What have I learned from the world wide web?
As I was doing my update on my in ground worm buckets last week I began to mull over how my gardening has changed since I started blogging....
Worms; I had never even heard of worm composting when I first started gardening. In fact I thought they were talking about earthworms. I didnt have room for a worm bin, so discounted the idea of having compost worms in my small garden. Then I read about worm tubes, but wanted to be able to harvest the castings, so with a little bit of inspiration from here and there my worm buckets were born.
worm buckets
Permaculture: This is something that still does elude me a little. I have such a small garden that I really only have zone 1/2 or 1. Permaculture can spill out into other areas though and so I see those principles popping up in different areas of my life. Nice to know that we dont have to own a huge farm to become permaculturists.
Food forest: I have lately been seeing more and more videos of fairly small gardens absolutely chock full of produce. I have slowly introduced more layers into my garden hoping to achieve the same effect. So far I seem to be having success in certain areas. Some plants I found needed more light than this gave. My fruit trees actually do better in the sunny site that is fruit salad alley.
fruit trees in the tropics
Organic: I have never wanted to add chemicals to the garden, and try to use free or foraged items wherever possible to amend and enrich my soil. Seaweed, comfrey, compost and worm castings are added regularly. I still buy sugar cane mulch as that is so nice and fine and good in the veggie patch, it would be good to be able to provide my own mulch. At times I have used some of my lemongrass, and might think about doing more of this.
producing my own mulch
Wicking beds: I dont have a huge budget for the garden, so discounted wicking beds until I heard of someone doing it with polysterene boxes. I have had eggplant growing in my two wicking beds for a few years now, and they are flourishing. No sign of the bacterial wilt which has killed every eggplant I have ever planted into the soil.
wicking beds
I would say that 90% of what I have learnt comes from other bloggers. Do you find that your gardening has improved through the world wide web, and how?
Worms; I had never even heard of worm composting when I first started gardening. In fact I thought they were talking about earthworms. I didnt have room for a worm bin, so discounted the idea of having compost worms in my small garden. Then I read about worm tubes, but wanted to be able to harvest the castings, so with a little bit of inspiration from here and there my worm buckets were born.
worm buckets
Permaculture: This is something that still does elude me a little. I have such a small garden that I really only have zone 1/2 or 1. Permaculture can spill out into other areas though and so I see those principles popping up in different areas of my life. Nice to know that we dont have to own a huge farm to become permaculturists.
Food forest: I have lately been seeing more and more videos of fairly small gardens absolutely chock full of produce. I have slowly introduced more layers into my garden hoping to achieve the same effect. So far I seem to be having success in certain areas. Some plants I found needed more light than this gave. My fruit trees actually do better in the sunny site that is fruit salad alley.
fruit trees in the tropics
Organic: I have never wanted to add chemicals to the garden, and try to use free or foraged items wherever possible to amend and enrich my soil. Seaweed, comfrey, compost and worm castings are added regularly. I still buy sugar cane mulch as that is so nice and fine and good in the veggie patch, it would be good to be able to provide my own mulch. At times I have used some of my lemongrass, and might think about doing more of this.
producing my own mulch
Wicking beds: I dont have a huge budget for the garden, so discounted wicking beds until I heard of someone doing it with polysterene boxes. I have had eggplant growing in my two wicking beds for a few years now, and they are flourishing. No sign of the bacterial wilt which has killed every eggplant I have ever planted into the soil.
wicking beds
I would say that 90% of what I have learnt comes from other bloggers. Do you find that your gardening has improved through the world wide web, and how?
I agree that avoiding chemicals is the way to go and if the pests get some vegetables, grow more! How the web has helped i.e. making your own deterring sprays and companion planting. I wonder how we ever grew up with one set of shared encyclopaedias to be found in the school library!
ReplyDeleteMerryn,
DeleteYes I do make my own sprays - garlic and chili, soapy water, milk and water. We made some pretty awesome projects after wading through pages of those encyclopedias!
Yes, I also found polystyrene wicking beds to be of great benefit :)
ReplyDeleteI'm worried about a forest type garden here what with that style making good hiding places available for snakes. So, I've stayed as a conventional veggie gardener... ;)
Oh I never let mine get that overgrown Dani! I mainly wanted to trial it for making shade instead of putting the shade cloth up and down during the summer.
DeleteI've also learned heaps from the net and other bloggers, and I always use home-made pest deterrents... Nice idea of the wicking beds with the polysterene boxes, I can get those from the vaccines delivered to the clinic where I work!
ReplyDeleteSami,
DeleteOh that is great if you have a ready supply. They should work well in your climate. I remember you were doing a big garden overhaul - off to go and see what you have done.
Oh yes, I've learned a lot from other bloggers, it's been indispensable. I never heard of wicking beds till just now, in fact.
ReplyDeleteAllison,
DeleteOh well I am glad to introduce you. I never knew how much my life would change when I clicked on my first blog.
Yes, I learn a lot from other bloggers, and the internet in general. I don't know how many times I have thought "if only I had access to all this information when... (I first had children, bought our first house, starting the garden, etc).
ReplyDeleteMarti,
DeleteI think most gardening is an evolving thing. Every climate is so different and often what works for one doesnt work everywhere, so I think it is still always going to be trial and error.
Great post .. I smiled when I read about the permaculture zones. Sadly we got our place set up well before I knew anything about permaculture. Lots of stuff in the wrong places. Your wicking beds sound good - something I have never done. Nice use of those polystyrene boxes (wish they would stop making those things though).
ReplyDeleteFrog,
DeleteThat is one thing that would be handy to know in advance if you have a big property. I wondered about using those around food, but they seem to not leach out nasties into the soil.
I really want to try your worm buckets, I keep forgetting to set it up. I have learnt so much from other bloggers, things you didn't even know you didn't know about!
ReplyDeleteLiz,
Deleteso true! I have been so happy with the worm buckets, I do hope you set some up and they work as well for you!
Love your fruit salad alley idea....I may adopt that as well.
ReplyDeleteI do have a palm alley right outside my kitchen door entrance.
Sometimes I too wonder whatever did we do without the world wide web...how on earth did we manage life before?
So much information out there and it's fun googling things you want to learn about and then putting them into practice.
Congrats on your well functioning worm buckets.
Virginia,
DeleteFruit salad alley has really taken off since I put the sign up! Mmm i can think of some nice ideas for a sign for palm alley.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi AA, this is my first visit, just discovered your blog, love it. I also continually learn from other bloggers. This post makes me think about using wicking beds. I have an old wheelbarrow, thought of filling it with soil and growing salad leaves. Or maybe eggplant, although our Melbourne weather's much colder than yours. You might be interested (if you don't already know about it) Beth's blog Plantpostings has a meme called lessons learned at the end of each season. http://plantpostings.blogspot.com.au/p/lessons-learned.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Sue, i have added my link to that meme.
DeleteThank you, Sue, for mentioning the meme. And thanks, AA, for joining in! Are you on Facebook? I usually post wrap-ups there, and yours will be next. :)
DeleteWhat great lessons! And to answer your question: Yes, I have learned so many things from fellow garden bloggers online and in person! I'll have to try the polystyrene boxes. I did try plastic window boxes as raised beds last year and this year for lettuce, and they work very well. Thanks for joining in the meme! We'll be hosting another one at the end of August, and I hope you'll join again! Glad to have found your blog!
ReplyDelete