I have been gardening all summer. In fact, I have been
gardening solidly for a whole year, without going away anywhere at all. Such
was 2020! But, last weekend I stayed at Triabunna and went to the Spring Bay
Mill Sunflower Festival. Marcus Ragus, who I would claim to be Tasmania’s leading
horticulturalist, has been in charge of creating a 4 hectare food garden down
by the sea, on part of the old Triabunna Wood Mill site, which is 42 hectares
in total. He will also be creating more gardens and doing bush rehabilitation
on another 30 hectares or so.
It was from Marcus that I first learnt about the deep hay
method of gardening, as a means of raising fertility, getting rid of twitch
etc, improving biodiversity and feeding the microbes. The Spring Bay food garden
is run totally on this method and you ought to see the results, in just 2
years! I came away re-inspired to follow my passion for the largely self-sown,
mostly deep hay, biodiverse, food gardening system. It was truly wonderful to
spend all day wandering the gardens and listening to Marcus Ragus, Tino
Carnevale and Angus Stewart filling the heads and hearts of a few hundred
gardeners with their knowledge. There were also walks and talks and
demonstrations of making fermented compost, gardening with all sorts of bees
and hives, and plenty more.
Roots, Weeds and Paths
Roots are doing amazing things down under the surface; even
more than I realised. Roots are dealing with all the microbes, worms, fungi,
bacteria and air while growing through the soil. Some roots are actually
benefitting all the other plants in their vicinity too. Mulberries and
sunflowers are two such plants. That was part of the reason for a sunflower
festival; to highlight not just their beauty but their usefulness growing
amongst the vegetables and herbs. Plants that grow near sunflowers and mulberries
benefit from this association. I have noticed that everything growing near and
under my mulberry tree is so healthy and lush and now I know why. At Spring
Bay, sunflowers are everywhere and they have planted a whole semi-circle of
mulberries on the edge of a large, curved bed.
When most annual vegetables and herbs finish producing, I just
cut them at ground level and leaves the roots to dissolve back into the ground.
For sunflowers you can leave the strong stem in the ground and, if you have a
clump of them, they can be used in-situ as next spring’s pea poles. Planting
brassicas amongst the sunflowers in late summer, as they begin to die back, can
help confuse the cabbage moths….. perfect!
In spring and summer the paths in the vegetable garden are
where I toss most of the weeds and finishing vegetable debris, including old
sunflower leaves. (Or I just lay some on the garden surface, if the weeds don’t
have seeds.) As I tread it all down on the paths, it all goes back into the
soil. Eventually, during winter and early spring, I scoop up all the resulting
compost with my spade and put it back on the garden, ready to start again. Thick
stems on the paths can get be treacherous so they get tossed amongst the
shrubbery and trees, to rot away slowly.
Biodiversity
If you go into a forest or walk by the sea or a river, or,
in fact, anywhere in its natural habitat, you will see that plants live
together; you won’t see one plant here, one plant there, with space and bare
soil all around, so I am not sure why people plant vegetables like this! The
Spring Bay garden and my garden are packed with plants; tall ones, young ones,
flowering ones, old ones, climbing ones and creeping ones all together. There are
bees and insects doing all the work, so we never have problems to deal with.
Marcus even plants grasses, especially barley, in clumps in the vegetable
garden beds because grasses do such good….. but I tell you now, I have grasses
in my garden that I would LOVE to get rid of. Some grasses are definitely
better than others!
If you want to improve your gut health, you need to eat as
much variety of food plants as you can. Having a biodiverse garden is a great
way to ensure you and your environment are healthy. Your garden becomes a place
to forage and nibble.
Cygnet Seed Library launch party
The Cygnet Seed Library will be set up on the verandah of
Oura Oura House and will contain locally saved seeds for you, the community,
for free. To find out more, please do come to our launch party at Oura Oura
House from 6pm – 9pm, this Friday, Feb. 5th. There will be seed
saving demos, chats about seeds and some lawn games!
Side dressing time
Side dressing means a supplementary feed once the plants are
well established. A good thing to do for hungry plants in our short summer
season to keep them powering along before the weather changes. Now is a good time to side dress fruit
producing vegetables, such as tomatoes, zucchinis, pumpkins, capsicums and
eggplants (if you are clever enough to grow them here). A dose of potash, well
watered-in with a watering can of fish fertiliser (preferably the one that uses
carp, which is a pest fish in the Murray River) and seaweed extract is my
recommendation.
Early February is the last chance to feed your citrus
because new growth stimulated to grow later, when autumn is approaching, will
result in the tips being burnt off, even if the plants are in a sheltered
place, simply because of the cold on tender citrus shoots. I use the carp fish
fertiliser.
|
Seeds to sow in Feb. Broccoli raab Kale Beetroot Shungiku Lettuce Asian greens
(late Feb.) Carrots Spinach &
silver beet Spring onions Leeks Hakurei
turnips Tas. swedes Parsnips Radishes Seeds
to save in Feb Lettuce Shungiku Calendular
marigolds Tomatoes |
Plant out /pot up now, yes now Brussel
sprouts Cauliflower Broccoli –
regular, sprouting and raab Salad
vegetables Leeks Jobs for February Plant, feed
or move citrus Summer prune
stone fruits Prepare beds
for autumn plantings Save seeds
for next spring Mulch with
wet straw/silage Give
flowering veg a dose of potash Preserve,
cook, nourish |
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