This courtyard was transformed in August last year and has now become a small permaculture garden, incorporating a vegetable garden, fruit trees and a chicken coup.
While the fruit trees are still some seasons away from producing good fruit, the chooks lay eggs daily and the small veggie patch is thriving.
2 comments:
Great work, found you via Michi. Do you have any tips for people who want to grow their own vegetables but live in either rental housing or move interstate every couple of years?? My circumstance is that my husband is a soldier & we move every 2 years criss crossing the country, plus we live in Army Housing (not our own houses). We have an AeroBin compost which we use devotedly & grow herbs in a wine barrel. With 4 children we'd love to grow our own vegetables too, especially potatoes. We live in Canberra, bbbbrrrrrr . . . love Posie
Hi Posie.
The effort and cost involving in growing your own veggies will more often than not hinge on how you'd like the area to look rather than its functionality. Sure, a raised veggie garden will help with drainage and chase the sunlight, but you can avoid drainage problems by getting your watering and mulching right and maybe sun it not a problem.
I actually find that growing directly into the earth gets me better results most times and as long as the area you plan to use hasn't been devoid of vegetation for a long time (rendering it rather lifeless). It takes a couple of seasons for the nutrient content of imported soils to get to a healthy level - no matter the quality of the product.
So for you i'd suggest selecting an area that's practical and with lots of sunlight and simply turn it over and plant directly into the earth. Add some compost and manure and turn this through too as it will no doubt help as it breaks down. I'm sure you landlord (Australian government!) will see no problem with this! If you'd like to increase it's presentation border it will redgum or even jarrah edging which isn't costly and you can easily reuse these products again down the track.
For potatoes it's best to grow them in large plastic tubs as it's far easier come harvesting time.
And being Canberra i'd get cracking before the severe frosts hit. Little seedlings don't like the cold!
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