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Make A Brighter Planet
I was looking but NOT seeing!
Since the spray drift incident in the spring I have not been SEEING the great recovery in the Kitchen Garden or APPRECIATING just how magnificent Mother Nature really is.
Instead I had been focusing and fussing upon what DIDN’T grow and being kinda angry that the hormone growth inhibitors used may have irreparable damaged my soil and how could I possibly repair that damage, and is all the hard work really worth it and come next spring it’s all going to happen again, is it time to give it all up?
The last two days has changed all that and I am amazed at the recovery and the sheer dogged determination of the seedlings that are now poking their tiny heads above the surface of the soil in gleeful HEALTHY abundance…Thank You, Mother Nature, I am more than grateful.
I was blind to the healing process that was going on under the surface of my soil, which I have to tell you, is looking and feeling SO beautiful and humus rich that I nearly cried yesterday when I was clearing some beds getting them ready for winter feeding and mulching. I am thankful for the lesson I have learnt.
I am able to SEE and BELIEVE that I can bring healing aspects from The Universe onto MY land and for that I am grateful and so happy in the knowledge my Earth healing work is working and I now I can see a way to stay here on my piece of paradise and finish what I started.
I believe my principles of organic gardening harnessed with the most important factors of Mother Nature’s ability to regenerate her beloved Earth and my personal habit of praising the soil, seedlings and plants for being healthy and sending the positive intention to them so that they can recover is what has turned the whole potential disaster around.
Please see the photos if you think my soil has always been this rich and wonderful…
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What to Grow for a Cover crop or Green Manure Crop (Part Two)
Cover crops and green manure crops are a vital part of any good soil management programme, they are a fantastic way to get your soil in tip top condition while resting it and by not leaving it bare or letting it go to weed, the micro life of the soil remains intact and the essential work under the surface continues.
The simple difference between a green manure and a cover crop, is cover crops are grown over a longer period than green manure crops and so take longer to decompose as they will produce ‘woodier’ stems.
- So, what do you grow and when?
- What crops fix nitrogen and which don’t?
- How long do different crops take to ‘mature’ before slashing?
- Which crops do I sow in the summer and which in the winter?
The following is a list of different crops, when to sow, how long to grow them before slashing and if they will fix nitrogen or not…
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What is a ‘Cover’ Crop? (Part One)
Mother Nature never intended the Earth to be bare, believe it or not, that’s why she created weeds!! Bear soil gets blown and washed away, both of which destroys the top soil and in turn wrecking the micro life which lives precariously in it.
For centuries, organic gardeners have relied on the ‘old’ ways of protecting their soil and cover crop and green manure crops were an integral part of that sol management. ‘Green’ manure or ‘cover’ crops, these two names can be intertwined as they basically mean the same thing: a short term crop which is grown to improve and protect the soil.
This is essential when you have a shortage of compost or are just starting out and need to maximize the nutrients in your soil, they really come into their own during the times when a vegetable bed is left to ‘rest’ or be ‘fallow’ usually during the winter months.
Cover crop or Green Manure are usually grown the knee high and then cut down and left on top of the soil to compost down, some people think this is a ‘waste of money’ but I can tell you they are worth their weight in gold and are well worth the effort and what they add to the soil far out weighs the money they cost to grow:
- They protect the soil
- They encourage micro life
- They keep the surface of the soil moist, conserving precious moisture
- They inhibit invasive weeds
- They add nutrients to the soil
- They add valuable organic matter, provided they are grown in organic conditions of course:)
This explains everything…Mercury is Retrograde…I should have known:)
For about 10 days I have been struggling with a feeling of lethargy, a bit like walking through molasses while trying to climb an invisible Mount Everest, insomnia, computer troubles – nothing seeming to want to work:
Why my new autoresponder is not working (working frantically behind the scenes to fix this glitch)
Why the new 2 Women store is proving a challenge (need to change the whole aspect of the lay out)
Why my auctions on Trade Me are selling for the wrong prices!! (cannot do anything about this one)
And why I am not wanting to engage in social events, in fact those of you who know me, would say someone else was impersonating me, living in my human shell …but no, I am still me and when I was told this morning that Mercury is retrograde the penny finally dropped and I stopped thinking I was getting old!!! LOL!!!
So why is the revelation that Mercury is retrograde the answer to my dilemmas??
Armed with the awareness of this new phenomenon, one which I had no idea of until this morning, I went looking for the answer and learnt something new. Read more »
Basil, Hazelnut and Lime Sorbet
Oh now this is DELICIOUS, so refreshing and the hazelnuts give it some added crunch. It takes a little work to prepare, but believe me it’s worth the effort.
Now Thats What I call A Salad!!
The lazy days of summer are still lingering but the nights are drawing in quickly and it’s dark before you know it. Autumn is here and winter is fast approaching, not the time of year to be thinking of salads or is it??
Well, yes it is, because a little fact I didn’t know before I started to grow my own vegetables is that the majority of my salad ingredients prefers to grow in the coolness of autumn. Yet we have been ‘programmed’ to think of salads as a summertime commodity, WOW!! the power of autosuggestion is an amazing thing.
Another amazing little snippet is the world wide web gets a staggering 13 MILLION people searching for salad recipes every month and who said salads were boring but I bet you didn’t know that Victorian salads were anything but boring and contained no less than 38 different items, now THATS what I call a salad, certainly puts the usual lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber to shame!!
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5 Tips for Starting Your Own Orchard
I‘m excited to report that this year I finally got the orchard started and we now have 20 young fruit and nut trees under our tender loving care. I get asked many time ‘how do you start planning and planting an orchard?’ and I was recently reminded I have not posted anything about starting an orchard here on the block…so Thank you Tim:)
Young Tree
When considering a new orchard area there are a few questions to ask yourself before investing time and money and once you have your answers the rest is relatively easy.
How to Design Your Vegetable Garden
You have chosen the site, now it’s time to really let those creative juices flow…Oh, this is one of the exciting moments…. get a pad and pencil and go sit in your site, sit on the ground and just look around you for a moment.
Let the atmosphere wash over you and picture a vegetable garden in full swing, what does the picture tell you?
Garden design is big business, there are thousands of books and companies who would gladly design a tailor made garden for you at a price, but I personally think you should design your own vegetable garden.
Design in Progress
As a vegetable garden is a relatively simple affair and as I have already mentioned it’s more personal and comes from the heart and I don’t think a stranger can access this part of you.
The design of your vegetable beds will, in part, be determined by the space and shape of the area you have chosen, there are many ingenious ways to be creative about the space you have, the quest is to being able to produce a substantial amount of produce in a small area.
Wilted Spinach with Middle Eastern Spices
This is a fantastic way to serve spinach, it uses two of my favorite spices: cardamom and cumin which work their magic to infuse the tender spinach leaves with the flavours of the Middle East, and the fresh herb combination delivers the Eastern Promise:)
My Heirloom Spinach
Serve as a side dish for honey grilled chicken breasts, or grilled firm white fish or tuna, or for a vegetarian meal add some soft tofu or grilled Halloumi.
Every which way spinach has never tasted SO good, simplicity on a plate!!
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Starting Out: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!! (Part Two)
In part one of ‘How to Start Your Own Organic Vegetable Garden’ series. I covered some important initial considerations but as the original post got longer I decided to break it up…so here’s the rest!
Starting Out
Do you have time? And how much do you have?
You also need to consider just how much time you have to devote to your plot and believe me it takes time to establish a productive vegetable garden but maintaining it should be less time consuming. You do need to consider seriously how much time you would like to spend in your plot.
And read that again, yes, you can choose how much time you can devote to tending your vegetables. REMEMBER: It’s your vegetable garden and you run it not the other way around!! ( I cannot believe I just said that, ummm need to re-think my strategy on this one and heed my own advice!!! 
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Gallery
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