This Sustainable House

Archive for the ‘Vegetable’ Category

I have recently uploaded a new video on the Deep Water Culture (DWC) bed which is a part of the aquaponics system at TSH. This post outlines exactly how this element functions as a stand alone unit, and a later posts will integrate it within the whole.

One of the food production systems that I have been dying to try for many years is the concept of Aquaponics. Aquaponics is quite an advanced system in which we combine the best of aquaculture, growing fish and/or crustaceans, with hydroponics, growing plants in a soil-less culture. The reason that it works so well is that the plants feed on the wastes of the fish, essentially filtering the water before it returns to the fish tank. In fact, it is a touch more complicated than that (involving bacteria converting ammonia to nitrites then nitrates) however that’s the gist of it. The diagram below demonstrates the general principle.

Basic Aquaponics Cycle

The reason that have always wanted to try this system is because I feel that it can offer a lot of opportunities to the small-holder, or even householder, as one can grow a lot of food in a relatively small area. Read the rest of this entry »

A few months ago I wrote a post explaining the strawberry towers that I have decided to use at TSH (see link below). I thought that this was a good time to provide an update.

As was previously noted, I lost a few crowns when the irrigation system failed, but since re-jigging the system I haven’t had any issues. As you can see from the photo’s, the remaining crowns are doing really well.

The one change that I would like to make to the system would be to add a fertiliser ‘injector’ into the system which would make adding liquid fertiliser much easier. At the moment I periodically stand on a ladder to pour a seaweed fertiliser into the tubes. This isn’t the end of the world but it would be easier!

The other option is to perhaps integrate the system with the proposed aquaponics system, but we’ll see how that pans out as the season progresses.

Update (4/12/10) – After a week of almost solid rain another ‘problem’ has become apparent… slugs! Today when harvesting some fruit I noticed some slug damage. I think they are getting to the plants via the mint beneath which has gone beserk, and grown taller than the bottom of the tower. I think the slugs are then just bridging the gap. However there is nowhere for them to hide, so picking them off and eliminating the bridge should do the job nicely.

Photo Updates

Strawberry Tower on 7 November

Strawberry Tower on 20 November 2010

Every weekend I set myself a task to complete around TSH that keeps the vision moving in the right direction. Sometimes this task is large, such as fencing a new paddock, but at other times it can be quite small such as improving an existing system. This weekend, my task was to build a new vege garden using the wicking bed system.

A wicking bed is a marvellously efficient garden design in which you water from below. It is basically a giant self-watering pot in which you water via a filling tube. The water creates a reservoir under the soil of the bed, and the water then ‘wicks’ up to water the plants. The major advantage of the system is that there is no free water on the surface, so evaporation is minimal.

At TSH we have two beds, both located on the back verandah, which have been designated to be wicking beds. And this weekend I created one of the beds. The location of the beds was chosen so as to allow year round growing (it’s under the eaves so shouldn’t be too effected by frost) as well as to be close to the kitchen (virtually in zone 0, if you are permaculturally inclined). It should also help reduce the amount of reflected sunlight into the entertaining area during summer which should help make this area feel much more comfortable.

And let’s not forget… produce a mass of picking greens, herbs and other vegetables for the kitchen.

A video-essay of the building of this bed can be found on Green Phoenix Permaculture.

I’ll post an update in a few weeks around how it is going. Below are some time staged photos… click on them to zoom.

Wicking Bed (Week 1)

This weekend we were blessed with the most incredible weather and it seemed a shame to waste it. It’ll be very cold all too soon!

So this weekend was spent pottering, doing a few homey things such as planting seeds, chopping wood and building strawberry towers. In fact, the strawberry towers are what this post is all about…

So what is a strawberry tower? Well in this case it is a length of PVC drain pipe (100mm diameter x 1400mn length) with a series of small holes drilled in the side (24 in all). The bottom of the tower is capped, the cap having drain holes drilled in it, and the top is hung by chain from the verandah fascia.

The strawberry crowns are planted in the holes, into enriched potting mix, and are watered by a central ‘weep’ line down the centre. The top section, where the chain joins the pipe, is then filled with clean straw to minimise evaporative losses.

The concept is that the strawberries grow against the clean PVC outer, allowing one to just pick and eat. They are also at an easy height for picking without bending, are kept free of the ground and therefore snails and slugs, and take up very little floor space (the strawberries are growing in the vertical space like a vine). In fact there is still room beneath for a pot of herbs, say mint, which cab collect the drainage water from the tower.

This concept of ‘stacking’ is very important in all permaculture designs as it allows us to significantly increase the yield from all available space. For example, if I planted the strawberries in the garden (using the same area of about 30cm diameter) then I’d have room for 5 plants yielding about 1.75Kg of strawberries (~7 punnets). However by planting the strawberries in the vertical plane I have managed to squeeze in 24 plants which should yield about 8.4kg of strawberries (~33 punnets) AND a herb crop such as mint from the pot underneath. All up this is an increase of yield of over 400% which is just phenomenal.

A fact sheet detailing the design/construction of these pots will be available on the Green Phoenix Permaculture website in the next few weeks, so if you are interested in creating some strawberry towers then head over to there.

UPDATE

Today I noticed a ‘fault’ with the irrigation system. Essentially the piece of ‘weep hose’ which watered the towers has failed leaving the plants dry, and some dying. Unfortunately I think I’ll lose about 6 crowns due to the failure, but they can be replaced.

I had honestly thought that this might be a problem, the chance of the tubing clogging with small particles was always pretty high. As a result the ‘back up plan’ was to place a dripper in the top of the tower, and let gravity do the work. So that’s exactly what I have done… I’ll let you know how it gets on.

Gardening is, naturally, a seasonal activity in which the gardener must fit in with the natural rythyms of life. This isn’t too difficult, for an observant individual, when you have lived in an area for a while but can be a little more difficult when you are new to an area. And this the situation at TSH.

Previously TSH was located on the NSW Central Coast quite near the ocean. As a result the climate was always quite warm, even through the winter months. This warmth was a blessing allowing the growth of many plants that one couldn’t typically grow in winter… For example, tomatoes.

However the Canberra region has a completely different climate with short summers and long bitter winters. Temperatures dropping into the ‘minuses’ are common and most plants seem to enter a state of dormancy during this time. All except the incredibly hardy ones anyhoo…

So when moving into a new area like this, a different gardening strategy is required. And a little ‘inside information’ will go a long way to formulating that strategy. In this case I have turned to the Canberra Organic Gardeners Society (COGS) for information. (See the links page)

On their website they have a handy planting guide broken into the four seasons, as well as other guides around hardy winter herbs, growing notes, etc.

However in your area there is bound to be some like minded organisations/people. Do a google search, or ask around, and kickstart your gardening experience.

One of the major differences between standard gardening and permaculture is that the latter put’s great emphasis on design and planning. It can seem that ‘permies’ only ever talk about design however it is often easier to correct a deficiency in garden design prior to it’s implementation. This is especially true if you site something in the wrong location… in that case moving it is a drag!

The video below outlines the new Mandala Gardens being set-up at TSH, and the reason they are laid out the way they are. The system being adopted was originally designed by Linda Woodrow (The Permaculture Home Garden) so credit where credit is due.