Nirvana Biodynamics

I am amazed at some of the things called ‘RAISED BEDS’ I see advertised or in articles, whether for sale new or plans for do it yourself, these are NOT raised beds but CONTAINERS. They are filled with all sorts of growing medium and people think they are growing healthily vegetables. Please think again. Healthy food comes from healthy soil. I know, I’ve heard it all before ‘ my soils no good’ Well the essential art of gardening is to enhance the cycle of life by finding ways to restore humus to the soil . All g ardeners find their own way to achieve this. All Soil can be improved, sure it may take time but quality produce only comes from quality soil. As you observe your soil .like any other living thing  it is always changing and telling its own story. There is more life beneath the soil than above therefore you need to encourage and cultivate its existence. Understanding your soil is a basic requirement for the success of your veggie garden . You can build tremendous satisfac...

The first thing you notice about my home vegetable garden is that it is well fenced to keep poultry and dogs out. The large banana passionfruit vine is a good deterrent as they can’t see through and see what they are missing. As you enter there is always a vast array of vegies, some growing, some ready for the table and some going to seed to ensure future crops. Established in 1983 the annual  garden is 10 x 18 m and includes a tool shed (in need of new door!) propagation area, cold frames and its own compost area. THIS VEGETABLE GARDEN IS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE A STEADY SUPPLY OF TOP QUALITY PRODUCE WITH MINIMUM WORK. THE BASIC FEATURES ARE : *PERMANENT RAISED BEDS. The soil from pathways was used to build beds. Each bed is enclosed to keep soil in. The width of the bed ensures easy reach. GARDEN BEDS SHOULD NEVER BE WALKED ON!!!! *VEGETABLES ARE GROWN IN SOIL ENRICHED WITH OUR OWN BIO DYNAMIC COMPOST. * EAC...

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 w hile the tops form mulch which protects the soil, holds in the m oisture all of which encourages the earthworms and micro organi sms. It is then treated with biodynamic barrel c ompost (also known as cow pat pit or ccp) This year I developed a home garden method of making th is 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 wh en 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, ...

The days start early with poultry, irrigation, mulberry picking and a general overall check before the morning heat becomes intense and its time to retreat to the relatively cool house. Our 1870’s house usually stays cool with its thick stone walls, thick curtains, high ceilings and well insulated roof. Inside cooling is via a ceiling fan plus a portable fan. We have a routine of opening it up as soon as the outside temperature is lower than outside. In prolonged heat the stone finely heats up and last night it was very late before the outside temperature dropped enough to open up the house. This morning its cool again compared to outside Here's some highlights of my early morning stroll through the vegetable garden. Pumpkin patch Austrian oilseed pumpkin January plantings January plantings of winter vegetables Black Salsify And the herb garden Angellica Artichoke- imperial star Mexican Tarragon - tagetes lucida More pictures of the summer vegetable gardens

I am very impressed as to how the vegie garden is looking and proves that all the quality compost and biodynamic methods really pay off big time in extreme conditions.-or maybe they are more noticeable then. Although the hills are cooler – This week so far 34, 42. 45 today is about the same if not hotter than yesterday with no relief in sight.Actually at present its 44. Only the January planting have been covered. I use light weight curtains & old sheets over ¾ Polly hoops. They are held on by pieces of ¾ polly cut down the middle. I find this much better than shade cloth which is heavy and needs more supports. From Jan- March the monthly plantings are usually covered to aid germination & to keep the blackbirds from scratching them up .Once germinated the covers are removed but this week I have been covering during the day and removing them in the late afternoon. They are all looking good. I have just continued my routine weekly watering program – each bed is watered once a wee...

Today was seed planting day (2 days before full moon) or rather it started off as reseeding some of the January plantings. This time of year is some what challenging when it comes to seeds. Firstly there is the heat that dries out the seedbeds very quickly. In January I put shade cloth over the seeds & covered the area with old sheets. It worked very well with excellent germination. I took away the covers; everything looked great until the blackbirds decided they fancied digging in the damp soil. They dug up and destroyed all the seedlings along one side so I replanted and covered the reseeded area with racks. So then naturally they dug up the other side. Time to get serious so today that side was replanted. The parsnips, some carrots, chard, chicory and beetroot where replaced and now the whole bed was covered with bird netting. If the cool change does not come tomorrow I will cover it during the day with sheets to keep the moisture up. So now it was time to plant this month...

Reaping the harvests at this time of the summer is special . This is when the planning, planting & caring for the garden really pay off well. The basket is laden with beans, actually I’ve planted a few too many as I got carried away with making trellises from prunings. These pruning were a result of a program to reducing the hight of some of our mature fruit trees to make netting easier. I had put them aside to use for weaving projects but then thought they would make interesting trellises. So they are now supporting various beans along with the main bike wheel trellis. Daily harvests of tomatoes, cucumbers, a rich variety of greens, carrots of all colours, basil, deliciously sweet parsnips, and rich beetroot plus when required chard and, the odd cabbage make meals special. This week a friend brought round a rabbit, which was cooked to perfection by Quentin and shared with our neighbour June. Needless to say it was served with a wide selection of vegetables fresh from the g...