hi!

[xelly]

Hi!!
Very nervous- overwhelmed by all the information I have found through google!

We live in Ipswich on a "regular" sized block (about 700/800m2 whatever? stupid plans have different sizes for some reason!)

I figured, since I have 2 young kids there would be NO WAY I could have a decent veggie patch & still have room for them to play (without even a thought that I would have no idea where to start and scared I would not be able to maintain it).
just a few days ago I saw a friend post a photo of her garden/veggie patch. She has twice the kids I have + a yard half the size! I figured I am just being lazy not to start my own

Still scared but hoping someone here will be able to provide a starting point (I'd LOVE a blog from someone local maybe? showing how they started so I wont be so overwhelmed LOL!)

x T

[brettc]

Hi Xelly,

Welcome to the forum, hopefully someone else can help with a contact.

You have a good size block, plenty of potential and a small workforce.

Good luck implementing your vision

[xelly]

my kids are 2 &3 years old LOL! so I'll have to give them a fair bit of training first! have almost cleared the area. started putting some bessa bricks out for the border and putting some of the leaf mulch down now!

[eco4560]

Never to early to start training your workforce! For me the starting point was the book Permaculture Home Garden by Linda Woodrow. You may not use her system precisely but there are some really good ideas in there. Start small and keep notes. Learn what works well and what doesn't in your area. Ask around to see if there's a gardening or permaculture group in Ipswich. Gardeners are the most generous people I know - they love giving away advice and plant material in return for a chat and some encouragement.

[S.O.P]

A blog may help but your place is unique so your design will be unique. What you can grow could be taken from locals, but how you grow is up to you.

How much do you know about design? Like you say, the amount of information out there can be daunting.

Try some of Geoff Lawton's DVD's. The whole pack if you like. Here is a trailer to one of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lv3R4HrY6w

[ecodharmamark]

G'day T

Welcome to the PRI Forum.

For some inspiration, get yourself and the kids down the Ipswich Community Kitchen Garden. You are bound to pick up some great ideas, and perhaps meet some like-minded folks at the same time.

Cheerio, Markos.

[xelly]

thanks I thought I posted a reply y'day but it might not have gone through lol!
I have started up a section - moved whats left of my veggie box- mostly herbs tho one baby tomato plant survived! some scraggy looking chives & parsley. a few strawberry plants that are looking half dead. looks like I chopped the grape vine while trying to dig out a private tree *sobs* but the passionfruit survived - I am not sure how old they are but hope the grape comes back!

[briansworms]

Start a worm farm and get the littlies involved early. A son of a friend of mine was in Grade 7 when he saw his first earthworm. No wonder the world is the way it is, kids need to get out in the garden and dig and plant and learn to look after things. My son started with his own tomato patch as a kid and now runs muliti million $$$$ landscaping jobs. The hardest thing he found was learning to give orders and not get his hands dirty helping dig.

A worm farm can give you all the worm castings for your gardens and pots you will need if done correctly. One of the best slow release fertilizers you can get and it is environmentally friendly.

[xelly]

thanks Brian! We had a worm farm but weren't feeding it enough so I sent it to my mums I can't get it back now cause her partner gave it to his daughter LOL! wish I'd kept it now - atm can't afford to buy much of anything so picking what I can and using what we have already

[briansworms]

thanks Brian! We had a worm farm but weren't feeding it enough so I sent it to my mums I can't get it back now cause her partner gave it to his daughter LOL! wish I'd kept it now - atm can't afford to buy much of anything so picking what I can and using what we have already

No need to buy a commercially made worm farm. Any container that can hold the worm bedding with plenty of surface area is fine. Don't worry about taps on it as you don't need them. Put your worms in and just give them plenty of organic material to live in and your veggie scraps and they will be fine. Then every couple of months or more often put the whole thing through a garden sieve. Put the worms and bigger bits of aterial back in the farm and add more bedding and with the fine screened castings you use it as your slow release fertilizer.

Have a look at my website, plenty of good information to help you do it right and enjoy it.