Good Garden and Greenstuff

Now that the construction of the fencing around the veggie garden (‘potager jardien’ for the more eloquent readers) and a simple abbreviation to ‘potager’ kitchen (herbs and veggies) is, so to speak, complete, bar the painting, we find ourselves in the position where we can start the cultivation process.

Step One: This is to get the materials, namely timber for the bed edges, compost to complement the soil, mulch to aid in weed prevention and slowing down evaporation. This is mostly complete, except that the compost will be delivered as and when, because the total requirement would take up too much space…

Step Two: This is to measure and mark out the beds. So far, we have identified (a) a long one of 3m x 9m, possibly to be subdivided into three of 3mx3m. These will probably be named Kowhai, Rimu and Totara all indigenous (native) trees; (b) two beds of 3m x 3m to be named ‘Karaka’ and ‘Pohutukawa’ and (c) a 3m x 4m plus one smaller bed, called bed #6 and bed #7 in the meantime.

Step Three: This entails, bed for bed in turn, removal of grass, weeds and other vegetation, as well as removal of tree roots and rocks will may be lurking below the surface. At the same time, the remaining soil will be sifted and aerated, ready to be mixed in with organic compost.

(Above): This rototiller, borrowed from a kind neighbour, is proving to be worth more than its weight in gold! The hard rocky ground can be “ploughed” with relative ease, compared to trying to dig over with a spade. Note that I use the phrase “relative ease” with relative ease, rather than a great deal of truth.

 
(Above): The outer edges of each bed will be cleared and excavated to a depth of 200mm. The edging timber will be measured, cut, and fitted together to make the required shape in the required dimensions. In this instance it is a square,  measuring 3m x 3m.

(Above): Some of the roots dug up out of ‘Karaka’ bed.

(Above): Part of the Great Wall of China – Boulders, rocks, stones and pebbles are all sizes dug out from the ‘Karaka’ bed. These may be used in future in some of the landscaping we may tackle.

(Above): Clayton carpentered a sieve of 10mmx10mm mesh in a decking timber frame. It works like a charm and allows us to sift the soil to a manageable degree of purity before adding the organic compost.

(Above): Nearing the end of ‘The Karaka Project’.