Last weekend Martino and I attended a fantastic 2 hour workshop entitled 'No Dig Gardening' run by The Watershed in Newtown. No dig gardening is a versatile method of growing food in an urban environment, particularly, in apartment balconies and pots. By growing food in small spaces, you can maximise the productive use of urban space, reduce food miles and grow organic and wholesome food. In the workshop we were taught to create a perfect composting environment by layering nitrogen (such as manure, comfrey) and carbon (such as dry leaves, sugar cane mulch, straw) in your container of choice (such as pots, buckets, wooden boxes, tin cans). All things that are brand new and very exciting to me!
We both got to get our hands (or gardening gloves) nice and dirty and create our own little take home container with our new plants. Mine is parsley and basil and Martino has lettuce and runner beans.
It really is great to see local councils running these workshops free of charge showing you what is possible, regardless of the size of your living space. So check out what your local council is doing.
Is there anything more to it than the layering? It sounds too easy and I'll definitely work on this idea if it's that simple. For some reason I always think things are harder than they are and often that puts me off doing things.
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oh haha - its you "Anonymous"! Well yes it really is that simple. A container + drainage holes + nitrogen layer + carbon layer right to the top of the container = very healthy and organic soil. What is even better is that you will know exactly what you have put in - so no guessing if the soil has any harmful chemicals etc. If you have any horse stables around your area - horse manure is the best! All elements of it are perfect for growing vegies in. A little odd but true. So give it a go and share some pics when you do. Would love to see how your garden grows ;-)
ReplyDeleteSounds fun - maybe more my kind of gardening - less work than a full-on garden!! Btw, I love the new look of the blog. Very fun for fall!!
ReplyDeleteHahah :) Yes it's me, haven't quite worked out how to leave a comment as a follower :(
ReplyDeleteSo there's no dirt used at all??
I've already mentioned to ABM that I want to make a trip to Bunnings soon this weekend if possible.
~T~
Jenn - I know it is very easy and fun and no weeds! I will see how it goes. The amount of sun we get is only 4-5 hours but the instructor said this would be enough to grow all that we are interested in growing (tomato, celery, chives, baby leek) I will keep the blog updated with pics. oh and thanks for the compliment. I think this look is more me ;-)
ReplyDeleteT - You do use a little soil up the top. enough to cover the top part of the root. I will send you some info in post. ;-)
How dumb am I - I just realized it's not fall in your neck of the woods - you're coming into spring right?
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