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| I live on a 1 acre block the soil is of a sandy type.
I have tried a garden several times but as the soil is poor I have to add heaps of compost to get it to grow anything and after the first or second crop I am back to having very poor soil. As if the goodness is leached out over a short period of time. As I am not akin to failure this is not going to get the better of me. There are 2 large trees (don’t know their type) that are close to where my garden area is. I live in southeast Queensland so don’t get frost or really cold. This is my plan……. (If anyone sees any fault or can improve it please respond) 1. Money no object (ha ha ha) 2. Down the southern fence line I am going to get a bobcat to clear the ground and dig a garden of 1.5mtrs wide and 5mtrs long and 900 deep. (The garden should get about 80% of the sun) 3. I will get 6 of these dug as I have copious amounts of leaves, grass cuttings horse manure, twigs and 2 fruit shops willing to give me their unsaleable produce to use as compost and fill these holes. 4. 2 large water tanks and pumping system to keep my babies happy 5. 3 full size baths for my worm farm 6. 1 full size bath that my partner wants for her herb garden 7. I wanted to use the companion planting method and crop rotation I don’t want to use fertilisers if I can help it. Any comment will be appreciated Thanking you Trader |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| g'day trader, look at our raised bed format, it will work in your situation, maybe a pic or 2 of the large trees might help to i'd them for you? remember the larger the worm farms the more bio mass you need to feed them with, collecting scraps from neighbours is a good diea, we have a pic of our homemade worm farm when we had on, made it from a 1/2 44 gallon plastic drum. for us our worm farming along with composting happens in the garden beds now right where all their benefits are needed. anyhow check out our garden pics might be some ideas there for you? len |
Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page
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| Why don't you try planting indigenous species? They are the plants which will be able to cope best with the conditions. With careful selection, you can still have a wonderful garden. Intersperse with some other hardy varieties for a bit of variation. |
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- Posted by redcryptonite Aust (My Page) on Fri, May 11, 07 at 11:00
| I dont see any reason to dig out the soil, what you can do is add your compostables - either compost them in large piles or you can layer the ingredients on top of the existing soil and they will all rot down. "and after the first or second crop I am back to having very poor soil. As if the goodness is leached out over a short period of time. " over time compost and mulches break down and reduce to almost nothing which is where the compost is disappearing to, you need to add more compost each season and also cover crops are another way of adding organics if the area is not being used year round. Its not a matter of doing it once - you also have to keep up with it as long as you are using the area to grow vegies. |
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| I agree with not digging out the soil. Bob cats create an enormous mess. You will have soil to get rid of. If you build a bed that is raised even slightly above ground level, tending it is much easier. If you are talking about crop rotation and companion planting, then might we assume you are intending to grow vegetables and/or herbs? It is important to state this on a forum like this, to get right to the point. You may find the cornucopia forum more usefull if you are growing vegies. Raised beds and a no dig type garden would be far more suitable, bearing in mind that you will need to continuously improve the soil. You might as well make use of the soil that is already there, in which to incorporate all your yummy additives. Cheers, Jan |
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