Growing Your Own Fruit & VegetablesWith a growing popularity of eating fresh, organic ingredients, the concept of growing your own veggies is starting to become very much in vogue. And it really isn't that difficult now to start bringing deliciously organic & wonderfully nutritious food to your plate for hardly any cost at all!
Here we wish to share some of the basics with you to help you on your journey towards growing and eating a wonderful array of fresh, tasty and nutritious fruits and vegetables in your life. |
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1) Food Gardening Basics
Our basics section is designed for those who are looking to introduce a small amount of food gardening into their life, whether this be in your back garden, on your balcony or in a raised garden bed or pot somewhere else. And as you will see from the below sections, it is actually very simple and easy to create a small little version of veggie paradise!
Creating A Veggie Patch
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When it comes to having your own veggie garden, there is one main choice that you will need to make at the start. Do you want to plant your veggie patch
in your garden or would you prefer to build yourself a raised garden bed. As you are thinking about this, consider where your sun is and where your wind comes from. It is best if you can find a spot somewhere that gets around 6 - 10 hours of direct sunlight and is sheltered from heavy winds. This will help your plants to grow more effectively. You will also need to decide what types of vegetables you wish to grow as different plants require different things. With all this now decided, you are now ready to get started creating your veggie patch. This you tube video here offers a great step by step guide to help you get started and in the next section, we'll offer some additional steps about creating the right soil mix as this will be crucial for a good overall result. |
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The Importance Of Healthy Soil
When it comes to gardening, a lot of your success will come from working with a healthy and nutrient filled soil. And there are many different options that you have for helping you create a very healthy and nutrient filled soil for your plants to thrive. So let's see how easy it can be to get the right kind of nutrients into your soil so that your plants can thrive!
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Firstly, you are going to need some good organic matter, more commonly referred to as compost, as this will help your plants to receive all the right types of nutrients they need. Simply mix this organic matter through with top soil and add some additional natural fertilisers if you wish to at the end. Things like adding mycorrhizal fungi and fresh vermicast can also be quite valuable.
The first video here ----> will be good if you are wanting to start a veggie patch in the ground i.e. using your own soil. And as you can see, you may need to do some slight weeding first and when ready, just add the compost to your top soil and any additional fertilisers, compost teas or mulch that you wish. By mixing all this together, you are helping the soil to become soft and airy which will help the roots of your plants to grow well also (plants need oxygen). |
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The bottom two videos show how to do prepare your soil for raised beds or raised containers. The first video on the left takes a simple and basic approach with just compost being added to the top soil to prepare it for planting. The second video incorporates a wider range of nutrient support materials and presents a more comprehensive approach to preparing our soil. As vegans, we wouldn't choose to use blood and bone however we may use lime instead or some well designed compost tea. Some basic soil science principles are explained here
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Planning For Natural Pest Control
Spraying your vegetable crops with harmful substances, even though they might kill pests, also brings many kinds of toxins & poisons into your own bloodstream. So our philosophy is that we don't like to use anything that contains harmful toxins and/or chemicals. So with this then, lets look at some natural alternatives which can help to create a reduced pest environment.
Firstly, planning for your vegetable garden will be very important. By planning your space and by thinking about the types of plants, herbs and flowers that you will be growing, you can help to create a small eco-system within your garden bed that is helpful for deterring, repelling and therefore reducing pests.
Firstly, planning for your vegetable garden will be very important. By planning your space and by thinking about the types of plants, herbs and flowers that you will be growing, you can help to create a small eco-system within your garden bed that is helpful for deterring, repelling and therefore reducing pests.
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For example, let us imagine the typical kind of veggie garden where crops are mono-cultured i.e. where one crop such as cabbage is put down in a series of rows across the entire garden bed. Common pests such as cabbage white butterflies will fly by and see a wonderful opportunity. Once they land, they are not likely to leave as this space represents a wonderful haven for them i.e. it is full of easy (and predator free) food!
Now lets imagine another garden, one which plants a number of different vegetables whilst also including some herbs and some strong scenting flowers which help to attract more bees and other predator insects. Firstly, any insect pests flying by such as our white cabbage butterfly will be confused and repelled by the other strong scents from your garden. And even if they do stop by and find something, there is a greater chance that they will meet with a predator who has been attracted to your garden by the nectar and pollen from the flowers. This is a far more effective eco-system for pest control. |
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What To Plant & When
As we've just mentioned above, planning your garden space is one of the important things you can do. It will help to determine what you eat, when you eat it, how well your plants will grow and how many pests you are likely to attract. So planning your space is super important!
When thinking about your garden plan or design, it is also important to take into account the type of soil you are using, the type of climate you live in, the amount of sunlight your land gets and what types of shaded areas you can access. It is also a good idea to think about what types of vegetables you wish to grow in your garden and to do this you may start by ask yourself any or all of these questions:
1. Which fruits & vegetables do I like eating the most?
2. Which fruits & vegetables can I save the most money on?
3. Which fruits & vegetables do I buy that contain the most amount of pesticides (see a full list here)
To help you decide on a good planting schedule, here is an example planting calendar (NZ) and you can see that different climate conditions will change the options that you have available to you for your vegetable garden. This kind of information will be available for your specific area as well and for more information, we also suggest that you have a talk with someone at your local nursery for more information.
When thinking about your garden plan or design, it is also important to take into account the type of soil you are using, the type of climate you live in, the amount of sunlight your land gets and what types of shaded areas you can access. It is also a good idea to think about what types of vegetables you wish to grow in your garden and to do this you may start by ask yourself any or all of these questions:
1. Which fruits & vegetables do I like eating the most?
2. Which fruits & vegetables can I save the most money on?
3. Which fruits & vegetables do I buy that contain the most amount of pesticides (see a full list here)
To help you decide on a good planting schedule, here is an example planting calendar (NZ) and you can see that different climate conditions will change the options that you have available to you for your vegetable garden. This kind of information will be available for your specific area as well and for more information, we also suggest that you have a talk with someone at your local nursery for more information.
Companion Planting
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Another consideration for your garden is the idea of inter-planting (more commonly known as companion planting) and this is something that we have already touched on as we discussed our natural pest control steps above. Companion planting is another good way to help bring success and prosperity into your garden as it helps to promote good growth, enhanced nutrients, overall strength and pest resilience amongst your plants and the general eco-system.
For those who are interested to incorporate companion planting into their own garden design, this image is a simple snapshot of some of the basic companion plants and we also suggest that you have a look at this companion planting guide which may also be helpful for you as you start thinking about your overall companion planting garden design. |
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2) More Comprehensive Solutions
Understanding Permaculture
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Permaculture is a design based science which helps to create self-sustaining and self-abundant agricultural systems. It is something which is now gaining much popularity worlwide as a way of helping our earth to restore balance and so that we can all share in the many fruits which come from this.
There are many practical applications of permaculture, including natural waste-water system design, food gardening designs, natural building techniques, rainwater harvesting, mulching, intensive rotational grazing and much more. Here is a wonderful introductory video given by a very well respected permaculturalist which helps us to see just how effective permaculture can be to create a greener, more fruitful and happier world for us all. |
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Creating A Food Forest
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Having now introduced the idea of permaculture, lets take a look at permaculture in action and more specifically the idea of food forests. This idea is a very exciting one for us as a way of providing many different types of fruits, vegetables and nuts in your garden (or public space) with a reasonably low maintenance.
The idea here is to set up an ecosystem including cover plants, canopies, fruit trees and other varieties of species to help sustain and support each other. In this short video, Geoff Lawton takes us through the different growth stages of a food forest and shows us how can start preparing our own land for a food forest in only a few years. |
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Desertification & Climate Change
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Another great example of applied permaculture and something which is helping to provide much hope for the issue of climate change comes from the very serious issue of desertification in the world.
Desertification, simply put describes a landscape that is slowly turning to a more desert like landscape. Sadly, desertification is an issue which now affects around 2/3's of our earth's landscapes around the world. As this desertification process continues to get worse, it is also quite sad to realise that there are no global solutions currently in place at a governmental level to help us combat this most important climate change issue. With this short video, we wish to share Allan Savory's message of hope and actionable solution that can start to address this problem as we bring more green growth back to previously desert like landscapes. With this sharing, we hope to help co-create a healthier, more luscious and greener planet for future generations to enjoy. |
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