Seed saving

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

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.
A bucket of goodness.

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Harvest!

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 ...
Looking good …

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Comfrey as green manure

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.
Comfrey as green manure.

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