This book has changed our lives.
Written for Australian conditions, Linda Woodrow’s brilliant text for turning a suburban backyard into a self-sufficient organic garden is full of really clever ideas. I thought I’d share just one of them with you today.
One of the tenets of Linda’s plan is to plant out advanced seedlings – doing so not only ensures that they’re more likely to survive an attack from marauding pests, but it also reduces the amount of time plants have to spend in the ground. This in turn enables the garden beds to be planted out up to four times a year.
The seedlings are raised in recycled square-bottomed two-litre milk containers. Smaller cartons could be used, but the two-litre size enables the seedlings to grow larger before planting out.
The tops and bottoms are cut off the washed containers, then they’re placed side by side in polystyrene boxes and packed with growing mix. Some seedlings need to be germinated in seed raising mix first and then transferred to these larger punnets, but bigger seeds can be sown directly. Here are some sunflowers that we started last week…
Once the seedlings are large enough, they’re put straight into the ground and the plastic slides right off, with absolutely no transplant shock. If necessary, the sleeve can be left half-on for a week or two to protect the plant from snails and slugs as it settles in.
I took some photos as we were planting out strawberries last week. Every time we’re working in the garden, I find myself humming the A-Team theme song. Linda’s guide is so well thought out, and I really do love it when a plan comes together…
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
How lovely to see what you are up to in the garden ! Bet you’re going to get loads of us telling you what we do now…. :)
I have seen something similar with people planing seedings in half strips of guttering and then they slide the whole row out. But who has room for acres of half strips of guttering in their suburban spaces? the milk cartons seem like a more flexible option in all senses of the word. Only we don’t buy those big containers..
We have a little wooden gadget that lets you make seed pots out of newspaper which again you can just plant direct into the soil as it will rot away. Google ‘wooden seed pot maker’ and you will find it. Good for beans and seeds with long tap roots.
Jo, the newspaper pots are a big thing here too – I’ve watched them being made now on a couple of gardening shows. Great idea, but the problem is they’re too small for what we need – we need to seedlings to grow to a much larger size if we’re going to get the maximum number of plantings from our little backyard garden beds. The large milk containers mean we should be able to grow, for example, up to 300 ears of corn next year in successive plantings.
We don’t buy big milk cartons either, but we were able to beg them from our friend Manny at the coffee shop! He gave us 70!
Very impressive stuff – but what’s with the A-Team theme song?
AMAZING…..I think I need to get that book and give this a try!
Thanks!
Judy
this is all very interesting stuff for me. when we bought this house i loved it, but i couldn’t foresee then i’d become so intent on planting a garden. we need a bigger backyard! it was difficult choosing plants, i don’t have room for half the things i want to grow myself. what i miss most: the raspberry bushes that lined the back fence of the garden when i was growing up. we had raspberries all summer long. sigh.
‘Good planting’ as Dora the Explorer might say. Or since you are in an A-Team mood ‘Pity the fool who messes with these strawberries’ :-)
Anna, I’m a lifelong fan. Call me a nerd. ;-)
Gill, you made me laugh! We’ve just been to see the new movie…
Jude, you’d probably like the book – I think Santiago and Sydney are almost the same latitude (33 deg. south of the equator!), so we might have a similar climate?
Dana, this is why the big milk cartons are such a good idea. In theory, they will let us plant more in the backyard, because the plants don’t need to go into the soil as early. We certainly don’t have a huge backyard, but this plan should give us more vegetables next year than we can eat! What we did do (which I know is hard if you have small children) is completely get rid of the back lawn. It’s surprising how much space we all give over to growing grass! :)
Did you grow those strawberry plants from seed?
Heidi, we were given a couple of strawberry plants, but they’re so expensive here – $7 each. Pete grew the ones we planted out from runners off the original ones.
Nice to see you are fellow Australian!! Mwah oxo
Likewise! I’m sure it’s much warmer in Brissie than here though! :)
Love the idea of the bottomless milk cartons. Fantastic idea. So simple. how do you go when removing them from the box though. Does the soil tend to fall out as you lift them from the box or doe the root ball stay together at that stage or is there some special trick?
Celia, do you watch Costa’s Garden Odyssey? :D he did some episodes on permaculture. It was so interesting! :o
This is such a clever way to get more from a home veggie garden. Your life, spending so much time and effort on self sufficiency, sounds so appealing (although obviously lots of work involved).
I haven’t returned to my veggie gardening properly since my little one was born almost 3 years ago but I’m itching to get back to it.
Oh and I meant to ask about the strawberries – I didn’t realise this was the planting time for them. I thought they were summer fruit?
Frances, no – the growing mix seems to stay put. Of course, you can’t really lift them out and give them a good shake, but for moving the seedlings out of the box into the ground, it all stays pretty intact. The root ball helps, but I think also the fact the mix has been watered in over a few weeks as the seedlings grow makes a difference too. It’s a bit like when you transplant from a flower pot – the mix holds together when you tip the plant out. In this case though the big advantage is the absolute lack of transplant shock!
Lorraine, I have watched Costa and have the dvds. Must go back and see what he says about permaculture gardening – thanks!
Sarah, thank you – it is all great fun! And Linda’s plan is just so well thought out – I love that – if you get a chance, do have a look at her book. Re the strawberries, apparently you can plant them out in winter for a summer crop. We’ve only planted a couple, so we’ll have to wait and see how it all goes. We have some fruit on the ones we planted earlier, but the slugs keep getting to them before they ripen!
All looks like great beginnings Celia. In a years time, you won’t be able to recognise your backyard.
I love Costa. Its hard not be enthusiastic about backyard gardening when he is on- a very passionate man.
Have you had a look at Happy Earth blog? What they did to a suburban backyard is truly inspiring.
Cheers, Brydie, I’ll have a look! :)
Oh, yes, oh yes, this book IS a lifechanger!! I’m so glad to have found another ‘dome gardener’, Celia. Love the book, the concept AND the execution. Like you said, a great plan coming together. Did you know that Linda keeps a blog? It has a little about what she is growing and lots about what she is cooking from her garden. The blog is called “The Witches Kitchen” (it’s listed in my sidebar if you want to take a look). It’s nice to ‘see’ Linda online.
I look watching your garden grow! :o)
oops, that was meant to be “look forward’ to watching your garden grow.
Oh, and add another to the Costa Appreciation Society!
Christine, thank you so much for the link! I’ve been looking for Linda’s blog, but hadn’t been able to find it!