http://garden.robin-marshall.net Feeding ourselves from the garden and moving to organic food in Carterton, New Zealand Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:16:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en So, spring is really here and the layers we added to the raised beds have been rotting down. The two beds that the chickens scratched around in for a few months are really low in bulk so they'll need to be finished off with some pretty good filler. We're trying two ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/10/raising-garden-beds-part-2-topping-up-planting/ This is a wonderful time of year, the chickens are laying more eggs than we can eat and some of the veges are starting to be edible. These recipes are a great way to use the extra eggs and use new spring vegetables. Individual Bread Puddings per person: in a bowl mix: one egg, a ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/10/recipes-for-the-egg-glut/ When you grow your own garlic you have not only a much more flavourful crop, but you have access to the lovely summer garlic, where the outer layers have not yet turned to paper and are still moist and succulent. The flavour of summer garlic is really worth getting into ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/07/how-to-grow-garlic/ I recently read somewhere that good gardeners don't grow plants, they grow soil. We forget that soil is a living thing, a colony of mycorrhizal fungi, worms, plant roots and microscopic life that process and produce nutrients, fight off disease and break down fallen leaves and dead roots. Organic gardeners ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/07/improving-soil/ On the weekend we created a new chicken run, using steel waratahs (Y stakes) and some wire netting. It only takes an hour or so to setup this way and can be reconfigured at any time to give the girls a new bit of ground. This time we decided to ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/07/raised-beds-june-update/ A Cold Start This morning we had another -4 degree C frost. Under the light of the full moon it was a beautiful sight, reminding me that while it might stop me from growing year round tomatoes, bananas and other fruits which prefer a more tropical clime, that there is an ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/06/winter-frosts/ Nature's Plans For me, the simple beauty in a tiny brassica or lettuce seed is that they have wonderful complexity sleeping away in a tight little package. They lie in wait for the right conditions of soil moisture and warmth to unfold themselves into a simple pair of leaves in a ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/06/growing-vegetables-from-seed-and-saving-seeds/ Sci-fi Vegetable I think purple sprouting cauliflower would be a better name for these vegetables, they are not that similar to supermarket broccoli at all. In the twilight, the iridescent purple heads look like something from another planet, I think next year I'll inter plant them amongst other things to add ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/06/how-to-grow-purple-sprouting-broccoli/ Last year we tore up a part of our ornamental garden, laid down pea straw and compost and created a large vege patch as part of our main garden. We ate well over summer, lettuce and tomatoes every night, as well as silver beet, mizuna, beetroot and pak choi, from ... http://garden.robin-marshall.net/2008/06/raising-garden-beds-part-1-positioning-and-filling/