It is just over a month since our very first lesson in trench-beds, when the seeds were sown in this bed, and see how they've grown!! By God's grace they've survived gale force winds, blistering heat, drenching rains and thunderstorms, all of which have happened here over the last month!
We are learning that any type of container is OK to grow veges in, as you can see from these pics. The mini-incubator on the left is cut from a plastic bottle, and is used to protect newly transplanted seedlings for up to 3 days, when it is removed. This gives the seedling a chance to recover after the shock of being transplanted!
To make a compost stack we layer newspaper, cardboard, dry leaves, wet organic waste, straw & manure and soil. The layers are repeated until you have a 1sq.meter stack. The whole thing is covered with an old blanket and a metal pole is inserted in the middle. This will indicate the temperature at the bottom of the stack, which should be warm and over a period of 3 months will begin to cool. The compost must be turned each month.
We learn how to make a potato patch this week as Michael from Soil For Life demonstrates here. Layers of dry materials, straw, manure and soil are repeated in 1 sq.meter space. The seed potatoes are placed in deep holes and filled with compost. Looking forward to a pocket of potatoes in a few months time!
This week our lesson from Soil for Life is how to plant vegetable seedlings. Earlier in the week, the home-gardeners got together to dig and prepare this trench bed at one of the resident's houses. Our motto (bringing the Community together) is really happening... we are getting to know (and help) our neighbours!
It's the last day of the short school holiday, so we treat the children of the Circle to an outing at Zandvlei Environmental Nature Reserve. The weather is perfect, in fact it's 30 deg.C today! Here Mark, a conservationist, talks about the tortoise, one of the creatures they find on their tour. After the tour the children are shown how to propagate plants from cuttings. They are each given the opportunity to do it and will be able to collect their plants in 2 month's time.
Sandi, from Soil for Life, teaches us how to make a deep trench bed, using layers of dry and wet organic matter. Here she demonstrates how to sow the seeds and gives each runner bean a small twig to climb on. Note the cardboard which we are holding up as a wind-shield. The south-easter is blowing, which means summer is coming! Yippee!
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