4 minute explanation of Genetic Engineering . Share please!

Really great short clip that explains the GE issue very well. Plase share this link with everyone you know.  http://youtu.be/zcTNmCUMZ7c

Raising seedlings

Seeds and seedlings  …Nursery Work for the time poor.

Making compost is hardly ever a chore for me , I get so turned on by the process of putting together annoying and maybe stinky waste products to create something so valuable they call it black gold.

However one tedious chore for me is pricking out numerous little seedlings into pots to grow on to a robust 3 or 4 inch high seedling. Perhaps it is because I know that only half of them will survive…..rats, chickens, a 40 degree day . In fact why do I bother at all? Well you have to , because lets Face Facts  , you cant eat supermarket “food”, and purchased mass produced  seedlings are weak as …very poor success rate with them and of course not at all kosher regards organic certification.

Why don’t you just plant seeds in the garden?  Well , at the magically precious  but sadly short times of Autumn and spring you can do just that, because its raining. In winter slugs are a menace and seedlings grow so slowly often get smaller not bigger. In summer however, You need to water the whole big garden every day , possibly 3 times a day, to get the seeds to germinate. I like to concentrate all that time and energy into a small area called the nursery, where a plastic house provides shade and humidity and many seedlings can be raised with a lot less water spent.

Garden irrigation is best done deeply and infrequently, otherwise you can end up with a depth of only  50 ml wet and dry underneath. This leads to shallow roots. Our gardens have finally developed marvellous soil to a depth of 300 m or more , because it is rich in carbon it is a sponge like material which absorbs and holds moisture well. I try to water it deeply only once a week even in summer.  This leads to big deep root systems which will enable a plant to survive for many days should something go wrong like a broken pump or a broken leg.

So , at Merri Bee Organic Farm we have developed some ideas on nursery chores that work for us in our extreme climate . We first build a hot house to keep soil and plants from drying out. In winter, when it is theoreticaly raining it may  simply be 4 walls with a door in one, open to the sky and the rain somewhat like a large tree guard but for the long hot summer a plastic and shade cloth house is required:

Level an area big enough to enable 2 benches and a gangway down the middle, maybe a third bench across the end opposite the door. One idea is to obtain 4 blue drums from a recycling depot, the 200 litre types . Place them so that they will hold up your working surface. We have been known to use old bedframes for the benches  and also old pallets, a discarded  old dunny door, a simple bunch of planks. What ever you use, it must be able to constant water applications and be fairly level and even for your seed trays to sit on. A comfortable working height bench is essential.

For thermal mass we fill the drums with water  which moderates the temperatures inside the green house. Would be good to also create a high thermal mass floor by first laying some insulation on the ground ( we used an old doona wrapt in black plastic) over which you may lay some concrete slabs or pebbles. A simple structure of big black polly pipe pushed onto star pickets  in hoop formation , covered in UV stabilized plastic ( whatever you do don’t waste vast sums on that reinforced with mesh style plastic that comes on a roll in green and white at the hardware….it doesn’t last long at all) will complete the structure. Weigh down the plastic at the sides well by either burying it in a trench or putting heavy eights on it…remember  you could have just made a big kite should  it get windy!

To have used old shade house frames we bought through the paper from peoples backyards for $100.00. We slit poly pipe lengthwise and pushed it onto the frame to secure the plastic around the door frame. Another idea  we have patented  ;) is to squash 12 ml trickle pipe flat and tech screw it on to the frame, sandwhiching the plastic which is pulled tight as you go. Of course my readers are ever so resourceful and will overcome any challenges I am sure.

 As you will be going in and out carrying seedtrays and old breadbaskets  full of dirt and plants, a  nice door is worth constructing, especially if you are keeping critters like chooks out. Once again Mitre 11 ( the tip) is handy for old flyscreen doors you can work with.

Last but by no means least you need an irrigation set up on a timer. This is an absolute must . You need fairly good water pressure. Don’t repeat our mistake of making this wonderful hot house at the top of a hill where our water pressure is poor so a timer cant be used.  We built another glass house down the hill just so the timer tap could be used. Best $40.00 I ever spent was on the  timer tap. We set it to turn on a mister for one minute, 3 times in every 24 hour period. Luxury for the forgetful, busy or just plain slack.

Have ready a piece of shade cloth to cover the whole thing in summer. Take it off in autumn, apply again in spring. Once again, weight it down appropriately.

Ok , you have the 5 star plant accommodation sorted.

 Now for the potting mix.

On a hard surface mix the following together:

2 parts Coco-peat (comes in a dried and pressed block)
1 part Course sand (washed)
1 part Compost
1 part Mushroom compost (if you can get it – ordinary compost if not – we use our home made which is not quite as soil like as the commercial stuff)
1 part Worm castings

I don’t always have the coco peat and the mushroom compost and instead I use dirt from chook pens.It usually has no weed seed in it .Very important  point when planting onion seeds, believe me.

 Briefly mix all previously moistened ingredients together.  I was told once and tend to believe that it isn’t good to mix or otherwise “work”  wet soil. I prefer to hose  big pot fulls  of the components and allow them to drain, then mix them together ever so briefly I . Then pack  it into a standard 40 ml deep small seed trays.  I try to have a stack of these ready so I can throw seeds into them should I be about to miss the proper moon planting time for the various seeds.

Once the seeds come up, while they are still tiny,  dig  them out with a bread and butter knife a few at a time, leaving as much dirt  around them with as least disturbance  as possible, and pot them into half toilet rolls filled with rich  compost y soil. Pack the toilet rolls into some container which will hold them upright, and make sure the container has a few drainage holes. Water them in well soon after planting. A few weeks later when these seedlings are  about  2 inches high, plant them into the garden still in their cardboard cylinder. This is normally a dicey procedure , especially in hot weather ( where upon evening is the best time to act) , but by planting the whole thing there is no transplant shock at all. If you leave them too long in these toilet rolls your healthy seedlings  will run out of  nutrient and start yellowing a bit.

Mulch the bed well, plant your plants in holes dug in the mulch, water well and you should be harvesting something soon.  Best of luck .

Tony Rinoudo's work can be seen from space. Plant rain today!

This is  a talk by a  beautiful man Tony Rinoudo from World Vision. Watch part one  by starting at the 8 minute mark. ( the first 8 minutes is dum as they cant get the sound working) which shows what they are up against then go on to part 2 . Its just such an awesome, uplifting, true story.

“Plant the rain and the plants will plant themselves”

“Mr Tony, we are too much happy” . http://www.livestream.com/ipc10/video?clipId=pla_dc28440f-730f-4b64-ad58-51757633e132&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

Millions of world vision dollars were getting no where, and Tony nearly gave up , but then he noticed something vital………… 

How to grow Sweet corn for the New to Gardening

Sweet corn for the New to Gardening .
Corn is a warm season frost tender plant so in Nannup it can be planted from September through to the end of February with relative safety. It is thirsty and a heavy feeder so will grow best in soil enriched with compost and or worm castings and a protective layer of mulch. It will need irrigation in most Perth gardens , but a humus ( carbon ) rich soil will of course absorb and hold 4 times more water than a poor soil , so improve your soil and save on irrigation. Corn does not suffer many diseases or pests, except rats, so start controlling any rodent populations when you plant the seed. Very strong winds can blow them over , so a hedge of Jerusalem artichoke /sunflower is a good idea around a corn patch.

Best to plant corn in blocks of at least 12 plants spaced about 200 mm apart in all directions , rather than rows, as pollination is by wind. We recommend Merri Bee Certified Organic non hybrid seeds. We sell  packets of  coloured corn, sweet corn, baby corn . Each variety , if you want to save seed to regrow, must be separated by distance ( lots! .....2 kms would be safe) or time. I would plant any different variety 6 weeks after the first one to avoid cross pollination.  I mulch the area I want to seed  with corn, make furrows on contour in the mulch ,  fill with water,  then place the seed and cover with compost to a depth 1.5 times the size of the seed. Water again and they should appear in 10 days.

An un- pollinated corn cob has no niblets! So you are likely to get corn on only one side of the cob if it is grown in a row.
Corn takes about 4 months from seed to sweet corn ready to pick. The Balinese variety usually has 2 cobs per plant . Knowing when to harvest can be tricky. Over or under ripe corn is a bit of a waste. You get to know by experience when it is ready. I sneak a look at the cobs just as the tassel has gone all dry and dark brown and the cob is looking fat, by peeling aside a few inches of green sheath leaves and seeing if the
 niblets look plump and yellow. If not ready yet pat the leaves back in place to protect against the prying eyes of thieves like rats and parrots. Under ripe are cream coloured and small .Past their prime they look deeper yellow and a little shrunken.
Open pollinated corn is not a super sweet and tender as the hybrids, but it is still very nice , and I find it tastes actually better and more nutritious ( and probably is). The pale green corn silk surrounding the cob is edible and meant to be good urinary tract tonic and alkalising . The big advantage of open pollinated corn is, if you wish to save your own seed you can and it will be like the parent plants. Replanting saved hybrid seed is not recommended as it may not be anything like what you saved. To save seed choose the healthiest plants with the earliest, biggest, most numerous cobs and do not pick them to eat ( ohhh!!) but let them remain on the plant till all the plant and cob are withered and going brown. If you end up with lots of corn seed, tell the world because we need to maintain our open pollinated, non GE , non- patented seed stocks. And that’s best done by keeping good varieties alive and in the hands of many gardeners.
Happy munching! PS Once we grew a lovely stand of sweet corn. It was nearly ready to eat and we were dismayed to find the cows had got in and demolished the corn patch. They were enjoying the last stalks and leaves. We crossly shooed them out .
But surprise! All was not lost. On closer inspection we found the cobs lying on the ground untouched. …muddy, but otherwise unscathed. We peeled them and got the inch of water boiling in a big pot and threw them in . A feast of fresh corn ensued and we  froze the rest!

Key Line

KEyline farming was a farm/soil/water improving method developed by PA Yeomans in the 1950's in Australia. He was an engineer who had some acres in Victoria and rose to fame as his Keyline system proved itself in times of drought in Victoria, looking lush and productive compared to his  neighbours. This was achieved with a tractor, a Yeoman's Plough ( chisel plough with special foot ) and a some simple rules. The rules are
 1) Find the key point of the land . This is where the slope of the land changes from convex to concave. The key point in a valley is the ideal place to site a dam, if the subsoil is clay. A dam here would be able to water crops in the valley floor.
2) To the right and to the left of the key point, mark out the contour line. For this you would need a laser level, dumpy level, Bunyip water level, or 3 pieces of wood made into a sturdy A frame with a spirit level taped to the horizontal member
3) This contour line which passes through the key point is known as the Key Line and is permanently marked by a line of trees, a road , a fence line or such like.
4) Your  plough is pulled parallel  to the key line , above and below it. The plough lines fill with water when it rains and prevent water run off.  The shoe of each tyne creates a space underground, and only a slight bump with a slit cut into the surface of the soil. Rain water enters through the slot and sits in the air chamber, safe from evaporation. During a rain event water percolates slowly into the soil surrounding the air chamber. A warm and humid atmosphere in the chamber creates a good habitat for soil biota. When the soil reaches saturation point , any excess water is collected in the dam at  the keypoint. Its all laid out in PA Yeoman's classic book "Water for Every Farm",
I have never read the book because I have not managed a large farm with clay soil . We have sandy soil, which doesn't respond so well to the Yeoman's plough. The response of farms on the Eastern states  with their
 summer rainy season and heavier soils is phenomenal, and of course there is plenty of farms in WA which would totally regenerate with this treatment.
P.A. Yeoman's  son Allan Yeomans lives in Surfers Paradise and has done amazing work on floating parabolic solar thermal power stations, as well as improving on the design of keyline ploughs. http://www.yeomansplow.com.au/10.htm
Allan was talking publically about carbon sequestration to avoid climate change back in the 80's!    He has this to say ( on his website) about his plough and soils: "Creating fertile soil is easy. Rich top soil is just dead subsoil plus a lot of reasonably stable humus plus a heap of active fungi, a mass of air breathing microbes and lots of earth worms, all with masses of dead plant root material to eat, air to breathe, water to drink and space to live in. If your soil is like that you know you don't have a problem growing anything.

  For nature to create space, unassisted, it had to wait for a tree to grow to maturity, then wait for it to die and then eventually fall over so finally the tree's roots could loosen up the deep, hard, subsoil.

  Or nature can do the job with grasses. That works, but it can take centuries for grasses to battle their way into dense compacted subsoil and loosen the stuff. It took centuries to create the deep, rich prairies and savannas of the world.

In an instant you can create the  space needed to allow soil life to do its thing, to massively proliferate. One deep pass with a subsoil plow that produces minimum disturbance of soil layers and the perfect microbe and earthworm housing estate is created. The soil fertility creation process can thus be speeded up....What took centuries can be done in two or three seasons. 

  Pouring expensive chemicals, year in and year out to just produce saleable crops is invariably more expensive than turning poor soils, dead soils and “worn out” soils, into rich and permanent and hugely productive soils.

  The end products of all this soil [microbial] activity are stable humic and fulvic acid molecules. Really the difference between the two is academic. They are both mainly made of carbon atoms. And technically, that mixture is what “humus” is. The individual molecules are enormous. They contain hundreds of carbon atoms."

 The large humus molecules are negatively  charged, so they attract and loosely hold the soluble soil minerals which would otherwise be washed away every time it rains. To quote Allan's website again,( and it is a rich source of information re the Key Line system) "Storm rains go straight into the deep worked soil. Storm erosion vanishes. There is just no wash. And with all that water and air, and provided the microbes and fungi have some dead root material to eat, then soil life will just explodes.... creating fertility..."

Tips for Starting a Garden

So you are ready to withdraw your support from Multi National Corporations who are poisoning our planet?They have brainwashed farmers to believe they NEED to buy and spray out their chemicals on an unimaginably large scale. I just went for a trip to my accountant in a town an hour way  whose reputation I wont besmirch by naming it. Suffice to say many of the caulies, brocc and cabbages you see in your supermarket fresh section come from this place of richer soils, large dams and monocultures. In the morning I passed a band of  cauli pickers loading up utes with caulis. Travelling back in the arvo, I saw a tractor was in the act of spraying with a large boom spray the crops beside where the pickers had been. Knowing brassicas I reckon the spray is applied weekly if not twice weekly.
 Met a grape grower the next day at our farmers market. He said he tried to forgo the usual spray on one variety and lost his entire crop. Said if he couldn't spray he would not have one grape. Strangely enough I was beside him with 3 crates of grapes and 6 more crates at home which we might have to juice where we have not used spray in 30 years.  Could it be that we have chickens under the grapes and there are only 2 vines? Folks, food growing is best achieved by the family in the back yard, and here's how to begin:

 No Dig Garden or sheet mulching out your weeds 
Heres a way to turn problem weeds into rich soil which grows what YOU want to grow.

Side by side comparison: soil on right high in mychorrizzal fungi. Soil on left not.

I love mulching. Theres nothing more satisfying than creating a no dig garden which will

1) improve the soil,

2) eradicate weeds

3) mimimize irrigation ( see point 1 and pic  above. A soil rich in carbon , or humus, absorbs and holds 6 times more water than a low carbon soil) .

Spring is the ideal time to start an instant garden. Many of us are faced with a  kikuyu patch. Not to fear! First amass some newspapers, plain brown cardboard ( gaily coloured glossy mags and cardboard do contain toxic inks) and piles of grassclippings / leaves/ chipped up greenwaste. I usually head to the tip for my supplies. It’s amazing how much fertility people throw away. You could also score some rolls or bales of spoilt hay.

Don’t worry about the seed factor use seedy materials under the newspaper layer and weed seed free materials as the cosmetic layer OVER the newspaper. …. I find if roll out hay in Spring , I don’t get the problem of weed seeds germinating. If you roll it out in Autumn, you do, so use that info to choose your top layer.

Hopefully you have soil that is moist before you start, but if not you will have to soak the area with a sprinkler first. To ascertain if the soil is moist there is probably no alternative but to dig down 6 inches or so, in a few places, and have a look. You may find that only the top 70 mm is wet in these days of climate change.

So run a sprinkler to wet the ground if its dry. If irrigation water is running off ….Stop! Don’t waste a drop! You may have to undertake some earth shaping now . Furrowing across the contour, terracing, such like. This is a Once Only, but it is worthwhile to do  some digging to ensure that any rain we get or irrigation water you apply is going to soak in , not run off your land and ultimately out to the sea.
 Remember one of the biggest users of electricity in WA is Water Corporation. Water comes out most people’s garden hoses thanks to burning coal. And burning coal creates climate change which in our case in the SouthWest of WA means less rain and higher temperatures. So obtain some recycled 200 l drums or palle cons ( 1000 litre plastic cube in a cage) . My friend Michele has 60 second hand drums under her eaves which are all joined together with some nifty plumbing she did herself. She waters her garden with this water collected free from the sky in PERTH!!! Lately due to climate change the garden is suffering as Perth has not had rain for 100 days and counting.
 Michele is a legend.
I like garden beds to be  about 1.2 meters wide, so can be reached from either side. Never walk on your garden beds if you can avoid it.

Now, if needs be, hose or run a sprinkler for 5 mins several times a day, letting the soil get used to water again . In dry weather many soils become hydrophobic, almost waterproof, and short , frequent applications of water will start the rehydration process. 
Once wet, cover the area with anything you might put in a compost heap, then  lay thick layers of newspaper over the lot. Overlap them, use them like tiles. Soak  the bundles of newspaper in a wheel barrow full of water to facillitate this work in windy weather. DO NOT LET ANY GREEN SHOW THROUGh!!  Dont let any leaves gather energy from the sun, we want to starve the roots to death. Even when done very well, the odd kike leaf will break through the mulch. These must be pounced on immediately because they can undo all your good work if not patrolled.  Finally, you need to throw on woodchips or similar weed free material to a depth of 100 mm. This prevents the newspaper from blowing away. 
The layers of manure, weeds, kitchen scraps and carbon rich sawdust, woodchips etc will turn to humus and keep all that precious water in.
Time to plant ! 

The driveway garden which was nothing but kike weed 3 years ago. It now produces sugar cane, quinces , mulberrys, lemon verbena and lemon grass
 herbal tea, silky bantam chickens, ducks, eggs, sweet potatoes, and bamboo to name but a few.

Avocadoes thrive in sheet mulch and very often fail to live without it. Very worthwhile food for all creatures so try try try again till you succeed in establishing  at least one! Here is one in the same driveway garden.

 You can plant out trees and  seedlings of brassicas, celery, tomatoes, capsicums and eggplants into this instant garden immediately.  Dig a hole in the mulch, put in some compost and the plant. Now just  water in and stand back. It will all grow great.  

This 3 year old pic shows a paw paw which later got busted off by a naughty pig. The  avo pictured above is in the background, having been  just planted. 

If commenced in August  you will not need to irrigate till December. It may be a prudent thing to set up trickle dripper lines at establishment. But beware of stabbing hose lines with your garden fork like I do. We prefer to hand water these days as it is more water efficient. And Stew is tired of fixing up things I stab.

.

I plant everything with a handful of compost or worm castings to innoculate the surrounding soil with good bugs and critters. I pull out any half dead kike roots in the planting hole. When August planted spuds are harvested and  gone about Christmas time, I  plant seedlings of cucumbers and lettuce, seeds of beans and corn. Maybe pumpkins round the edges and train outwards, as they are takeover types.
In Autumn it is again parsley, corriander and lettuce plus the  entire the brassica brigade, and root crops like  onions , garlic, fennel and beetroot. The root crops carrot and parsnip are fine seed and direct planted. They are not suitable for the sheet mulch garden. Please see my carrot post for advice on these. Use the search bar top left of this page and type in carrots.

We are teaching how to make good quality compost on April 15th 2014. Please email me for the details.

I found this document the other day, read it through, thinking I wrote it right to the end, when  it said "Good Luck, Vicki". Well I have added a few sentences and a pic to it , but mainly we have Vicki to thank for this pile of helpful advice.  Thanks heaps  Vicki!

Tips to start a garden.

Some things to remember when starting a garden - watering, useful weeds and other leafy bits.

LEAVE ROOM FOR PLANTS TO GROW

Always leave room for plants to grow into, as overcrowding can impede the growth of some young plants.

Valuable or slow growing trees can benefit, however, from what is known as a nurse plant, a hardy species which is placed to protect the more valuable tree from bad weather, drying winds or salty air, or to fix nitrogen, provide shade, etc.

The nurse plant provides care for the young plant, creates a better microclimate and allows the tree to establish before its nurse is removed. Bees comment : Amaranthus make a great fast growing shelter for less heat resistant plants.

leaf amaranthus in flower

The root zone is important to consider, as some large trees have extensive root systems, which can damage wall foundations or simply out-compete any other plantings for light, water and nutrients.

The Water Authority has a fairly comprehensive list of trees, their root sizes and heights. If you ring and ask they'll post one out.

PUMPKINS AND OTHER CURCUBITS

Many fungal problems are caused by overcrowding or lack of air flow. This is largely seen on cucurbits, such as pumpkin, squash and zucchini which easily get powdery mildew. Here's a few hints for succesful pumpkin and squash growing.

* Make sure they have plenty of room and lots of sun.

* Water in the morning only! The extra humidity around the plants at night after an evening water will only encourage the problem.

* When planting the seed or seedlings of cukes, pumpkins, etc, put in a stake next to it so you know exactly where to water for maximum water conservation.

* Liquid seaweed concentrate is a great booster to apply to the pumpkin family. One of the few times you should wet the leaves is when watering with Seasol or other seaweed products. There are minerals in seaweed which protect the leaf from fungal attack. It is useful for other types of plants, too.

* Remove the worst affected leaves as they get older. These can safely be put into the compost.

WATER DEEPLY AND INFREQUENTLY

Many plants that are adapted to dry conditions and most perennials with a deep root system prefer to be watered deeply to encourage roots to delve down.

Many plants can show signs of serious water stress in early summer, especially after a dry winter- plants wilt and leaves curl. This may be mistaken for a fungal disease. If watering then occurs it may be too late, and the plants stressed system collapses.

IMPROVE THE SOIL

Sand as a soil medium can be hard to cope with. But it can be done.

The addition of minerals, wood ashes worm casts and compost when planting will make a huge difference to your gardens' health. It will make the soil softer and allow water to soak in more deeply.

If non-wetting occurs it can be remedied by incorporating some organic matter (such as mushroom compost, old straw, green manure, etc), into the soil if the area is free of plants.

If there is a plant in desperate need of a drink because of non-wetting soil, turn the hose on to a very slow trickle, and leave it on overnight. Make sure the water is on slow enough that it is actually soaking in. Remember to turn off in the morning as the sun can cause that dribble to become boiling hot. I killed  a grafted sapote with its first fruit on by this method (bee)

Make a bowl shape, or berm, under the plant's dripline, to catch and hold moisture, leaves and other detritus that may just happen by, which can help feed and protect the soil.

Once the ground has been thoroughly wet once it should be easier to soak again next time. Some people have been known to place a long piece of pvc pipe upright into the ground at planting time so that its end is below the tree or shrub being planted. It certainly helps with deep watering and establishment of precious plants.

Trickle systems are the most efficient way of watering, providing the tricklers are checked frequently and the filters cleaned.

WEEDS

A weed is any plant in the 'wrong place'. This means any plant, from tiny annuals to huge big trees. A 20 year-old lemon-scented gum is a weed in Perth's native bushland, but gorgeous in the right back yard. The back yards next tenant might think it's a weed, though, if they don't like them. Some folk consider all non-native plants as weedy.

The job weeds do is very important when it comes to protecting and improving degraded or bare soil. In many cases, the weedy species are the only thing that will survive in those areas, then silly humans come along, spray em or pull them out and wonder why the area won't support any life!

In some cases, it may be better to leave them in the ground, to protect the soil from blasting sunshine, prevent soil erosion and to provide some retreat for soil life.

Many tap-rooted flat weeds, such as dandelion, capeweed and cats' paw bring nutrients up from the subsoil, to deposit them on the surface.
I have seen the soil underneath dandelions teeming with worms at the end of summer (with reticulation, I must admit). They are constantly building up the soil, and after three years the roots are good for harvesting.

Other common leafy weeds (including dandelion, sow thistle (NZ's 'puha'), amaranth and nettle, for instance) are really good food. Many are high in minerals and vitamin A, etc.

Just be sure not to pick them near busy roads or popular dog-walking areas.

WATER

A lot of water can be reused, reducing your water bill and allowing enriched sink grey water to help keep your garden alive. There are plenty of non-edible parts of a garden where water can be re-used.

Compost bins can benefit from fine food particles in washing up water, and even a bit of detergent isn't too bad, as long as it's not too strong.
Soil wetting agents are basically detergent with no extra smells or additives.

Planting things with similar water needs together is important, too. Many commonly grown leafy food plants need lots of water, while the smelly Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, sage and lavender actually grow better with less water, their scents being stronger in drier areas.

SEEDLINGS

Keep note of what, when and where you plant seeds, especially if you want to collect seed and know what varieties you've planted.

Progressive sowing is also a good habit to get into, re-sowing some of your favourite and most commonly used veg seeds, spring onions, carrots, lettuce or whatever.
Beans can be re-sown when the last lot starts to flower. I plant by the moon ( because it works) and have a bucket of below ground seeds, and a bucket of above ground seeds . When it is above ground time I automatically go out and sow a tray with lettuce, spinach, cabbage, peas or beans rocket and coriander. When it is below ground time I automatically put in some  rows  of carrot and onion, and rows of  parsnip / radish/ turnip  combo . In this way you should have a constant job to do planting out seedlings at ANY TIME  the weather  is misty, or on dusk, and a constant supply of food to eat and things to sell. As long as the moon is right at seeding time, you should get big beet ROOTS  and little tops, etc.

Of course a lot of what we do in gardens is an experiment, which will hopefully work the first time, but if it doesn't maybe we can see why and share that knowledge with others.

As climate change affects us all, those of us perched on the edge of the desert, in this, the most isolated city, will need to learn how to garden with little water.
If we share the strategies we learn and look to permaculture principles as a guide it may not be as scary as it sounds...
Good luck,
Vicki.

Super Adobe ....for when you cant afford a tin roof over your head

Imagine building a cosy house  with huge thermal mass out of nothing much but some bags, some dirt and some barbwire. The tools of war in fact, turned to creative not destructive use. It looks gorgeous, blends in to the landscape, and  would be a super tent that no one would make you pull down. Thanks to a wonderful architect Nader Khalili (he  passed away last year), we have such a building technique and its called Super Adobe. Milkwood Farm at Mudgee NSW has made a great photo series of their superadobe dome being built by a team who have obviously enjoyed this Mud Pies for Adults creative experience. Wacking the bags flat must also be quite therapeutic.
 Here 's a link http://milkwood.net/2012/04/03/rendering-our-earthbag-dome-first-coat-bring-on-the-cow-poo/#more-7240

 I purchased a DVD on the subject which turned out to be a HOW NOT TO video....many of this guy's sloppy attempts at superadobe fell down! I want my money back and I am hoping his buildings don't kill someone .

 However, here is the introductory passage from the really excellent book "Earth Building Tips Tricks and Techniques" by Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer, which, in contrast was was SO worth the money ( I got an E- copy for $16 something ). Kaki's Honey Hive House looks as safe as houses, as is their building knowledge:

"The Merits of Earthbag Building

 With a couple rolls of barbed wire, a bale of bags, and a shovel one can build a magnificent shelter with nothing more than the earth beneath their feet. This is the premise that inspired the imagination of international visionary architect Nader Khalili when he conceived the idea of Sandbag Architecture. In his quest to seek solutions to social dilemmas like affordable housing and environmental degradation, Nader drew on his skills as a contemporary architect while exercising the ingenuity of his native cultural heritage. Monolithic earthen architecture is common in his native home of Iran and throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean. Thousands of years ago, people discovered and utilized the principles of arch and dome construction. By applying this ancient structural technology, combined with a few modern day materials, Nader has cultivated a dynamic contemporary form of earthen architecture that we simply

Using earthbags, a whole house, from foundation to walls to the roof, can be built using one construction medium. 

 Simplicity

 Earthbag Building utilizes the ancient technique of rammed earth in conjunction with woven bags and tubes as a flexible form. The basic procedure is simple. The bags or tubes are filled on the wall using a suitable pre-moistened earth laid in a mason style running bond. After a row has been laid, it is thoroughly compacted with hand tampers. Two strands of 4-point barbed wire are laid in between every row, which act as a “velcro mortar” cinching the bags in place. This provides exceptional tensile strength while allowing the rows to be stepped in to create corbelled domes and other unusual shapes 

Walls can be linear, free form, or a perfect circle guided by the use of an architectural compass. Arched windows and doorways are built around temporary arch forms until the keystone bags are tamped in place. The finished walls then cure to durable cement-like hardness. Simple, low cost foundations consist of a rubble trench system, or beginning the bag-work below ground with a cement-stabilized rammed earth mix for the stem walls. Many other types of foundation systems can be adapted to the climatic location and function of the structure".

And more links from the wonderful Milkwood Kirsten here:

• Earthbag Building at Milkwood Farm – how we did ours
• Photoset of our 2010 EarthBag Workshop at Milkwood Farm
• Earthbag building in Gaza – video via Al-jazeera
• Simple domes, complex domes and other structures – at EarthbagBuilding.com
• Sandbag shelter housing in Iran – scroll down for some great pics
• Earthbag building Blog – lots of updates on materials and projects
• How to make an earthbag dome – pdf put out by the Permaforest Trust
• Cal Earth – the Californian Institute of Earth Art and Architecture
• Starseed Creative– our fearless teachers in the great Milkwood earthbagging!