Author Archives: Owen

This year i really want to make my garden into a den! A garden is not just a place to grow vegetables, it is a human habitat and can be an extension of a home. My garden currently consists of 3 main beds, a coldframe, a pond, benches, a climbing frame, paths, composts and imoContinue reading “Garden Habitat”

Rocks in the garden = Minerals in our diet Here is why we often remove stones from the garden:– Easier cultivation– Keeping root vegetables straight– Easier on the hands– No gaps in growth Here is why we need to keep the stones:– a source material for minerals and nutrients– keeping air gaps and preventing soilContinue reading “Unthrowable Rock”

The ideal of water retention in the garden. Water is a nutrient so we need it for the plants, however too much water damages plants and destroys soil. I could get a little umbrella for each plant in my garden when it rains or give them each a waterbottle in hot weather but this increasesContinue reading “Overflowing”

How to grow plants and not weeds. The soil always tries to cover itself with something. You can fight it or give it what it needs. The argument often looks like this, Me: Ground, i want you to grow this plant as i do not like or cant eat your plants. So i will takeContinue reading “Specific Growth”

Why mulch especially woodchip can be a problem if used incorrectly. The two problems are acidity and nitrogen fixing which you may find in a woodland also. This is due to wood or harder organic matter decomposing under the soil where microbes take longer to digest the material causing nitrogen to be used up andContinue reading “Woodchip Indigestion”

Your hard work can make nature redundant… Imagine a car on a road on a hill about to go down, it free-wheels down and builds momentum, reaches the bottom and starts to ascend the next hill with it’s momentum. However this car has no engine and shortly loses it’s speed. So you start to pushContinue reading “Engined Gardens”

The micro climate kept within your garden is benefitted by a microbe/insect and plant exchange via cycling oxygen and c02 or via decomposition. A micro-climate harbours life and is key to the garden. Even when the plants are harvested an eco-system can still be kept within the mulch and compost ready for it’s next expansionContinue reading “Garden Climate”

The use of gaps in the garden. Referring to walkways, borders, weed barriers and rises. The reasons why we have these divides is usually due to our interaction with the garden such as walkways to water and weed the garden or borders to shape the garden design or raised beds to contain soil and restContinue reading “The use of gaps in the garden”

Does a garden puke? Have you seen a garden puke? Should a garden puke? Puke or Defecate depending on where your standing in forms such as mud, water throughflow and leeching. 🤮 No-dig gardens often retain a measure of water and drain excess at a steady rate. This means they puke less but digest thierContinue reading “Garden Puke”

Why cover soil? One of my main goals in life is to stay alive, luckily the soil contains what i need to stay alive however, strangely i can not eat soil and live. Recognising i am part of a larger system of eating living things that also share my goal of life i need toContinue reading “Why cover soil?”