I'm due to give an update on the Organic Farming Business that I kicked off earlier in the year and I've just hit a milestone in early Spring here in Australia so it's a good time to update the records blog. The first big news is that we had to let the rented half acre plot go over the Winter and along with that we lost our Organic Produce Certification.
Without going into too much detail, it just wasn't working out. The local markets were good but we were growing too much, having to dump our produce on the Sydney markets for peanuts and the rent was killing us. We had a few other problems with the landlords trying to co-ordinate pest and weed management and the plot had some other issues too that were not "as promised". So over the Winter we made a big pivot and decided to build our own Market Garden at home designed and managed specifically just to sell to the local community via our local markets.
For the garden nerds, this section was our first attempt at No-Till Growing and we bought in about 10 tonnes of compost with 3 cubic metres of hard wood chip and we set up drip infrastructure for this new section. This was a modest investment and it took me a couple of months to get it to this point, but it's starting to look good and production is picking up. We have 8 beds here that are 90 cm wide and about 7 metres long each. The paths are about 33 cm wide.
As of today, here's what's growing (left to right) :-
Bed 1 - One row of Lebanese Cucumbers (growing up strings) with one row of Cherry Belle Radishes and a couple of Cauliflowers.
Bed 2 - Some Dill with Paris Island Cos Lettuce and Fava Beans with some sparsely germinated Baby Carrots growing on the bed edges
Bed 3 - Spring Onions paired with Celery and Lebanese Zucchini (staked)
Bed 4 - Two patches of Mizuna with Red and Green (Golden Acre) Cabbages and more Fava Beans
Bed 5 - More Celery but mostly Sweet Corn
Bed 6 - Indeterminate Tomatoes (growing up strings). Mini Romas, Cherry Romas and Juliet varieties (all very similar - I am trying to discover a favourite)
Bed 7 - Currently empty but I'm transplanting in some Eggplant (Little Fingers) and another batch of Cos Lettuce very soon
Bed 8 - One row of Beetroot (Detroit Red) with two rows of Baby Carrots and a mixed row of Onions and Leeks
In addition to that I am planting Cayenne Chilli and Long Sweet Yellow Capsicums along the back fence which will get full sun as I hope to turn a lot of that into Chilli Flakes and Sauces for a more niche specialty. (I am a passionate Chilli lover)
This is my old bed from last year which has been connected to the beds above along the back fence. From left to right I've got a patch of Dill with more Spring Onions and Celery. Then I've got climbing Peas on the trellis fronted by some Basil and Oregano. Another patch of Mizuna and then more Detroit Red Beetroot on the far right.
On the side of the house I've got some new Raised Beds with a couple of them enclosed in mini Greenhouses. The idea here was to try and get some herbs going quickly over Winter so that we could be stocked for the Spring markets. We've got Parsley and Chives in one with Coriander, Basil, Lemongrass and Oregano in the second. The other raised beds have a mix of Baby Carrots and Radicchio with a few other random plants. I've also got my recently overwintered Chillis and Capsicums from last year in big pots and a few other experiments growing in containers that I'll move around.
Out front I've got some well established Green Curly Kale and Silverbeet (Spinach) with some more Spring Onions and I've just seeded a row of French Breakfast Radishes. That's a sole Marigold at the front there just loving life.
Finally this is my seedling collection that will be going into the ground over the next few weeks. My Cayenne and Eggplants are here with more Cabbages and Lettuce plus a few spare Tomatoes, Marigolds, Cucumbers, Coriander, Celery, Parsley, Mizuna and Capsicum. Not sure how I'll fit them all in but I'd rather have too many than not enough and I like having spares.
I've got myself a heat mat and am starting to get good at growing from seed. I'm using a mix of Peat Coir and Compost for my seedlings and while only some of my plants are heirloom varieties I'm going to start trying to harvest my own seeds as I phase toward more self-sufficiency.
Our return to the local market is just under 3 weeks away and we might be a bit light on produce but we'll put in a show. As we get deeper into Spring and Summer we should be well stocked.