Archive for October, 2010
Weekend In The Garden – Ground Preparation
Spring has sprung in Australia and the ground temperature is slowly warming up. Last weekend and This past weekend I spent my free time preparing the well wintered vegetable garden block for planting. The first true Spring days seem to present themselves around the beginning of October providing the perfect conditions to prepare the garden bed for planting…
October 12, 2010
Tags: ground preparation, no dig garden, organic, Organic Gardening, organic home vegetable garden, organic vegetables, vegetable garden Posted in: Growing Organic Vegetables 
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Protecting Seedlings After Planting
Young seedlings when purchased from the local nursery or Garden centre have generally been grown under cover not being subject to extremes of environmental changes. Nurseries will put plants through what is known as a hardening off period but this is not like the environment a plant goes into when it is purchased and does not account for shock associated with transplanting…
October 12, 2010
Tags: growing organic vegetables, hardening off plants, organic home vegetable garden, protect small plants, protecting vegetable seedlings, vegetable seedlings Posted in: Growing Organic Vegetables No Comments
Pea Straw Mulch For Vegetable Gardens
Pea straw is the waste product left from large scale agricultural production of peas. A versatile product used as both a stock feed and garden mulch, pea straw has been popular for several years increasingly so in recent years. As a stock feed pea straw is often baled and silage wrapped when still relatively green and fresh. Pea straw garden mulch is usually baled when dry and can be purchased direct from the farm or from a local garden centre.
October 11, 2010
Tags: manure, organic vegetable garden, organic veggies, pea straw, pea straw mulch, peastraw, vegetable garden Posted in: Growing Organic Vegetables No Comments
Liquid Foliar Sprays and Fertilisers
Foliar sprays are a great way of giving your vegetable plants an immediate boost while at the same time providing an ongoing supply of nutrients to the overall plant. There are several foliar sprays commercially available and heaps you can make yourself at home. Some foliar sprays are obvious and easy to make others sound a bit strange and are perhaps less common…
October 11, 2010
Tags: compost, foliar sprays, liquid compost, liquid fertiliser, Organic Gardening, organic home vegetable garden, plant teas, seaweed, vermicast Posted in: Growing Organic Vegetables No Comments
Feeding Vegetable Seedlings For a Bumper Crop
Vegetable seedlings are often planted out when their nutrient supply is at the point of depleted. I always recommend holding off from feeding for several days to a week after planting out, this is to allow the plant to recover from any transplant shock and develop fresh roots in its new surrounds. Feeding after this time should be a weak liquid organic fertiliser such as liquid vermicast or aged manure (other than poultry) that has been soaked in water for several days…
October 11, 2010
Tags: feeding vegetables, fish emulsions, Liquid Sea Weed preparations, nutrient supply, organic fertiliser, pelleted chicken manure Posted in: Growing Organic Vegetables No Comments
Chicken Tractors
Chicken Tractors are one of the best ways to maintain a chemical free vegetable garden. Chickens love to scratch around in the soil while doing so consuming weeds, weed seeds and other rubbish while leaving their manure on the ground ready to fertilise the next crop. Chicken Tractors are designed to pull around easily so the chickens can concentrate their cleaning efforts on a specific bed or section of a garden…
October 11, 2010
Tags: chicken tractor, commercial chicken tractor, fertilized, natural farmers, naturally fertilised, organic farmers, Organic Gardening, organic vegetables, Permaculture Posted in: Growing Organic Vegetables No Comments
Hardy Annuals for Summer Colour
Organic gardening methods should naturally flow into the formal garden and this of course includes the annual colour and flower beds. Annuals growing in exposed areas are subject to more elements. When plants are grown in an area that is not its natural environment they will either learn to cope and adapt over time or die.
October 4, 2010
Tags: flowers grown organically, free seeding annuals, hardy annuals, hardy flowers, organic flowers, organic gardening methods Posted in: Annual and Perennial Flowers No Comments
Colourful Annuals For sheltered and Shady Areas
There are hundreds of formal flowering species recognised as annuals. An annual is a plant that grows from seed and goes to seed within a single growth cycle. Of these many are suited particularly to shady areas. Plants that grow well in shady areas still require some full sun during the day but can survive without the needs of full sun loving plants. Annual plants are well suited to Organic growing conditions. Annual beds can be prepared each year with Organic compost, manure and mulches as well as additional organic matter added throughout the growing cycle each season.
October 4, 2010
Tags: annual plant facts, organic, organic flowers, organic plants, plants for shady areas Posted in: Annual and Perennial Flowers No Comments
Annual Colour In The Poorest of Soils
Annuals are usually heavy eaters and consume a lot of nutrient from the soil in their short growth cycle. Much of this nutrient is returned to the soil when the plant dies and decays. Additional Organic nutrients are available in the form of compost, Sheep, Horse and Bovine manure, Liquid Seaweed solutions amongst others. There are some annuals that survive better in poorer unfed soils.
October 4, 2010
Tags: californian poppy, organic, Organic Gardening, plants suitable for poor soil, poor quality soil, poor soil, quaking grass Posted in: Annual and Perennial Flowers No Comments
Low Allergy Annual Flowers
Annuals are mainly grown for their flowers as garden colour or cut flowers. Pollen from flowers is a major allergen so if you suffer from an allergy like hay fever it is wise to consider looking for low or no allergen flowering plants for your garden.
October 4, 2010
Tags: allergy free annuals, begonia, impatiens, lobelia, low allergy flowers, organic annuals, organic flowers Posted in: Annual and Perennial Flowers No Comments
