No Dig Beds

Wire or Potato Cage Method with help from Diggers. Make a cylinder of chicken wire about 1m in diameter and support with 3-4 star pickets or strong garden stakes. Garden stakes were the cheaper option, as star pickets were $14 each and the hardware store didnt have them any how
. Prepare the soil at the base by digging it over well and adding compost or well rotted cow manure. As this is a no dig method, I put old carpet or newspaper or cardboard on the bottom and then a layer of well rotted garden compost. This has been mixed with chiken manure and sheep manure, so the potatos should go off!

.Add 4- 8 potatoes in the prepared soil and cover with pea straw and manure and a sprinkling of blood and bone

. As the plants grow add more straw, manure or compost so the tips of the potatoed are still visable. Repeat through season as the potatoes grow to however high the chicken wire is. I have lined my cages with plastic, cardboard old carpet to help reduce the light, the soil falling out the side and keep in the moisture.

Harvesting the potatoes
When the plant has flowered and the leaves begin to yellow you can 'bandicoot' under your potato plants and harvest new potatoes. These have a very thin skin and do not store well, but taste delicous
The main crop is harvested when the plant dies off. Dont water your potatoes any more. Leave the crop in the ground for 2-3 weeks when the plant has died off to let the skins thicken. You can then dig up your crop and store in a well ventilated but dark place. Save some potatoes for 'seed' for your next crop
Another No-Dig bed being started in the corner, I will plant potatoes in here this year but something else next year, probably another fruit tree

July in the Garden

Well I have been doing quite a bit in the back garden. I got some compost delivered, it is made from Council Green Waste. That filled the potato boxes and then some left over. I have a terrible problem with oxalis, so I mulched with newspaper and then topped with the compost. So far it seems to be working, the paper will break down in about a year by then the oxalis will have hopefully given up!

Gailan or Chinese Brocoli, should eat it soon
Sowed a few seeds direct, mostly raddish, mizuna, lettuce and spring onion.



Still waiting for my strawberry and potatos from diggers, one day they will get here. The flower pots are the edging for a new bed. No dig of course.

Preserving the Harvest, Pumpkin Cake

This was an adapted recipe from the vegitarian recipie website. My chooks have stopped layed as it is cold and wet outside and everyone needs a break from work now and again. So eggless, but with a giant turks head pumpkin to use up (grown at GBG) I made this cake and pumpkin fritters too. I ate the fritters as the cake was cooking and can definatly recomend this variety, beautiful yellow texture and creamy flavour and my friend remarked it was starchy, solid, not watery and tastes like pumpkin should. Anyhow here is the recipe

Pumpkin Cake

3 cups of wholemeal flour
1/4 cup cocco powder (I used Dutch cocco as it has an intense choclatey taste)
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla essance
1 cup sugar
2 cups of grated pumpkin
1 cup of yogurt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, mix well. Pour into greased lined 8inch cake tin. Cook in a moderate oven, until a skewer can be inserted in middle and pulled out clean. Leave to cool, then ice, or not.