Bed Layout – the main vegetable garden is 16 x 3 metre beds, each around a metre wide. See site plan . This layout allows a good 4 year rotational cycle, and tending without treading on the soil. As the mature trees at the edge of the site grow, we are losing sunlight to the beds at the edge, so these are being planted with shade tolerant species.
Water storage with no tap-water to site, and not always time to visit, we have innovated. Plants love rainwater, and frugal watering encourages roots to go and find the water. But we need the greenhouse watering, and seedlings need a helping hand.
Composting – see the Recycling page. The heart of organic gardening is care of the soil, and building nutrients.
Comfrey Bins – Comfrey is a great fertiliser plant, whether the leaves are dug in under potatoes, used as a mulch, or made into a dark and smelly soup for liquid fertiliser. The deep tap roots bring nutrients back to the surface.
Bees – we have a colony of these, which are so important to pollinate fruit trees and other plants. Invisible workers in the garden.
Favourite Veg – with limited time, its important to grow things you love to eat, and perhaps those that are expensive to buy.
Recipies – favourites from the gardeners at the patch
Companion Planting – controlling disease, displacing pests and encouraging growth the natural way.
Grape vine – one of our earliest plantings for the greenhouse was a grape vine cutting. The last few years have made the attempts worthwhile, as it is heavily cropping. We hope that 2010 will be the first vintage for wine.
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