 With April fast approaching we thought it fitting to have a brand-new way of getting our message across. This is a new way for us to facilitate connection and let you know all about our inspirations and aspirations. This newsletter will hopefully inform and inspire you to the possibilities of your inner and physical landscapes. At Savour Soil Permaculture it is all about 'Making it real'. In the spirit of the first of David Holmgren's Permaculture flower and tying in the built, biological, and behavioural fields, we are beginning with a look at who we are, what we do and invite you to come be a part of our journey. In the words of Plato – “The beginning is the most important part of the work”. Read more HERE.
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 Rain. Something we have not seen in a while, and it is glorious to see. We are enjoying every moment as it falls from the sky and watching our systems return to life. Unfortunately, that also means that with all this rampant growth. We cannot get into our gardens due to water saturation. That brings the question to mind with regards to water and our soils and their water holding capacity. In short - How do I know if my soils are over-saturated so that once this rain clears, we can get back into our gardens? It is easy to get over-enthusiastic and plant to maximise our time and space. Still, suppose the soil is holding to much water. In that case, it can squeeze out air and become anaerobic, which can kill off or invite pathogens into our gardens, causing lots of issues. I was recently introduced to a simple test done in Horticulture to test the air porosity in seed raising mix and potting mix to make sure that it will provide a suitable environment for our seeds or plants. Asking if it could also be used for our garden soils, I was told that it could be, but people do not, and the numbers to measure would be different. That was enough for me. There was a possibility. So, diving into some research, I found the figures that we can use. This simple test can also be applied to seed raising mixes and potting mixes but our garden soils as well – Perfect. First, we need to make the kit we will need to test our soils. Again, simple enough, and I found that I had most of what I needed already in the sheds resource (junk) pile.
First cut 2 pieces of 90 mm PVC pipe, both 12 cms long. Then, finding a matching cap, drill 4 9mm holes in the bottom Attach the lid to the base of one of the 90mm pipe sections until it is firm (and not going to fall off) Heat one end of the second PVC pipe and then gently squeeze it over the top of the other 90mm piece until it is splayed and fits snuggly over the top of the first 90mm piece. The volume of the bottom section should be 680ml total. The Test
8. Once you have finished doing it 3 times, remove the top section of the combined PVC and remove the excess soil above the bottom section 9. Cover the top of the base with either an old stocking or muslin cloth, and secure with a rubber band to hold in place 10. Place the bottom section back into the bucket and slowly fill with water again to a point approx. 30mm above the soil line 11. After 10 minutes, reach done with both hands and remove the bottom PVC section but have your fingers over the holes so that the water does not drain out 12. Place the water-filled section over another bucket or container and raise it and drain the water into the container beneath for approx. 30 minutes 13. Remove the bottom section and measure the volume of water that has drained from the soil 14. The air-filled soil porosity for your now test garden soil
The volume of water (ml) divide by the volume of the bottom section PVC pipe (680ml) x 100%
If this figure is between 10% and 30%, then your soil should be okay for you to plant. If more, then it is holding onto too much water and will cause issues to your plants. If under 10%, then it is not holding enough and needs to be addressed All up, this test took me about an hour, but I could walk away and get other things done between the soaking and draining times. It is something simple that can give us a lot of information. We can use it to provide us with the confidence to know if our water, air, soil ratios are good enough to plant and, if not, the knowledge to understand what we can do to improve them.   I have had a lot of questions about the things we do month by month to help not only maintain but add to our system. While the best time to have ‘planted a tree’ was 20 years ago, the next best time to start is now. Each little thing we do can and will help increase our ability to build resilient, regenerative and abundant lives. Let’s Make It Real - Here is our February garden to-do list. We hope it helps you in your endeavors Free Downloadable file attached at the bottom TO DO LIST •Apply compost to your gardens •Make compost •Water plants deeply if dry •Sow seeds for beneficial insects in grow house for autumn planting •Check for potential pest issues •Prune flowering shrubs after they have finished •Sow tree and shrub seeds •Water in evening to reduce evaporation •Foliar spray plants with water/milk to help protect against sunburn •Foliar feed the orchard and potager •Take cuttings of perennials •Side dress vegetables with compost •Give fallen fruit to the chickens to help control fruit fly •Maintain fruit fly plan •Sow seeds Check over orchard for pests and possible disease WHAT TO PLANT Amaranth, Beans Climbing, Bush beans, Beetroot, Broccoli, Carrot, Cauliflower Chives, Cucumber, Endive, Fennel, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Mustard greens Onion, Oregano, Parsley, Radish, Silverbeet, Shallots, Sunflowers Sweet corn, Tomatoes 
  I have had a lot of questions about the things we do month by month to help not only maintain but add to our system. While the best time to have ‘planted a tree’ was 20 years ago, the next best time to start is now. Each little thing we do can and will help increase our ability to build resilient, regenerative and abundant lives. Let’s Make It Real - Here is our January garden to-do list. We hope it helps you in your endeavors Free Downloadable file attached at the bottom To Do List •Apply compost to your gardens •Make compost •Water plants deeply if dry •Plant beneficial insect attractors •Check for potential pest issues •Plant container grown plants •Sow tree and shrub seeds •Water in evening to reduce evaporation •Foliar spray plants with water/milk to help protect against sunburn •Foliar feed the orchard and potager •Take cuttings of perennials •Side dress vegetables with compost •Give fallen fruit to the chickens to help control fruit fly •Harvest and dry excess herbs •Maintain fruit fly plan •Sow seeds •Check over orchard for pests and possible disease What To Plant Amaranth, Beans Climbing, Bush beans, Beetroot, Broccoli, Carrot, Cauliflower Celery, Chives, Cucumber, Eggplant, Kohlrabi, Mustard greens, Oregano Parsley, Pumpkin, Radish, Rosella, Silverbeet, Shallots, Sunflowers, Sweet corn Tomatoes, Zucchini
 Living in Qld one of the essential tasks I need to do with my fruit trees and bushes is to monitor and limit the impact Qld fruit fly can have in my system. Qld fruit fly is a problem of our own creation. While it is native to our region, we have introduced species that allow it to thrive if not maintained, and like with all things in our systems - we need to design with maintenance in mind. Typically Qld fruit fly is about 7mm long and is a reddish-brown with yellow markings. It is mostly active in the spring and summer periods, but I have noticed with the higher temperatures they have are engaged through to late autumn. Fruit mostly affected are the summer fruits such as peach, nectarine, apricots, citrus, tomatoes, eggplants and capsicum. The female fruit fly lays its eggs in the fruit and then when they hatch the maggots eat through the fruit until they reach approx6/7mm long when either the fruit falls to the ground or the maggot drops from the fruit. The maggot then creates a hard shell where it gestates for a few weeks. Then the pupae hatches and the cycle begins again. While hard to control, there are several measures we can use to help. Firstly good hygiene will help prevent fruit fly problems. Pick up any fruit left on the ground daily and on the tree after the harvest. You can burn the infest fruit, or I like to cut them open and then give them to my chickens of ducks to clean up. Do not put the fruit into your compost or you could potentially make the problem worse. Some like to net their trees with fruit fly netting, but I found this a costly option, and if one female Qld fruit fly gets under the mesh, they will lay approx 500 eggs, and the cycle begins again. Occasionally allow my ducks to wander through my system during the season to allow them to find any of the pupate that has found its way into the soil I do, however, like to use traps with my homemade mix to help keep the numbers to an acceptable level. 400ml of hot water One heap teaspoon of sugar or honey One heap teaspoon of vegemite some cut up the leftover citrus peel. (what we usually have in surplus) Combine the ingredients and mix until the sugar and vegemite are dissolved and then allow to cool. Place the mixture in a container and hang near the garden or orchard. I replace this approx every three weeks.  While not foolproof, the combination of keeping the ground and plants clean of falling or rotten fruit and the traps and allowing my ducks though the system generally means we have little infestations. And to be honest, they work even better if we get our neighbours and community on board too.
They are small steps, but they do need to be maintained consistently - Little things often rather than on large action.   I have had a lot of questions about the things we do month by month to help not only maintain but add to our system. While the best time to have ‘planted a tree’ was 20 years ago, the next best time to start is now. Each little thing we do can and will help increase our ability to build resilient, regenerative and abundant lives. Let’s Make It Real - Here is our December garden to-do list. We hope it helps you in your endeavors Downloadable file attached at the bottom To Do List •Apply compost to your gardens •Make compost •Water plants deeply if dry •Plant beneficial insect attractors •Heavily mulch shallow rooted trees •Pinch out unwanted side shoots •Prune flowering peaches •Trim the hedging plants •Remove suckers from rootstock •Foliar spray plants with water/milk to help protect against sunburn •Foliar feed the orchard and potager •Side dress vegetables with compost •Give fallen fruit to the chickens to help control fruit fly •Harvest and dry excess herbs •Check fruit fly plan for summer •Sow seeds •Check over orchard for pests and possible disease •Take cuttings from Figs What To Plant Amaranth, Basil, Beans Climbing, Beetroot, Capsicum, Carrot, Celery Chilli, Chives, Choko, Cucumber, Eggplant, Kohlrabi, Mustard greens Oregano, Parsley, Pumpkin, Radish, Rockmelon, Rosella, Silverbeet Shallots, Sunflowers, Sweet corn, Tomatoes, Zucchini
  I have had a lot of questions about the things we do month by month to help not only maintain but add to our system. While the best time to have ‘planted a tree’ was 20 years ago, the next best time to start is now. Each little thing we do can and will help increase our ability to build resilient, regenerative and abundant lives. Let’s Make It Real - Here is our November garden to-do list. We hope it helps you in your endeavors Downloadable file attached at the bottom To-do-list •Apply compost to your gardens •Make compost •Apply organic rich mulches to plants and trees •Water plants deeply if dry •Plant beneficial insect attractors •Sow tree and shrub seeds •Remove suckers from rootstock •Foliar spray plants with water/milk to help protect against sunburn •Take cuttings of perennials •Give large pots a flooding and mulch heavily •Foliar feed the orchard and potager •Side dress vegetables with compost •Give fallen fruit to the chickens to help control fruit fly •Check fruit fly plan for summer •Sow seeds •Check over orchard for pests and possible disease Seed Planting Amaranth, Artichokes, Asparagus, Basil, Bush beans, Beetroot, Capsicum , Carrot Celery, Chilli, Chinese cabbage, Cucumber, Chives, Dill, Eggplant, Kohlrabi, Lemon balm, Mustard greens, Oregano, Parsley, Pumpkin, Radish, Rhubarb Rosella, Sage, Shallots, Sunflowers, Sweet corn, Tomatoes
  With the recent expansion of the kitchen garden, it was time to start the new planning for the expanded patch. The expansion was always part of the plan, but we had given ourselves a 10-year implementation plan for the design. This allowed us to fine-tune as we go. It brings in new learnings and aligning the system to our own patterns which ultimately makes it more sustainable over the long term. It not only helps grow food and regenerates our landscape, but grows and adapts with us as we grow and change. While I have seen many people use a spreadsheet (and ultimately all of this will go on a spreadsheet), I always start with pen and paper. It allows me to get creative and move things around in a visual space rather than just lines on a screen. We began by working out how much we eat for the year in our household, using averages and then fine-tuning to our specific needs. (How much do I need to grow to feed my family over a year?). We then break it done to when in each of those plants can be seeded (Garden to-do lists). This makes it very easy to expand the planting regime as the number of beds available expand as well.  For ease of use I have found and been using for years has been the square foot gardening method, talked about by Mel Bartholomew in his book – Square foot Gardening. We do use many different methods for feeding microbes in the soil, from compost (Home Composting), Natural Farming (Natural Farming), No Dig Gardening (No Dig Gardens), Home made fertilisers (Home Made Fertilisers), Wicking Beds (Wicking Beds), Home made Insecticides (Home Made Natural Insecticides), Organic Health Management (Organic Health Management) and understanding the water needs of the plants (Water in the Garden), which helps inform us what we need to have a successful patch. Then we add the final layer of planning how much we can plant to maximise the space. We now have 24 raised garden beds and 14 wicking beds for annuals we have a total of 744 square feet to be able to grow in. That 744 square feet will use approx. 350 litres of water per day in the middle of summer. While this might sound like a lot (and it is) we need to remember that this is in an extreme case (January, February for us). We are not using this amount of water all year. It is much less in the colder months. It is also far less than what is used growing more commercially, and the food miles is just at our back door. These figures are also based on having zero carbon in the soil, and we have far more than that (again designed for the extreme) We have two 10,000 litre tanks dedicated to keeping the soil moist over the year, which even with current rainfall patterns is enough to keep it all flourishing. Using Mel Bartholomew's methodology, it is amazing how much someone can plant within a small space. I recently had an exercise with my current PDC (permaculture design course) participants where they had to plan out a garden bed with 12 squares. They were astounded in how much food you can really plan in that space. So back to the planning. Below is just a sample of what we are planting this month in both the wicking beds and the raised garden beds. In one is 2 Zucchini, 48 radishes, 4 eggplant and 18 shallots and the other is 135 bush beans, 27 mustard greens, 81 spinach and 96 carrots. And that is just 2 out of the 38 potential beds. Each bed is planned out for the year, and yes, there is a bit of planning at the start, but once done, I do not have to do it again. This is how we were able to grow 2.5 tonnes of food per year in our small space for the last few years. With expansion and time, I am confident it will increase exponentially. The plan is having enough to feed 20 people in the next few years. All for approx. 45 minutes a day (30 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon). I do not have staff or volunteers to help, and for the most part, that is from seed to harvest. There are definitely other methods to seriously increase the productivity in your garden (bio-intensive for example). Still, I have found for the time I have available, and the yields I am currently getting, the square foot gardening method is more than enough. Good enough for now, safe enough to try.    I have had a lot of questions about the things we do month by month to help not only maintain but add to our system. While the best time to have ‘planted a tree’ was 20 years ago, the next best time to start is now. Each little thing we do can and will help increase our ability to build resilient, regenerative and abundant lives. Let’s Make It Real - Here is our October garden to-do list. We hope it helps you in your endeavors Downloadable file attached at the bottom To-Do-List •Apply compost to your gardens •Make compost •Apply organic rich mulches to heavy feeders •Lightly shape lavender and any dead heading •Cut back the acacias (native fertility plants) •Take dragon fruit cuttings and strike them •Prune back the flowering shrubs •Plant out new flower seedlings and give a deep water •Lightly dig over and manure empty garden beds •Foliar feed the orchard and potager •Side dress vegetables with compost •Trim back leggy looking herbs. Dry these cuttings for latter use •Cut established asparagus •Sow seeds •Check over orchard for pests and possible disease •Mulch fruit trees as needed Seed Planting Amaranth, Artichokes, Asparagus, Basil, Climbing beans, Beetroot, Capsicum , Carrot Celery, Chilli, Chinese cabbage, Cucumber, Dill, Eggplant, Endive, Kohlrabi, Lemon balm, Parsley, Pumpkin, Radish, Rhubarb, Rosella, Rosemary, Pumpkin Shallots, Silverbeet, Sweet corn, Tomatoes, Watermelon
 One question that came up today during the hands-on wicking bed workshop was what am I using for in-between the beds. My answer seemed to surprise the participant. While it is common for most people to use either woodchip or some other dead material what I look for, and use between my beds is a living cover.
Most people use woodchip (for example) as it can suppress the growth of weeds and 'feed the soil' as it breaks down—honestly an excellent idea in concept. But for me, it is not enough. In permaculture, we are designing for many functions, connections and uses as we can. Some of the reasons why I have opted to use a living mulch rather than a dead one * The reason I use a living mulch is that it is self-replicating. A dead mulch is something that works for a while and do not get me wrong, it does the job well, but it is something we continuously need to input and replace as it breaks down. A living mulch, on the other hand, is not something I need to keep applying as it has its own life cycle and continues to replace itself * It also has a living interaction with the soil beneath - the swapping of sugars with fungi and bacteria in its constant cycle. A diverse of life feeding a diversity of life * A living mulch will also alter the temperature surrounding it by between 7 to 10 degrees, making cooler in summer and warmer in winter. * I actually want the weeds. In permaculture, for the most part, we talk about how there 'is no weeds', and then we apply thing in our landscapes to exclude these same indicator plants. The 'weeds' are one of the natures healing mechanisms, and it tells me what is going beneath my feet, while also providing organic material for my compost and teas. * It is also a feed for my animals as well as habitat for the beneficial insect population. * A living cover also provides a surface area that will help capture mist and fog events adding another 1mm of the equivalent rainfall event. I could have just added a dead mulch. Still, by doing so, we would have missed out on all the other possibilities given using biology - above and below. We are designing not just in space, but in time and trying to make it as close looped as we can, using as much as we can, as often as we can before it leaves our systems |
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