These are the 5 main ways I use to make new plants from old and 7 very useful tips.

I’m always bringing home snips of plants to add into my garden and over the years my garden has been the source of 10,000s of cuttings – for friends and family, and for people who attend my workshops and tours.

Check out another post I wrote about how to propagate edible plants. It also includes a 10 minute how-to film – 5 easy ways to propagate edible perennial plants.

Next Masterclass:

Masterclass #20: Marine Permaculture with Brian von Herzen, PhD of the Climate Foundation

The post How to propagate edible plants with Morag Gamble appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

You are not alone! Over 1700 people registered to join my free permaculture masterclass in August 2019. The topic was “How to Cultivate your design eye and see the possibilities“.

Lots of people share your frustration and of knowing where to begin.

I receive many questions around this topic and in this session, I hope to demystify the design process and help you cultivate your design eye, unlock your permaculture design thinking and create great designs.

Click here to watch the August masterclass on how to start a permaculture design.

Monthly Masterclasses

This recording is part of my free monthly permaculture masterclass series. On the last Monday of every month I offer a free online class on a permaculture topic that has been nominated by participants of the Permaculture Educators’ Program and previous masterclass attendees.

The September 2019 masterclass will be focussed on permaculture strategies to add carbon into the soil.

Get your invitation to the next masterclasses

Sign up to be notified of any new masterclasses. They are all free.

Related youtube clips to help you design your permaculture garden:

 Reference

This book was mentioned in the masterclass: Landscape Graphics, Grant Reid

Be guided in creating a design for your place. Learn with Morag

• Permaculture Educators’ Program . A comprehensive online program including Permaculture Design Certificate and Permaculture Teacher Certificate .
• The Incredible Edible Garden: online permaculture gardening course

These programs are designed to help you create your thriving permaculture garden, life and livelihood. Click the links above to find out more.

The post How to start a permaculture design. Morag Gamble’s Permaculture Masterclass #17 appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

The no dig garden for my salad greens and herbs needed replenishing. It’s been about 12 months since it was last done and today was a perfect day for this job. It’s been raining for almost a week and the soil is so soft now. Luckily I forked the ground a while back and top dressed with mulch – this has helped to collect a lot more water into the garden area – meaning I didn’t actually need to water as we made this bed today.

Not that long ago this area was a building site – compacted and dry from having the weight of so much timber and materials for the house laid there, as well as bobcats and diggers wheeling over it creating the cut for the house and trenching for services.  Amazingly the garden has done well, but it does need a few goes at the no-dig layers before the soil life really comes alive.

Considering what we started with, the soil is looking great now – it is incredibly different to just 12 months ago. There were so many worms too!  I’ve used this method in restoring some really degraded soils in many kitchen, school and community gardens with great results. Here’s link to a previous blog post with full details on how I create no dig gardens.

With this new addition of compost, mulch and love my refreshed salad, cutting greens and herb garden will flourish! Lots more healthy fresh salad greens coming in just a couple of weeks.

It was a perfect overcast afternoon after a week of rain to get in and do some gardening. I needed to redo this area of my garden. It is my main area for salads, herbs and greens.   In preparing it for more compost and mulch, I removed a couple of creeping weeds, collected lots of seeds (amaranth, cosmos, marigold), took many herb cuttings and checked on the soil health.

A little forking to ensure the soil was nice and open. It is amazingly soft soil after the recent rains. I had to be careful with those tines – there were so many big worms in there.

 

I top-dressed the garden with compost made just uphill from the garden area (easy to wheelbarrow down).  I reshaped the keyhole paths to ensure they would be good rainwater collectors.  My aim is to have little paths and lots of garden. These narrow little paths are close enough so I can reach into the garden areas without stepping on the soil. My wider paths for the wheelbarrow are along contour helping also to collect and redirect water to the beds.

Lucas, a WWOOFer (work-exchange volunteer) from Sweden, is helping to add the newspaper layer as a weed barrier. He took an online PDC & is now in Australia to see it in practice and to learn how to set up abundant perennial food systems. The newspaper layer here will stop most weeds coming up in this garden. Note that we started at the upper end of the slope so that as future rain falls on this garden, it will be directed under the paper layers into the soil, rather than being shed by tiles of paper.

Paper layers are typically 10 sheets thick, soaked in water and overlapped about 10 cms in each direction. We paper up around perennials and herbs staying in the garden area. We paper the pathways too.

Finishing up the garden after dinner – adding the final layer of mulch (our only purchased ingredient). Great to have everyone out helping!

The thick layer of mulch being settled in with a spraying of water by Hugh. Ready for planting tomorrow!

 

The post Replenishing a No Dig Garden after 12 months appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

My No Dig Garden Method is Different.

• The compost layer integrates more rapidly with the existing soil. 
• Soil flora and fauna quickly get to work without the barrier in between. 
• The compost layer stays a more moist and stable temperature under the paper layer. 
• The newspaper layer prevents weeds from growing in your garden, including the unwanted seeds from your compost. (Unless you are a master composter, there will be seeds in your compost). 
• Less nutrients from the compost are evaporated and lost. 
• Roots of plants can penetrate directly into the soil so stay hydrated longer, can access minerals and have increased resilience and stability. 

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

Step 1: LOCATE YOUR GARDEN 

• Select garden site – close to the kitchen with 6-8 hours sun/day. 
• Start small. Keep adding later as you gather more resources. 
• Mark out garden edges and pathways.Cut grasses and weeds, and leave them on top. The leaves and roots add organic matter. When the roots die channels open up for air and water. 
• Water the area well – or preferably construct after a good rain. 

Identify a good site for your garden and gather the resources.

 

• Open soil with a garden fork, but do not turn. Push the fork into the ground as far as it will go and pull back gently to open and raise the soil. With the increased activity of soil life, the fork will go much deeper next year. 
• Sprinkle high nitrogen materials such as chicken manure and fresh non-meat kitchen scraps. 
• Water in with diluted liquid manure. 

Opening the soil.

Step 3: MAKE NEW TOPSOIL LAYER 

• Add 10-15 cms of compost and water in. This becomes the new topsoil. 
• Use what you can find locally and preferably recycled from your own on- site waste materials. Homemade compost mixed with worm castings are excellent for the soil and plants. Aged manure and mushroom compost are also good. 
• Bulk the compost layer by adding ripped leaves of comfrey, canna, pigeon pea or any abundant leafy green available – but not pine, eucalyptus or other oily leaves. If using lots of fresh leaves or manure, wait a couple of weeks before planting because the heat generated may burn seedlings. 

Adding organic matter, compost, manure, liquid fertiliser, comfrey leaves… materials for the new topsoil. Note the little keyhole pathways that are designed to collect water and direct it into the garden.

 

Water this all in well before adding the newspaper layer.

Step 4: ADD A WEED BARRIER

• Add a biodegradable weed barrier to prevent weeds from coming up in your garden. 
• Use moist newspaper about 10-15 sheets thick. Cardboard is too thick. Soak paper thoroughly in wheelbarrow or tub of water before laying. Dry paper is hard to lay well and absorbs moisture from the soil. 
• Overlap the paper 10 cms in each direction allowing for movement when planting through the weed barrier layer. 
• Before mulching, check for gaps and cover them up. If there’s a hole, the weeds will find it – they’ll be searching for the light. 
• Remember to paper your paths and edges too. 

Adding wet newspaper, making sure to overlap it well. It is a good idea to lay it so that water is directed under the paper (e.g.: the opposite of roof tiles which shed water).

 

Tuck it into the sides well to prevent weeds coming through here. Paper the pathways too.

Step 5: MULCH MULCH MULCH! 

• Add a thick layer of SEED-FREE mulch (15 cms) over weed barrier – beds and paths. 
• Place anything containing seeds (not wanted in your garden) under the weed barrier. 
• The mulch will eventually become part of your new topsoil, but in the process will be providing soil protection and insulation and help to conserve water. 

Completely cover with a thick layer of seed-free mulch so that you cannot see any paper showing through.

Step 6: PLANTING AND WATERING

• Select a diversity of seasonal and perennial vegetables, herbs and flowers for a polycultural kitchen garden. 
• Consider the size and growth form of each plant when planning where to place each seedling/seed. 
• To plant, make a birds nest in the mulch to reveal the paper. Poke a hole through the paper with a transplanter and check that the soil is loose below. 
• Add a handful of compost in the hole to the level of the weed barrier/paper. 
• Plant the seedling or large seed into the compost. Press gently to make sure the seedling is firmly planted. 
• Bring the mulch back around the seedling, but not touching it. The mulch provides protection for the young seedling until it emerges. 
• Water into the individual holes and check once again that the seedlings are firmly in the compost. 
• To plant small seeds (eg: carrots), open the mulch along a line, slice paper and lift back a little. Add compost and sprinkle the seeds. Mix seeds with coffee grounds to help spread, and give seeds a good start. 

Make little holes in the mulch and paper (like a nest). Plant through the paper into the new soil layer below – adding a good handful of compost to bed the seedling in.

TIPS FOR MAINTAINING YOUR NO-DIG GARDEN 

1. Water only when necessary. Feel under the mulch first. Overwatering causes shallow root growth and seeds from overwatered plants expect lots of water. 
2. Mix herbs and flowers amongst the vegetables to assist with pest management. 
3. Pull out emergent weeds before they seed or spread. 
4. Prepare more compost, while the garden is growing 
5. When a plant is removed, add a handful of compost in it’s hole and replace with a different plant – no need to redo the whole area. 
6. Next growing season, observe and use your judgment. Maybe top up with a new layer of compost and mulch. Perhaps fork the soil a little more. Add another layer of newspaper only when needed. 
7. Allow the perennials to remain – just mulch around them. 

The post Morag’s Simple & Successful No Dig Garden Method appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.