After some careful planning and observation which involved tracking the movements of the sun throughout the various stages of the day, we agreed the best place to start the patch was the western side of our backyard. It is a north facing area, catches the first rays of sunlight in the morning holding it until late in the afternoon and it also borders the fence giving it much needed protection from the wind. The one thing we are both excited about, it is in clear sight of our kitchen, which will make seasonal meal planning around the garden a breeze.
In contrast to our last kitchen garden which ended up taking over the entire property with high yields and heavy maintenance, this time round we wanted to keep the area much more contained, apart from some scattered essential herbs and the existing orange & olive trees. This should help organic control of pests much easier, watering more economical and cut down time on the weekly maintenance.
To keep the costs low we used all of the quality ACQ sleepers from our last garden, we have had it sitting in storage just waiting for the chance to rebuild. We also managed to score a couple more aluminium frames and the large colorbond one came empty with the house when we bought. The only real outlay to get the garden up and running was two trailer loads of organic composted soil from our local landscaping supplier, a few cheap bags of manure to mix in (chicken + sheep), mushroom compost, sugarcane mulch and a handful of assorted seedlings we selectively chose not to grow from seed to speed up the growing process. The rest of the plants we either grew from seed, propagated from cuttings or brought with us from our previous garden.
Our property not all that long ago was the site of an old sugar cane farm. The soil is already in such a rich and fertile state we’re hoping with the addition of the composted soil/manures and a bit of toiling between seasons it will only keep getting better!
Seed saving from my favourite basil plant.
One of the most easiest and tastiest things to grow are fresh herbs. They also happen to be one of the more expensive things on a weekly grocery shop. They grow great in pots or containers so if you’re strapped for space they’re perfect, save the dollars and give it a go!
I have fond memories of this when I was a kid, I hope she takes them with her too.
Zoé’s garden, a mix of basil, pea shoots, beets and radishes.
Sowing an old favourite… garlic.
The perfect summer lunch break in the garden.
In my next post I’ll detail a list of exactly what we’ve started growing in the patch through summer moving into autumn.
