Water Retention Strategies

This is the beginning of the research for water retention.

Rain Garden - A rain garden is a planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, parking lots, and compacted lawn areas the opportunity to be absorbed

Ozy Wastewater system - interesting how they actually use the waste water to flush.  Also interesting to see how much more water the shower and bath use than anything else.  Making use of an outside bath / shower as i've been wanting to do for while and then re-using that water could be a good idea.

Reduce your lawn - Turfgrass is one of the most water and labor-intensive types of "gardens" you can have. Consider planting groundcovers or low-maintenance perennials instead.

Graywater - a comprehensive resource about greywater planning.  It seems very modern but in the end is selling a drip tube system.  But lots of good info.

Create an Oasis with Greywater - by art ludwig.  He's supopsed to be one of the authorities on this stuff

Rainwater harvesting for drylands (vol 1) (vol 2) - by brad lancaster - again he's supposed to be an authority on this stuff.

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ - Brad Lancasters site

http://oasisdesign.net/ - art ludwigs site

2 months without water.

After a couple of months away from the garden and a couple of devastating heat waves the hole garden has gone to shit.  The soil has died and all the fruit trees have gone as has the lawn - not much of a surprise there.   It took 2 years to get the garden to where it was so it's a bit disappointing to take such a large leap backwards.

However, what this does prove is that whatever we were doing was not sustainable.  No matter what work we did, what we planted none of it was sustainable without a more integrated and sustainable water retention strategy.  Using our grey water was good and was showing results, but the solution needs to be deeper than that and take in to consideration a natural sustainable water retention strategy.

We've got some ideas such as the water sink that we tested with the grey water, and of course water capture from the roof.  But we need to do a little more research in to other methods of water natural and sustainable water storage.

So, I guess we're starting from scratch but this time with the aim of designing a solution that essentially survives without human input.

 The soil is totally dead

 The hugelkulture is the only place that has any signs of life

 The tomato plants here are still alive and there are even some tomatoes left.

The other potager is totally dead.  The soil looks pretty terrible too.

Hugely culture coming along

The hugel culture send to be working. Everything us now growing better.

Harvesting a Bowl of Comfort

growing Camomille in the garden. got to do this one day

 

 

Sent to you by axavier via Google Reader:

 

 

Harvesting a Bowl of Comfort

via Chiot's Run by Susy on 5/31/12

Every year I add a few more herbs to the gardens of Chiot's Run and learn how to use them. A few years ago, chamomile was added and my gardens will never be without it again. Even if I didn't harvest it for calming teas, I would grow it because it's a beautifully graceful plant.

My chamomile plants are about 18-24 inches tall and blooming profusely with hundreds of tiny white daisy like flowers. These plants grow right by my driveway. They were only supposed to be 8-10 inches tall and I was planning on them spilling over the rock wall. Not the case, they grow upright and are a bit leggy. In the future I'll grow in among other plants to help cover up it's skinny legs.

Mixed in the with the chamomile the 'Lady' lavender is blooming as well, together they make a wonderful night time tea that's delicious, comforting and certain to help lull you to sleep. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have a quart of dried chamomile for the pantry this winter.

What's your favorite kind of herbal tea?

Looking for some great books about growing/using herbs & spices, here are a few of my favorites:

A great source for herb plants of all shapes, colors, flavors and sizes is Richter's Herbs. Most of the herbs in my garden have come from them.

Related posts:

1. Harvesting Herbs for Tea This week I've been out harvesting a lot of my...
2. Growing Herbs for Soothing Teas I'm a big fan of hot beverages, even in the...
3. Harvesting My First Asparagus I harvested my first asparagus last week. I have a...

 

 

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Maximising boysenberry yield

This looks like a good idea. He gets 1/2 a bucket a day from this!!! worth considering somewhere. I like that it's functional and takes little space

 

 

Sent to you by axavier via Google Reader:

 

 

Maximising boysenberry yield

via Abdallah House - Redesigning a Home by noreply@blogger.com (permie) on 3/17/12

Principle 3: Obtain a yield

Boysenberries can be a great producer, or a big problem, it all depends on management. My gardening mentor Brian has been advising me on how to make the most of these prolific plants, and suggested growing them on mesh, which doubles as a fenceline whilst supporting the downpipe to rainwater tank. The mesh supports a sultana grape vine, male and female kiwi fruit vines along with about 7 metres (2.4m high) of boysenberries. The trench on the laneway side of the mesh has small check dams within it to hold water so that the water can seep into the ground rather than run off which reduces the need to irrigate them so often.
Boysenberries require frequent maintenance, but not much of it. This is best done using leather gloves, as the tiny prickles can be quite painful if they break off in your skin. The main task is to feed new growth through the mesh, and remove excess leaders before they get out of control. The images below show the growth and management over the past 18 months. My management style is evolving as I go.

Boysenberries planted end of Spring and fertilsed with horse manure. Native grasses planted on laneway side, providing mulch, habitat and buffer (from traffic, herbicide runoff and invasive grasses.

Canes are threaded through mesh in an ad-hoc fashion as they grow through summer.

Most of the leaves drop off during winter, the rest are removed by hand to reduce habitat for berry eating insects

During Spring growth resumes and the growth on the canes were prunned to 300mm above ground level to reduce habitat for insects / mould. The native grass was cut back to provide mulch and better access for prunning canes.

Thick new growth consumes the mesh and flowers mid Spring. New canes begin to grow from base and are left to grow at ground level.

Heavy cropping from late Spring till early summer. Averaging half a bucket a day for many weeks during peak.

Having such huge yields over a short period meant that we had to find creative uses for the fruit.

• We ate what we could straight from the canes
• We made berry smoothies
• Preserved about 20 large jars of them in water
• Made about 20 jars of jam of various sizes, some given away at Christmas
• Froze some in containers - best to use the containers that they were picked into as they don't transfer well. Very nice with cream or ice cream.
• Made about 15 stubbies (375ml) of berry / plum purée mix as the wild plums were coming on at the same time
• Made about 15 stubbies of berry / plum cordial
• Gave away some fresh berries to our neighbours and friends

Preserved berries stored in cellar.

Old growth pulled from mesh when finished fruiting (early summer) and cut for mulch, took a couple of hours. New cane growth led up mesh, one per vertical - not ad-hoc as per last season.

Early Autumn - When canes reach the top they are tipped out and horizontal growth led through mesh to fill in gaps.

www.permacultureprinciples.com

Olive pruning

Reminder to self:

anton, you are trying to prune these trees right down to half their size. But you didn't want to do it all at once and kill them.  Prune hard again next season.

Soon to be,wind damaged

This spot wasn't great. The wind just hammered the spoilt plants. This was probably the single worse influencing factor.

Motivation after disaster

Got really frustrated after the latest disaster with the early planting.  It's not a total disaster yet...but still after all the early planning it seems like it all went to waste.  The frustration being that we'll have to wait another year before we can test the early planting again.  (Probably also a result of the Quit smoking and Drinking regime too - to be fair)

It was starting to feel like we hadn't had many successes and that we kept just making the mistakes without making any learning (this blog being an attempt to address that).  But then today I realised it wasn't all that bad and that it was largely a symptom of the time of year (I've planted lots but nothing's happening....it's still early....things will take off...just need to stick with it).

• We've still got time enough to re-sow a whole new spring crop inside, provided we get in to it asap. 
• All the bulbs that were planned and planted last fall are coming up and should prove to be a great success
• The vines planted on the potager frame, will grow double or tripple their size this year now that they're settled and should look good (perhaps even grapes)
• The cherry tree looks to have loads of shoots after settling from last years planting
• The kiwi"s seem like they lasted and so could grow back nicely this year
• The gooseberry although showing nothing yet could still prove to come strong
• The compost is again looking good

I guess the moral of the story is that although it felt like last year we didn't have many victories...we WILL be having victories from things that were planted a year ago and that just take a year to settle in.

Patience perhaps is the key.

Note to self: 

I like this idea.  I like the developments that take a longer time to get results but that when they do come they are recurring and need not to be re-planted all the time.  Need to look more in to permaculture (permanent culture) for solutions so that you only sow once - not every year.   What's the point working every year to plant for a short period when it could be permanently sowed??? There must be some reasons

Early planting, possibly to early.

Over the last few weeks we have been busy planting all the plants that we had sprouted inside under our early planting scheme.  We really took the opportunity to try and time it with the full moon, among other things, but in the end we feel it was all to early.  

The reasons we think that it has proven too early is because many of the plants have been really struggling - particularly for some of the types of tomatoes. Not all of them though - will have to confirm which ones once they start growing.


We tried to ensure the transition from inside to outside was gentle by staging the move.  We first spent a week with the plants outside during the day and then back in at night, then outside over night on warm nights, and then tried to time the plan with the full moon.
We encountered a couple of problems.

• Firstly, altough the idea to introduce the plants outside gently was probably correct, we put them on the deck in front of the house where they were expossed to wind which frankly smashed them.  The wind was hardly noticeable but because the plants had been so protected inside they had no hardiness whatsoever.  I think we lost all our cucumbers and took a lot of damage to the tomatoes
  
• Secondly, although we planted some with the full moon, the wind was too strong and again damaged the plants
• Although nights are generally about 4 or 5 + one of two nights of close to 0 we think have really had a big impact on the tomatoes.  Many of the plants that were planted ages ago with the full moon have made no progress, and are not showing any improvement after almost 2 weeks.

It's not been all nightmares.  The peas and taken well, although they don't seem to have really grown at all over the last 2 weeks.  But they do seem happy to just sit there - hopefully they'll therefore be well settled by the time it warms up.

What we've learnt:

• That we probably needed to hold on for planting for another month to the next full moon.  Aim for about end of March / April time
• Plants liked it when planted just after rain as the soil was soaked through.
• The pyrimid of needs for planting pre-seeded plants in order of priority is: No wind, just after rain days, full moon, sunny days.  Wind is really a killer for early
• Tomatoes in particular needed another month (although there is an early variety)

Pumpkin Planting Tips

We're also looking to plant a few pumpkins this year, so here's an aggregated list of tips for pumpkins:

• Pumpkins love sunny spots - the more the better
• Plant in mounds:  Pumpkins seeds typically are planted in the middle of small hills or mounds that are about three feet in diameter. Surround each hill with a moat (about 4 inches wide and 4 inches deep) to help contain water around the roots. Plant 4 to 5 seeds in a circle in the middle of the hill, and space the seeds about 6 to 8 inches apart.
• Pumpkin plants are vigorous vines and love to sprawl
• The vine can be pruned, trained, and redirected to live harmoniously with other plants
•  The huge leaves of the pumpkin plant serve as a floating mulch that holds down weeds and keeps the soil moist.
• Pumpkins are considered "heavy feeders" and do well with a little extra nourishment. One nutrient source that works well and is reasonably priced has the dismaying name "fish emulsion"
• If pumpkins could speak, their first words would probably be: "Gimme a drink." Between 80 to 90% of every pumpkin is water; and water is an essential medium for bringing nourishment to the entire plant.
• Pumpkin vines withstand pruning quite well. Properly done, it strengthens the plant and helps it thrive. In most cases, the plants require some cutting if only to keep them from growing into your kitchen. Every pumpkin plant has a main and a secondary vine that usually grow in opposite directions. Each of these two vines produce shoots (or tertiary vines) which can be selectively pruned as the plant develops. It is best to clip when these new side shoots begin to develop. The plant will leak or bleed a little when it is clipped, but it seals over quickly. The amount of pruning usually depends on how much garden space is available. Trimming the plant is definitely necessary to train the vine to run in a long narrow line along the edge of a garden and to keep the plants from crawling over each other and their neighbors. 

Source:
http://www.informeddemocracy.com/pumpkin/growing.html

Spring Planting Plan - rough

Did a session together today to outline a plan for our spring planting this year.

The rough outline below is what we came up with.  i'd like to better draw this out as well as maybe do something that includes a Summer Planting, a Fall Planting, and a Winter Planting (x4)

But that'll come when I can get to it.

Incidnetally, the below plan resulted in us outlining the below plants to seed.  Which was a good idea cos we need to seed those asap in order to have them ready for a spring planting which could be in a few weeks.

Tomatoes - Companion Plants

We're aiming to plant loads of tomatoes this season and so I wanted to provide some research of the companion plants we were hoping to plant along with the tomatoes.  

i"ll heavily mulch the tomatoes but was hoping to plant scattered lettuce in between to provide more shade and retain moisture.  Was also thinking of plating cucumbers and pumpkins in the corners of this bed again to provide more shade to the bed overall.

Carrots:

Carrots work well with tomatoes because they share space well. The carrots can be planted when the tomatoes are still quite small, and can be happily growing and ready to harvest by the time the tomato plants start to take over the space.

Chives, Onions, and Garlic:

Members of the onion family are beneficial to plant with many types of crops due to the pungent odor they emit. This helps deter many insect pests.

Borage:

Borage helps deter tomato hornworm.

Asparagus:

Asparagus and tomatoes are good neighbors. Asparagus puts on growth very early in the season, and the tomato plants fill in after asparagus has been harvested. Also, tomatoes help repel asparagus beetle.

Marigold:

Marigolds help deter harmful nematodes from attacking tomatoes. The pungent odor can also help confuse other insect pests. To deter nematodes, the best practice is to grow the marigolds, then chop and till them into the soil at the end of the season.

Nasturtium:

Nasturtiums help deter whitefly and aphids.

Basil:

Growing tomatoes and basil together increases the vigor and flavor of both crops.

Spinach, Lettuce, Arugula:

These are also "good neighbor" crops for tomatoes. They stay fairly small, and will grow better in the heat of summer when shaded by the growing tomato plants.

What Not to Plant with Tomatoes:

The following crops should not be planted with tomatoes:

• Brassicas: Tomatoes and all members of the brassicas family repel each other and will exhibit poor growth when planted together.
• Corn: Tomato fruit worm and corn ear worm are nearly identical, and planting these two crops together increases the possibility that you will attract one (or both) of these pests.
• Fennel: Fennel inhibits the growth of tomatoes.
• Kohlrabi: Kohlrabi inhibits the growth of tomatoes.
• Potatoes: Planting tomatoes and potatoes together makes potatoes more susceptible to potato blight.

Raised Beds - Ten Tips

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/organicgardenmaintenance/a/raisedbedtips.htm

Ten Tips for Raised Bed Gardening

1. Don't ever -- ever! -- walk on the soil.
   The biggest advantage of raised bed gardening is the light, fluffy, absolutely perfect soil you're able to work with as a result. When you build your raised beds, build them so that you're able to reach every part of the bed without having to stand in it. If you already have a raised bed, and find that you have to walk on parts of it, consider installing strategically-placed patio pavers or boards, and only step on that rather than on the soil.
2. Mulch after planting.
   Mulch with straw, grass clippings, leaves, or wood chips after planting your garden. This will reduce the amount of weeding you'll have to do and keep the soil moist.
3. Plan your irrigation system.
   Two of the best ways to irrigate a raised bed are by soaker hose and drip irrigation. If you plant it ahead of time, and install your irrigation system before planting, you can save yourself a lot of work and standing around with a hose later on.
4. Install a barrier to roots and weeds.
   If you have large trees in the area, or just want to ensure that you won't have to deal with weeds growing up through your perfect soil, consider installing a barrier at the bottom of the bed. This could be a commercial weed barrier, a piece of old carpet, or a thick piece of corrugated cardboard. If you have an existing raised bed and find that you're battling tree roots every year, you may have to excavate the soil, install the barrier, and refill with the soil. It's a bit of work, but it will save you tons of work later on.
5. Topdress annually with compost.
   Gardening in a raised bed is, essentially, like gardening in a really, really large container. As with any container garden, the soil will settle and get depleted as time goes on. You can mitigate this by adding a one to two inch layer of compost or composted manure each spring before you start planting.
6. Fluff the soil with a garden fork as needed.
   To lighten compacted soil in your raised bed, simply stick a garden fork as deeply into the soil as possible, and wiggle it back and forth. Do that at eight to twelve inch intervals all over the bed, and your soil will be nicely loosened without a lot of backbreaking work.
7. Cover up your soil, even when you're not gardening.
   Add a layer of organic mulch or plant a cover crop (read more about that below) at the end of your growing season. Soil that is exposed to harsh winter weather breaks down and compacts much faster than protected soil.
8. Plant annual cover crops.
   Annual cover crops, such as annual rye grass, crimson clover, and hairy vetch, planted at the end of the growing season, will provide many benefits to your raised bed garden. They provide nutrients to the soil (especially if you dig them into the bed in spring), reduce erosion, and (in the cas of vetch and clover) fix nitrogen in your soil.
9. Think ahead to extend the season.
   A little planning up front can enable you to grow earlier in the season or extend your growing season well into the fall. Consider installing supports for a simple low tunnel or cold frame, and you'll have minimal work when you need to protect your crops from frost!
10. Consider composting directly in your raised bed garden.

Lasagna Gardening

I came across another gardening methodology today - Lasagna Gardening.  Simply put, it seems that this is largely a methodology for composting in raised garden beds whilst growing crops on top of the compost.  Also know as layered gardening, or sheet compositing, it's supposed to very good for soil composition and can be another good way to get rid of a variety of waste material - including paper and carboard. 

It seems similar in philosophy to HugelKulture.  Will have to try this one in fall (the best time to set it up for the next year).

hugelkulture test bed

It was a lot of work, digging the hole, but got it done over the weekend.

We dug down because we didn't have a lot of soil to fill with, so we figured we'd digg it up. We put a lot of wood in the hole and also threw in some twigs and leaves.

Will be interesting to see how it goes.

Phase 2 Seeding (Feb 17th)

I planted some more today.  I don't really have much of a plan except that the snow is starting to go and so I wanted to seed some more plants with perhaps the aim of bedding the first phase by early March.

Phase 1 - 1st Feb, 2012	Phase	qty	sprouted	notes
Cucumber	2	2
Pumpkin	2	2
Pois Nain Provencal	2	6
Red Salad	2	12
Tomates - Pépite Hyb F1	2	3		seeded 2 in each pot JIC

I decided to plant a couple more of the ones that seemed to be working - pumpkin and cucumber - and figured that I'd wait another week to see how the tomatoes seedlings progress over the next week.

I planted some new types of tomatoes which if they all sprout will bring our total to 10.  I think we could probably still do with another 6 plants as contingency.

The peas have gone in and another type of salad just to see how that one goes.

Now that we've finalized some kind of decisions on how many potagers we want to plant, we could perhaps start giving some thought to how many plants in total we want to have in the ground for spring (and where they're going to go)

TOTAL	P1	P2	TOTAL
Cucumber	3	2	5
Pumpkin	3	2	5
Batavia Lettuce	12		12
Poivron	2		2
Chilli	2		2
Tomates Noire de Cremée	4		4
Tomates Saint Piere	6		6
Pois Nain Provencal		6	6
Red Salad		12	12
Tomates - Pépite Hyb F1		3	3

Phase 1 Seeding (1st Feb) Results

The results of the first seeding are below.  It started off pretty slow  but definitely picked up fairly well.  We've got some decent seedlings, particularly the pumpkin, and the cucumber.

Important to note that over this period it was bloody freezing outside, -10 over night and we had little water.

Seedings indoors
Phase 1 - 1st Feb, 2012	Phase	qty	sprouted	notes
Soya	1	2	all	discarded due to mold - got too wet
Cucumber	1	4	3	re-potted Feb 17
Pumpkin	1	3	2	re-potted Feb 17
Batavia Lettuce	1	12	all	didn't seem like they needed re-potting
Poivron	1	2	2	just came through
Chilli	1	2	2	just came through
Tomates Noire de Cremée	1	8	4	re-potted 1 to test
Tomates Saint Piere	1	8	6	waiting for second leaves to re-pot

The tomates Saint Piere.  Still small but coming along


The lettuce.  definitely looking rather feeble.  But checked and they didn't seem like they needed re-potting


The two pumpkins going really strong


The 3 cucumbers coming along ok

Germination tests

The plants that we have got to sprout so far don't seem to be in great condition. A little thin.

- I've also noticed that within the same varieties the ones that get the most sun are looking a bit better.
- in addition I feel we may have overwatered some.

So am Going to run a couple experiments.

1. Am going to put the unsprouted pots under a lamp that should at least provide more heat
2. I'll start trying some bottom watering with a control group.

UPDATE: We were without water for over a week so this test kind of got a little ignored.  However things have grown fairly well.  The light definitely makes a difference and in fact it seems that perhaps we were over watering them.  We ditched the soybeans.

Germination indoors tips

Some tips for early seed germination indoors from http://ourohio.org/home-gardens/gardening-basics/winter/sowing-seeds-indoors/.


I was beginning to think that perhaps we sowed seeds in doors too early as some of them, having sprouted don't seem to be going too well.  So, I figured i'd do some research.  Below are the tips:

• germination rate of most seeds drops dramatically after the first year
• Seed-starting media are usually low in fertility. This means that a regular fertilization program is very important once seedlings emerge.
• The correct timing of seed sowing is an important factor in successful indoor seed starting. In winter months, overanxious gardeners may sow seeds too soon. Seedlings that are held indoors too long perform poorly once transplanted into the garden. Most seeds should be sown 4 to 12 weeks prior to transplanting into the garden. The time it takes for seedlings to be ready for transplanting outdoors will vary.
• An acclimation period before placing seedlings directly into the permanent growing site must be included.
• Once the seeds have germinated, you will see two seed leaves or cotyledons. Eventually, these seed leaves will wither. Next, true leaves will form. These true leaves look like the plant's typical leaves. Transplant the seedlings to individual containers once the first set of true leaves appear.
• Watering can be a cause of seedling failure. Keep soil moist but not wet. Small, tender seedlings dry out rapidly and can die. Remember that roots always must have oxygen, as well as water; therefore, do not keep the soil soaked. Water when the surface of the soil begins to dry out.
• Bottom watering helps prevent damage to the seedlings caused by a hard stream of water. Bottom watering also encourages deep root development and ensures that the entire depth of soil receives moisture. Do not let the pot or flat sit in water longer than it takes for all of the soil to become moist.

Bottom watering struck me as interesting.  This apparently helps grow longer stronger roots.  Shall experiment with this

Early seeding indoors - January 2012

As part of a little experiment to see if the seeds still worked and to see what would sprout we seeded some plants in doors.

 

Phase 1 - 1st Feb, 2012	qty	sprouted
Soya	2	all
Cucumber	4	3
Pumpkin	3
Batavia Lettuce	12	all
Poivron	1
Chilli	1
Tomates Noire de Cremée	8	3
Tomates Saint Piere	8	1

Theaim for this year is to focus on growing some volume on vegetables that we've had success with and then to continue to experiment with other vegies and soil types to see what we can get to prosper.

We've chosen to focus on Letucces, Tomatoes, Radishes and Potatoes.  We'll focus on these and concentrate on learning about how we can use different varieties to extend the harvest season to provide more.  We'll obviously experiment with other vegies on smaller scale to and see what we learn.

Now, we need to get another phase of seeding started

soya sprouts.  Added these for fun in the knowledge at least something would sprout.

cucumbers are sprouting

Lettuce sprouted first.

Both species of tomato have sprouted.

Comparison of different methods for raising chickens

This link has a very informative article about raising chickens and compares the many different methods. Which include:

• Coop and run
• chicken tractor
• free range
• pastured poultry pens
• Paddocks

Most of the information pertains to largish numbers of chickens.  If we were going to look at a small number of chickens (as in 2) then i think the impact of the chickens on the ground may be less.  

I think with only 2 chickens something between the pastured poultry pens and paddocks could be the solution.

I do like the idea of them living largely off what is around.

Simple irrigation - Global Buckets

Irrigation is always a massive issue here.  For that reason i'm always looking for options to make irrigation easier, or at least to find ways to have plants irrigated for a week or so whilst we're away on a holiday.  I came across these fellas in my search.

Some nice ideas using basic physics. 

HugelKulture

 Recently came across this new philosophy for gardening.  It seems very interesting.  The idea is you bury wood etc.. in a ditch / hole and then cover with sod and soil, the idea being that the material under the soil holds considerable amounts of water and composts over time.  Many of the articles I read about this claimed that this is a great way to reduce need for watering claiming that in dry climates, hugelkulture gardens didn't need watering at all in summer!!

The pictures below are from saponaria-wortsandall.blogspot.com .  They represent two rows of cataloupe plantings.   Guess which one is the hugelkulture version.

The row on the right is the hugelkulture version




here it is close up



Here's the traditional planting version.

We're definitely going to give this a go this spring and summmer.