I think backyard blitz has created the entirely wrong impression that gardens happen over a weekend. in fact gardening is something you do slowly for a lifetime. you slowly build the soil, rotate the crops and learn about gardening as you experience it.
i will write more on this topic – which by the way is the first new topic on the new host – so there i blitzed you all LOL
You have a very good point there Pepe:)
These sort of show represents the younger…fast… pacing society. Everything has to be instant.
Where is the fun in this???? There is no fun, no real planning and no understanding of how a garden works.
My garden isn’t a summer blaze of vegies this season, but by getting in a doing a bit each day, time permitting I am having a
#wonderful time #appreciating the effort I am putting into it #dreaming of what will be a better season coming up #using my brain, that is keeping me alert and young
I look forward to reading about your thoughts and I hope we all get something out of it……
#wonderful time
#appreciating the effort I am putting into it
#dreaming of what will be a better season coming up
#using my brain, that is keeping me alert and young
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all good points L1. There are lots of rewards – you could add the taste of homegrown fresh produce.
If you decide that you are going to spend a lifetime working the soil and surrounding yourself in the greenery, smells, colours and life of a garden then it probably is a good idea to use your brain first and figure out some priorities. This does involve imagining the future (and can drift into dreaming) but there is also hardnosed reality involved.
I personally believe all planning begins with the sun. Its the biggest thing we can see, in fact it provides the light we use to see, and is responsible for all life on the planet. Photosynthesis is the way plants grow. So. to start with it would be a good idea to observe the suns path across the sky, the shadows it casts and the changing seasons. That should take a year and numerous cuppas.
I’d like to add – fresh air and exercise :)
pepper said:
I think backyard blitz has created the entirely wrong impression that gardens happen over a weekend. in fact gardening is something you do slowly for a lifetime. you slowly build the soil, rotate the crops and learn about gardening as you experience it.i will write more on this topic – which by the way is the first new topic on the new host – so there i blitzed you all LOL
I so agree with you on the instant garden thing. As a landscaper, I found a lot of clients who had watched the show wanted an ‘instant garden’.
I also encountered a few people who had had one installed, and didn’t know what to do when those advanced young plants all planted really close together to give a ‘full’ look were starting to overgrow each other and everything around them. My recommendation to remove every second plant was met with an astonished “Do you know how much it cost to have them put in??”
Too much, for twice as many plants as were needed for the space.
A well designed garden should improve with age, not become overgrown.
pepper said:
So. to start with it would be a good idea to observe the suns path across the sky, the shadows it casts and the changing seasons. That should take a year and numerous cuppas.
orchid40 said:
I’d like to add – fresh air and exercise :)
you are right OC – getting it done for you defeats the purpose – and takes away your freedom and creative input.
A well designed garden should improve with age, not become overgrown.
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yes HFB – the blitz is done for teev so its about presentation and not content. it must make your job harder when you are fighting against such misinformation.
well I must say my garden is a slow process, except for the growth of the weeds! lol!
seriously though as I have limited stamina I can only manage short stints at a time and only then when I am not working, or it is not too hot, etc. so I will tackle a small area – sometimes only 1m 2 and when I have that at a level I can maintain then I will expand it or start another spot. So I have bits of garden that are sort of in control with big expanses of weeds in between! :D
bluegreen said:
well I must say my garden is a slow process, except for the growth of the weeds! lol!seriously though as I have limited stamina I can only manage short stints at a time and only then when I am not working, or it is not too hot, etc. so I will tackle a small area – sometimes only 1m 2 and when I have that at a level I can maintain then I will expand it or start another spot. So I have bits of garden that are sort of in control with big expanses of weeds in between! :D
the drought doesn’t help – hard dry soil is not a good growing medium. i think a sq.m. at a time is sensible. my spring garden was a 30 sq.m. disaster because i couldn’t get the water levels high enough. the subsoil is so dry that just one hour of hot sun and the soil goes from moist to dry and the seedlings are fatally weakened.
i finally got my december garden soil wet before planting and added wet compost. then i got good results.
If you already know the north or noreastern sector of the sky needs to be open so your plants can get winter sun then you probably know that the wind and rain can cause problems. The wind tends to stunt plants causing them to expend energy on resistance and it increases soil evaporation. The rain is fine as long as it can drain well and doesn’t pool or puddle anywhere it can do damage – you need good drainage.
Backyard blitz handles these aspects well by laying paths, bringing in fill soil, sloping everything towards a low point and building decent structures that can withstand the wind or planting appropriate trees.
All this infrastructure work is more building than gardening but it doesn’t take a weekend – if you’re working on your own it could take months.
Then there’s the cost. Most people are forced to do their landscaping on a minimal budget with second hand materials. It requires a plan and a steady working pace – and a mindset that you will finish and it will be a good standard.
Once all this work is done there is the soil improvement – a job which is never ending but endlessly fascinating.
Usually if the paths are in, the sheds built, a few taps installed, a compost bin and maybe some garden edging and windbreak trees in place, you can see the future garden with your imagination, and are feeling well pleased. You should now look at creating fertile soil.
The fertility of the soil is in two parts – the dead bit and the living bit. The dead bit is the minerals – sand, clay, rock, loam, calcium, magnesium, boron and all those chemical elements. The living bit is the worms, grubs, burrowing critters, microscopic mites, fungi etc. The living bits add to fertility by burrowing, pooing and leaving their remains behind on death. The living soil is the reason you need to think twice about using any poisons or artificial fertilisers.
Creating good soil is not rocket science. I just dump 10cm of manure and another ten centimeters of mulch on the soil each and every year. Provided there is sufficient moisture, your soil will gradually become a composty worm farm. I have no problems with no-dig, hot composting, worm farms, bio-dynamic preparations, mineral mixes, double dig, seaweed, chook poo, pigeon poo, dynamic lifter, green manure or any organic method of enriching the soil. The only thing you must do is put back more fertility then your plants take out. Do that, and every year your soil will get better.
You can spend a lot or a little money. A lot of money will be quicker, but don’t be surprised if someone says ‘you would have paid less if you had bought your vegetables/flowers from a shop’.
With limited resources the soil starts to be excellent in the third year. By that time you are adding homegrown compost from your own green waste.
The principal advantage of homegrown food is freshness – but its late and I’m in no hurry to finish – so more later.
In my opinion it will take three years to have a successful garden. It takes that long for the soil and the trees to mature. In creating such a garden you would have exercised body and mind and achieved your own slice of paradise. Maintaining a garden by fertilising, watering and pruning is a pleasure to most gardeners. My pleasure comes from the edible plants and enjoying the best organic produce.
Freshness is a misused word. If the corn you are eating was picked ten minutes ago its kernels have no skin – so no bits between your teeth. The same is true of new potatoes pulled straight from the ground and boiled – you can eat them skin and all. Freshly picked carrots snap between the fingers and split in front of the knife when slicing. And they are sweet. Once picked the sugars in vegetables start transforming into starches. When a home gardener speaks of freshness they speak of a plant that was harvested 5 – 60 minutes ago. The shops refer to fresh produce as refridgerated items probably two weeks old. The shop product is often 300 times older than the home product and a lot of sugar has been converted to starch in that period.