Germinating a new idea

I have been inspired by a new blogger. Dave also lives in the Cygnet area and has started a blog called Tassie Germinations, about his vegetable garden. It is going to be great because Dave is passionate about it. I look forward to following the progress of his vegetable garden and I am wondering if it will be like following the evolution of Gavin at Greening of Gavin!

Chard, for free. Forever.

While everyone else is talking about how tall their tomato plants are, I am more excited about the height of the ruby chard, which has run to seed and will provide me with thousands of seeds for sowing later.

It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and creative are the different stages of plant growth. From a tiny, knobbly, chard seed sprouts a vivid red stem and lime green first leaves. Next come oval shaped, darker green leaves which are still without their final display of texture and a brilliant red main vein.

The whole plant then shoots skyward. The red stem becomes a solid trunk, the leaves shrink and give their energy to insignificant flowers. Before you know it, there are thousands of green seed heads becoming heavy as they mature, causing the plant to topple. I tie one or 2 to a stake and remove the rest….. but it breaks my heart to pull them out before the end of their life as they have given so much.

This is the job I did yesterday, finding that, once staked, they reached far above my head. I stood and looked at them. Awesome. As I lifted them to the stake I saw new life emerging below. Seeds from last season’s chard is germinating everywhere. Seeing new life made me feel ok about pulling out the old life (or cutting them off at ground level so as not to disturb the babies).

 

Once you have your favourite chard growing, you never have to buy or sow the seeds again. Food, for free, forever, with no work….. that’s my kind of food and my kind of garden.

Innovative food growing techniques from around the world

Use of waste banana plant - make hole, fill with compost, sow vegetables seeds, water and get natural, fresh vegetables..

Urban Leaves on facebook.

Half a ton of Sky Greens……

Singapore’s first commercial, vertical sky farm

A clever addition to “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”….. Rethink

‘Crazy Famers’ on Facebook

Summer pruning, early and late

I have just pruned some of my plum tree that was sending wild new growth to the sky. I kept all the fruiting branches and they will be pruned later, when the fruit is finished. This video from Diggers is the best I have ever seen about pruning. Watch to the end, where he talks briefly about early summer vs late summer pruning.

A Farm for the Future

Another beautiful BBC production which, in 5 parts, takes us through the experiences and thoughts of a young, female farmer in the UK and her quest to build on her father’s observation and life-time’s work on their farm, whilst taking in ideas from others.
It is good to reconnect with people like her who, in a gentle way, put heart into what is often a very harsh, scientific debate. After all, the world would be just fine if humanity became extinct; its only the humans who need to find a way of farming for THEIR future. No other creature, animal or plant, needs farming. So, it should be all about getting along and sharing and less about fighting for our rights to pollute, mine oil, destroy forests etc

World Soil Day

A scientist passionate about communicating the importance of soil for the health of every creature on earth…. Listen here.