Garden of Eden

I just discovered this wonderful online film about how gardening the way the Garden of Eden was made. Sometimes I think we do fuss too much!  Gardening was never meant to be hard!

http://backtoedenfilm.com/index.html#movie

It is fairly long but oh so true, and just makes me want to get going on planting my vegetables right now... You might remember that just before I went away I dumped a whole lot of the wood chip mulch on my veggie patch. Not normally what one would do, according to all the gardening gurus I see on the TV shows and gardening books.  They all use sugar cane mulch which is nice and fine and breaks down very quickly, and they always tuck it around the new seedlings like a soft downy blanket.  I purchased a bale of sugar cane mulch over the weekend, along with a big bag of chook poo.   Now, when I was sprinkling the chook poo around I was thinking that I should dig it in.  Why I had that thought I don't know, because I do ascribe to the lasagna gardening technique, (loosely, you know) and that requires just adding layers and layers of organic matter which the worms and nature will eventually mix up and break down into rich soil.

I guess it was because I thought that the wood chip mulch was too course, but when I started to mix it in I discovered more worms in my garden than I could ever remember. After seeing this film I am going to get the rest of the wood chips out of that pile and use it on my veggie patch.  I do need a few fresh greens added into the mix, and will add a few comfrey and lemongrass leaves and any other leaf clippings I have at the time. I do have the sugar cane mulch and will use that around the newly planted seedlings, since I think that the more variety in what we feed the soil the better, and I am certainly not going to throw away something I paid good money for.  There is a rather thick layer of mulch on the garden right now, so I might put it into a pile somewhere and add it later, once my veggies are up and established, but from now on those humble wood chips definitely have a place in my veggie garden.

I got a lovely e-mail from Mr Fothergill's telling me very gently that I had not spelled the name correctly, so I do apologize and here is the link - they have a great selection so check them out.
MrFothergills web page 
He looks like a genuine farmer type doesn't he?

I think they will be sending me some more tropical heirloom and organic type seeds to replace the ones I gifted out, so I am doubly blessed.

The few seedlings I started out have been doing well.  I must say that the lettuce seeds in the little jiffy pots under the plastic cover are amazing... I always thought it would make the atmosphere too hot to be under plastic, but I guess they like their little sauna.

 These are the same seeds planting in seed raising mix without the plastic cover.  This is after 5 days.

 These are the MrForthergills silverbeet seeds in jiffy pots after five days, so I think the plastic cover is the key.  I have planted them in pots because traditionally I tend to lose my silverbeet to dieback once I plant them out.   I will make sure they are good and healthy before I plant them out into the garden.

I may be starting my seedlings a bit too early as we have been getting lots of rain, and it is still hot and humid, but these are under the eaves, and I am anxious to get going with my veggies this season.  Open leafy greens are more likely to thrive in this weather.