on the whatever product you are using. But if there are already plants growing where you need to amend your soil, you will need to do it in stages so that you don’t shock the existing plants.

The really great news is that no matter what kind of soil you are starting with, the continued addition of humus and other organic materials will correct nearly ever problem kind of soil. Even your pH levels will balance out over time.

 

Preparing Your Soil Before Planting

Organic fertilizer and soil conditioning materials can take a while to be effective. To make sure they are doing the job you want them to, they should be mixed into the soil at least three weeks ahead of planting.

Another thing to be aware of, is that any organic materials that are not properly composted can actually absorb nutrients from the soil as they continue to break down, robbing your young seedlings of precious and essential nutrients. This can sometimes result in nutrient deficiency and possible soil-borne diseases problems such as “damping-off” of your young seedlings.

So make sure your compost is mature before adding it to your garden. You can do this by grabbing a handful (yes, it’s wonderful).

If it feels quite hot in your closed hand it needs to be turned over and allowed a little longer to “cook”. Mature compost won’t be hot in your hand. It will smell sweet and earthy and have a fairly even texture.