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 A New Take on the Edible Garden |
06 Nov 08 |
With summer well on its way there is really no excuse not to be in the garden. We are told through the media that there has been a huge surge of interest in the edible garden and with rising food prices even the smallest of patches are being transformed into productive little units using all manner of containers to grow a bounty of vegetables, herbs and fruits.
It really is surprising how little space you need to keep your kitchen well stocked throughout the year. If you are short on space to grow vegetables in the traditional manner with a bit of imagination you can create your own home garden using everything from pots & containers to wheelbarrows, grow bags and planter boxes. Filled with specialised garden mixes such as the new Tui Vegetable or Tomato Mix, kept well watered and placed in a warm sunny spot – on a deck, down a driveway or amongst your existing plantings – these pots of vegetables will thrive giving you a delicious supply of truly fresh garden veges and the satisfaction of having grown them yourself. Tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants and many of the salad greens thrive in pots & containers. Hardy herbs can be planted amongst the veges or along paths so they release their fragrance as you brush past.
Dwarf citrus and many of the subtropical fruits available now are suitable for cultivation in pots or tubs. With a bit of planning you can have an ongoing supply of fruit such as cherry guavas, blueberries, orangeberries, strawberries, ballerina apples, mandarins and more picked straight from the home garden.
We are seeing so many new ideas based on this theme – rhubarb grown in a tub, tomatoes in a bucket, potatoes in a polythene bag, parsley in an old gumboot or simply split your bag of container mix – provide a few drainage holes in the bottom and plant directly into the bag – you will be amazed with the results.
Container gardening is easy, productive and a fun way to garden – not nearly as taxing and the spade work involved in developing the traditional garden plot.
So get creative in your garden and enjoy a summer harvest of home grown fruit and veges this season. |
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