Monday, February 20, 2012

Organic Fertilisers and why they make sense.

Fertilisers for the garden. The 'organic method' has become popular.
Entirely organic fertilisers are preferable to chemical fertilisers, which tend to offer partial and impermanent results when compared to a consistent and careful application of the organic gardener's knowledge of how to make and apply fertilser.

'Chemical soup' is undesirable because it is difficult to predict the chemical cocktails that are produced when we introduce synthesized and or extracted chemical additives to our living soil.

The idea of 'living soil' is important since the action of a fertiliser is dependent on these little guys.Microbes, and particular microbes with particular interactions with each other and the surrounding soil are important to the processes that make nutrients available to plant roots.

The twist in the tale comes in when we realise that many purportedly organic fertiliser products may be organically based but they contain a chemical additive. This doesn't help. What one is working with are living organisms and dousing them in the compounds we think they need rather than creating the conditions in which the natural chemical reactions of life takes place is the only real way to achieve balance in your soil.
The quick fix offered by certain chemical recipes is an illusion and if you fall for it you will find yourself constantly amending your soil as it just gets weaker and weaker. Organic gardening and farmng is all about helping natural processes to achieve their most productive balance.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Organic Gardening Service

Gro4u is Positive Cycle's action team. An organic gardening service. We come out to your home and assess your soil, conducting a thorough soil analysis, after which we prepare bds accordingly and plant and maintain an organic vegetable garden second to none. We plant herbs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and berries. Transforming your garden into a wonderland of culinary delights.
We like to imagine ourselves as ' the gourmet gardeners'. We also take pride in the appearance and designer garden appeal of our garden installations. It's very satisfying to make an out door space not only beautiful but productive too.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Organic Farming.

Organic Farming Workshops.
In recent years many people have begun to realise the value of growing food. Particularly organic farming methods as it has now been quite clearly established that organic yields are superior to monoculture yields. Provided you have the knowledge of what to do, this way of growing food is now the direction of the future. A great deal of work has been done toward recovering the enormous knowledge base that was so badly damaged by the advent of industrial agriculture and chemical fertilisers in the early part of the last century. Positive Cycle is proud to be able to contribute to the recovery of this essential life supporting knowledge and offers organic farming workshops at the Positive Cycle garden in Auckland Park Johannesburg.

Learning Old Ways.
Much of the knowledge of how to grow food organically has been recovered by organisations like Positive Cycle in a process of trial and error. Enough time has now been spent on this endeavour that all over the world it is now becoming possible to roll out organic farming workshops where learners have an unprecedented opportunity to learn what really works. We have made progress in leaps and bounds and are ready to share what has been learnt.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Vegetable gardening classes.

Gardening Workshops.
Positive Cycle is proudly hosting a very comprehensive set of vegetable gardening workshops. The classes run from 09h00 on Saturdays at the Positive Cycle Garden in Auckland Park, Johannesburg and end at around 15h00. An organic and sustainable method of growing your own food is taught and it is well worth it. During the day a delicious lunch is served made from the ingredients learners are being shown how to grow.

It's a fun day out and you can really learn a lot. Positive Cycle is inspired by the idea of getting people growing. In more ways than one. Growing plants can be a tremendously self affirming activity. It's a serious class though. Real permacultural principles that have been tried and tested are used. Get in touch with Positive Cycle and see if you have a green thumb too!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Positive Cycle Garden.

The joys of a well established and thriving food garden cannot be overstated. 
It revolutionises your lifestyle and puts you in a position to take charge of your health. 
Not only that but it is also so very restful to spend time in a thriving garden full of plants absorbing the sunlight and producing fresh food. Daily.

 It is nothing other than a habit to keep on going to the shops to buy food. Even if you don't have the time to prepare beds and set up organic recycling systems like compost heaps it is quite possible to find someone else to do it for you. Just think, how much of your food budget goes on produce? Vegetables and fruits, the most important part of a healthy diet can be grown in your own garden, better than they can on a farm. it is simply a question of know how.
 Positive Cycle operates a service called Gro4U.
An expert comes out to your place and assesses your garden before proposing a design for you. The design will be accompanied by a maintenance plan which can include instructing your own staff in the art of caring for a food garden.
Don't be mistaken, food gardens look very attractive too. Any visitor to the Positive Cycle garden in Auckland Park in Johannesburg can see for themselves how food plants and herbs can be used in conjunction with ornamentals and indigenous plants to create a wonderland of delights with a fully functioning ecological balance of its own. Gardening is no longer a hobby. Vegetable gardening has become an important part of many people's lives.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

growing raspberries



Raspberries make a delicious cooling sweet on a hot day or even a fantastic addition to a salad.

Growing raspberries is one of the more rewarding gardening tasks. Basic soil preparation, plenty of sunlight and a years worth of patience at the least but what a lovely thing to have. 
You must provide something for the raspberry plant to climb on as it grows.