h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello Hypatia

Lovely article, thank you for another good read

We don't have zones on the seed packets here in UK, nor do they usually tell us how many days it takes to maturity/harvest. They have little calendars on the back of some packets, telling us which month to sow, plant out, harvest. But other than that it's a bit hit and miss - and totally reliant on local knowledge.

Australia has zones though, and I found that incredibly useful when I started out with my tropical garden there.

Now Hypatia: I have to pick you up on an ommission You're advising people what to grow where - how many successions, what companions etc - but you haven't mentioned compost, or manure, yet. Nobody can really get the best out of their veg garden without good quality compost - preferably well-rotted horse manure. It brings out the in the gardener!


Frenchbean

Hi F/b. It sounds like we need an article on soil amendments.

One of the super things about gardening is that you never run out of things to talk about. I'm going to work the crop rotation information in with the companion planting discussion next time.

Do you have erosion problems where you are? A farming area one state over, but fairly close, is turning into a dust bowl again. Very scary.

Gardening in a totallly new area is always an adventure. Are you able to raise pretty much the same veggies and fruits in Austrailia as you are in the UK?

H

Ditto all the above praise and excellent read as always.
Your feelings on organic versus manufactured soil enhancers?
Have a friend who is 100 percent organic won't allow any chemicals slug pellets etc etc. Horse bran was this years answer to the slugs. It doesn't work that well and you end up with enough bran (they only sell it in huge packs) to set up a mouse resort.
My favourite plantings are flowers with vegetables (mostly beans they have such fab flowers) and herbs are my biggest weakness...they just smell so divine. Lost all the beans to the slugs this year but the cherry tomatoes were delicious!
take care
boots

Hi Hypatia

No soil erosion in my garden, thank goodness.

But this year has been so dry here that when the winds picked up after the wheat and potato harvests, the soil just flew off the fields.

The main problem in this part of the world is that the soil has been cultivated non-stop for so many decades, that it's losing, or lost in some cases, all of its structure and can't support crops any more. So there's a big campaign to get farmers to add as much natural humus and fertiliser to the soil as possible to get it back into some kind of good condition. We have a thing called *set aside* too, which means that farmers are paid to leave entire fields empty for a few years, to let the humus build up and the worms go to work.

In Australia there's an awful problem with a salt-pan layer developing relatively high in the soil profile, which not only prevents drainage, but poisons the roots of plants.

No, most of my Aussie crops were things that I can't grow here, except in the greenhouse. Things like capsicum, eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, all grew outside there. And you can't grow beetroot, broad bean, parsnip, onion, leek or potato in the tropics. But I could grow the most amazing winged beans, courgettes/zucchini, basil, sweetcorn, oh.. I could go on and on

It'll be good to have an article on soil conditioning. I look forward to it

Hi Useless Hound

I'm 99.9% organic. The .1% is the occasional Round Up weedkiller I use on the edge of the veg bed to keep out the couch grass. I won't use slug pellets - but I do have a friendly neighbourhood mole which keeps my slug population down.

I reckon that horse manure is the bees knees when it comes to the veg garden - the more the better


Frenchbean

Hi Frenchbean agree totally with the horse manure but dear god doesn't it stink? We have some very kind 'travellers' who keep us well supplied. Theybtry and pass it off as organic compost which always makes me laugh...but I suppose it is really!
take care
boots

Hey Boots

If you can get well-rotted horse manure it doesn't smell at all. And actually, I quite like the smell Mind you, the compost heap's at the bottom of the garden and downwind

You're lucky getting free manure. I have a wonderful friend with 2 ponies, who keeps her heap piled up for me and I take trips down there every few weeks and collect as much as my car can pull. In return I give her veggies and bread. Bartering's a wonderful thing!


Frenchbean