No Dig Gardening. WHY? * Any surface * Water holding * Nutrients * Clean – no toxins * Clean – no weed seeds * Replenish worn out soils quickly * No preparation.

No Dig Gardening

WHY?

* Any surface* Water holding* Nutrients* Clean – no toxins* Clean – no weed seeds* Replenish worn out soils quickly* No preparation work removing weeds* Easy to manage - cuts like butter

Your work becomes

harvesting, watering and planting – not

weeding, feeding, and

fighting pests

Feed a family of three in 10 sq. m

Recipe online: Diggers Seed Club, Heronswood, Victoria

WHERE?

on concreteon earth

over weedsover competition (eg tree roots)

in containers

Roof gardens

Hundertwasser House

public housing, Vienna

DESIGN

Bed shape

• Least path• Can’t step on beds – one arm reach wide• Based on arm circles• Kneeling space in centre

Planting zones

• Pathside greens – cut and come again• Longest & biggest things in the centre

Potatoes

Beans and peas

Corn & pumpkin

Raspberries, fennel,

artichokes

Plum tree

Design

Beans

Cherry tree

Compost

For the the big, the slow and the anti-social

eg corn, potatoes, melons, pumpkin

HOW?

Layers

Straw: 10cm

Compost: 20cm

Straw: 30cm

Earth or concrete

• Sprinkle with dolomite – to add magnesium• Fertilise each year /season as usual - add seaweed

preparations for trace elements• Rotate crops as usual - eg

• beans/ lettuce, then • tomatoes or cabbages/ onions or corn/ pumpkins,

then • silverbeet/ beetroot/ carrot

• Use companion planting and plant stacking to maximise yields

How to

Non-hybrid seed varieties

eg Eden Seeds

Diggers Seeds

Garden characteristics, not field machinery

Locally adapted (eg resistant to bolting)

Interesting, diverse – appearance and taste

Self seed and breed true

Need conserving – gene diversity

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF IT

Companion planting/ guilds

Companion planting/ space stacking

STACKING

Companion plants

Lettuce, spring onions & carrots

Different root zones

Different leaf zones

Compatible chemicals

Insect interactions

Spring onions

Lettuce

Carrot

ParsleyLeek

COMPANION GUILDS

TomatoBasil

COMPANION GUILDS

Celery

COMPANION GUILDS

Bush beans

Rocket

Chives Strawberries

Peas

Since Mayan times

The three sisters:

corn, pumpkin and climbing beans

COSTS

Costs

Straw - $40Compost - $320Railway sleepers – 8 x $20 eachSeedlings & Seeds - $100TOTAL = $620

Weekly box of vegies = $40

Time to ROI = 4 months

Effort

Initial• 1.5 days to construct (2 people)

Ongoing• About 1-2 hours per week, includes

watering and dinner harvesting

Less than the mowing?

Ongoing inputs

• Over winter, about 180l of water each 2-3 days– We use tank water, our household consumption is

70 l per person per day– Greywater recycling is the next step

• Seedlings and seeds – about every 3 weeks approx $5 per week

• One big bag of rooster booster $16• A bale of hay $7

RESULTS

Planted April Fools’ Day

7 weeks old

September

HARVEST

We stopped our Food Connect vegie box in May. We’ve only bought potatoes, garlic and onions since

then.

(and a weekly Food Connect fruit box)

Every single day from the living salad bowl

Pak choy, bok choy, choy sum, tatsoi

Lettuce, chicory, rocket

Dill, parsley, coriander

Spring onions

broad beans, beans, peas, snowpeas

Plus every week

broccoli, cauliflower, chinese cabbage,

brussel sprouts

silverbeet, beetroot, carrot, spinach

leeks, tomatoes, parsnip, celery, turnips,

radish

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

www.brisbanelocalfood.ning.com

links to information & more websites

social network format – everyone can add content

gardens

groups

events etc

www.greenharvest.com.au

seeds, plants, products & plant info (Maleny: mail order)

www.cityfoodgrowers.com.au

plant information, social & produce marketplace