Self sufficiency is a common question I get when people see my vegetable garden. They ask, do I need to buy any vegetables and herbs with that much growing? You may be surprised to know that I always answer yes. There are some things I like to eat regularly that I can’t grow in our […]
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Growing strawberries organically is one of my favourite activities in the food garden. Strawberries are a wonderfully nutritious and sweet tasting fruiting vegetable. I enhance organic methods with biodynamic soil and plant preparations. One of my previous food gardens about 5 years ago had about 1000 strawberry plants. I am incorporating strawberries into our new […]
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Spring experience in a sub tropical organic garden is quite a unique one compared to more temperate climates. There is so much beauty in this transition of seasons, as well as opportunity to use plants in finishing state whilst bringing in new warmer season crops. I will explain the experience through my own food gardens […]
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Climate change adaptation is being forced upon food gardeners and farmers that grow in the open air. One could become negative about this as its yet another challenge to get healthy crops. But like all things in life that require us to work outside of the box, there is an opportunity lurking within the challenge. […]
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Harvesting herbs from your organic garden is always a joy. We have a mixture of herbs to harvest giving us the delights of fresh herbs for cooking and teas every day of the year. We run the Rose Blossom Children childcare service at our home property and the children, aged from 2-5 years, are often […]
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Nematode control is a common challenge of organic gardeners. There are a large variety of nematodes that are helpful for the garden, but its the root knot nematode that causes grief and demands nematode control if you want a healthy and productive garden. Nematodes are microscopic, long, thin worms that cause stunted and unproductive plants. […]
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Vegetable seedlings are the starting point for a healthy and productive organic garden, once you have your garden layout and soil well prepared. You will be surprised at how small, no-cost changes in how you manage your vegetable seedlings can make such profound difference to their success. I list simple tips below that I work […]
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Planting vegetable seeds using open pollinated, hybrid or GMO seeds is an important question for gardeners and this question has been at the heart of large disturbances in farming over the last 60 years. As a gardener, your ideal is to start with the best quality organic seeds that give you the most healthy […]
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For your organic garden, spring is a time when nature really awakens from its winter slumber and life in your food garden is transformed.
Here are my tips to help you have a productive food garden over the next 3 months.
You should notice a lot more flowers coming out in and round your gardens now. The bees have become much more active, especially in our hives. It is beautiful to observe this transformation of life and to eat the incredible honey.
I am planting fruiting crops such as cucumbers, beans, roma tomatoes, pumpkins, capsicums, zucchinis and eggplant. These will be a little slow to start because it is still cool at the night. I will also combine leafy crops that don’t mind the warmth, grow quickly and can be placed in the shade of climbing frames I create for some of the fruiting crops we grow.
Happy spring food gardening.
PS: check out our workshops for the next 3 months and if you need some personalised guidance, our home visit organic garden mentoring service, face-to-face in Brisbane and over skpe elsewhere in Australia will get you on track.