Now, this story starts in around 2008 or 2009. I had a very lucky, oops, LOVELY lady staying with me at the time who gave me the incentive to try my hand at organics. I do have the advantage of having access to kraal (dairy dung) manure which is a huge bonus.
Anyway, I love garlic chives so I decided to plant some in a old trailer lid I had lying around. Well, that was the beginning. After a couple of obstacles to overcome I was hooked.
I had Peacocks at the time which I did not plan on eating the garlic chives, which they did, so I had to cover everything.
 |
| The Trailer Lid |
 |
| Peacock Perch |
There were also a couple of other factors I did not think about either.
1 Monkeys. (I will not say any more)
2 The acidity of the soil. Where I planned on putting the garden it is bordered on one side by very old Pine trees. I was aware that the Pine needles are very acid and did not know at the time, how bad the soil was where they had been lying. I overcame this with a "Fertigtor" I designed but that is for another blog.
3 The tree roots and how they affect the moisture and quality of the soil.
4 The amount of compost it takes to boost the soil to a point where things would grow.
5 My pets. Even though they are not the worst of my problems, have a habit of sleeping on "things" which are trying their hardest to grow.
 |
| A compost making experiment that did not work |
 |
| We tried another method but still not enough material |
 |
| Nope still not good enough |
Anyway, I ploughed ahead. (I am one of those people who is willing to learn by his mistakes, if they do not cost too much, and by getting his hands dirty.)
My first plan was to grow in old rusted water troughs. To get soil from wherever I could and fill them with that. They are deep enough to grow beans, strawbewrries and basically anything without a huge root.
I then put up a "tunnel" out of bird netting to keep "predators" away. This I thought would be big enough. I had about 7 troughs in it so figured it would be big enough.
 |
| Where the first tunnel was going to be |
 |
| My trusty helper |
 |
| Slowly but surely |
I filled the troughs and started experimenting with compost, not knowing how much I had to fetch with my trusty old wheelbarrow to get a decent amount of dry matter. I did find out two things very quickly.
1 You need a LOT of composting material to make a decent amount of compost.
2 The "Trough" tunnel was never going to be big enough.
Then to compensate for the lack of space I started growing things in old fertilizer bags. This worked to a degree but as soon as things started growing the Peacocks started their tricks, jumping all over them and tasting anything that was growing.
 |
| The micro sprayers did not last long |
 |
| The first seed trays, a system I eventually changed |
SOOO, I had to make a couple of much smaller tunnels (out of bird netting again) to cover the bags. These I pegged the sides down because you had to lift the sides to get access to the veggies. Up until this point I had had no problems from the monkeys, just the Peacocks.
Well, now the expansion programme began. I invested in irrigation tubing and more bird netting and put up a much larger tunnel. This after I had extended my "Trough" tunnel as far as it would go. (this is when I started getting into "Pine needle territory.")
I had had a lovely idea to save myself extra work digging the beds by getting logs and whatever I could find to put down the sides of the beds so I could put soil in as a semi raised bed. The idea being to plant like this and let the veggies do the digging for me. This worked rather well..........
Now the expansion programme came after a couple of seasons. I expanded little by little because the more I expanded the more soil and compost I needed to fill the beds. And of course I had to save for the expansion. Things were growing well enough for me to expand as far as I could.
Still the monkeys had as yet, not discovered me. This was to come later on.
In the meantime I was kept busy during the winter months fetching cow dung from the dairy and preparing the compost for the new season.
I had also to contend with the heaviest snow here in over 20 years. This broke branches off a tree that I was growing next to which flatttened half of my big tunnel, the snow collapsed the rest. I will never forget that morning. You could only guess where the tunnels had been. Still, we survived, and even though they are bent and twisted in places they are still up and running.
 |
| They are under there somewhere |
 |
| The big tunnel and broken branches in the background |
It took a season or two for the monkeys to discover the veggies, due to the fact that they had had a "population explosion" and were now looking for easy pickings. So, I was targetted.
I had an area which I decided to put up my highest tunnel, with reinforcing rods and bird netting, and this one I intended making high enough to grow mealies/maize in and hopefully keep the monkeys out of.
 |
| Where the big tunnel was going. Note the shade from a big tree nearby |
 |
| First bed completed |
 |
| Let the growing begin |
 |
| An open area where there is now more Cancerbush |
 |
| Next to the first tunnel I erected. The Pine tree will probably be a Xmas tree for somebody when it is big enough. |
You have to go to http://www.municipalwaterornot.blogspot.com/ for the continuation of this saga.
 |
| Seedlings with monkey proofing |
Seedlings
This is a very simple process which anybody can do. I eventually went away from using the normal "seed tray" to a system I prefer, using old 20litre plastic containers from the farm. These work very well. If you cut them in half (long ways) they are deep enough to grow seedlings in.
Do not forget to drill holes in the bottom of the tray to let out excess moisture.
I use soil from the garden to grow in, with the idea that if the seedling is already growing in soil you will be transplanting it into then it will not be set back too much when the time comes.
You will also find that you will grow more seedlings than you can use yourself.
Nature is amazing.
Pesticides
I was also experimenting with some home made organic pesticides and was trying my own "concoctions." I started off using kakibos as my base because I know that pests do not like it too much. To this I added quantities of ash from my fireplace, garlic (eventually garlic chives) and oreganum. This does seem to keep the pests away to a degree but you do need to spray on a regular basis.
I am now in the throes of experimenting with drying the ingredients and putting them in little bags which I call "Pestibags" but am not sure how effective they are yet, so far not having used one.
The idea being to soak the bag in warm water overnight or for a couple of hours and then take the liquid to spray on the plants. The stuff left behind goes onto the compost.
I might also have discovered a "grasshopper" repellant, also using kakibos but will not say anything yet because so far I have not proved the idea. (it only came to me at the end of the season so I need to experiment on a bigger scale.) However, preliminary tests have been quite positive.
Fertilizers
I have a couple of worm bins where I use the liquid to mix with a comfrey liquid manure I use on the garden as well as in Underberg. (see http://www.underberglabyrinth.bogspot.com/ or below )
Of course you are aware of the compost.
 |
| The newest tunnel now in production |
 |
| Cancerbush in flower with Asparagus just behind and new tunnel in the background |
 |
| New tunnel maize growing nicely (through the roof) |
I use a "glyophosphate" to kill off everything that is not wanted (weeds and grasses), to help me maintain the garden. I have been told that as soon as it touches the ground it is neutralised which helps my guilty conscience.
OK, now what have I learnt so far.
Now dont forget, I am no expert, and am learning all the time as well. Hey, if you dont learn something new every day then you are just not trying.
1 Acid soil is very hard to get things to grow in and takes a lot of compost or lime to get it right. It has taken me almost 3 years to get things growing in some areas.
2 Make your tunnels quite strong, especially if you have animals. My tunnels are used mainly as "monkey trampolines."
I have actually taken a couple of my smaller tunnels down because I have found that the monkeys do not eat cancerbush, lemon verbena, or garlic chives (so far). I was also getting tired of having to walk bent in some of the lower ones.
3 It is very difficult to work close to the sides of the "plastic" tunnel due to the sides being "rounded." I will circumvent this when I put up another one by making the sides straighter by putting poles or standards in the ground to put the tubing on, this as well as straightening the piping, also giving the tunnel more height..
4 The tunnels are very resilient and with bird netting the heaviest wind will not remove them (BUT, snow will).
5 You need a LOT of compost to grow a small area. This can put you off growing things on a large scale due to the fact there is not enough composting material. (I will not go into composting as there is already a lot of information out there about it).
6 The reward of growing your own produce and seeing how long it lasts are worth all of the problems.
7 Doing the work yourself, other than being great excercise also brings you closer to "Mother" and you learn a healthy respect for nature and her ways.
8 Weeding is an ongoing process but go to http://www.medievalcultivators.blogspot.com/ for hoes and cultivators I designed that work for me. As you see, I use a glyophosphate for bigger areas to control grasses and weeds but not amongst the veggies so have had to design tools that are efficient at doing it with the least amount of "elbow grease" involved.
9 Your biggest pests (well mine are) will be slugs, snails and grasshoppers. I am doing as much as I can for the environment but DO kill these pests. However, if the idea I mentioned above with the kakibos and grasshoppers works then the chances are pretty good it will also work for snails and the rest.
 |
| Strawberries, the monkeys latest find |
 |
| Young Cancerbush on the left. |
This tunnel is approximately 30m long and as you can see, I have it on "life support.'
It is very difficult to grow anything in due to its proximity to the trees. The roots grow under the tunnel so the soil is very acid (Pine needles) and in parts very dry, due to the tree roots. Still, the Wheatgrass seems quite happy as its roots are mostly close to the surface.
 |
| Wheatgrass on the left |
On the right is the bed where I planted the potatoes, which I have just oversown with Wheatgrass. It makes a lovely mulch when it has come to the end of its time and is dug in again.
 |
| In the foreground. Parsley. In the background, Rocket and on the left of it Wheatgrass ready for cutting for the second time. |
14/6/11
Below is one of the reasons I satarted growing Wheatgrass. This is a patch which did really well in giving me 5 cuts for the dryer. It is now going to become a lovely mulch.
The photo was taken before I actually put in one of my cultivators to help break the clods down. It is very nice and easy to work.
This is the first time I have actually dug in anything for mulch. I usually pull out the old plants, shred them and put them back into the compost.
 |
| This will become a lovely mulch |
If I have left anything out that I can help anybody with then please e mail me with your questions. I will be only too pleased to help. I have not put down all I have learnt so far because I am still learning................
Go to my Permaculture Experiments blog for more.
PS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS as much as possible...........
