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Suburb: Hataitai

Post / Zip Code: 6021

I can offer: Gardening & yard labour, to be a gardening buddy

Food Growing Skill Level: Zero

I am interested in...: Buying Local Food, Selling Local Grown Food, Bartering Local Food, Community Gardens, Learning, Preserving, Helping Others, WWOOFA Working, Seed Savers, Gardening on others Land

Tell us about your garden and what you're growing: Hi. I'm currently growing some veggies and herbs in a small approximately 3x4 meter plot in my yard. I live at the top of Mount Victoria in Wellington, NZ, and so it's really windy and cold, and the soil is very muddy. However, I seem to be doing okay with some broccoli, celery, lettuce, silverbeet, beetroot, dill, oregano, thyme and parsley. I'm looking for advice to improve my food growing skills.

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OMG! Worms!!

Yay! After almost an entire year of struggling to get my garden going - I have worms in my soil!!

Last month I dug through my cluggy, clay soil to look for worms in there to see how healthy the soil is, but to no avail. About a month later, and today I was thinning out my small bunch of beetroot red cylindras and low and behold within a layer of pellitised pea straw mulch (dug into the soil a wee bit) there were little baby worms! I'm pretty excited about this - I'll try to post… Continue

Posted on October 20, 2009 at 9:37pm — 1 Comment

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At 5:35am on January 20, 2011, Robyn Wolfe said…: How's it going?

At 8:45am on December 6, 2009, Robyn Wolfe said…: Wow! You Are doing well. Good job!

At 11:49am on October 6, 2009, Robyn Wolfe said…: If you want to see some video on Heligan google 'Heligan videos.'

At 11:49am on October 6, 2009, Robyn Wolfe said…: Thank You for looking!
Butterflies. I grow the plants from seed and keep most of them in the hothouse until they are needed. I sometimes pick them off to put on to fresh foliage but they choose where to hang. I raised more than 70 last year. The last ones didn't make it.
The flour mill I got from The Koanga Institute - just Google.
If you want some seed send me an e-mail in the inbox, so that it's not broadcast, and give me your physical address.
Look in the seed saver group, too.

At 9:37am on October 6, 2009, Robyn Wolfe said…: Love the dog! A real cutie..
My, you have done well so far. Thanks for the photo commentary!
Your soil looks really sticky and I don't envy you. I work in volcanic soil which is light and pleasant to work in. I can sink a bamboo half a metre with out really trying. (Skiting?)
I have just been to The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall where they have a veg garden 2 and a half acres. I never used to dig but after watvhing the video I bought I am now. They get a supply of horse poo (Iguess anything similar would do.) Rot it - I put mine in a bin for weeks with some water- kills the weeds and gooblies. Then they dig down an spade depth, spread the soil on top and then cover with seaweed. They do all this in winter time.
If you want less weeding, put a couple of layers of newspaper and spread the bought compost on top to smother any weed seedlings.
I'll watch your garden with interet to see how you go.
Welcome to Ooooby. It's fun!