For some strange reason I thought I could create a new vegetable garden bed, buy in some good quality soil and grow food. Honestly, I should have known better. I do know better. I just had a brain fart since I spent years making compost and developing such healthy soil in the vegetable garden at our old home.

Thankfully this morning as I was planting some store bought seedlings, I became aware of thriving parts of the new vegetable garden bed. I was also made aware of dry, nutrient poor soil in parts. Which makes sense, because I have slowly been adding worm castings from my worm farm to the vegetable garden, as the worms exceed the space.

I don’t know why I was so surprised that seeds were getting washed away in rain downpours. The soil had so few nutrients that it couldn’t hold itself together against the water or hold the seeds. At first I put it down to so much rain, even though I’ve done enough reading to understand soil degradation and water run off. It’s strange the way mother nature has to remind my brain of these things.

Mother Natures Cycles

Gardening, and particularly growing food is a cyclical process and not an easy one to start. The important thing is to just keep going. It is often easy to get disheartened and discouraged, especially over winter when the soil is cold and somewhat dormant. Don’t give up!

For winter gardening in Australia, strawberry plants are a great option. They grow as runners so will quickly cover the soil, and provide delicious fruit. Don’t be afraid to buy established seedlings from a plant nursery to nurture the soil before you start trying to grow from seed in it.

By planting plants in the soil you add nutrients to the soil. These plants then ask for water which can include worm tea or seasol to condition the soil for optimal growth. Then the cycle has started. Water with a fertiliser weekly and remember to practice succession planting with seeds once your garden is ready.

The next step is to get some sugar cane mulch to create a blanket over the soil which will suppress weeds, hold warmth in the soil and reduce moisture loss.

Keep trying to grow your food organically and eventually the bad pests will reduce and the good bugs will visit. That is how mother nature works her magic. Please don’t use chemical sprays that claim to only kill weeds or a particular pest, they kill everything. The cycle of life will sort itself out if we do no harm and help as much as we can.

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