Compost Vol. 5

On left, dry heap that's been building up over the last 2 months, being turned into new heap, far right.  In the middle is our first heap, now fully decomposed and ready to be used

Empty dry compost lot in foreground, finished heap in the background complete with chimney

December Growth

What happened to our garden while we were away for 3 weeks:

Sprawl!!!

Tomatoes went berserk (which is a good thing).  We failed to anticipate the speed at which they would grow, so we didn't stake them properly.  And now they are doing their own thing...  Hopefully the little basil and oregano plants (in there somewhere) will get enough sunshine!

Spinach are growing into giants, beet is almost ready, parsely is rampant, nasturtiums need a bit of a cull...onions, garlic chives and radish doing well; just got to keep an eye on the cucumbers.

Rocket is up, marjoram and rosemary slips are growing well, as is the new cycle of spinach, and the wild flowers are still having no trouble seeding themselves

Coriander to left, squashes starting to creep and crawl... lavender slips coming along finally...

Mung beans are very slow growing things...but the climbing beans are reaching for the sky!  And nothing can stop the nasturtiums, it seems

Coriander, beans and squash shooting up and out!  Rosemary slips taking off, and sage growing steadily and surely

Our second cycle root bed has astounded us the most: beet, radish, coriander and lemongrass are already, well, ready!  The carrots seem to be happy, as well as the second round of chives, parsely and wild flowers.  Interestingly enough NONE of the marigold seed we've sown has come up yet.  Both Starke Ayres and Mayfair varieties have failed us.  Moral of the story: heirloom is best!

"Head gardener" Steph's little patch on the north side is growing too, though it's not in full sun like the rest of the garden so it is growing a little slower...

...but she's already harvested a full stack of bush beans!!

We have a new member in our garden, Mr. Woo a.k.a. Cous-Cous, a little stray that the ladies have been feeding...well, he's hung around and now he's a regular on the garden wall and in between the greens...

All in all the garden is looking wild and lush.  There is also, of course, plenty of wild 'weed' growth, including the ferocious grasses that have sprouted after the rains, to feed the new compost heap...

Two climbing beans in a pot plus some rocket, and parsely with an onion in the middle outside our front door

To the left, four yoghurt pots with a second variety of tomato - kept separate from the variety growing down in the garden to prevent cross-pollination - next to our little spekboom and portulaca plants, also outside our front door

Stay tuned!!

To Those With Ideas

For Tracy, who cornered me in a supermarket because she had an idea:

Watch this 6 minute film to see more about permaculture's transformative ethics being taught to a class in Hawaii.

There is a future for humans if we want one.  It does not exist within the current system of economics and bottomless deathtraps of consumerism.  It exists within the sunlight, within the soil, the water, the air, the trees, plants and animals, within ourselves as humans, and within the relationships between all these.  It is Nature.

Our Food Garden Thus Far...("before & after")

 From July...

...a wildlife corridor on a steep gradient of hardened soil, rocks and building rubble...

 

...to November

...a garden in the process of becoming established with climbing and bush beans, various squashes and gourds, tomatoes, onions, carrots, radish, beetroot, cucumber, potatoes, rocket, lettuce, various spinaches, wild mint and other herbs such as oregano, marjoram, parsley, garlic chives, rosemary, lavender, coriander, sage, and basil, banana, wild cherry and guava trees (among others), and a variety of flowers both wild (naturally occuring on the site) and sown from seed

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All you need is to start on your own doorstep...

 

spekboom

...do lots of walking around the garden, looking, thinking and loads of planning...

...decide what you want to grow and then obtain seed, seedlings and trees...

...start a compost heap and have a compost processing zone...

...an earthworm bin for castings (vermicompost) and nutritious earthworm wee

...you will also need a good pair of gloves...

...and it wouldn't hurt to have a herd of cows walk past your front door every now and then.

...If not, make friends with someone who has a farm and do a trade for manure.  And if that isn't possible you can just use your own kitchen scraps, weeds from the garden, cardboard, newspaper and water and create your own soil from scratch! 

YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A HUGE GARDEN SPACE TO GROW FOOD.  YOU CAN LIVE ON THE 20TH FLOOR OF AN APARTMENT BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY AND STILL GROW YOUR OWN FOOD.

For more information on how to become more self-sufficient in an energy-efficient and completely non-harmful way please consult any of the sites and organisations listed in our check OUT: box on the right