Scribe Publications EASY ORGANIC GARDENING AND MOON PLANTING Lyn Bagnall has been actively involved in professional horticulture and garden design for more than 30 years, including working for two major retail nurseries in Sydney. Lyn and her husband are certified-organic farmers on a small property in the mid-north coast of New South Wales, where they grow fresh culinary herbs for market, wine grapes, and fruit and vegetables. Lyn has also written the Biological Farmers of Australia’s Organic School Gardens program for Australian primary schools, and regular articles on gardening and moon planting for a range of Australian magazines. Her magazine articles, as well as her blog at www.aussieorganicgardening.com, have been popular with both amateur gardeners and commercial growers. 2 3 Scribe Publications Pty Ltd 18–20 Edward St, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia 3056 Email: [email protected] First published by Scribe 2006 New edition (with revisions) published 2009 This updated edition published 2012 Text and illustrations copyright © Lyn Bagnall 2006, 2009, 2012 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher of this book. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data Bagnall, Lyn. Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting: updated edition with moon-planting notes from 2012 to 2017. New ed. 9781921942563 (e-book.) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Organic gardening–Australia. 2. Organic gardening–New Zealand. 3. Astrology and gardening–Calendars. 4. Planting time. 635.0484 4 www.scribepublications.com.au 5 Contents Preface 1. THE LOWDOWN ON DIRT Why is your soil so important? Soils and soil pH Earthworms Green manure and cover crops Crop rotation Companion planting 2. KEEPING SOIL HEALTHY What not to use in your garden Soil nutrients Organic fertilisers Making a compost factory Compost worm farming 3. YOUR GARDENING DIARY Gardening zones in Australia and New Zealand Moon planting Month-by-month planting and garden activity diary 4. BEDS, BOXES AND POTS Planning or renovating your garden 6 Making an instant garden Growing plants from seed Planting shrubs, trees, vines, and herbaceous perennials Container gardening 5. DROUGHT-PROOF YOUR GARDEN Efficient watering Drought conditions and water restrictions Mulching your garden Drought-tolerant plants 6. THE FOOD GARDEN Summer sun protection Shared or separate beds? Culinary herbs Popular fruits and vegetables 7. GARDEN FAVOURITES Native trees and shrubs Popular native plants Foreign favourites Plants for shady, dry areas 8. PRUNING AND PROPAGATION Types of pruning Pruning fruiting plants 7 Pruning shrubs and trees Pruning roses Propagating plants Taking cuttings Saving seed 9. SOLVING PROBLEMS NATURALLY The organic approach Friend or foe? Organic pest control Bushfire season Protecting plants from frost Repairing hail-damaged plants Organic weed control Summer and winter projects 10. MOON PHASES AND BEST GARDENING DAYS TO 2017 Glossary Bibliography 8 Preface ORGANIC GARDENING AND FARMING are particularly suited to Australia because our soils are fragile and our climate can be harsh. Australia has also been labelled ‘the driest continent on earth’. Organic cultivation repairs damaged soils by making them biologically active. As a result, soils become more moisture-retentive, resistant to erosion, able to eliminate organisms that cause plant disease, and provide, in natural form, all the nutrient minerals that plants, animals and humans require. Where soils are rich in minerals, as in New Zealand, biologically active soil gently releases essential nutrients that become locked up in soil when synthetic fertilisers have been used. Organic cultivation is just as suitable for large and small gardens, with or without vegetable patches, and for growing plants in pots as it is for farming because all plants respond positively when grown as nature intended. Your organic garden will require less watering, be stronger and healthier, more adaptable to climate change, and more resistant to pests and disease. As you will see in this book, it is easy to convert a conventional garden to organic cultivation by starting with the most important element: your soil. Step-by-step guides will show you how to make your soil biologically active, and detailed information on growing pure foods and keeping decorative parts of your garden looking beautiful have been included. The gardening diary provides an easy-to-follow routine for all aspects of organic gardening. Although written for Australia, the organic cultivation methods and gardening diary are suitable for all parts of the Southern Hemisphere, where our growing seasons are entirely different to those in the Northern Hemisphere. 9 Organic gardeners and farmers do not use synthetic fertilisers or chemical pesticides, fungicides or herbicides because these chemicals destroy or inhibit beneficial organisms in soil. Research has shown that some popular pesticides increase the incidence of asthma, while others are neurotoxins, which affect humans and animals, and can accumulate in our bodies. The neurotoxic, systemic organophosphates are of particular concern, because these pesticides cannot be removed from produce. Eliminating the use of poisons will make your entire garden a healthier place for your family, pets, soil and the birds and other beneficial wildlife that visit. Far from being old-fashioned or quaint, organic cultivation is gaining worldwide momentum as more people realise the effects that chemicals used in farming and gardening are having on our health, the quality of our food, and the environment. Although our demand for pure food has resulted in the growth of the Australian organic industry at the steady rate of 25 per cent per annum, Australia still lags far behind most developed countries in its adoption of organic cultivation. It saddens me to think that our children or grandchildren will not be able to choose pure food in future because inadequate separation distances determined by our governments for genetically engineered (GE) food crops will undoubtedly result in organic farmers losing their certification when seed, or stock and poultry feed become contaminated with GE pollen. Without certification, consumers will have no guarantee that their food is organic. Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting has evolved from my observations as a horticulturist, working and gardening in different climate zones in Australia, and from my magazine and internet articles on gardening and moon 10