no dig gardening. why? * any surface * water holding * nutrients * clean – no toxins * clean –...
TRANSCRIPT
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
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
• 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
STACKING
Companion plants
Lettuce, spring onions & carrots
Different root zones
Different leaf zones
Compatible chemicals
Insect interactions
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
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
www.brisbanelocalfood.ning.com
links to information & more websites
social network format – everyone can add content
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groups
events etc