Veggies

Garden Goodness Part 2

Its been 2 weeks since Grounded started 'Garden Goodness' at the Reid's house in Cabarita Beach and despite a strange start to our spring weather on the Tweed Coast, the newly planted veggies are all booming and healthy. It would be expected that within the next week baby spinach will be ready to harvest and lettuce the week after. Sweet corn is growing very well and will provide shade for some of the leafy crops in the next couple of weeks. 

With a strong, hot spring and summer anticipated this year, its important to mulch your veggies well (we recommend Amgrows Organix BFA certified sugar cane mulch) to retain as much water as you can. Most summer veggies, Capsicum, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Cucumbers, Melons, etc. can all handle hot days, but as the fruit is largely composed of water, these veggies will need consistent water to set and produce good fruit. With that in mind, its essential to mulch well to help you get the best results. Mulching keeps weeds at bay as well and adds great organic matter to your garden as it breaks down. Salad and leafy greens will need protection from the heat so always consider shade when growing quick harvest veggies like lettuce. 

We will check in with Reids next week in anticipation of the first salad harvest !

Garden Goodness Part 1

Spring Veggie Garden Rebuild

Spring is the time to be out in the garden, particularly the veggie patch. It's the perfect time to prepare, repair and replenish veggie garden beds and plant some new crops for the spring and summer period.

On Tuesday 22nd September 2015, Grounded visited the garden of good friend Stuart Reid and family in Cabarita Beach to renew one of the existing veggie garden beds that we installed 2 years ago. Stuart and wife Sam have always expressed a keenness on growing their own food and making their 'patch' as self-sufficient as they can, and as part of a garden overhaul 2 years ago, productive garden beds were a must. With daughter Alice and twins George and Megan, the Reid's recently spent some time overseas and in their absence the veggie gardens suffered, so it was time to renew and replenish one of the gardens. To help on the day were Stuart, daughter Alice and her cousins Grace and Josie, making it a hands-on family affair. 

The Project

Recondition the garden soil with compost and other soil conditioners, plant a new season crop of veggies, and watch their progress through the spring and summer with regular updates. In this way we can monitor growth and deal with issues such as pest and disease control as well, as we move along with a regular update on the gardens progress, week by week. 

The Ingredients

Soil conditioners: Soil conditioning, continually adding organic matter to your soil is the key for strong growth with veggies and the products that Grounded use are the best and safest bagged products available. BFA (Biological Farmers Association) certified organic Compost, All in One and enriched Cow Manure from Amgrow provide peace of mind in establishing new or renewing existing veggie gardens. For an extra boost after planting, we will use Amgrow's Organic Xtra pelletised fertiliser which is also BFA certified.

Seedlings: For the start of spring, we decided to plant Lettuce, Shallotts, Baby Spinach, Cucumber, Corn, and Supa Purple Carrots, Tumbling Tiger and Cherry Bite Tomatoes from Pohlmans Nursery. 

The Plan

First step is digging through the soil conditioners and turning over the soil to a depth equivalent to a shovel (30 - 50 cm) and tilling the compost etc through the existing soil to build the soil profile. Then its planting time, with the veggies planted to recommended depth in rows and planted so that the plot becomes beneficial. All this was done with the very helpful assistance of Alice and her cousins, Grace and Josie. 

Corn provides protection for lettuce and baby spinach on either side and allows cucumbers space to climb. Carrots and shallots are also considered good companion plants, encouraging each others growth.

There are simple ways to get the best out of your veggie garden and in Garden Goodness we are exploring a few of these. 

  • Some companion planting is a good way to ensure your veggies are content and happy together.
  • the use of certified organic soil conditioners is essential for good growth and for the comfort of food safety come harvest time.
  • These two elements should also help with pest and disease control as well. Any issues that might arise, we can also look at dealing with in a safe and organic manner.
  • The last element is involving kids and family and creating food awareness and a hands-on classroom in the backyard. 

So, its now up to the veggies ! We have given them the best start we can and we look forward to seeing great results over the coming months and some great harvests. 

See you for Part 2 of Garden Goodness soon. 

Seaweed fertiliser. Yes... You need it!

One of the simplest and most effective fertilsers every gardener, no matter whether you are just beginning or an old hand, should have in their arsenal is liquid seaweed fertiliser. The benefits of seaweed are numerous and as far as fertilisers or plant conditioners go, it is the great allrounder. 

Here are just a few of the positives that come with regular applications of seaweed fertiliser.

Of all garden fertilisers Seaweed is the most balanced, and contains the broadest range of nutrients. Over 60 nutrients, including all the macro and micro nutrients your plants need are readily available to your plants and it is easily applied through a watering can or spray bottle. 

Seaweed can also be used in just about every garden situation with great results.

For Indoor plants, use regular applications of seaweed in a spray bottle over the foliage. Plants readily absorb the nutrients in seaweed through their leaves and a fortnightly application will keep your indoor plants in great shape.

In the veggie garden, seaweed is a must. The active ingredients, over 70 vitamins and minerals, in seaweed help encourage soil microbial life, increase your plants root systems and make them much more efficient at obtaining nutrition from the soil. In turn this helps with better growth, flowering and fruiting and dramatically increases plants resistance to soil borne diseases.

Seaweed is also an excellent natural pest control/deterrant. Not many insects, especially sap sucking insects (aphids, whiteflys, mites) will hang around when you are regularly applying liquid seaweed over your veggies.

Regular applications of seaweed throughout your traditional garden areas, has the same effect as the Veggie patch, increased soil microbial life, better growth of your plants and increased plant health and protection.