Vegetable gardens at home.

[Slowbee]

topic pinned gents

 

but please, lets not get into a veggie swop scene at bike races, that would be, so, hipster earthy I'm in touch with the planet type vibe, wont go with the white pant an' all

[Falco]

Will saving on veggies be more than the increase in your water bill?

 

That's the biggest problem with home gardens. If you don't collect rainwater, or have a strong borehole, the water cost might be higher than the value of the yield.

 

Growing vegetables should be seen more as a health option than a cost saving, because once you add up all the costs ~ soil prep, fertiliser, pest control, water, etc ~ the produce will cost more than the shop bought equivalent

[Chro Mo]

I really battle to get a veggie garden sorted in Durban.

 

If it isn't the humidity and rain, it's the monkeys.

 

I really need to work on it a bit more.

 

Any advice for humid coastal areas?

[Ed-Zulu]

I really battle to get a veggie garden sorted in Durban.

 

If it isn't the humidity and rain, it's the monkeys.

 

I really need to work on it a bit more.

 

Any advice for humid coastal areas?

Hi Chro Mo...I live in Richards Bay, so slightly warmer than Durbs most days and humidity is also a pest...I've learnt to plant any time of the year, except Nov - March...it is too hot then for most anything if you're not making use of shade cloth tunnels or greenhouse.

 

From March onward to July most summer veg grow well and you can overlap planting of winter veg starting in April to September/October...

 

I plant only that which does not appeal to the vervet monkeys, like green peppers/chili, leafy greens, egg-plant, beets, cabbage, carrots, spring onions, garlic...grow madumbi's in the wetter part of the garden...grow from your own planted seed and not seedlings and thin out as the plants grow.

 

This has worked for me, give it a try...if you're close to Kloof or the mist-belt, I would rather stick to the actual season for planting

[Chro Mo]

Thanks so much for the advice. :thumbup:

 

I will try it this year.

[Christopher Brunsdon]

That's the biggest problem with home gardens. If you don't collect rainwater, or have a strong borehole, the water cost might be higher than the value of the yield.

 

Growing vegetables should be seen more as a health option than a cost saving, because once you add up all the costs ~ soil prep, fertiliser, pest control, water, etc ~ the produce will cost more than the shop bought equivalent

 

True but there are innovative ways to do water wise veggie gardening:

 

* Using mulch will save you a lot of watering

* Drip irrigation

* Larry Hall's Run Gutter Grow System uses very little water

* Square Foot Gardening also uses less water as you're using your available space much better.

* 3 sisters system

 

Then there is the grey water system. While not practical for veggie gardening it can offset your water usage. You can feed treated grey water into your toilets or just use it for your plants. Can do a DIY setup for R2500 (compared to R7K+ install).

 

 

 

As for cost savings. Well for me to get the equivalent product in the store I would need to pay more. Also we do less trips to the store as we now have most herbs within 5m from the braai / kitchen. We no longer waste food (my pet hate) as we harvest on demand.

 

We eat much healthier and our food is much tastier. Thats all that matters to us.

[ruib]

Most of these are easy to grow and don't need much attention.

Cucumbers do tend to get mill dew on the leaves looks like white powder need to keep it under control .

Lettuce once the head has formed and you cut in off pull the roots out you only get one per plant . Lettuce take about six weeks to mature . To keep a constance supply work out how many you will use a week an then plant about 10 days apart between batches. Plant on raised beds if possible and water early morning or or late afternoon.

Peppers are also easy to grow don't need much attention what you must do is remove the first and second pepper that develops as this helps the plant develop and the plant becomes stronger as the first two peppers will suck nutrition out of the plant and the plant becomes weak . The same procedure for strawberrys .

Last thing always rotate your plants don't plant that same vegetable in the same soil over and over as this will cause some plants roots not to develop properly you can get a root disease .

Spoken like a real Portuguese. :clap:

[RABUBI]

Do you only have a garden in summer, or can you start any time of the year?

[Mojoman]

This mornings harvest, off to give most if it away now!

 

[Pants Boy]

I end up swapping my over-produce for stuff I don't grow, ie a bunch of spinach for a handfull of potatoes (I don't mind if they are store bought) etc. That way all veggies end up being free.

 

And really, how much water can you throw with a hosepipe in 10 minutes? Three times a week? Let's say you put down 333 litres of water in ten minutes (near impossible), that makes it a kiloliter a week, times 4, times R10 (in pretoria) gives you R40 for water a month. Make your own compost, you don't need other fertilizers etc. It's near free.

[davetapson]

One way of making things easier is to keep the seeds from veg that worked last year - some things will grow better in your microclimate than others and if you keep and replant the things that do well you end up 'breeding' plants that suit your area.

 

I'm getting fed up with weeds. Thinking of covering my beds in black plastic and planting seeds in holes in the plastic. Will save water and hopefully kill weeds.

 

Edit: if you really have trouble with something chowing your veg, see what they chow first, and spray just that. I had chafer beetles killing off my veg but I noticed their food of preference was a raspberry bush that I had planted. I sprayed that stukkend with insecticide and it seemed to kill off the chafer beetles without having to spray the whole garden.

Edited January 31, 2014 by davetapson

[No Name]

Ok, now you guys have gone and done it. I'm going to build a mini greenhouse. Going to get some supplies over the weekend and see what I can do.

[Mojoman]

Ok, now you guys have gone and done it. I'm going to build a mini greenhouse. Going to get some supplies over the weekend and see what I can do.

I recall seeing a clever design that made use of that PVC tubing and joint boxes that electricians use and plastic sheeting.

[Wheelsuck]

I have a fully Organic Garden, the seeds are heirloom seeds and the soil is ceritfied organic. Sent the GF on an Organic Gardening Course and started collecting seeds. This is my Big FU to GM stuff. I have Kale, Carrots, Lettuce, Pumpkin, Butternut, Tomatoes but my biggest thrill is the Non GM Corn that I got, so very excited to harvest that.However GF is very protective over the garden and only us work in it on weekends after training.....I have fallen asleep in the vegetable patch.

 

Will gladly swop/send some seeds if you like....just wanna screw Monsanto in my small little way!

[Wheelsuck]

BTW any way of dealing with Birds, they are shredding the Kale and I have hung CD's from a Framework but they just dont give a crap.

[No Name]

I recall seeing a clever design that made use of that PVC tubing and joint boxes that electricians use and plastic sheeting.

 

Looking at doing something like the picture. Just need to construct a door.