Sunday 6 September 2009

Green manure crop



The green manure crop of oats and peas, planted in May has now been returned to the earth.
Rather than digging it in I prefer to cut it down. I use a brushcutter with a steel blade this gives a clean sharpe cut and leaves the grass long.
By cutting it down the roots are retained in the soil and breakdown very quickly while the tops form mulch which protects the soil, holds in the moisture all of which encourages the earthworms and micro organisms.
It is then treated with biodynamic barrel compost (also known as cow pat pit or ccp) This year I developed a home garden method of making this so all biodynamic home gardeners can have their own supply. To use this I took 20grams of the barrel compost and stirred it (using the usual biodynamic method) in 5 litres of warm water for 20 minutes in the afternoon when the earth is breathing in.









IN THE VEGIE GARDEN










There are still good harvests of cabbage, turnips, carrots, celery, kale , broccoli, mustard greens, lettuce, mache, miners lettuce ,chard/silverbeet, parsnips, swede, chicory, leeks, broad beans tops, endive, fennel,
beetroot, spring onions and arugula.

The garlic and onions are growing well
. Monthly planting occur all year round to ensure a continual harvest.





The herb garden is now well established and looks much better than the 'lawn' it replaced. .









The early seeds of tomatoes, capsicums, pumpkin and cucumbers planted with bottom heat 2 days before the full moon in August are up and doing well in the newly designed propagator in the tunnel house. Also in the tunnel are a couple of capsicums and an eggplant that have over wintered there. They all have new shoots and the eggplant is flowering.

1 comment:

Maggie said...

It all looks fantastic Deb.