What an unusual time it is in covid-19 world. We are busy in our market garden enjoying the beautiful Autumn and from all accounts on social media it is how many people are occupying their time.   The lovely rain through February and March along with this warmer April weather has provided wonderful growing conditions.  I’m sure many of you have been planting lots of vegie seeds and should be seeing good germination and growth.  While it is likely that this milder weather sh […]

So what is a hot bed?  A hot bed is a warmed, protected environment, created by heat generated from decomposing organic matter.  It is used for producing early crops in cold climates, when soil temperatures during winter are too low for seed germination.  Using hot beds to increase soil temperature through the cold winter months is a traditional technique and one of the practices used by French market gardens in their intensive polyculture. In our col […]

It is very easy to forget some of the basic things that help us understand what is going on in our soil.  Testing the pH of your soil is one such activity. Checking pH can be done through a very simple ‘in the garden’ test.  pH test kits are easy to use and all gardeners should have one. You can also purchase digital meters that will read soil pH, however I do like using the testing kit.  The collection of the samples, mixing in the liquid, applying the powder and watching the col […]