http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/index.php EN Thu, 10 May 2012 03:05:04 -0500 Thu, 10 May 2012 03:05:04 -0500 CFG Forum Phorum CFG Forum 60 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?16,255,401#msg-401 Michele
Thanks for clearing that up for me - I really appreciate your help!

cheers
Michele]]> Biodynamic gardening http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?16,255,401#msg-401 Thu, 10 May 2012 03:05:04 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?16,255,400#msg-400 Peter
The planetary days change each year and we upload a new file at start of the calendar year. Your comment has highlighted a bug in our site which is now being fixed. With brocolli, it is designated as a flower plant and all the flower days in May 2012 are 5,6, 13,14,15, 23,24,25 whereas when you click brocolli and see the ideal days it shows different days. Those different days are incorrect and are actually leaf days. I do not know how that bug crept in but it will be fixed in the next day or so. Once it it is fixed, this box will show all the days in the month when the planetary sign is ideal for that plant.

The term ideal is used in two contexts in the site. When you get the search result with a by day or month, it show plants that are Ideal or OK. This is based on the climate comparisons. Ideal is where the planting temp and growing temp are perfect in relation to the month you plant and the growing period. OK is where the growing temp range is fine but planting temp is not perfect.

The second context in how its used is when you open a plant that is say Ideal in the by month or by day search, you will see the landing page which has a box with Ideal days in the month. This Ideal refers to the planetary days, perhaps we should term it "Ideal planetary days" instead of Ideal.

The joys of software development.

Thanks

Peter]]> Biodynamic gardening http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?16,255,400#msg-400 Thu, 10 May 2012 02:49:36 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?16,255,399#msg-399 Michele
For example, I wanted to do some planting last Saturday, 5th May. Broccoli shows up as ideal, but when I went into the plant information, these are the dates listed:

7,8,9,16,17,18,25,26,27.

In your reply above you state for that particular date in question it was a leaf and flower date - are the types of days listed somewhere on the site I've overlooked?

So my next question is, which date do I go by? The 'plant search by day'-'ideal', or the plant details page?

I'm very new to biodynamic gardening and learning my way around the calendar, so I was thrilled to find your site and all the resources you offer.]]> Biodynamic gardening http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?16,255,399#msg-399 Tue, 08 May 2012 21:47:32 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,398#msg-398 Peter
So using the resource that you have is great. It sounds like you feed the horses well. Horses are not kind to paddocks and will definitely encourage weed growth so if all they are fed on is the pasture and it is getting ever more weedy, then these weeds will move into your garden if you use the manure from those horses. You could then say why not use horse manure from stables as those horses are mostly fed lucerne and hay, but unfortunately a lot of other stuff is fed to horses in stables as they tend to become sick more often than horses roaming free on paddocks, so the manure from the cooped up horses although not weedy may have chemicals from medications that are not helpful for your garden.

I know that is a bit of a rant, but in summary, use what you have, make it as clean as possible and deal with the problems as they arise. Using biodynamic preparations on your pasture will help soil fertility and eventually minimise weed growth. This will take time and should be incorporated into proper rotation of grazing for the horses.]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,398#msg-398 Fri, 04 May 2012 23:11:28 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,397#msg-397 Kimberley
I have miniature horses who have an organic diet. Would their manure (not fresh of course) work in a similar way to cow manure. I haven't used it greatly in the past as I find weeds tend to come through horse manure.

Cheers

Kimberley]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,397#msg-397 Thu, 03 May 2012 21:32:12 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,396#msg-396 Peter
Some suggestions without disturbing the plants you have growing. For the recommendations below, firstly remove mulch from the soil and if you want to benefit form the planets, do your work on a root day when earth forces are the strongest. You can find root days in our planting calendar.

1. Add compost as a top dressing on the soil around your plants. More organic matter in the soil balances the PH down or up. Composted cow manure is great to lower soil PH. If you use chicken manure compost this will increase PH. I suggest experimenting with parts of your bed by adding compost if you have it. See how the plants respond and measure you PH. Try not to disturb the roots of the plants. Measure the PH of the compost before using. If you have used too much lime in making the compost, it will have a high PH

2. Diluted lemon juice will also reduce the soil PH. If you grow lemons, test the PH of the juice and then dilute it and test it again. Apply it over part of your garden and then test to see what happens.

3. Growing a green manure crop will also reduce soil PH, but if your garden is fully planted this may not be possible. Wait until your plants are harvested, then plant the green manure crop.

Good luck.]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,396#msg-396 Thu, 03 May 2012 00:23:16 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,395#msg-395 Kimberley I have an organic, 6 bed vegetable garden. I practice crop rotation (including a green manure crop) and have beautiful loamy soil with loads of worms. I have had great success in the past. Currently, most vegies are going strong, but I have noticed the ph in most of the beds is 7.5. I would like to lower it organically while the vegetables are still growing.
Can I do this? If so, what would you recommend?

Cheers
Kimberley]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,395,395#msg-395 Wed, 02 May 2012 21:46:36 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,61,394#msg-394 Kimberley I have an organic, 6 bed vegetable garden. I practice crop rotation (including a green manure crop) and have beautiful loamy soil with loads of worms. I have had great success in the past. Currently, my garden is going strong, but I've done some soil testing and it seems the ph in most of the beds is running at 7.5. My zucchinis, squash and cucumbers are struggling somewhat (although still producing).

With loaded garden beds, I am wondering how to lower the ph organically, whilst I have vegetables in abundance?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Kimberley]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,61,394#msg-394 Wed, 02 May 2012 21:38:28 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,392,393#msg-393 Peter
I am always a bit dubious of mushroom compost and what is put into the mixture to help the mushrooms grow. I always prefer to make my own compost as I then know exactly what goes into it.

I can appreciate the mushroom compost may give you some bulk to the soil to begin with and give the plants a bit of boost at the start, but things like you are experiencing can easily happen as well as other moulds.

I think its safer if you are starting with soil is to get what soil you can and then always plant a green manure crop into it as a living fertiliser. Search green manure on our site and you can see how this is done and there is a lot of content on this as well as composting in the training guide in our Gardener subscriber site.]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,392,393#msg-393 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:45:10 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,392,392#msg-392 Danielle
I used mushroom compost in my veggie patch (this was in Sept last year) and I have been inundated with mushrooms growing up and around my veggies since about January. As I am not a mushroom expert I don't know if they were edible so I discarded them, but they just keep growing. I am now taking the top layer of soil off my veggie patch in an attempt to rid my veggie garden of them, as they are just taking over. Am I doing the right thing? Is mushroom compost good for the garden or should it be avoided?]]> Soil Health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?7,392,392#msg-392 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:44:53 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?10,390,391#msg-391 Peter
You are right that tomatoes are very subject to diseases. If you go the Resources, Plant search tools, then use the plant health search and click on tomatoes, you will find all the diseases affecting tomatoes. It describes what they do and how to treat them with organic methods. I suggest exploring this.

There are three diseases on the tomatoes page that look likely candidates and they are: mosiac virus, early blight, bacterial spot.

In general for all of those, I suggest removing heavily infected plants, apply compost to base of plants. Apply compost tea to leaves or neem oil, apply lime to the soil and make sure the base of the plant is clean from weeds and rotting fruit.]]> Plant health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?10,390,391#msg-391 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:57:49 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?10,390,390#msg-390 sue
I have been unable to find what might be causing black spots and eventual yellowing on the underside of the lower leaves of my tomato plants. It seems tomatoes are very susceptible to many diseases - so in lieu of knowing what might be causing it, I am looking for some suggestions of how to treat it please. Might milk spray work? I have several plants with this disease but also many without. I will trial one plant with just removing the bad leaves.

Suggestions welcome please?

Thanks
Sue]]> Plant health http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?10,390,390#msg-390 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:32:33 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,389#msg-389 Peter
Sometimes you can get leaf drop if they plant gets too much water. How much water are you giving it and what is the soil like where it is located?]]> Fruit trees http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,389#msg-389 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:23:16 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,388#msg-388 Peter It could be leaf minor. Are there white trails on the leaves. If so, prune off any infested leaves. Prevent the leaf miner moth from laying eggs by regularly spraying all foliage with either white oil or pest oil. Ensure both sides of the leaves are sprayed. White oil can damage plants in high temperatures so care should be taken with its application. Pest oil is less damaging and less temperature sensitive. Neem oil can also be used in the same way. In warmer climates spraying with your chosen oil will need to continue through the warmer months. Encourage predatory insects such as ladybugs lacewings and praying mantis.]]> Fruit trees http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,388#msg-388 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:16:47 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,387#msg-387 Claire Fruit trees http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,387#msg-387 Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:16:15 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,386#msg-386 Robert Fruit trees http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,226,386#msg-386 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:00:55 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,355,385#msg-385 kritty
hope this helps(as i have never done this myself nona told me about it:) not 100% if it would work or not. - there are white oil chemicals in the shops but organicaly would be better :D

cheers KT:)]]> Fruit trees http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?20,355,385#msg-385 Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:21:46 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?15,384,384#msg-384 Mike Container growing http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?15,384,384#msg-384 Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:39:45 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,382,383#msg-383 Peter
Corn is certainly a heavy feeder but it does depend on the quality of your soil to start with. I tend to follow a rotation cycle of crops in the garden which helps soil fertility. Here are an article on it http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/blog-latestposts.php?catid=106

I find that in growing corn the best crop to precede it is a green manure crop which gives nitrogen to the soil and corn likes lots of nitrogen. If you have not done this and to minimise the use of fertilisers another way to give the corn nitrogen is to grow beans or a green manure crops (legume)around them. Climbing beans could be grown in between the plants ns they will climb up the corn stalks, give you more food and fertilise the corn at the same time. You can find out more about growing green manure crops here http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/blog-latestposts.php?catid=101

Using the fertilisers you mention are OK, but its important not to over fertilise as this can deplete the soil. We also use biodynamic soil preparations to stimulate life in the soil.]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,382,383#msg-383 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:02:38 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,382,382#msg-382 Danielle

I understand that corn is a heavy feeder. I recently planted corn into a corrugated raised garden bed that had contained zucchini. After removing the old zucchini plants and before planting the corn, I dug some slow release fertiliser into the bed and watered with seasol. I then planted the corn and have fed them twice in the two weeks since planting, with worm tea. Is there anything else I should be doing to ensure they get adequate feed? Is weekly to often to feed, should it be fortnightly?]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,382,382#msg-382 Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:50:11 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?3,378,381#msg-381 Peter
The answer depends on your goal. If it is to use the space under your fruit trees to grow food, then having plants that do not affect the roots too much are important, as ell as being plants that do not need full sun. This could be shallow rooted greens such as lettuce, Asian greens or warrigul greens. Root crops are not advisable as they go deeper and harvesting of them will affect the tree roots.

Your idea with the potatoes in a wine barrel sounds like a good one. Potatoes do not need full sun.

If you goal is too fertilise the soil under the fruit trees then growing crops to to made into green manure are ideal as these will greatly help that plant vitality. You can choose legumes where the leaves are edible and pods, such as cow pea.

Planting instructions on all these plants are in our Gardener subscriber site.]]> Garden planning http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?3,378,381#msg-381 Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:28:13 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,379,380#msg-380 Peter
You asked that question in mid November and I posted a reply to the questions same day. Its here http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,44

Or simply look at the bottom of the strawberry group of postings in the form category Plants.

Please review and if you want to ask more question, please ask.]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,379,380#msg-380 Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:03:05 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,379,379#msg-379 Dean Have 4 plants which have given us some delightfully flavoured (although small) berries and would like to try and get some more plants going.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Dean]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,379,379#msg-379 Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:34:22 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?3,378,378#msg-378 R Garden planning http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?3,378,378#msg-378 Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:29:49 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,44,377#msg-377 Peter
Yes its ideal to snip off the strawberry runners and keep multiplying. I will give you an example. In my strawberry patch which is now 8m wide and 20m long and has 4 rows, I started 3 years ago with 12 strawberries plants from my back garden. I planted them in row 1 and after the first crop was finished, I got about 5 runners per plant (60 runners). I then moved those runners to the bed 2 and left the original ones in bed 1. After the next crop I got 5 runners each from bed 1 (60) and 10 runners each from bed 2 (360). After the next crop I then moved runners to bed 3 and so on.

By the time plants in bed 1 had produced 3 crops I pulled them out after the third crop because after 3 crops the root gets woody and fruit gets smaller. So its important to not leave them in for too long and to make sure they have some space around them. If you keep in mind that you always get the biggest strawberries from the newest runners, this helps with thinking in managing your patch

My beds now have about 400 plants in them and at the end of last season I gave away sold or composted at least 1000 strawberry runners. We get to crops per year so we produce a lot of strawberries and runners.

There is a short movie and blog on the site with more info9r on strawberries here http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/blog-latestposts.php?catid=105]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,44,377#msg-377 Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:06:47 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,44,376#msg-376 Dean Good gardening to you all.
Dean Shipman]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,44,376#msg-376 Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:16:18 -0600 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?3,375,375#msg-375 Jacqueline
It is not totally clay soil as I have been trying to improve this garden bed the expensive way....with importing new organic soil, bags of soil improvers, bags of compost, sand, gypsum, blood and bone as well as chicken manure pellets. However, it is still not as good as I would like, and the PH was tested a few days ago and it seems to be extremely alkaline around 9/10.

Having said that, I am not wishing to invest any further funds as far as soil improvers or fertilisers are concerned because I am aware of green manuring.

We do have a worm farm but it is really slow and it will be another 6 months I think before we will have any soil from this. So my thoughts are to green manure but I don't want to pull out my existing seedlings.

I am wondering if bush beans or mung beans would be a suitable green crop as I have these seeds already on hand. The beans have not been inoculated.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Jacqui]]> Garden planning http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?3,375,375#msg-375 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:29:29 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?6,370,374#msg-374 Peter
Cold compost bin should have a mixture of food scraps (not meat), grass or hay, preferably some manure like chicken manure and a little bit of dirt. Ideally it should be turned to keep it from becoming anerobic. That's where it gets too wet and goes a brown colour and is goey.

Important to have air. If I get a bit lazy and do not turn my bins (I simply tip them on the ground fork them and bit and then shovel them back into the bin, they will become anerobic and be full of greebilies and it is at this stage that I then tip the mixture into the chicken pen, they clean up all the crawly things and I then shovel the mixture back into the compost bin. Its surprising how much food starts to grow out of this patch in the chicken pen.

There is a lot of content on composting in my Food Gardening guide in our Gardener subscriber site.

Happy composting.]]> Composting http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?6,370,374#msg-374 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:57:57 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?6,373,373#msg-373 jane I started my compost heap about 8 weeks ago and put in all the vegie and fruit scraps as well as some pea straw and weeds from the garden. The bin is about half full now but I have a big infestation of ants. Should i do anything or is this normal? The compost bin is one of those green bins and its in a shady spot. It also has those tiny flies too. Any advice would be welcome.]]> Composting http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?6,373,373#msg-373 Sun, 23 Oct 2011 04:25:01 -0500 http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,225,372#msg-372 Peter
Worm fertiliser if excellent for vegies, dilute it 1-10.]]> Plants http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/cfg-forum/read.php?4,225,372#msg-372 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:39:49 -0500