A beginner’s guide to starting a veggie patch in the hinterland
Racheal Pascoe says now is the time to start growing your own veggies, including spuds.
Hinterland Homesteading
with Racheal Pascoe
You have decided to join the movement and grow your own food! Congratulations! Getting started is exciting. You are full of enthusiasm to grow your own food, only to find it does take a bit of planning to get the best results. Don’t despair - now is a great time to plan for the growing season next year.
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”: Audrey Hepburn
The most important aspect to consider when putting in a veggie patch is to ensure it will get at least 5-6 hours of sun a day. Don’t rush this decision because it will have a direct effect on the success of your garden. Assess your garden at different times during the day. Where is the sun? Where is the shade? How do they move across the yard? Once you have decided on the location, make sure you have access to water.
There are lots of options to consider when making a veggie patch … will it be dug directly in the ground, or in corrugated raised beds, timber beds, grow bags, using recycled materials, bathtubs etc.
Have a peak over the fence at the neighbour’s veggie patch, what are they using and does it work well? Don’t use old tyres though, as they leech cadmium into the soil. Make the garden bed as big as you can, as there doesn’t ever seem to be enough room when planting out.
Maybe put a garden bed on your Christmas list this year!
Water, mulch, manure
Filling the bed doesn’t have to be expensive. Get the kids involved, ask the farmer down the road if you can pick up manure, source some mushroom compost from a local mushroom farm. You can layer mulch. Any organic matter from around the garden, start putting kitchen scraps in there. Just dig them in and they will decompose over the summer months.
Water the garden occasionally, this will encourage the worms and micro-organisms to start doing their good work. Do a little bit, often and it will all come together.
Time to spring into it
Spring and summer are great seasons for gardeners with established gardens to replenish the goodness in the beds. Adding manure, compost and mulch will improve the bed and mean a better harvest next year. It is a good idea to leave a bed fallow for a season, so it can recover from growing the crops. All you need to do is leave it empty. Don’t plant it out. Care for it. Add goodness back into it, and it will give so much more again next year.
If you start now, you will have a fabulous veggie patch ready to go in March next year when we all get busy planting out our winter crops. What can you do today to make a start?
If you are looking for the best deal on sugar cane mulch or, in fact, anything for your garden, make sure you see Ryan, Ally and Matthew at the Nambour Produce Agency. They are very helpful and know their stuff!
