– by Krisy Goodwin
Walking through my garden gate, I’m filled with a feeling of love and pride for what I have grown. I am surrounded by vitamin-rich vegetables and the smell of fertile soil. I am happy.
Welcome to “My Garden Gate” where you will find helpful tips and advice on all things gardening. More people than ever are looking to growing their own food, for health, money saving, or environmental reasons.
Food crops can be grown in just about anything, so if you haven’t got the room in your yard, unit balcony or are restricted in a rental, there is always a way as long as you have sunshine.
I currently have vegetables and herbs growing in buckets, pots, an old washing machine drum and a bathtub, you are only restricted by your imagination!
Garden tips for the beginner
1. Keep your veggie bed to a manageable size. You can always go bigger later.
2. Place your bed not too far from your kitchen in a north-south orientation, as most vegetables need at least 6 hours of sunlight to stay healthy.
3. Soil preparation is key! At least 2 weeks before planting:
4. Dig down a spade depth and add plenty of organic material such as compost, cow manure and a good quality organic fertiliser to enrich the soil, encouraging microbes and worms.
5. Keep the soil moist but not wet, even when empty and cover with mulch.
6. Plant what you eat! Look at what vegetables you eat regularly and plant those.
You need to protect your plants and soil from drying out in the SE QLD heat, this will also keep them warm in the winter, as it breaks down it will provide nutrients and food for your plants and soil.
WHAT TO PLANT NOW
SE QLD’s best growing season starts in autumn and will extend right through winter.
Plant in the ground now:
“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies” Gertrude Jekyll