Despite grey skies threatening above, intrepid gardeners converged on the seemingly typical suburban garden of our hosts, Steve and Araina. Steve's talk covered many interesting topics including the hugelkultur beds, Japanese weeding tool, use of trichaderma to control curly leaf and his practice of retaining all garden waste on the property.
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| Steve, Araina and Scout addressing the group |
Steve explained that the garden was nothing more than concrete paths, pavers and a bothersome granite retaining wall which took some time before it could be removed and replaced with a more user friendly timber wall.
Early into establishing their food garden Steve and Araina decided to relocate some the original fruit trees to the front lawn. A large feijoa tree against the side fence hasn't minded the relocation.
The front yard orchard and the flow hive honey box
A disciple of the no dig garden has seen Steve embrace the Hugelkultur gardening method. This involves building a garden bed by mounding garden matter in layers, starting with large logs and leaving the mound to create its own microclimate using fungi to breakdown organic matter to provide nutrients to the plants.
Steve prefers not to dig the soil as this encourages weeds but instead uses a very impressive two handled soil aerator (broadfork), that is plunged into the soil and moved back and forth to create holes into which nutrients and air can penetrate. This, along with an abundance of organic matter has boosted the productivity of the soil.
A Japanese weeding sickle is used to remove weeds to avoid disturbing the earth with the roots left to rot in the ground. The inner curve features a very sharp serrated blade.
A bed in the top corner of the garden is primarily a "chop and drop" bed where Jerusalem Artichokes, broad beans, potatoes and other self-seeded plants create their own microclimate.
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| Jerusalem artichokes and apricot tree in the "chop and drop" bed |
Multiple compost bins are moved around the garden enriching the soil wherever they are placed. Permanent compost bays are also used. Steve explained that everything that is grown here stays on the property either as organic matter to return the nutrients to the soil or as food for the hens.
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The hens have the run along the back fence and under a large mulberry tree which is so prolific that Steve only nets 4-6 branches. A prized Genoa fig is situated near the hen run which was a happy find when it bounced back after being severely pruned by the previous owners.
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| Blueberries, strawberries and Myrtus berry |
The produce table was very well supported and included a selection of apple and peach trees wheeled up the property by David.
Our hosts enjoyed first selection from the well stocked produce table. Thank you for hosting this very enjoyable visit Steve and Araina.
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| Steve selecting from the produce table |
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