An Introduction to the Soil Micro-Ecosystem

To the majority of people soil is just soil – a sandy/clay substance in which plants grow and where little boys dirty their clothes, but to the savvy vegetable gardener, we know that the soil is the essential foundation from whence plants gain their nutrients. Without the correct balance of nutrients; plants grow poorly and…

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Sustainable, Productive and Economical Vegetable Gardening (Part 4): Vegetable Garden Planting Guide & Management

When you consider an ideal vegetable garden I imagine that many of you (as well as myself at one point too) had the following image in mind: Vegetables arranged in neat regimented lines or blocks containing one type of vegetable, perfectly bordered by some type of hedging and clear weed free paths between the planted…

Natural (Bio)fertilisers & Living Mulches: The Edible Legumes

I have been running several posts on using plants as biofertilisers, living mulch and even chicken feed. This post is a follow up on the living mulches that I have been experimenting with. Several plants (which include many legumes) that can be used as green manures and green chicken forage. Previously, I have used Penny…

Sustainable, Productive and Economical Vegetable Gardening (Part 3): Integrated Organic Gardening

My vegetable garden is entering its 8th year and it has been a long journey of trial and error, many a dead or diseased plant and lots of research into various facets of food production along the way. As I have mentioned many times, organic gardening principles are not properly integrated and do not provide…

Sustainable, Productive and Economical Vegetable Gardening (Part 2): Conservation Agriculture

Sustainable*: 1 maintained for long periods of time 2 use of natural resources without environmental damage   Productive*: 1 producing crop yield abundantly and efficiently 2 being worthy or satisfactory   Economical*: 1 making the most of resources 2 inexpensive 3 avoid unnecessary waste 4 efficient use of time and energy * Definitions according to…

Soil Profiles & Maintenance

Ground Work   Here I will give all the basic information on soil and how to improve your soil for gardening.     Soil Formation and Soil Horizons Soil is formed by the erosion (breakdown by water and wind) of rocks and bedrock. The deposition of organic material increases the disintegration of the rock and…