Nirvana Biodynamics

It takes many seasons to perfect your own planting guide to suit your unique garden conditions. Over the years I have accumulated a large collection of notebooks, computer notes and more importantly ‘neck top’ info to call on but there are many ways to make it a simple part of life. So today while tiding up in the garden I had an idea to combine a planting guide and a system of reusing plant labels. I use plant tags c ut from plastic yogurt containers when I plant seeds so as to identify the species, variety and month planted. When the tags are no longer needed I’d put them in a box – with the idea of reusing them …but.. There are so many to go through I never bothered, just made new ones. Within 15 minutes of the idea I had fashioned together a system of pockets on my trusty sewing machine. (Actually most of the time was removing the junk from the sewing table) I now have 12 pockets so all I need to do is put back the tags in their months as indicated on the tag. As plants success...

Earlier in Spring we had a visit from Mr. Farhad Mazhar, Managing director of UBING, Bangladesh (Policy for Development Alternative) who created one of the biggest community seed banks in the world and is a leading player in South Asian bio-diverse and ecological agricultural movements. He spent a morning with us seein g how our biodynamic practices reflected our diversity & lifestyle. Seeds and seed saving were also compared as we strolled around the orchards. His visit was the initiative of Sue Germein, who together with Jacquie Emery from World Vision, accompanied him. Mr. Mazhar was touring Australia as an invited guest of One Just World and was in Adelaide addressing a Hawke Centre public lecture at the Adelaide Town Hall. The topic being “Will the world be able to feed itself in 2050? Food security and the developing world.” Rev. Tim Costello, CEO of World vision and Sophia Murphy, Senior advisor, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy based in Minneapolis. USA also addre...

Spring is the time that we are surrounded with new life and rampant growth. The berries in our little valley take a while to dry out enough to enable them to be weeded. Now that is mostly done, all the biodynamic preparations have been applied its time to turn our attention to mowing. While the geese and goslings have been doing their bit grazing the orchards , they can’t quite keep up with the spring flush . Mowing is very important in the orchard as the living mulch is cut to produce a protective layer of mulch ,over the season it will be cut around 3 times producing valuable organic matter some of which act as mulch and the rest is consumed by the soil micro organisms , especially after being sprayed with biodynamic cow-pat-pit after mowing. This living mulch becomes even more important as although the winter rainfall was average, the normal spring rains have not come and Spring has all too quickly turned to Summer. This year all the berries have been mulched with sawdust. The last ...

....are what makes working with nature all the more special. As well as encountering protective(not aggressive) goose parents and their fluff ball yet fast growing offspring’s ,a day in the gardens can bring many often interesting surprises. The other day while weeding with Ting we met one of these. Large & beautifully coloured but would give you a nasty bite if you upset it. Just before lunch a decided I needed to visit the outside dunny. Hebe beat me in as she new the resident ring tail possum was sleeping in the basket there. All curled up looking very cute. Latter on, the air was alive with swarming bees, such energy as they move along! Back at the tasks at hand i.e. weeding the currants, I noticed that a blue wren family had become very noisy and excited, Frank had noticed as well and had gone over to investigate, he barked once so I went to investigate and sure enough there was a beautiful red bellied black snake. We left it to get on and went back to weeding. Today another i...

These guys appear I have noticed that the flowering bushes and trees are especially vibrant and abundant this year. Have you ever noticed that in some years the different qualities of the plant world seem to be accentuated? Like a year of blossoms, a year of leaves, good cabbages, a year of fruit, when pumpkins and cucumbers grow to profusion. Or a good root year when the parsnips and carrots grow to perfection. Do these phenomena follow a rhythm? Is it the rhythm of the sun from year to year that influence the plants? What do you think?

GUIDED GARDEN & FARM TOUR September 7th 2-4 pm Adults $8. Accompanied children under 16 $4. An ideal opportunity to gain an insight into a successfully run biodynamic garden & farm .This farm was established in 1983 so there is a wealth of experience to share. This Garden Quality Farm demonstrates an integrated system incorporating orchards, poultry, native habitat & wetlands, home food production & hardy cottage gardens all rolled into a unique lifestyle. Life in the slow lane. Advanced bookings only. Or Book your own tour anytime.. If the dates don’t fit into your schedule then get your friends together & book your own. Minimum 5 persons max.15. Minimum charges apply BIODYNAMIC METHODS Way Beyond Organics! Sunday, Sept 21st 8.30am – 4.30pm $95 The Biodynamic methods are by far the most sustainable way to manage your garden. For example the waterholding capacity in increased which means you use less water , developing a dynamic ecosystem means you need less input...

One thing I love about gardens and in fact nature is that they are always evolving, every minute something has changed, not big changes but slow subtle changes in time with the earthly rhythm. Gardeners also change and evolve with the ebb and flow of inspiration. During the March heat wave, I decided that it would be a good idea to remove the lawn adjacent the side door and extend the culinary herb garden Had the heat really got to me, real madness to start yet another project! Quentin was not keen on the idea as it ‘was his favorite bit of ’lawn’ around here lawn is a loose term describing something green that is mowed. At first I said I’d leave some lawn as a path around the garden but I knew it would not work as I’m the gardener and would be doing all the maintenance. I weeded the adjacent lawn area that I was not removing , and have since reseeded and fertilized it so he still has some lawn(to mow?!!) . The first job was to sure up the bank at the back as there was a big drop to a ...