With a bit of help from a friend I have swung the chain mail fence around from the back of the existing netted area, so that it almost meets with the back fence of the yard leaving a gateway. Once I go around and peg down the bottom of the wire it will all be bunny proof. I haven't worked out how many square metres it is...but it is a very substantial veggie garden. I intend to extend the netted area using poly pipe. On the outside of the fence I am going to espalier apple trees and along the inside of the fence I will be planting berries. That way I will be able to net the berries and apples together. I haven't thought that through yet, but it will probably be with arched polypipe.
I dug quite deep holes for the posts and to be sure the posts would not wobble, I hammered in some 1 metre reinforcement rods at different angles ... so the tops are in the concrete (rapid set) block and the bottoms extend into the soil. The joy of the whole experience was being able to dig, with just a spade, about 80 cm down and hammering the rods in quite easily. For a gardener from the rocky belt of Eltham, it was pure joy!
You can come and get a trailer load of rocks and clay if you feel the need! Your vegie garden/orchard is really coming on, your ideas are great.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I will bear your kind offer in mind. Rocks could be useful and I like the idea of a little pottery too.
ReplyDeleteDo you have individual plots or one big garden bed for your vegies? It is hard to tell from this photo. And do you plan to rotate the crops through different beds?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your ongoing interest, Cookie. I have only been on this property since January and planting of veggies has been a bit piecemeal. However, my plans are that the big space I now have fenced will be divided into beds with mulched paths. This will allow me to change the configuration as required as the garden evolves. i will probably be rotating crops through the beds. There is also the school of thought that says you shouldn't plant a single crop because it is like a supermarket for bugs with the food set out in neat isles. Jackie French (there is a link to her site in the sidebar and she has written several books on the sustainable gardening) says that veggies inter-planted are less vulnerable to bug strike. This would mean that rotating would be more difficult but also less necessary. I am still experimenting, so stay tuned to find out more.
ReplyDeleteThere certainly are many schools of thought for how best to arrange plants. I will be looking forward to following your progress.
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