It's been a while since I posted anything here, I have had the flu, but it's largely a lack of inspiration/motivation that's kept me away (maybe also the heat @_@)
I do have a few ideas for posts, & I may get into some drawing again soon... I'm also planning to have a try at making an adventure map in Minecraft, I've wanted to for a while now, so why not :p I think I'll wait until after the next official update to get started, but I'm working on some ideas, as well as trying to get to grips with redstone (for the first time ':)
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For today though I have a couple of photos from the garden & a brief update on how it's all going out there, including a list of mistakes, which I hope will prove to be useful for others.
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Lovely bowl of tomatoes I picked this morning. There are 3 or 4 varieties here, but the only one I remember is the large one to the left, I'm pretty sure that's a 'beefsteak' tomato, what a chunky thing it is (& tasty) ':p
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& our enormous sunflower has finally flowered, now it's even prettier [:o The angle is correct & not exaggerated, this plant is quite a bit taller than me, I look up at the flower... amazing
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As for the rest of the garden, things are ok, but summer has really taken it's toll. Many plants have been scorched by the long, direct sunlight :( & we even lost a few despite watering because the sun was too intense [: I
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To keep things simple here's a basic list of things we mucked up, & some ideas for how to do it better in future-
- We were impatient & didn't build up the soil enough first with compost, etc
- Make sure your plants have room to grow. If the ground is compacted you can either build material up on top (make sure there is enough, around 2 feet deep) or the ground can be loosened (there are many ways to do this, even without digging, ie. large root crops, etc) The point is to make sure there is enough good soil for your plants to grow or they may struggle, especially when it's hot.
- Lack of shade! We need trees, etc to provide protection from summer sun
- When starting a garden it's a good idea to get pioneer plants in straight away. These are fast growing (often short lived) trees, shrubs, etc that provide shelter for your main crops. Pioneer plants often fix nitrogen into the soil, have leaves which are good for mulch, provide shade & protection from wind, etc. Using deciduous plants can be a great benefit too because they hold their leaves & provide shade during the summer & drop them & allow sun through in the winter.
- Again impatience caused us to jump ahead & skip cover crops -___-'
- Cover crops are also extremely helpful, these plants grow low & wide, they cover the ground & help suppress weeds, protect the soil, add nutrients, support main crops, etc. Some common cover crops are white clover, cow pea, lucern, & in large areas sweet potato are very helpful. These plants can be dug in to improve the soil or left to grow alongside your main crops.
- Some of the beds are too big, & thus difficult to work
- Plan all your garden beds as carefully as you can, make sure you can access them easily, if you're fairly little like me you won't want really wide beds because you'll have trouble reaching the middle. I find it easiest to work with short-ish, narrow beds, keyhole beds are also convenient & productive.
- We built the first beds too far from the house, they're inconvenient
- I imagine this may be a common mistake. As soon as you step out the door you can start making places to grow things. The closer & more convenient it is the easier it will be for you & the more you will enjoy it. Start as close to your door/s as you can, & work outwards.
- Not enough plants in most beds & not enough diversity
- I gave plants too much space & as a result many of the beds have ended up underplanted. I've learned that it's best to fill up the bed as much as you can with as many different types of plants as you can manage (ideally all types) Try to include root crops, cover crops, climbers, tall plants, short plants, herbs, etc all in the one bed. They assist each other in various ways, with some reading & experimentation you can find endless beneficial combinations.
- Lack of swales resulted in water loss due to runoff when it did rain heavily
- Ideally we would have swaled the entire backyard, however we won't be living here for too long, so we wanted to avoid digging & disrupting the yard as much as we could. However if you're in a more permanent location swales can solve a heap of water issues. Research well before you start digging, swales are relatively simple, but you have to know what you're doing first.
- We didn't stake any tomatoes, & as a result we lost a lot to rot/bugs
- Fairly obvious solution to this one. We've discovered that it's best to stake all tomatoes, even smaller varieties become too heavy with fruit & end up leaning all the way over & sitting on the ground. I estimate we lost close to 20% of our toms because of lack of staking.
- In some cases we did't dig, & compaction has stunted many plants
- We have observed many plants struggling in some of the beds. There are probably a number of issues (including too much hot sun) however I think the main problem is that the ground it too heavily compacted & overgrown with suffocating grass varieties (which are attempting to protect the soil from further damage). We should have either loosened the ground first, then built up some compost, etc on top, or made the beds above ground by building up a greater amount (around 2 feet) of compost, etc.
- Not enough mulch
- Mulch is super important for your garden beds, & when you first start you'll need a lot of it. Mulch protects the soils, helps retain water, & insulates. Cover crops such as lucern or cow pea can help reduce the need for mulch, but you'll still need lots. It's a good idea to grow your own mulch, the more the better. There are a number of varieties, buckwheat is often used as it grows quickly & can be slashed many times & added where it's needed. There are a number of good 'green manure' tree varieties as well.
- (observed mistake) Removing bio-mass from your property
- This is rarely (if ever) necessary or a good idea... Anything that falls from a plant, or which you chop off should not be taken away! It should be added back to the soil as intended. When you collect fallen leaves, excess material, dying plants, etc & take it away, you're taking away nutrients. Mulching or composting these materials is a much better option, it will protect the soil, aid other plants & return nutrients back into the ground. Some plants do contain lots of oil eg. eucalyptus, & their leaves, etc don't make good mulch because they surpress growth of other plants, that's why it can be difficult to grow things near these varieties.
- (observed mistake) Freaking out about 'weeds' I'll spray the bastards!
- Nooooo~ One of the first things you learn if you study a bit of permaculture is that plants which most of use consider to be weeds are actually reparative plants. They grow when they're needed to help the soil in whatever way it requires. If the soil is bare & exposed you'll get creeping cover plants that try to protect the soil & help hold in moisture, if the soil is loose, plants with fine hairy roots will grow to help hold it together & help prevent erosion, if compaction is an issue plants with deep think roots will grow to break through the soil & loosen it up (these are often thistles). Spraying these plants with a poisonous herbicide is NEVER the answer, you're killing plants which are trying to help whilst simultaneously poisoning the ground! Instead we need to imitate the function of the weeds, but choose a plant variety which we like, something that is pretty or bares fruit. try to understand what's going on in your garden rather than mindlessly charging through it, that only creates greater problems.
To follow on from the final point, synthetic, chemical sprays of any kind should be unnecessary. Any problem you're having in the garden is indicative of something, work out what the problem is & then find the natural solution, & there always is a natural solution. The best example I can offer to demonstrate this is naturally occurring instances of abundance, for example, forests, mangroves, swamps, reefs, etc, all of these natural eco systems thrive, they are full of life & there is no need for man-made sprays or poisons. Everything is in balance & regulates itself, we should learn from these examples & imitate them as best we can. One of the most common mistakes in gardens is lack of variety, strength comes from diversity, by including a wide variety of plants, interplanting them in a clever way & imitating natural systems we can often avoid many common problems.
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That's most of what we've done wrong (plus a few things I've observed others doing) & it's quite a lot! Somehow no matter how many books you read or informative DVD's you watch, nothing compares to actually doing something. Between the two of us Eli & I must have a fair collection of permaculture knowledge, but applying it is something completely different. By going outside & making vegetable beds, growing seedlings, planting, observing, harvesting, & so on, we've learned so much & realised so many important things that you can't absorb by only reading/watching.
So if you want to grow food (which I can't recommend highly enough) do a bit of research, get some basic knowledge & then get out & apply it! That's the best way :)
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I hope these observations are helpful, & that more of us start growing our own food in a natural, healthy way.
All the best everyone :)
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Ja~
