Gardening for a greener future
Gippslanders share tips on organic fertilisers, composting systems, mulch and donkeys as they talk sustainable backyard gardening.
Gippslanders have shared tips on organic fertilisers, composting systems, mulch and donkeys as they talked sustainable backyard gardening as part of a program of GreenHome forums in the Latrobe Valley.
The Australian Conservation Foundation's GreenHome workshops in Traralgon culminated this month with a final session focussing on sustainable food and gardening. It followed earlier workshops on saving energy, saving water, smart shopping and reducing waste.
Peter Collins of the Latrobe City Council talked about worm farms and some designs the council has been developing with students and staff at Monash University. Local nursery man Tony Hiller gave advice on choosing the best plants and avoiding pests without the use of artificial pesticides and herbicides.
Keen Latrobe Valley gardeners shared some of their own simple tips for keeping an organic garden going. Here are some of their ideas:
Make sure you prepare your soil with good organic matter. Organic matter such as compost is essential for good soil structure and also helps the water draining capacity of your soil by breaking up clays and binding sand particles together.
Follow a gardening calendar to make sure you don't forget things and so that your garden keeps to the natural rhythms and cycles of nature. Biodynamic planting calendars suggest timing your gardening activities by the moon.
Be careful what you plant in. Old tyres have been a favourite for growing many vegetables, but evidence has suggested that tyre rubber can leach toxic chemicals. The good news is that there are lots of alternatives, such as recycled timber, corrugated iron and bricks.
Use wood ash as a fertilizer - it concentrates minerals like potassium and phosphorous which act as fertilisers. Don't overdo it though as that can damage your plants and remember that what goes in usually comes out, so make sure you're not burning anything containing toxic chemicals and then putting them on your garden. If you can't get hold of wood ash, potash is chemically similar and can make a good substitute.
Get a tumbling composting bin so that it stays aerated. Making sure that air gets into your compost will make it break down quicker, and will also help to avoid the nasty smells and greenhouse gases such as methane that can be produced by anaerobic (non-oxygen breathing) bacteria. You can do this by turning your compost regularly, or you can use a tumbling bin or worm farm to cut down on the effort required.
Use sugar cane mulch on your garden. Mulch saves water by reducing evaporation, suppresses weeds and can help improve the condition of your soil. If you don't want to use sugar cane there are lots of other options such as pea straw, lucerne and partially broken down compost.
And last but definitely not least ...
Get some donkeys! They will provide you with a continuous supply of fertiliser (which isn't 'hot' like horse manure, so you can put it straight on your plants), and they'll also eat your veggie scraps and even weeds like thistles and blackberries. They also make good pets and you can even use them for transport! For more information contact the Donkey Society of Victoria.
For more information on composting and worm farming in Gippsland contact the Gippsland Regional Waste Management Group.
For more information on the Australian Conservation Foundations GreenHome program, including the GreenHome Champions program which teaches participants skills in facilitating change and helping their communities to become more sustainable visit the Australian Conservation Foundation's GreenHome program webpage.
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