My Garden
I currently have 11 IBC wicking beds that are 1.2m x 1m divided into 12 squares, plus a further 11 raised garden beds about 1.2 x 900 mm also divided into 12 squares. There are numerous additional pots for berries, small trees and bushes.
A few years ago I installed a greenhouse which is large enough to house 4 of the IBC wicking beds. All of these are in the back garden.
The front is populated with a variety o fruit trees, mainly in the ground with four large pots also containing trees.
There are a couple of videos on the media page illustrating some of this.
My goal at present is to find a succession planting plan that delivers enough of what we need as we need it – where that is possible, and to preserve and use the excess over the course of twelve months where it is not. The climate here generally only gets a few frosty mornings per year and they are not at all severe so I am working on the theory that cold hardy veggies can be planted right through winter and summer crops can be planted from about the first week in October.
I am aiming to grow all my crops from seed and to gradually try to gather my own seed for future use. I have already had some success in this. I raise my own seedlings in the greenhouse during Autumn and Spring, inside on heat mats with gro lights during winter.
I use the square foot gardening method created by Mel Bartholemew as I find it requires very little physical labour to grow veggies in an intensive way. By planting in succession rather than all at once I find I only need to plant a small number of things each week.
I weigh and record everything I harvest and put a value on it based on the cost in the supermarkets. I have been pleasantly surprised how much value I am bringing in as harvest. It only seems a little each day or so but over time the value really mounts up.
