What I Have Learnt So Far
I thought that I would compose an article on what I have learnt about gardening to date. Of course this focuses on my experiences in my little urban patch. Here is the list and my thoughts behind each principle learnt.
Expect Failures
No matter how good and diligent you are, some plants will fail. For example I have a thriving Zucchini seedling out the back, yet two out the front planted in the same base material and receiving similar sun are struggling like the billy-o. I expect that they will soon be fed to the worms for reprocessing.
Expect Success Beyond Expectation
At the same time of expecting failures you also need to expect success beyond your wildest expectation. I am for example trying to work out what I will be doing with the plethora of chillis that are either here, or en route. For me I will be distributing that amongst family members and preserving the remaining crop.
Premium Potting Mix is Worth the Extra Coin
Premium potting mix is indeed worth the coin. Plants that are in the premium potting mixes such as the RichGro Pro Mix that is enriched with Seasol, Osmocote, and Ezi Wet are thriving. Those in the cheaper standard potting mix, such as that available from Coles, although for the most part are alive are not exactly thriving. Definately fork out the extra few dollars and get a premium mix.
Worm Farming is a Must
If you have the room a definate requirement is a worm farm. The farm produces a magnificent liquid fertiliser and a supreme compost. Both of which provide established plants a great boost or a kickstart for new arrivals. Also, it helps keep the costs down, as you can appreciate liquid fertiliser and rich compost purchased from the garden centre is expensive, and when you are worm farming is a completely unnecessary cost. Also as a real advantage your rubbish bin will not be as full or smelly.
I Need More Worms
Currently in my Can’O'Worms I have 1000 worms. I though now believe I require a considerable amount more. As a rough idea I have read that you should have 1000 worms per household member. Given Christmas is days away, and we are again hosting the family dinner, we will no doubt have stacks of peels, fruit and vegetable waste. As a direct result I will be adding at least 500 more, am considering perhaps adding 1000. I am also considering a second Can’O'Worms and utilising the stacks of cardboard that I currently have.
Recycling Rocks
Recycling our own waste is both good for us and the planet. Gardening offers a wealth of opportunities for reuse. For example, worms will eat our food scraps, paper waste, and cardboard. Also whilst on cardboard it is great as a pot liner to prevent water simply seeping straight out, further in the pot it provides a barrier for insects and other bugs climbing in. Finally, on paper I am about to embark on making my own jiffy pots using wet newspaper and the many seedling pots as a mould. Essentially its a paper mache jiffy pot.
Planning
Gardening, in particular gardening for cultivation, requires planning. It is silly to pick plant varieties that require deep roots or a need to achieve a tree size for growing in the urban environment within pots and tubs. Also, need to ensure that the chosen varieties needs are going to be met.
Dedication
Dedication is a must for any gardening project. Although many plants will survive a few days of neglect, few will sustain that for very long. Especially when contained to pots and tubs. The urban gardener needs to keep the water, nutrients, and defences up.
Keeping Felines Away is a Pain
For me I have learnt that keeping near wild cats away from the garden is a real pain in the keister meister. Cats like those currently next door are once removed from being feral. I do not want them anywhere near my garden, especially the producing plants. However, keepng them away is a real pain and requires its own commitment. I am looking forward to obtaining my CATWatch in the new year. Hopefully that will reduce the burden.
For now that is the end of my current learnings. No doubt this will expand over the coming days, weeks and months to come. As I have said before, I am a novice, but learning fast.
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December 19th, 2007 at 11:00 am
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