For very little money and effort, you can have the healthiest soil around. Hereıs how to make lovely compost thatıll give you prize fruit and veggies. In our article "Don't Panic - It's Organic" we gave you a taste of what materials should go into a good compost heap. Now here is the nitty gritty.
COLLECTING THE MATERIALS YOU NEED
Waste from the kitchen and garden Keep a separate bucket to collect all your kitchen waste material. Empty it onto a collection pile and cover with straw or a little soil to prevent flies from breeding. Collect all grass cuttings, pruning material and weeds (throw away any diseased material) and add it to the pile.
Local veg stalls and shops Many veg shops have lots of vegetable waste. Speak to your local veg shop owner, explain your needs and make a plan to collect their waste material.
Use weeds Allow weeds to grow bigger in unused areas, then pull them out before they make seeds and use them in your compost heap.
Seaweed If you live at the coast, collect seaweed. Only take small amounts as itıs illegal to remove large amounts from the beach. Seaweed contains nutrients that are really good for plants. Wash it well to get rid of the salt and chop it up while itıs still fresh and soft. It can be used in compost heaps, trench beds or made into fertilizer by soaking it in a drum filled with water.
Potash Collect the fine ash from wood fires (not coal fires) and keep it stored in a closed container. Add small amounts to your compost heap and you can use two to three handfuls per square metre
when preparing garden beds.
Manure & guano See if anyone in your neighbourhood keeps horses, cows or chickens. You might be able to collect their manure for nothing, or buy it cheaply. Add the manure to your compost heap or trench bed (when using manure at planting time, it must be dried out, not fresh). Guano (manure from sea birds) and chicken manure can be bought from nurseries and agricultural co-ops.
Growing your own compost and mulching materials Comfrey is a herb thatıs easy to grow, hardy and strong and itıs a good source of potassium. Make an area in your garden for a comfrey bed and harvest the leaves to add to your compost heap, or make comfrey liquid fertilizer by mixing chopped leaves with water. Plants that grow fast, with soft stems and leaves (such as most weeds, wheat, rye, oats, lupins and lucerne), are good for the compost heap and for mulching. They are known as green manure crops.
How to speed up decomposition (rotting) of the compost
Chop the materials with a spade before putting them in the heap
Use chicken manure in the heap
Add more green material than dry
Do not let it dry out, and turn it over with a fork every three to four weeks.
How much compost to use
For tree planting: one or two buckets
For preparing soil for planting (1m x 1m): two or three buckets
For preparing soil for planting (3m x 3m): one wheelbarrow
For preparing soil for planting (50m x 50m): one bakkie load
Feeding plants with compost
Vegetables and flowers: spread compost 1cm thick every six weeks.
Trees and shrubs: spread compost 2-5cm thick in late August and middle March. Spread the compost around plants and fork gently into the soil. Finish with a good watering.
GARDEN CALENDER: JAN/FEB By late January and early February you can start to sow seeds for winter crops, which youıll be able to plant out from mid-March to mid-May. You will need to sow them in a shady area thatıs protected from the harsh sun, and watch that you water them regularly.
******************
This information is brought to you courtesy of Jet Club Green Corner by Dave Golding, a founding member of Abalimi Bezekhaya. Abalimi Bezekhaya is a non-profit organisation focusing on urban agriculture and greening on the Cape Flats in Cape Town.
If you have any gardening questions, send them to Dave at: Jet Club Green Corner/Ask Dave, P O Box 16607, Vlaeberg 8018.
Cook the whole cauliflower in a little bit of water until it is just tender. Smother with the zesty tomato sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and serve with crusty brown bread.
2 tablespoons Marmite, mixed with litres hot water
1 cup sunflower oil
6 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 green peppers, seeded and diced
8 10 cups chopped greens (carrot tops, spinach stalks, and leaves, turnip leaves, lettuce, Lucerne, outer leaves of cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkin and squash leaves)
4 cups diced butternut, carrots, turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and whatever else is available from the garden
1 tablespoon dried origanum
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 kg chopped tomatoes
3 tins tomato puree
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
27 September 2006
Food from the home garden
Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables every day
Most of us know that to be healthy we must have a balanced diet. This means that we should eat something from each of the three food groups every day; body building foods (proteins), energy foods (carbohydrates, fats and oils) and protective foods (vegetables and fruits).
Climate change is arguably the most crucial issues of our time and is the biggest environmental challenge that we face. While many of us agree that we must do something, it seems too vast a problem for any one of us to tackle, until now.
The Carbon Standard Consortium has been formed to make it easy and affordable for government, individuals, corporations and communities, their office buildings, schools, homes, meetings, events, conferences, celebrations, a business unit, product or brand to offset carbon emissions by planting trees.
There's much more to gardening than just growing vegetables or pretty flowers. There are many benefits that come with growing a garden. What we are doing is bringing nature into our homes and lives. By creating a garden, we develop skills and gain knowledge. We also create a beautiful, peaceful and even productive environment that benefits the health and wellbeing of the whole family or community.
As part of an organic gardening practice, companion planting is used. This is the art of planting certain plants together because they are good for one another, and avoiding planting certain other plants together, because they dont grow well together. As with relationships between people, certain plants like and dislike one another, so we plant certain herbs with vegetables to improve their growth and flavour and some of the herbs also have strong scents which repel harmful pests or may attract beneficial insects.
Plants get most of their nutrients (food) from the soil. With the help of microorganisms (tiny living particles in the soil), the mineral and organic matter in the soil is processed into a form that plants can use. These nutrients dissolve (break down) in the water in the soil and are taken into the plants through their roots.
Organic gardening is the best way to get the most out of your soil and crops after all, itıs the way nature designed things! Dave Golding tells you how it works.
Did you know that all life on earth is sustained by only one percent of available water. Isnıt that a miracle? While most of the earthıs surface is covered in water, 97 percent is seawater. Most of the remaining three percent is locked up in ice caps and glaciers, deep underground or suspended as vapour in the air.
Explore Our Causes
How this works
If you know the name or part of the name of your favourite cause, type it in the 'By keyword' field below and search. If you would like to find a cause to support, you can search using either or both of the 'By Category' and 'By Province' options by pulling down the menus and selecting a cause category and province. If you have an item to donate to a cause, or what to see some specific cause wish list needs, choose 'Switch to wish lists' and take it from there.
