 Like many people the year end always brings thoughts of “good grief, it has come to an end so quickly!” and looking at the veggie garden, on a lovely calm summer evening, gives me a good idea of what I have managed to get done, what I could have done better and where I fell short. John Walker has written a very good article in the November 2008 issue of the R.H.S. magazine, The Garden, where he talks about the concept of POWERING DOWN your garden.
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Last year in January we experience power cuts to our electricity supply and made me realise that as individuals we can either moan, or you can change your attitude and make a difference. My commitment is to powering down the garden space is to simply try and grow as much food as possible and in doing so, and to quote from John Walker, “We immediately decouple from a long, energy-intensive food supply chain; food travels yards not miles; packaging is zero, cutting demand for the raw materials and energy it requires. Eating food at its nutritional peak maintains health, so we are less prone o needing energy-intensive medical care.” So what I have managed to achieve, is to embrace the door sized vegetable garden where all the materials used where either recycled or made from local materials, absolutely no chemicals were used and I planted and nurtured the space along Bio-Dynamic principles. What was news for me was that the space is essentially a verge, open to the public and next to a busy road. My aim was to turn what was a rather neglected piece of soil into a productive space where the plants would either produce food, cut flowers or herbs. What it has taught me is that no matter how dislocated a piece of ground is, treated properly and with care, insects, birds and plants (along with millions of weeds!) all return very quickly and it has been wonderful to see this transformation take place and start the process of harvesting food.
What I could have done better is keeping a more accurate record of my plantings, create better flow in the space and not getting caught out with gaps in production (thank goodness for Swiss Chard which is the most consistent and productive plant around) and where I failed was the fact that I never got my pumpkins going, allowed my tomato seedling to dry off and never really got my beans going when I should have.
Looking forward to January I will still be sowing some of the summer veggies that will produce a crop in about three months, so think of BUSH BEANS, the little CHERRY TOMATOS, BASIL, SWEET CORN and the ever reliable SWISS CHARD. Remember that January can be a very hot month and so sowing seeds means lots of care and attention to keep them evenly moist and then the young plants protected from the scorching sun. I no longer have lawns to mow but know that most garden produce an enormous amount of grass cutting at this time of the year and so it’s a good time to get your compost heap sorted out and topped up. Perhaps you also get a wormery going to turn all your kitchen waste into liquid feed and compost. Although it may seem odd, but if you grow your veggies from seed then towards the end of January is also the time to start sowing your winter veggies, crops such as BROCOLI, CABBAGES and CAULIFLOWER. It would be best to do these in seed trays and keep them in a cooler part pf your garden and then they will be ready to plant out at the start of April when things start to cool down.
Finally, a few Christmas ideas.
- Wrap all your presents in recycled materials. Clean your old compost bags, think about your orange bags and why not get the kids to go through all of the year’s magazines and cut out pictures and make collages of recipes, chocolates or flowers.
- Give a fruit tree, packet of seeds or a load of compost as a gift.
- Donate money on behalf of a friend to a needy cause rather than giving a pressie.
- Go Guerilla Gardening with friends and how about planting some creepers over those terrible pots on the island next to Sandton City!
- Picnic, run, walk the dog and watch the sun rise or set, in the Botanical Gardens.
- Join The Horticultural Society or a garden club in your area.
- Read a copy of Farmers Weekly, it is a fantastic magazine (especially The Hitching Post page)
- Become a member of The Botanical Society of South Africa.
- Go camping in your own garden, put a tent up on the lawn when the moon is full, you will see a whole new side to your garden (and maybe startle a robber)
- Liberate lawns from the lawn mower blades and discover the fascinating world of meadows (especially Highveld meadows) and all the wonderful insects that are drawn to them.
- Stone gabions in the garden will be replaced by insect friendly wood stacks.
- Fire gardens (a simple pit in the meadow lawn) will move the traditional braai back into the garden where it belongs with people sitting around it with no lighting, just simple
- Chickens (especially the locally adapted birds such as the Venda’s, Ovambo’s and Potchefstroom Koekoeks) add a wonderful energy to a garden (and give good eggs)
- Stay home and enjoy your own garden, it is a good friend!
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