Need criticism: new garden ideas.

[LonerMatt]

Hey guys,

Recent;y moved to a new town (Mildura) and am in the process of trying to fix the backyard. Currently just dry earth with some weeds, so we'll see how we go.

Basically, before I can start growing vegetables, the soil needs some much needed TLC. Quite dry, quite nutrient poor, quite compacted. I don't have a lot laying around to use (grass clippings), so I thought about using some green manure to get things started.

I was thinking of doing this:
mowing the few weeds down, covering with a few layers of wet newspaper.
Over that put a layer of manure (cows/chicken mix probably), then mushroom compost.
Sow in a mixture of green manure (I was thinking millet and soya bean because of the heat here).
A layer of lucrene over that, nothing too thick, but otherwise things will just dry out here!

My purpose here is to start some stuff decomposing, while providing the green manure some nutrients to get started, and after a few months add the green manure and some other soil building stuff (cow's manure) and sow in some broadbeans, few different herbs and plants, and flowers.

I'm not in a rush, but it's important that I get started sooner rather than later.

Water is of key concern to me here. I don't want to waste it (a lot of people do here), hence the mulch on top of a seeded area! I have the option of using grey water from my washing machine later, once things are established, but for the moment trying to keep things relatively simple.

So, what am I thinking about that's wrong? What have I overlooked? What might be a better way of achieving injecting some life back into the soil, and getting some garden going?

I don't want to compost food scraps because of mice!
There are a lot of ants in the back yard.
I haven't tried planting anything yet (it might grow really well!?)

Let me have it!

[permasculptor]

Personally I think every dwelling that can should have its own swale.as soon as you swale the downside of the house you become responsible for utilising the inputs .
Do you have slope and space ?

[LonerMatt]

Personally I think every dwelling that can should have its own swale.as soon as you swale the downside of the house you become responsible for utilising the inputs .
Do you have slope and space ?

There is absolutely no slope at all. Completely flat.

One thing I was considering was that the grey water could be used to water the garden. I thought about maybe having two beds parallel and then a trench in the middle for the water to flow through. The problem is there are pipes under the garden (and I'm not sure where), and it's a rental place, so earthworks must be small and subtle.

I less inspired idea is simply using buckets with the greywater .

Or I could just affix some drip hoses under the mulch to the hose coming out of the washing machine.

[matto]

All looks good to me Matt. Don't worry about the ants, they are your carbon builders out in the drier regions when normally earthworms would be doing most of your work.
Mulch pits or small depressions will work well out that way for grey water. If you havent yet, get a hold of Brad Lancaster's books on Rainwater Harvesting, and make good of these wetter years.

[gardenlen]

g'day matt,

sounds good to me check our garden building presentations, flat ground i see very little use for the copy book trench swale, usually flat ground lower down nearer flood plains, if the ground needs moisture which it probably does do some ripping to open up the soil and help decompact as well as get some oxygen in and allow for organic matter to enter. just a single rip down to 18"s give or take, works a treat these rips can be used as planting lines for trees. and are as permanent or casual as you like and not such an impact on the landscape.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

len

[purplepear]

Hello Matt
consider putting some chook poo and lime (if acidic) down before the newspaper and water in well - to attract worms to the area.

[LonerMatt]

All looks good to me Matt. Don't worry about the ants, they are your carbon builders out in the drier regions when normally earthworms would be doing most of your work.
Mulch pits or small depressions will work well out that way for grey water. If you havent yet, get a hold of Brad Lancaster's books on Rainwater Harvesting, and make good of these wetter years.

Yes, I should definitely get that book, I was thinking about it just before!

So, when I'm making my garden, would it be better to try and create some depressions? To catch and hold the water?

Soil is incredibly compacted. I can get a spade in about 10 cm!

g'day matt,

sounds good to me check our garden building presentations, flat ground i see very little use for the copy book trench swale, usually flat ground lower down nearer flood plains, if the ground needs moisture which it probably does do some ripping to open up the soil and help decompact as well as get some oxygen in and allow for organic matter to enter. just a single rip down to 18"s give or take, works a treat these rips can be used as planting lines for trees. and are as permanent or casual as you like and not such an impact on the landscape.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

len

So, if I just want to plant a few 1.5 metre square beds (which is all I'm after for the moment) is ripping still a good idea? Especially given I don't know whether the pipes are (this is a suburban back yard, there's a pool and some poor irrigation under the area I want to use).

Hello Matt
consider putting some chook poo and lime (if acidic) down before the newspaper and water in well - to attract worms to the area.

Good idea with the ckicken manure.

I deifnitely need to buy a soil testing kit. That's for sure.

[eco4560]

If you can't dig depressions then do the opposite and build up areas around them. It still works the same way in the end.

[gardenlen]

yes! ripping should still deliver the goods, most service pipes etc are around the 400mm to 600mm depth, but there you need to be sure where things are before ripping. it it is a new area then the council should have a plumbing plan, if it involves underground power again they should be able to assist as will telstra.

we ripped around 30 acres it did wonders, this involved sandstone sandy loam and regular clay, made no different it worked with both, they did not impact on our slashing or our driving where we needed to, and best bit they don't need to be perfectly dumpy leveler level just by eye is all i did, used a bunyip just to be sure my eye was in line. when we planted trees along the lines for the most we created a dam around the tree about .5 to 1 meter out.

matt, like your signature line our God teaches us the same thing.

len

[Try Reason]

Hi LonerMatt,

I live in Mildura too. I'm not growing anything aside from ornamentals this season as we are trying to sell our house. Aside from that I'm fairly new to permaculture and I'm very much soaking up the ideas before implementing.

Advice for this climate or lessons I've learned are, Growing in raised and very well mulched beds can be advantageous. At the moment the soil is quite moist (for Mildura) due to the record rain events recently. Once we get a couple of dry seasons in you might find it a bit challenging to keep moisure in no matter how well you mulch. Unmulched ground is like pouring water into an endless sponge, it just vanishes. Having said that I've not tried some of the mulching techniques which i've discovered through reading about permaculture and I don't know anyone here who has either. You're right about people being water dumb. I think it's a legacy that is still left over from the "we conquored the desert with irrigation" culture. This is why you see farmers foaming at the mouth over ideas for environmental water flows through the Murray Darling. Wait till you see the local council with automatic sprinklers watering lawns (footpaths) just before midday.

Anyway, enough whinning. Afternoon shade is really improtant on you vegie beds in summer. I cooked a lot of tomato plants when I started no matter what I tried. Don't kid yourself, we've had the two mildest summers I can remember over the last two years. When we get 10 plus days of 40 plus degrees you have to shade your tomatoes and water them more. Capsicums and eggplants might hack a bit more from what I've observed. Curcubits will suffer in these conditions too. Oh, and don't plant anything too close to a metal fence because it will get roasted.

At the end of the day, people grow a very wide variety of fruit and veg here whether they water the hell out of them or not. It can be a harsh climate but it is also one that can grow subtropicals and temperates alike. Pretty blessed in that regard. I have big plans for my next garden and yes, the Lancaster book is of interest to me too. I've seen a few short vids on youtube of him. Looks pretty good, if it rains at all during the year. The mulch issue is one I'd like to solve too. My guess is it might be like mulching on top of a sand dune. It could take a long time to build up enough to hold water well. The nutrient availability isn't too much of a problem though, especially if you grow your nitrogen fixers and nutrient accumulators. If you have plenty of red, sandy loam then this is a good sign. The stuff seems to be packed full of something. Just doesn't hold the moisture.