All articles on: Soil
Human induced

Human induced

More and more people from all sides of politics are feeling anxious about the really serious science of Human Induced Climate Change. And more and more people are taking action. Could 2019 be the year when we see large scale state of emergency changes being made? The...

Winter Cycle

Winter Cycle

I'm letting all the summer tomato plants rot in the garden. Why take them out? I want all the organic matter to remain, to decompose so that I can dig it into the spring soil. In spring lots of tomato plants will self germinate and I will transplant them into Orto...

Salt, garlic, strawberry trees, pizzica

Salt, garlic, strawberry trees, pizzica

All the garlic, minus a few heads have been planted. I hope to double my harvest this year. Ralf moved some of the rich top soil mounds and spread them to create a second kitchen garden. At first I kept thinking, how am I going to manage so much space...how will I...

list

list

There is a list and sketches on a drawing we made. A drawing of our land and our dreams. Pigs on the south paddocks. Native wind breaks to the west, south and east. Establish a wetland and create habitat around it. Plant oaks and nuts to provide long term food...

Soil Structure & Health

Soil Structure & Health

Over the past year I have developed a more sophisticated understanding of soil organic matter (SOM) and its role in the amelioration of soils. Organic matter is material from animal residues such as slugs, termites, ants, slaters, worms, beetles and any large animals,...

Timeless tales with Masanobu

Timeless tales with Masanobu

As I pack my book shelf in preparation for our move to Eganstown I came across Masanobu Fukuoka's book "The one straw revolution" and began to read it. Over four days the read felt like a meditation. Masanobu's words had a calming effect and a questioning one. Why...

Harvest beans – dig stalks in

Harvest beans – dig stalks in

After a nitrogen fixing crop has been planted, like broad beans or peas, you can harvest the pods but leave the plants and roots in the soil.  Or don't harvest the beans if you want to maximise the nutrient content you dig in. Dig the plants lightly into the soil by...

Food is growing

Food is growing

Young Lima bean shoots are growing. The seeds will be harvested but the stalks and leaves will be dug back into the soil to feed the quince tree near where they are planted.

Soil story

Soil story

I am reading Soils and Soil Fertility by Frederick R. Troeh & Louis M. Thompson and the story is riveting: in all honesty I am loving it! As plants have no legs and therefore can't hunt or gather they first 'adsorb' their meals and then 'absorb'  to access...

Wind Swept, Rain Splayed

Wind Swept, Rain Splayed

The Fava beans Artemisia and I planted four weeks ago have been lovingly blown into bendy poses. Here they are doing their poses. Still intact and really quite fine, it will be lovely to see them grow over time. Today they and all the broad beans were given a...

Beans, urban beans

Beans, urban beans

From our local wholefood shop we have been purchasing 1kg bags of beans: fava and lima beans, as well as bags of peas and broad beans. Slowly we are making our way around the garden and planting them out. The aim is to enrich our soil and ensure better crop rotation....

To improve the soil

To improve the soil

Here and there throughout the garden, my daughter and I are planting faba beans. We will let them grow till harvest and then dig the stems back into the soil to add organic matter to it.

Soil Structure

Soil Structure

When the  desire to garden hits then I want nothing to stand in my way...except that if the soil is wet, then wait I must. Soil structure is diminished if you cultivate a soil when wet and if you stand on it to work it even a little then you will compact it and do a...

Nitrogen Fix

Nitrogen Fix

I like to give myself and the garden a bit of a break in winter so I tend to grow a modest crop. Instead the focus for me is on replenishing the soil with nitrogen. For that reason peas and broadbeans are sown. Once these are harvested I will cut the haulm (stems) of...

Autumn is for rejuvenating and fattening my garden

Autumn is for rejuvenating and fattening my garden

At this time of the year I try to focus on replenishing my soil with nutrients, sowing green manures, cleaning out summer plants, and pruning berry plants. The largest garden bed has been cleared and broad beans sown to increase the nitrogen levels in the soil. I will...