What to do about Dry, Wounded Soils
We’ve nearly made it folks – through the drought, the preserving, the seed saving and the winter bed preparations. Every year at the start of April I feel like I’m at the end of an Ironman competition....
View ArticleGrowing Carbon
Not the most pretty photo I agree, but to the food gardener this is a gorgeous supply of carbon, a beautiful bounty of mulch… These are my cornstalks. How do you deal with big chunky bits of of garden...
View ArticleJuly in the Vegie Patch
If you haven’t as yet got your garlic or onions in, then rug up and off you go. Wintersalads You’ll be feeling pretty pleased with yourself for all those winter saladings you sowed late autumn. Aren’t...
View ArticleAugust in the Vegie Patch
I know I’m repeating myself here, but it’s worth it to get some cover up. It’s cold out. You put on a jersey, so do the same for your plants. The toasty warm soil will really get your seedlings going....
View ArticleThe easiest wormfarm ever!
A wormfarm in the ground – almost too simple to be true (you’ll be scratching your heads at how you missed this most obvious idea). No plastic, no complicated management; just nature unfolding (and the...
View ArticleAre you thinking what I’m thinking?
… just look at all that potential compost! If you were thinking – wow what a beautiful tree spinach you’d also be on the right track – Miss Magenta Spreen is a real star, an essential part of our...
View ArticleMy 7 Garden Must Haves, Managing Slugs and a DIY pH Test
These are the things I buy in to support my food garden to be great. The things that I deem essential. I dream of buying nothing, relying only on foraged and homegrown gifts from nature, but I haven’t...
View ArticleIn Love With Leaky Hose (And How To Water)
I feel cheeky suggesting you need watering lessons. You’ve raised a family, built a house; you drive a car and may even run a small country…. but, clever as you are, do you know how to water? Because...
View ArticleHelp my tomato has wilted #2
In an ironic twist of fate I lost three of my outside tomatoes this week. Having just written about Verticulum Wilt in my last newsletter (this about my mums tomato), it seems I now have it myself....
View ArticleAugust in the Vegie Patch
Seed sowing time rolls round again Ain’t it great when seeds and seedlings are back! A bit of housekeeping will set you in good stead – clean your seedtrays, make or buy seed raising mix, cut up labels...
View ArticleMaking Soil From Clay (Miracles Do Happen)
The end of winter/ beginning of spring is a telling time in the garden because soil is at it’s most saturated. If your soil is doing ok then tick that box, you’ve made it! If not, continue to use this...
View ArticleThree Steps To Abundance
This pile of chopped up garden debris is getting this spot ready to grow me an orange. It could be any fruit tree and is without a doubt the best beginning for a vegie patch. Stack up a heap of weeds,...
View ArticleDecember In The Vegie Patch
What a charming spring we’ve had! Untimely cold snaps and prolonged wet periods have a big impact – rust and other delightful fungi explode and growth slows. It’s a boo when stuff doesn’t grow well,...
View ArticleMarch In The Vegie Patch
Autumn is here and once the nights start cooling off the soil will soon follow. Those cooler temps slow growth right down. May plantings will take much longer to mature than April plantings, taking...
View ArticleWhen To Harvest Kumara, Perfectly Ripe Pumpkins and Early Garlic
When To Harvest Kumara My kumara aren’t huge this year (that’s what happens when summer doesn’t arrive). I’ve had a poke around in the soil and there appears to be a higher rate of smalls than usual, a...
View Article3 Ways To Banging Soil
What are the three top contributors to amazing soil… after chasing my tail for a bit and going round in a circle (when you reach the beginning again, you know you’ve won), I found my number 1, and it’s...
View ArticleHomemade Mulch
And by mulch I mean any old thing, don’t go mortgaging your house for fancy store bought stuff. In the absence of garden waste (which I find hard to believe – there are always things to prune or weed)...
View ArticleA Useful, Yet Oh So Beautiful Herbal Border
A food garden is a cooperative happening. The gardener, the soil, the weather (lets not forget the weather!) and the companions. Those companions are the icing on the cake – they bring it altogether....
View ArticleDecember In The Vegie Patch And Summer Soil Care
Wow – from one extreme to the other! From super soggy soil to concrete. Met service predicted hot and dry, gee I wish I’d believed them! I’ve spent November on a mad mission to get the soil mulched....
View ArticleWater Like A Pro
Amongst summer’s goodness, there’s always a challenge, something that makes us put our thinking caps on. Last year fungus, this year lack of water. That hot hot sun + no rain has been a mean combo. Has...
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