Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Vegetable gardening in Johannesburg

Vegetable gardening in Johannesburg may not sound like a normal career to people out there but that is exactly what I am doing. From my home in humble old Auckland Park, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa I am slowly but surely beginning a process to green the earth. I am planting at schools, private homes and businesses all over Gauteng. Certainly keeping myself busy. It seems that everyone wants to learn about vegetable gardening the organic way. To that end I am working on a book, that's aside from all this blogging.
https://sites.google.com/site/growyofood/  no that's not where you will find the book, at least not yet, but you can read all about Positive Cycle and the amazing work we do.

Vegetable gardening in Johannesburg

  
I found this gigantic brown mushroom while gardening in Johannesburg.

Anyone gardening in Johannesburg who sees this in their garden can be very glad indeed.
Mushrooms are a bit like canaries in mines, they won't be around if the conditions are not good.
Mushrooms help to break down organic material like wood into usable molecules (phosphorous,potassium and nitrogen for starters) for plant roots to absorb and turn into strong healthy vegetables.
If mushrooms are present it means you have achieved nutrient rich soil of stable moisture and temperature levels and you can expect everything else to start growing like a monster too.
Little tricks of the trade like this are what make gardening so very stimulating. 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Who says vegetable gardening in Johannesburg is ugly?
The Positive Cycle vegetable garden in Johannesburg is one of the most beautiful out and guess what, it is mainly edible.

Organic gardening in Johannesburg.

Spring has well and truly sprung and doing my rounds of the organic gardening in Johannesburg and surrounds that I oversee is proving hot and thirsty work. This is the time of year when not only gardeners, but their worst enemies the pest species are thrilled at all the growth in the vegetable garden.Strawberries will be attacked by sap beetles if you give them half a chance and watch the moisture levels because predicting the temperature and wind is not so easy as we heat up toward summer. I often think how wonderful it is that organic gardening is becoming so very popular in Johannesburg. Not only is Johannesburg the largest man made forest, it might just be on its way to becoming the largest urban farm too.