South African Gardening Blog » permaculture

Permaculture in a pot

Niall — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:02:21 +0000

After visiting the recent Sustainable City’s exhibition, and seeing the Giba Organics display, I was inspired to set up a permaculture vege patch in a series of containers, with a helping hand from Mr Wooden Spoon. It doesn’t look like it from the pics, but it was a hella windy day and topsoil, kraal manure and leaves were flying everywhere!

Check out our step by step photo-guide at our Flickr group or in the gallery below.

Winter Garden

Helen — Wed, 12 May 2010 10:11:28 +0000

I have recently planted my winter permaculture garden. This seems to be a really good time to grow veges in Durban. It is not too hot or humid and everything seems to thrive. I have planted various lettuce and salad greens, beetroot, radish, egg plant, cabbage and, of course, marigolds to keep the pests away.

Permaculture Advice

via Email — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:00:44 +0000

I’m taking my first tentative steps into vegetable gardening. My father grew up on a farm, so potentially it’s in my genes, but i don’t have a good perspective about how to go about it in the Cape, so I’d like to ask the esteemed Sprig readers for their input. I’ve built a permaculture bed (following these instructions) that is 2m x 1m, so far I’ve put in a lot of basil, a lot of kale, spring onions and some chives. I’d like to put in plants that are easy to grow, won’t die in the winter and provide a lot of yield (ie not one plant will produce one item).

I’m also interested in getting a lot of herbs going (rosemary, thyme, oregano) and leaves (rocket etc) Any recommendations on plants to grow in cape town for this time of the year? I know of the seapoint and gardens nurseries, are there any other good ones? What else should i be doing? I’ll post some pictures once i’ve put the plants in…

Permaculture programmes and courses at the Durban Botanic Gardens

MartinC — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:59:57 +0000

The Durban Botanic Gardens Permaculture Centre offers a wide range of food garden programmes for young and old. Permaculture offers an accessible and affordable way to grow safe organic food at minimal cost to both one’s pocket and the environment. Find out more about this ‘cultivated ecosystem’ way of designing and growing that is becoming a major part of green design and eco-friendly living. Courses and programmes at the Durban Botanic Gardens will be of interest to the home owner, children, teacher, student, land care practitioner, and community gardener.

Please see below our range of courses and programmes on offer at the Gardens this year - of interest to the home owner, children, teacher, student, land care practitioner, and community gardener.

Kitchen garden courses
Dates: Saturdays: 27 March, 24 April, 29 May, 26 June

Time: 8:30am-3pm

Learn how to cultivate an organic kitchen garden for a regular supply of fresh and nutritious leafy vegetables & herbs. Using companion planting and other permaculture design ideas, this course offers a practical introduction to food gardening right on your kitchen doorstep – a great way to spend a Saturday with fellow food gardeners.

Tea and lunch included

Cost: R375 p/p

To book: e-mail dbginfo@durban.gov.za / Tel: 031-322 4021 / 031-309 1170 / fax: 031-309 1271. Please complete the course booking form and fax / e-mail to the Durban Botanic Gardens. Places are limited to 25 candidates so please do book early to avoid disappointment. Your deposit confirms your place on the course.

Further enquiries: contact Gabriel Mngoma, DBG Permaculture Coordinator 083 619 0892.

School food garden programmes

Starting a School Garden

Weekdays (booking essential), Time: 9am – 12pm. A week-day morning hands-on programme for learners and teachers interested in developing an organic food garden. Lunch not included. Please contact us to arrange a suitable date.

Cost: R25 per learner

Permaculture for children (school holidays)

Dates: Wed 23 June & 7 July, Time: 9:00am-12pm. The garden is a magical place for children. This programme provides an opportunity to reconnect with the sensory wonder of the garden and to discover why it’s really cool to grow your own food. Some really great projects such as worm farming and ‘Food in My Shoe’ are included. Suitable for ages 9-12. Parents are encouraged to spend a fun-filled morning gardening with their children. Refreshments included

Cost: R95 p/p

Food gardening for school educators

principles and methods to support hands-on curriculum-based learning, while promoting ecological literacy and environmental sustainability. Tea and lunch included

Cost: R225.00 pp

To book: Please complete the course booking form and fax / e-mail to the Durban Botanic Gardens. E-mail dbginfo@durban.gov.za / tel: 031-322 4021 / 031-309 1170 / fax: 031-309 1271. Places are limited to 25 candidates per course, so please do book early to avoid disappointment. Your deposit confirms your place on the course. Further enquiries: contact Gabriel Mngoma, DBG Permaculture Coordinator 083 619 0892.

Community permaculture programme

Dates: 19 – 23 July, Time: 8:30am-16:30pm. A client driven 5 day hands on programme designed for specific site needs. On-site training included. Follow-up evaluation and support site visit included. Includes all tuition, learning materials, tea and lunch. Transport to and from venues and accommodation not included.

Cost: R1800.00 pp

Food gardening for land care practitioners

The boundaries between ornamental horticulture and food gardens are often blurred. Conservation practitioners in many cases need to deal with issues of poverty and hence food gardening programmes are being introduced into many conservation initiatives especially where community development projects are being undertaken in protected areas. This three day Permaculture course has been designed to cater for horticultural and conservation practitioners who have an interest in urban agriculture/food garden initiatives and need to facilitate food garden projects at a local community level. Tea and lunch included.

Cost: R1500.00 pp

Food gardens network

Gardens and gardeners do not exist alone. Our vision is a network of accessible food garden centres across the City. Imagine being able to walk to your neighbourhood food garden, meet the grower, harvest your own vegetables and share ideas about growing. This is garden-city future that we at the Durban Botanic Gardens are passionate about turning into a reality.

There is a host of local city permaculture food garden projects already emerging. To be a successful gardener one needs the support of others to share ideas and resources. The challenge now is to develop the network and connect gardens and gardeners. The DBG Permaculture Centre provides the opportunity to help develop neighbourhood communities that support food gardening. We invite you to contact us to find out how you can become part of this exciting venture by starting a food gardening network in your area.

Permaculture! Food Garden 2.0

mol-d — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:30:03 +0000

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…

STEP 1: Brick Layout

Lay out an area for your bed using some bricks.

Brick Layout

STEP 2: Paper Layer

Put down a layer of old cardboard and/or paper and moisten it.

Paper Layer

STEP 3: Dead Matter Layer

Create a layer of dead matter. We used leaves collected from the garden.

Dead Matter Layer

STEP 4: Green Matter Layer

Put down a layer of green matter. We used leaves from unwanted trees in the garden.

Green Matter Layer

STEP 5: Activator

Create a layer using an activator. We used kraal manure. Wet this layer.

Activator / Kraal Manure

STEP 6: Top Soil

Put down a layer of top soil and plant some seeds / seedlings.

Top Soil

Seeds and seedlings

Food Garden 2.0

Niall — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:40:42 +0000

This is our second permaculture bed, raised off the ground and constructed with sheet mulching. Mol-d will be posting a step-by-step guide to setting one up so I won’t go into any details, but allow me to introduce the plants.

Food Garden 2.0

Radish, me thinks.

Beetroot - can't wait for these guys to grow!

Lettuce pack.

Tomato seedlings, courtesy of Pete.

Good ol' comfrey.

Seed saving

Niall — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:14:28 +0000

This year, from our very small and very new permaculture garden, we have managed to save seeds from beans, lettuce and spinach. There is a great post on Fennel and Fern, with some beautiful photographs, about saving seed to sow the following season. Click here to read …

Green tea

Niall — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:50:41 +0000

I got this recipe for a liquid fertilizer from the permaculture course we did at the Durban Botanic Gardens. Take a bucket of water and soak green leaves (I used comfrey) in it for a couple of days. The resulting mixture is supposedly rich in nutrients that plants can easily absorbed. I’ve added it to my sad looking fever tree and will report back as to its health in a week or two.

A bucket of goodness.

Green tea?

Harvest!

Niall — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:58:58 +0000

Our permaculture garden is thriving and we have now started harvesting vegetables, mainly lettuce and radish, but yesterday we ate beetroot from the garden and it was delicious. The beans, peppers and eggplants all have flowers on them and will be growing fruit soon, I’m sure.

The garden has required little to no attention after the initial set up and seems impervious to pests (thanks marigold).

Looking good ...

Lunch?

Broccoli

Beetroot

Comfrey as green manure

Niall — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:34:25 +0000

At the permaculture course we attended at the Durban Botanic Gardens, we learnt about the benefits a little plant called comfrey can bring to your garden. Planted as a green manure, it fixes potassium in the soil. The leaves can also be made into a liquid fertilizer or ‘green tea’ by soaking in a bucket of water for two days.

Needless to say, we went out and got a couple of plants. And they are growing really well. We have also made our first batch of ‘tea’ and will let you know if the garden likes it.

Comfrey as green manure.

Here’s how a green manure can help.

The shade of dense foliage will reduce weed seed germination. Mulch also does this but green manure roots may also inhibit the growth of weed competitors.
Beneficial soil microorganisms flourish.
Plants absorbs available nutrients that would have been of leached out of the soil. They can now be recycled in organic form to be made available when the plants are dug in or composted.
Plants of the Pea/Bean family often have root nodules populated by bacteria that convert nitrogen from air into useful organic nitrogen. Other green manures use an extensive root system to absorb and concentrate nutrients like potassium that may otherwise be unavailable to crops.
The roots of green manures can increase the water holding capacity of soil to make it more drought resistant.
Green manure roots may improve the stability of soil particles and create useful drainage channels.

Make 'green tea' from comfrey's leaves.