The no-dig garden update...

Did someone say I planted a no-dig jungle? My no-dig garden is doing wonderful and has provided a bounty that has kept me cooking for weeks.

So far, a million different version of salads, trays of eggplant parmigiana to use up the basil, a day of pizza dough making so I could pluck off and pile on, herb omelettes for weekend brunch...can't wait for winter roasts for the rosemary! Oh and the radishes are almost ready. Plus more marigolds than you could of ever imagined.

A no dig garden + farmer's market = an afternoon of cooking!

The herb potato salad

Yet another tray of eggplant, basil and buffalo mozzarella parmigiana

It's even more of a jungle now than in these pictures from last week. Yesterday I spotted a ladybug as well. However...the caterpillars have arrived...not too over the moon about the meal they have made of my lettuces and also the pak choi! Oh well, you live and learn. Hopefully tomorrow a day of sowing more seeds and harvesting something new...pure bliss!

The no-dig garden

About a year or so ago, Mother and I attended a no-dig garden course provided free by the City of Sydney in conjunction with The Watershed. What is no-dig gardening you ask? Well go google it, but basically it means no soil, no digging. Layers of newspaper, lucerne or other straw and manure...that's it, and of course your plants. The original workshop was great and we both came away with a recycled plastic container full of our new mini no-dig gardens. A year on these are fairing fantastically and have kept us in a supply of parsley and onion chives, only recently needing a few layers of top up.

Not one to let a great gardening idea stop there, I decided I needed a larger no-dig garden. An experiment to see what might work (or not work) on a larger scale. So using my best 'The Secret" vibes I focused on gaining a large container to use as my garden bed. Well and behold...an old bathtub was provided by the lovely Neal.

It sat for a while, waiting as I dreamed of walking out the door and snipping a salad for dinner and running my hands through the fragrant herbs after a light rain shower. An afternoon of work and my dream was a reality.

Step 1: layer by thy name

Step 2: yes it was slightly smelly...

Step 3: and repeat!

Step 4: Almost there!

Step 5: Plant!

Step 6: Ta da! I present, my bathtub no-dig garden!

Watch out for updates in the coming months!

On ruralising 'River Cottage' style

I've got it bad. All this work at home by myself has me dipping into other obsessions, namely kitchen gardens. I'm currently planning away when I can next attack the very small yard out the back of the terrace and put in my summer/autumn plantings, a task spurred on by too much watching of River Cottage and The Wild Gourmets, both on the ABC and then streaming some episodes online as er, a reward and much needed study breaks.

I do have a history of kitchen gardens in the family, my mother's father was a keen gardener with a small plot in their inner city backyard as she grew up. His father and mother up near Mudgee in the northern part of the Central West (makes sense oui?) also had kitchen gardens, with orchards on neighbour's property over the hill. What I long for is one of those glorious French or English kitchen gardens, with rolling hills and pastures in the background...(kind of Central West but more green, less bush!). Lush woodlands, forest foraging, otters (yes I'll stop now!)...ahhh yes too much River Cottage for me.

The Produce Garden - my new fav You Tube channel

And no, this isn't a post where I talk about my garden. Although it might come to that one day....but I digress. How did You Tube recommend this You Tube channel to me? Who knows...that's the power of 'the internets' I suppose, but just to prove anyone can participate and share in this web 2.0 world I present 'The Produce Garden' channel by a bloke called Christian Gainsford...who let's face it, I now have a bit of a crush on. Christian describes his channel as

This is a page dedicated to smallholding and all its aspects from growing organic fruit/veg, rearing livestock, gardening, self-sufficiency, rural living, my feelings and dramas, cooking and everything in between!

Sexy yes? I look forward to his web page.