no dig gardening. why? * any surface * water holding * nutrients * clean – no toxins * clean –...
TRANSCRIPT
No Dig Gardening
WHY?
* Any surface* Water holding* Nutrients* Clean – no toxins* Clean – no weed seeds* Replenish worn out soils quickly* No preparation work removing weeds* Easy to manage - cuts like butter
Your work becomes
harvesting, watering and planting – not
weeding, feeding, and
fighting pests
Feed a family of three in 10 sq. m
Recipe online: Diggers Seed Club, Heronswood, Victoria
WHERE?
on concreteon earth
over weedsover competition (eg tree roots)
in containers
Roof gardens
Hundertwasser House
public housing, Vienna
DESIGN
Bed shape
• Least path• Can’t step on beds – one arm reach wide• Based on arm circles• Kneeling space in centre
Planting zones
• Pathside greens – cut and come again• Longest & biggest things in the centre
Potatoes
Beans and peas
Corn & pumpkin
Raspberries, fennel,
artichokes
Plum tree
Design
Beans
Cherry tree
Compost
For the the big, the slow and the anti-social
eg corn, potatoes, melons, pumpkin
HOW?
Layers
Straw: 10cm
Compost: 20cm
Straw: 30cm
Earth or concrete
• Sprinkle with dolomite – to add magnesium• Fertilise each year /season as usual - add seaweed
preparations for trace elements• Rotate crops as usual - eg
• beans/ lettuce, then • tomatoes or cabbages/ onions or corn/ pumpkins,
then • silverbeet/ beetroot/ carrot
• Use companion planting and plant stacking to maximise yields
How to
Non-hybrid seed varieties
eg Eden Seeds
Diggers Seeds
Garden characteristics, not field machinery
Locally adapted (eg resistant to bolting)
Interesting, diverse – appearance and taste
Self seed and breed true
Need conserving – gene diversity
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF IT
Companion planting/ guilds
Companion planting/ space stacking
STACKING
Companion plants
Lettuce, spring onions & carrots
Different root zones
Different leaf zones
Compatible chemicals
Insect interactions
Spring onions
Lettuce
Carrot
ParsleyLeek
COMPANION GUILDS
TomatoBasil
COMPANION GUILDS
Celery
COMPANION GUILDS
Bush beans
Rocket
Chives Strawberries
Peas
Since Mayan times
The three sisters:
corn, pumpkin and climbing beans
COSTS
Costs
Straw - $40Compost - $320Railway sleepers – 8 x $20 eachSeedlings & Seeds - $100TOTAL = $620
Weekly box of vegies = $40
Time to ROI = 4 months
Effort
Initial• 1.5 days to construct (2 people)
Ongoing• About 1-2 hours per week, includes
watering and dinner harvesting
Less than the mowing?
Ongoing inputs
• Over winter, about 180l of water each 2-3 days– We use tank water, our household consumption is
70 l per person per day– Greywater recycling is the next step
• Seedlings and seeds – about every 3 weeks approx $5 per week
• One big bag of rooster booster $16• A bale of hay $7
RESULTS
Planted April Fools’ Day
7 weeks old
September
HARVEST
We stopped our Food Connect vegie box in May. We’ve only bought potatoes, garlic and onions since
then.
(and a weekly Food Connect fruit box)
Every single day from the living salad bowl
Pak choy, bok choy, choy sum, tatsoi
Lettuce, chicory, rocket
Dill, parsley, coriander
Spring onions
broad beans, beans, peas, snowpeas
Plus every week
broccoli, cauliflower, chinese cabbage,
brussel sprouts
silverbeet, beetroot, carrot, spinach
leeks, tomatoes, parsnip, celery, turnips,
radish
RECOMMENDED WEBSITES
www.brisbanelocalfood.ning.com
links to information & more websites
social network format – everyone can add content
gardens
groups
events etc
www.greenharvest.com.au
seeds, plants, products & plant info (Maleny: mail order)
www.cityfoodgrowers.com.au
plant information, social & produce marketplace