Vasili's Garden Episodes
Not bad for 2 years!
When Michael and his family invited me over to see his garden, I was quite confident that I would be well impressed with everything.
I met Michael and his wife Carolyn at their local shopping centre in Melton, Michael began to explain that it was only his second year that he was gardening with lots of attention given towards sustainable gardening practices.
Because I always love to visit people’s gardens I couldn’t refuse to go over to see Michael’s and learn about their approach and methods to gardening and believe me when I say that there is always something to learn from everyone. Whether it is water saving techniques, composting or just simple planting methods, there is always something to learn.
As I was heading out to Melton, driving along the highway I noticed that the grass along the nature strip and fields was literally turning yellow as we neared Melton, frightfully I thought the same for Michael’s place but when I arrived I was totally surprised with his garden.
Now Melbourne is on stage 3a water restrictions and so is Melton, but if Melton wasn’t allocated some water from Melbourne trust me when I say that there wouldn’t be much life left in Melton, especially with about 6% water left in their dam.
But Michael is all set up and ready to go if another heat wave was to hit, he has over 9 thousand litres of water stored all around the property that is easily connected to his drip irrigation in his garden as he needs it.
And the fact that the natural soil is very hard, it is virtually impossible to get the moisture down below where it is needed, so Michael came up with his own invention using 50mm PVC pipe, drilling holes all around the lower 400mm of the pipe then digging it into the ground near and around his plants. So as he waters his garden he also pours some water into the pipe which then goes straight down to the roots where it’s needed the most.
Using mulch was a problem for Michael as he found that nasty pests and insects quickly moved in and multiplied throughout the layer of straw, destroying all his plants along the way.
We all know that mulch is very important in the garden as it helps to control weeds, retain moisture and stop the surface crusting over. But for Michael there were more damaging effects from the mulch so instead he decided to cover his garden beds with shade cloth.
He has 9 or so different raised timber garden beds that are approximately 2.4 x 1.2mtrs in size, each with frame work that stands about 1mtr high and over the top he covers them with shade cloth, but provides some clearance around the side for some natural sunlight to peak through.
I must tell you that it was amazing, you don’t need to build those huge contraptions they call shade houses just to grow some veggies and many of you would not even have the space anyway. Even 1x1mtr is enough space for two people to grow veggies all year round, and covering them with shade cloth will allow you to grow varieties that are out of season, it even stops wind and sun burn too.
Michael had lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower growing now which are better grown during cooler climate seasons but even with this heat they looked great!
Using the shade cloth helped his last year’s basil to survive the 49 degree heat waves they had.
So raised garden beds for those with hard soil, PVC pipes with holes for deep watering, dripper system and mulch if you don’t have pest problems and shade cloth for that extra protection from harsh weather and soon you’ll be dancing the Zorba just like Michael and his family too.
Maresi
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