The fairy’s castle

Here is another interesting plant I came upon in Kokstad. According to my friend’s son, it is called a ‘Fairy’s Castle’… I’m not sure if this is the botanical name but it is a very cool plant. Does anyone know what it is?

Fairy Castle 1

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Climate change- countdown to Copenhagen

Are you worried about changing climates? Some of you may have noticed strange weather patterns happening in your city or seen the terrifying images of melting icecaps, flash floods and barren wastelands due to prolonged periods of drought. Others may have read about the devastating effects changing climates have on food security, species extinction and infectious diseases. So the main question you may be asking is what can be done? Surely it’s too late to do anything?

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What the fig?

I found this tenacious plant in our garden. It started growing in the drain pipe and has stretched (from about 4 feet up) to lay down roots in the ground.. I think the smaller plant is a rubber plant but the root-layer is a strangler fig. They don’t give up…

Tenacious 1

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Permaculture! Food Garden 2.0

As a follow on from Niall’s post, here is a simple guide to building your own permaculture vegetable garden. It is supereasy and rewarding – here is an update on the food garden 2.0 just 11 days after Niall’s pic:

Food Garden 2.0

Anyhoo, now to the steps…

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The first Sprig…

Greetings everyone!

This is my first post here to Sprig! And can I say what a brilliant idea it is! I have been serious (well, sort of) about gardening for about a year, but although I am a member of other good sites (such as www.myfolia.com) I found that there is a lack of good South African-specific blogs. It’s excellent to find a site that offers advice and ideas from South Africans, for South Africans about our wonderful local flora.

Now, I know that this is a Durban gardening blog, but I’d like to hear from gardners elsewhere in South Africa about how they are coping (or not) with the odd weather this year! Are the Cape Townians thinking seriously about starting a ‘Swamp Garden’? How about those of us in the Eastern Cape who are desperate for a drop of rain!

I personally have found cow manure to be an excellent mulch and water-holding agent. I am lucky enough to live on a farm where cow manure is not in short supply-and I have dug bags and bags of it into my vegetable garden where it forms a nice moist layer below the surface. My lettuces are doing amazingly well and I have been picking them for salads most nights.

What are your tips and tricks for coping with droughts or very wet weather?