Rethinking the home garden.

For some time now we have been researching how to improve our garden and the nutritional quality of the food which we harvest from it. We realised that there was more to healthy gardening than just following organic practices; that no matter how much compost and manure etc. we added there was still issues with plant growth and pests and diseases. We studied the plants for mineral deficiencies which weakened the plants making them more susceptible to attack and tried to find ways to provide the trace elements that they needed. Seaweed was an affordable option and homemade bio char, but something was still lacking. But what?

Nature has ways of regenerating itself and man has ways of interfering with this. For example it is a well-known fact that alluvial plains are fertile, why because they are constantly replenished by flood waters depositing soil, rock and organic matter. So man farms these plains and creates protection strategies to prevent further flooding. Over time these fertile plains are depleted because the natural process has been destroyed. It is now that man resorts to importing products to provide the necessary impetus to sustain growth. It is unfortunate that often these methods cause more long term harm to the structure of the land through compaction, mineral imbalance and topsoil loss. We have seen this happen in Gisborne, where the actions of a major horticultural industry have seriously damaged the surrounding land. This is a common problem throughout the world.

So what is my point?

By preventing natural rejuvenating processes we limit the natural inputs over our land and by interrupting and ignoring the natural cycles and eco systems that nature has spent millions of years creating we are responsible for the issues we now face.

So how do we fix it?

Remineralisation, reforestation, bio diversity, food forests, mineral accumulators, these are just to get you started. It is up to each of us to find the best solution for our land and our needs. Think of your garden as an eco-system and work to find the balance between sustaining you and your family and sustaining the land itself.

We take our cues from nature, we open our minds and we learn, observe and simply be willing to try.

 

Up to now...

Morere has been our home now for just over two years. We had always visited the area because of the hot springs just down the road and knew of Possum Bend road as the possum sign was something you just couldn’t fail to miss as you shot past on the way to Napier. So when I came across the advert on Trade Me that was it, all other plans went out the window. Within a couple of months we had moved in and the hard work began….

 

Our first viewing of Possum Bend was through the proverbial rose coloured glasses, oh we saw the faults – the obvious ones; dodgy kitchen, dodgy bathroom, massive cockroaches, hideous paint choices (acid yellow should never under any circumstances be used on a kitchen ceiling.) grass up to your waist over most of the property, weather boards which needed replacing and general dodgy repairs to be re-repaired.

What we weren’t ready for was the wettest summer I can remember.

The guttering couldn’t stand up to it and the roof started to leak. Water streamed down the inside of the dining room windows. The old church, attached to the house, developed a wet corner, which then lead to mould coating the wall and cupboard. The tomatoes tried not to drown, while gardening was done in oilskin jackets and you still got soaked.

We were constantly told “it’s not normally like this,” though I did wonder as Morere bush reserve is actually one of the southern-most rainforests. Below our property the Tunanui River boiled and frothed in a seething torrent of mud and debris. This in turn brought its own disasters as our neighbours’ lost large chunks of their river banks. Two metres was shorn from our own bank to be washed out to sea, leaving a large poplar tree perched on the edge.

We passed into winter and the rain eased up a bit. Time was spent developing the infrastructure of our property, the chook coup emerged over a patch of wandering jew, a pest weed which is hard to eradicate. The chooks decimated it in no time at all and only random stragglers have dared to return. Trees were felled for fire wood and many planted in their place, though mainly fruiting trees. I realise that for many people the idea of felling for fire wood might seem wasteful, but only those trees which had no other purpose or were detrimental to the overall plan were removed. (I will talk about this in another blog one day.)

We were also developing and redeveloping our vegetable garden, this supposedly being a primary food source. I will give my first tip here plan fences very carefully; there is nothing as annoying as building a fence and then six months later moving the damn thing because you put it in the wrong place.

During this time another major issue emerged, our bathroom was rotten. The floor became soft in spots and then a hole emerged. I already couldn’t stand the dodgy little space but this made it much worse. So planning was begun for a suitable replacement. Which brings me to a very important issue, $$$$. We are by New Zealand standards living on or possibly below the poverty line. Makes me feel sorry for those who live well below our income level because I think we cope okay. But it does make renovating a tricky business, there’s no just picking up the phone and calling in the builders and the plumbers. We are the builders and the plumbers.

Dry rot on church window.

So here we are today, living on our land, trying to do up (repair) our house. It’s lucky for us that we are creative thinkers because we’ll need it….