Garden, Recipes

UNUSUAL PETS

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Martin and Dylan putting legs on Top Bar hive, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Tom sweeping where the Top Bar Hive will go, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Martin putting bars on Top Bar Hive, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

View of hive from below, bees starting to construct honeycomb, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Martin looking under the Top Bar Hive, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Hankerchiefs blocking the bees' entrance, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Martin releasing the bees, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Worker bee flying off to gather pollen, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Martin explaining the Top Bar Hive to us, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Martin from Top Bar Hives, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Martin explainging how to remove the honeycomb from the Top Bar Hive, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Tom feeling the warmth of the hive, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

Watching the worker bees going off to collect pollen, at the sharehouse Flemington, Australia

The night before the bees arrived Melbourne rejected its first hot spring day with a crack of thunder. The morning spat and grumped as our bees arrived, but Martin, the bee man, said it was a perfect day for the bees to move in. I imagined them made sluggish with cold, they were unwilling to shed their pyjamas and buzz out of bed.

We sat around the table nursing peppermint tea while Martin solemly told us the tale of a man who paid too much attention to his grooming and ended up with a stung nose. But only after lathering on strong smelling gels, face creams and old spice, then sticking his nose into the entry to the hive to get a better look. Even two female clients of his who had long since rejected shampoo and deodorant had been chased back inside when they had tried a strong smelling chamomile soap. My hair was currently fresh from shower and lavendar fresh with a conditioner Ryan had gifted me so I thought it best to keep my nose well out of their business.

Sitting under a tree on its thin little legs, the hive didn’t look like the Winnie the Pooh hive I had in my head, more like a trestle table with a roof. But the beauty of a top bar hive is that it is so unlike a normal hive which involves pillaging the bees’ entire supply of honey and dooming the colony when the frost hits and the cupboard is bare. Commercial beekeepers strip the honey and then feed the bees melted sugar through winter, there’s something that feels so wrong about that. Top bar, Martin told us with the reverence of a man who believes in the good in his product, allows you to harvest the honey one “bar” at a time so you can leave plenty for the bees to drink up when autumn winds blow the last petals from their stems.

Soon he promises we should be able to see the bees forming a chain like little builders forming a living tape measure for other workers to fill with honeycomb. If I build up the nerve to lie under the hive to take a photo. No shampoo or moisturiser that day I think.

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Eco building, Garden

THE SOUTH MELBOURNE PERMABLITZ – COMMUNITY & CURVES

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Digging out soil from earth bag garden bed, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Digging a hole for a Medlar fruit tree, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Measuring hole for the Medlar fruit tree, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Digging out the old soil from the earth bag garden bed, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Curving earth bag wall, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Little boy climbing sand pile, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Pile of gloves, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Compost pile, at the South Melbourne Permablitz

Unkinking irrigation hose for erth bag garden beds, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Little girl playing, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

Little boy sitting on the pile of sand, at the South Melbourne Commons Permablitz

My shoulder and arm muscles had finally forgiven me after my first Blitz and I decided to try another, at which thankfully, I was neither designer nor facilitator. Not in a backyard this time, but at the South Melbourne Commons in the capable hands of designers Seila and Charlie.

It was lovely to see all those veggie beds in a shared public space, all nestled around that lovely old brick building. The earth bag beds had already been constructed at a past Blitz which I wish I’d been to as this is something we would like to do for our Blitz. They were lovely and curving, and our main job for the day was to fill them up with compost for the cafe garden. Warm windy days are not ideal for shifting compost, but after a few eye watering encounters we managed to move the huge pile before lunch.

After some serious matocking the soil gave way just enough to let us plant some Medlar fruit trees, I’ll be curious to see how they go as I don’t think i’ve ever seen, let alone tasted their fruit. Whenever someone turned their head the kids at the Blitz cheekily tried to fill in the holes again, nothing like a little bit of mischief to keep us on our toes.

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Family, Garden, Guides

APPLES & JAM

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Soft toy birds at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Tree with birds hanging from its branches at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Soft toy birds at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Permablitz team taking a guided tour of the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Timber crate shelves at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Close up of timber crate shelves at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Shelves and tree branches at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Birdcage hung from the ceiling at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Swan and paper decorations at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Succulent indoor plants in painted tin cans at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Felt party hats at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Blackboard messages at the Apples & Jam Playhouse, South Melbourne Commons

Theatre stage at the South Melbourne Commons

Shadows on the floor at the South Melbourne Commons

The Little Vegie Path Crate Veggie gardens at the South Melbourne Commons

 

When we got home we collapsed in a weary heap, that is I collapsed, Dylan decided he had to finish making a plywood box for our straw bales to live in. He is mad you know. Today I ticked off my second Permablitz and Dylan his third. It was at the South Melbourne Commons, a complete overhaul of the gardens there that has been chugging along for a couple of years. More about the Blitz later, after lunch we went for a tour of the Commons building. Inside the lovely old red brick building was hiding a treasure. The Apples & Jam Playhouse, where children’s parties and playgroups are held. Little patchwork birds hung from the lichen covered branches of a tree, swans dived between paper baubles hanging from the ceiling and toadstools sprouted from the floor towering over our heads. It was all very gorgeous and magical so I couldn’t resist putting some photos up. Creating a little world for children to play in must just be such a lovely job, you can just be so free and creative.

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Garden

4 YEAR CROP ROTATION FOR A SPOTLESS LIFE

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Detail of trees on the plan for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia
Watercolour plan for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Detail of pond and arbour for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Bright eyed and bushy tailed we began our gardening adventure in July last year and of course we made the kind of mistakes that seasoned gardeners would snigger at such as planting 10 broccoli and 10 cabbages in a metre square. But that was easy to fix. When the bed bulged embarrassingly with bounty the chooks had a delicious snack on our excesses.

However one thing confounded us. At first the tomatoes we planted in the front garden grew just as happily and just as fast as the ones out the back, all of them delighting in the summer sunshine, but then EPIC FAIL! The ones out the front got one then two then a veritable patchwork of horrible yellowy brown spots! They shrivelled away. We ran to books and blogs to work out why.  Apparently before we moved in, this north facing position had been prime tomato territory and this was our first introduction into the need for crop rotation.

Just as you would become malnourished if you ate nothing but tomatoes and potatoes, growing things from the same family year after year in the same spot will create an imbalance in your soil. Plants from the same family such as Solanaceae (that’s your tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, capsicums and chilis) have similar nutrient requirements so they will strip every last bit of these from the ground. But more importantly rotating your crops reduces the spread of soil-borne diseases and pest problems as these guys attract the same nasties.

Diagrams for the 4 year crop rotation for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

So here are the four main groups we suggested for the Coburg Blitz:

Plot A: Umbeliferae (carrots, celery, parsnip, coriander, etc) followed by a green manure in the cooler months to replenish the soil for the next year’s crop

Plot B: Solanaceae (tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, potatoes, etc) which are very nutrient hungry with Alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, etc)  in the cooler months

Plot C: Legumes (peas, beans, etc) that fix nitrogen in the soil ready for a nutrient hungry crop to follow

Plot D: Brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, brussels sprouts, etc) that need a nutrient rich soil

And the next year the nutrient restoring crops will be replaced by the nutrient depleting crops. The root crops following the nutrient depleting crops, as too many nutrients in the soil result in very bush leaves, but disappointing roots.

The beauty of this system is that plants not in these main families such as many herbs, flowers, lettuces, beetroot, silverbeet and spinach can be mixed in amongst each plot to allow all plants to benefit from companion planting. For a full list of the plant family groups I recommend checking out The Seed Savers Handbook. This system is really ideal for a sharehouse, where each housemate can look after a bed themselves and not have to work about other people growing things that will cross-pollinate with their produce come seed saving time. I’m excited about suggesting this to my housemates … but first 1 Permablitz down 2 more to go until we can do our own garden!!

Explanation of 4 year crop rotation with reasons for the order of plants for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Diagram of 1st year of 4 year crop rotation for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Plants that can be scattered through crop rotation garden beds as companion plants for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Diagram of 4 year crop rotation for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

List of plants in main crop rotation garden beds for the Permablitz in Coburg, Australia

Click on the images above to view larger on my flickr.

Please comment on this post if you found it helpful, I’d love to hear about your gardening adventures!

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