Yes, that's right I've put it to the test at my new place in Melbourne. We're only renting here and I didn't want to build a big garden. I began collecting all the waste from the kitchen and placing it in a pile outside.
Every couple of weeks I'd turn it over. I'd keep an old rubber car mat over it so the dog wouldn't get into it.
After 2 months of collecting all the veggie scraps,grass clippings. egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags etc built up a nice fertile area - I've seen some worms and other arthropods which is a sure sign the microbial population is vibrant - just what you need for growing plants.To keep the surrounding grass roots at bay I drove a shovel all way round the area to a depth of about 20cm seem to cut through some roots that had infiltrated the area - I think it will be an ongoing thing I'll need to do about every month.
You'll need to add soil to about 20% of the total. If you had only composted scraps it would be too porous for the plant to be able to continuously draw water in from their roots. This is known as the plants transpiration pull.
Adding at least 20% soil makes the area less porous enabling the plant to get a good suck or pull of moisture from the soil. If it were only compost it would be like you trying to suck juice from a cup of frozen orange juice some times it flows sometimes it doesn't, this would cause the plant to wilt.
Today I've planted some fava beans - great feeling to turn what would be thrown away into some food for the table. Will keep you posted on their progress.
for more information on this method refer to the previous post growing tomatoes from garbage.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
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2 comments:
Sounds like on site composting. Well done Barry and now it's time to begin the second plot.
I am on sandy soil in Cairns which constantly needs replenishing especially after the heavy rain of the wet season leaches much of the nutrient.
We aren't quite self sustaining but with the aquaponics system (fish herbs and veges) and wicking beds (root veges) we are heading there.
Hi Wendy,
Sounds great how is the aquaponics system going? Wicking beds are an interesting idea on a small scale.
On a large scale you could run into problems with salt build up. Irrigation water contains salt that needs to be periodically flushed from the root zone.
This is a good how to site on wicking beds;
http://www.easygrowvegetables.com/index.html.
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