retrospective

To get an idea of the space I am working with, here is a quick rundown of the history and layout.

Propagation table, aka my mothers outdoor table

I had grown pots of fruits and vegetables over the years in my mothers garden. About four years ago my mother lost the ability to manage the garden and I took it upon myself to adapt it into a productive space. It was a process of experimentation and adaptation, and now I am ready to make the most of it.

The past year was my first attempt at propagating from seed, trying different maintenance and positioning of plants, as well as opening up entirely new areas for growing. I have focused on using heirloom varieties and stopped buying commercial F1 hybrid seedlings.

Raised planter box (centre), lemon tree (left), potatoes (middle), herbs (right)

There are a number of challenges in the garden layout which I have had to find solutions and work arounds for. Firstly the garden is almost entirely covered in concrete. Back in the 1950's Luigi Grollo was hired to do the job. There are some exposed area in the back (not usable due to other existing plants) and two plots in the front of the property. However the property is adjacent to the former Hawthorn clay pits (page 51), and so the soil isn't the easiest to work.

The soil in the front was the most requiring improvement. The larger of the two beds had hosted a tree fern, some other small tree with an expansive root structure and numerous rocks. In areas it was dry and lifeless, in others a thick clay. It is also located several metres from a very well established Eucalyptus which has been causing havoc to the road and footpath with it's roots. This has contributed to hardening of the clay by sucking out moisture which was worsened during the drought.

Main in ground plot in front yard

Initially Dolomite or Vermiculite were suggested to break it up, however upon further reading I decided to increase the level of organic matter. I added manure and compost and removed any material such as rocks and roots as possible. I then sowed a green manure crop over Autumn to ready it for planting.

Side in ground plot in front yard, recycled materials used

To make the most of the garden with it's limited space was three fold. 1) use pots where possible. This is a convenient but not always productive way to grow certain crops. 2) go vertical by training crops (mainly beans and peas) up lattice work. 3) built several raised planter boxes on top of the concrete.

I have done my best to reuse materials such as lattice work, pots collected from hard rubbish, wood for staking plants, and whatever else I've been able to lay my  hands on. The raised planter troughs were built cheaply with treated pine (recycled timbre was my first choice except obtaining suitable material at low cost wasn't an option). There is a lot of conjecture over the effects of using treated pine with vegetable gardens. I did some research and found that the older treatment method using arsenic (ACC) have been replaced with an arsenic free method (ACQ).

Two raised planter boxes in backyard

This proved to be a relatively inexpensive way to create around 5 square metres of additional growing space. The main cost came from filling them with medium. I used a combination of ingredients including soil bought in bulk as well as using potting mix, manure and compost. I also made use of any existing soil found around the garden. This wasn't the best planned aspect of the build process. If I were to do this again or build more troughs I would consider hugelkultur, no-dig or wicking beds.

Compost heap

I established a compost heap in an unused area which has helped in providing an ongoing supply of organic material to add back into the growing setup. This is something I highly encourage even if you have a small yard. I found that a lagre percentage of our weekly household waste was material suitable for composting. I also work in cafes, so I have been collecting the used coffee grounds to add in which assist in generating heat for breaking down material as well as adding extra nitrogen.

The other challenge in growing produce has been dealing with rats. During the 2009 and 2010 spring/summer growing seasons most of the tomato crop was lost or damaged due to them. Netting was used but proved to be ineffective. To resolve this over the 2011 winter the garden was heavily baited with rat baits which killed them off. I also positioned the tomatoes along the Northern wall of the property which was further away from their nesting site which worked out very well.

North wall walk way (looking West)

North wall walk way (looking East)