When building your own vegetable garden there are a number of basic things you must attend to.
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Forking is particularly important because it breaks up any compacted layers and exposes any weeds that may be present. |
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Like all good organic market gardens, the secret to success lies in quality compost. |
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When you attend to the basics, vegetables grown in your garden are a pleasure to the senses. |
Location and Orientation
Try to locate the garden away from trees and shrubs. They have a habit of sending there roots to where there is moisture and nutrients. If these roots are a problem, dig a trench around the garden bed to cut the roots.
Some trees and shrubs also drop chemicals that reduce plant growth.
These allelopathic chemicals are common with Eucalypts and pine trees so don’t locate the bed near them.
Make sure you also orientate the bed in a north south direction to maximise light penetration. This is especially the case in areas that have a lot of cloud cover.
Removing grasses and forking the ground
Our biggest problem is getting on top of Kikuyu. Kikuyu is a summer growing pasture common in the dairy industry and highly productive.
The only way to handle this grass is too plough it up in winter while it is dormant.
Kikuyu is easily handled in winter because it is effected by frost and lays dormant till spring.
We did this with a disc plough and later removed the smaller rhizomes with a garden fork. It is an ongoing job but is highly effective if you are persistent. The exercise will do you a world of good.
There are always a few rhizomes that we miss but eventually you’ll win. We have also started using untreated iron bark sleepers to border the garden.
Forking is particularly important because it breaks up any compacted layers and exposes any weeds that may be present.
It is a fundamental part of good gardening and speeds up the development of the soil. Try to fork to at least 18 inches or 45cms as this depth will satisfy most vegetables.
Remember the healthier the root system the more flavoursome the vegetables.
Soil test
A comprehensive soil test identifies what minerals are deficient in these volcanic soils. It is a fallacy to think that these red volcanic Ferrasol soils don’t need additional nutrients.
In places like Indonesia where villages live beside active volcanos, those soils are highly fertile and require nothing.
You plant the crop and pray that the volcano doesn’t explode. In our soils it has been millions of years since the last eruption. Depletion of nutrients has been ongoing so it is wise to replace what has been removed.
Set up a good irrigation system
Even water distribution is a critical step in building a regular supply of vegetables from your garden. We have chosen overhead irrigation to ensure that the whole area is covered.
We draw our water from a spring bore to minimise contamination. We monitor the moisture content with our hands, always making sure we don’t over water.
Use a raised bed system where possible
Our market garden is based on a raised bed system. Our beds are 90cms wide separated by 30cms of white and red clovers. The growing area is raised to improve drainage and improve air flow.
The walkways are sown to red and white clovers to minimise soil erosion. At this point in time we have not used mulch between the plants as it tends to encourage the local Brush Turkeys and can lead to leaf diseases.
Always use compost
Like all good organic market gardens, the secret to success lies in quality compost. We apply compost to each crop cycle and incorporate it into the soil as much as possible. Into our compost we have applied up to 15 specific nutrients.
Compost reduces plant stress and helps build soil humus and enhances flavours. After 13 years experience in composting one can safely say “composts ain’t composts”.
Taste the difference
When you attend to the basics, vegetables grown in your garden are a pleasure to the senses. My wife Mayjune never really liked salads till we started growing here on the mountain, now she has 1-2 servings a day.
I know it is a long trip but maybe you should come down here to Organic Garden and sample our salad and stir fry mixes. It will inspire you to get started at home and begin building a healthier you.
As we say here at Organic Garden - “eat fresh, often”.