Who still has a vegetable garden?

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#576091 1-Feb-2012 21:45

mattwnz:
alienwithin:
?

Many people or developers have chopped up their properties, so there isn't much room for a vege gardens these days. Overseas they tend to have community gardens or allotments.

there is always room to grow vegetables, hanging baskets are good for tomato's and strawwberries. ?potato bags can be brought to grow spuds in. ?many vegetables can be grown in containers without the need for a big garden.

Yes but you need quite a lot of land if you actually want to live off it for a family, and not buy many vegetables in. Also have to deal with crop rotation etc.

Vertical gardening is the answer

In one city in the US they have a trial in one city where there is a large glass building with story upon story of hydroponic gardens... could adapt that to the town house court yard.... may end up higher than the house mind you.

mattwnz

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#576092 1-Feb-2012 21:47

keewee01:
mattwnz:
alienwithin:
?

Many people or developers have chopped up their properties, so there isn't much room for a vege gardens these days. Overseas they tend to have community gardens or allotments.

there is always room to grow vegetables, hanging baskets are good for tomato's and strawwberries. ?potato bags can be brought to grow spuds in. ?many vegetables can be grown in containers without the need for a big garden.

Yes but you need quite a lot of land if you actually want to live off it for a family, and not buy many vegetables in. Also have to deal with crop rotation etc.

Vertical gardening is the answer

In one city in the US they have a trial in one city where there is a large glass building with story upon story of hydroponic gardens... could adapt that to the town house court yard.... may end up higher than the house mind you.

Could be an answer for christchurch, reinventing the garden city. The supermarket giants possibly won't like it, they make good margins on fruit an veges.

nickd

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#577240 4-Feb-2012 16:04

We have a small vege garden of about 3x3m and have been doing square foot gardening in it. It seems to work really well. You get so much more produce out of the land than when we planted it normally.

timmmay

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#577241 4-Feb-2012 16:06

nickd: We have a small vege garden of about 3x3m and have been doing square foot gardening in it. It seems to work really well. You get so much more produce out of the land than when we planted it normally.

What's square foot gardening? I have limited space as well.

keewee01

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#577251 4-Feb-2012 16:33

Square Foot Gardening (wikipedia)
Square Foot Gardening is the practice of planning small but intensively planted gardens. The phrase "square foot gardening" was popularized by Mel Bartholomew in a 1981 Rodale Press book and subsequent PBS television series. A full-length companion DVD, Square Foot Gardening (2010), was recently released in collaboration with Patti Moreno the Garden Girl. The practice combines concepts from other organic gardening methods, including a strong focus on compost, closely planted raised beds and biointensive attention to a small, clearly defined area. Proponents claim that the method is particularly well-suited for areas with poor soil, beginning gardeners or as adaptive recreation for those with disabilities.

keewee01

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#577254 4-Feb-2012 16:37

I'm limited for space, but might give the square foot thing a go next spring in one of my raised beds.

Watched an episode of the English series Gardening World a couple of weeks ago where the shows host was having a go at exhibiting veges at a sow for the first time and was getting tips from seasoned pro's (National and International show winners). It's amazing the lengths they go to - such as using special mixtures in large garbage bins for growing carrots. Very interesting and well worth a watch. Airs on Sky Living Channel.

timmmay

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#577265 4-Feb-2012 17:00

Thanks keewee, i'll check it out :)

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kingjj

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#577277 4-Feb-2012 17:17

mattwnz: Could be an answer for christchurch, reinventing the garden city. The supermarket giants possibly won't like it, they make good margins on fruit an veges.

Several years ago Canterbury Museum put on a display which featured a two story high vertical garden. If I remember correctly it included grass and small flowering plants. It used a grid similar to chicken wire to provide a base for roots and hold the soil. It was really well done, although would have be interesting trying to mow that lawn.

EDIT: 666 posts

nickd

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#577377 4-Feb-2012 23:24

Square foot gardening is all about high intensity planting as keewee says. It has crop rotation & synergistic planting included in the mix (for example, planting flowers in one of the squares to attract bees into the garden). Check out your local library, there are a couple of good books going around about it.

timmmay

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#577465 5-Feb-2012 10:29

I've ordered the book from the library, thanks :)

SepticSceptic

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#577809 6-Feb-2012 11:48

The growing season is in full swing - has anyone noticed an increase of blight on their tomatoes and spuds ? Possibly due to these continually overcast and damp conditions ?

Particularly on the mature leaves - starts as a spot that gets bigger and bigger, and then dries, then the leaves curl up and die. Leaf stems and plant stalks afflicted by black spots and streaks ?

Trying to battle this with a systemic fungicide, and cutting out and burning the infected leaves and setting fruits.

Hammerer

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#577820 6-Feb-2012 12:30

Not in the Wellington area. We've had a lot of wind so even when it has been humid there hasn't been much chance for those sorts of problems to get a firm foothold.

We have had heaps of weeds growing - my wife's out there clearing them right now. Every few weeks our veges becomes indistinguishable from the weeds. Our ornamental gardens have had no problems because there's no clear ground for the weeds to get established.

If anyone is visiting Hamilton, I suggest that they visit Hamilton Gardens. I go there every chance I can. They have various theme gardens that are well worth visiting. The Productive Gardens are my favourites although the largest, the Kitchen Garden, is sometimes locked presumably because people steal from it:

pctek

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#750178 24-Jan-2013 13:25

My water bill has gone from around $60 a month to $139.
This is because of the garden watering.

I don't object to the water charge but they are charging me 78% of the water use for wastewater - at $2.28kl.
So another words.......the water on the garden is being charged as if it were going down the waste drains also.

When it was part of the rates, wastewater was a fixed charge of around $450 a year. So now it's doubled.

I contacted watercare who say they have numerous calls about it.
What are they going to do?

They say I can get a water tank - sure, I don't have the thousands of dollars for one of them. I know what they cost...

Or I can get a second meter hooked up so that it just monitors water use to hoses, and therefore would not occur the water charge.
Excellent, went off and checked prices.

The Socam 20mm meter (they use) is $144.50 + GST.
Ring them back, no, we are not allowed to install it ourselves, we must have them do it.

So I have to apply and get a quote.

Quote is:
WATER METER FOR IRRIGATION $1,180.00
WATER AND/OR WASTEWATER CONNECTION PROCESSING $122.61

Total <Excl GST> $1,302.61
GST (15%) $195.39
Total After Tax $1,498.00

This quote after ridiculous emails back and forth asking me to send drawings, mark where it shhould go (I don't have a choice, they specify where it must go), and then get me to mark where the existing meter is on their photo.
I do this and remind them they know this already, they read it every 2 months.

Why the price on quote? Well the meter must have a backflow device. Actually, no it doesn't, they just insist it does.
Also this does not include the pipes from the meter to our hoses, we have to arrange this with our plumber. So add that onto it to.

So why the price? Because.

Bloody ripoff.

Husband rang them and one other thing they said, was as our section is only 500sqm, we couldn't have much of a garden anyway.

Pics: http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/432682/9/?s=df796586f8779f944d84ac1201caed53

nickb800

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#750191 24-Jan-2013 13:42

pctek:
They say I can get a water tank - sure, I don't have the thousands of dollars for one of them. I know what they cost...

Its worth running the numbers on a water tank - initial cost, running cost (power if it needs a pump/cant be gravity fed), amount of water used, average rainfall, roof area, watercare variable charge - to look at it as an investment case. Especially if they are charging your water use to take into account wastewater utilisation then it might stack up pretty well.

I found that with our underground rainwater tank, although it required a pump which cost approx $0.10/m3 in electricity, this compared favourably to $1.10/m3 water charge that is being introduced in our area (Kapiti). In our case the council requires either a greywater system or rainwater tank with all new builds (and we weren't allowed to discharge stormwater to the city system) so the investment case point was moot.

geek4me

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#750198 24-Jan-2013 13:48

Wow, not cheap. Your idea of a water tank for the garden sounds great. We had one in our previous home that could be filled from the roof (or a garden hose). They don't have to cost thousands. A 500 lire tank can cost under $400 at http://coastalspouting.co.nz/page/Rainwater_Tanks Trade Me has good prices too.

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