Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Oct 16, 2008 12:01 pm Hi,
I am in the process of doing up a vegie garden and would like to know what type of soil I should use in the bed I am building for it. also as I have never ..... had a vegie garden before, what type's of vegies grow well in full sunlight. where I am having the bed is behind my shed and there is no shade and we get lots of HOT victorian sun. Any advice would be highly appreciated..... If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W.C. Fields Brought Established. Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 2Oct 16, 2008 3:12 pm All veggies need full sun, plenty of water so they grow fast to be tasty , slowly grown veggies get bitter. Check gardening australia website to see what you can grow when. For summer it is tommies, capsicum, paprika, chillies, beans, corn, pumpkins, cucs and all in their family, Asian greens like bok choy and others. There are still many others but you need to see what you like to eat and than plant it. Do not plant a lot, start small, you can always add more.
As for soil it needs to have good drainage and have PLENTY of organic matter. I am on the organic side of gardening therefore, I build my beds over time, sort of no dig garden. I form a sandwich of newspapers on the ground sprinkled with blood and bone and dynamic lifter ont top of that straw, hay or whatever similar, sheep manure piled on top, more hay/straw/sugar cane mulch and that covered with homebrew compost , water well and voila you have your bed ready. It will settle quickly and reduce in size. Having said that you can always get a veggie mix from a soil supplier but I am no expert there as I like to be a hands on gardener and make my own. Good luck and have fun Maggie Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 3Oct 16, 2008 9:13 pm Maggie that sounds horticulturally tasty
It is a great way to grow veggies and along the lines of jerry Colby-Williams in Brissie on Gardening Aust. How good is gardening Start your veggies and the addiction to growing your own won't be far behind. I was talking to a lady today and she was so excited about getting her veggies going. She was learning lots and having fun For anyone one in Perth or SW WA or lower west WA, I always use and recommend the gods gift to gardeners with all it's rotted piggy poo goodness The bulk soils provided by chain type landscape suppliers is not of a very high quality in comparison to Biowise or Gods Gift. Gods Gift is a great way to kick off a new veggie patch but Maggies methods are tried and true by many experienced veggie growers. It is just so hard to beat growing your own Here's how West Aussies can make sand into soil Checkout The Forever Project Before starting your landscape attend a FREE Great Gardens workshop Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 4Oct 16, 2008 9:15 pm Wingies if I new where good quality soils were available in Shep I would let you know Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 5Oct 16, 2008 9:20 pm Wingies - lots of dairy farms around Shepparton ... go and find a nice pile of very rotted cow manure (at the dark brown crumbly stage). You may end up with a few weeds but the vegies grow like you wouldn't believe! Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 6Oct 16, 2008 9:25 pm The no-dig method can be found in Esther Dean's book.
Another good option for gardening is Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew Lots of organic matter and if you need good drainage - think about adding coir, peat moss or vermiculite to the soil. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 7Oct 17, 2008 8:23 am Thanks guys plenty of sound advice. I can't wait to get started. Sure is gonna beat paying for the overpriced over ripe veg in the supermarket.
Woohoo... from the mouth of the late big Kev himself .... I'm excited. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W.C. Fields Brought Established. Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 8Oct 17, 2008 10:11 am From a WA perspective, theres a garden centre in Bibra lake called Soils-aint-soils, they do mulch, gravel, sand and of course soil. I went there and told them I was building an above ground veggie patch, they explained what I need to do, and recommended and supplied (with free use of car trailer) the soil mix to use.
From memory it was a 50/50 mix of top soil and compost. And to their credit my veggie patch is now pumping out cabbage, bok choy, carrots, broccoli, beetroot and strawberries. Im sure there is a similar type company in your area. Pat. Re: Soil for Vegie Garden 9Oct 17, 2008 11:50 am I would imagine there is, there are plenty of soil places around. I might pop into one when my garden bed is finished being built. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W.C. Fields Brought Established. I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13107 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37160 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair I'm in WA and our sandy soils make drainage a bit easier but this is what I'd be doing. Dig down to your footings and let the wall dry out. Clean it all well by brushing… 1 5197 |