Levin Branch newsletter - April 2006

10-04-2006

• Between the new moon and first quarter favours the growth of leaf crops, so for May transplant cabbage and lettuce on 3rd, 4th, 30th, 31st.
• Between the first quarter and the full moon favours maximum growth of the flower, fruit and seed bearing parts of the plant, thus sow broad beans and transplant cauliflower, strawberries and winter annuals such as alyssum, calendula, pansies and forget-me-nots on 10th, 11th and 12th.
• Prepare ground for planting trees, shrubs, roses and fruit trees.

• DON’T turn the top soil over and bury it (and the micro-organisms it contains) below the subsoil.
• To convert a pasture, Jim advocates a “grubbing” technique. He just turns the clumps of vegetation over, creating mounded rows. A process he repeats four times at fortnightly intervals. He uses a three-pronged fork with the tines bent at right angles for this, a tool he is bringing to the market.
• DON’T remove weeds from your garden. Rather, he advocates hoeing, cutting the tops off just below the surface. The tops form a mulch and the roots decompose, returning their micro-organism populations where they are needed. Again, he has a special tool for this. He uses a bricklayer’s pointing trowel, the two edges of which he sharpens to a knife edge. He carries this in a leather sheath on his belt whenever he is in the garden.
• DO compost everything. Jim always has three or more very large compost heaps maturing at any one time. He uses tied bundles of cabbage tree leaves, flax and toetoe at the base of his heap as well as tubes of rolled hurricane fence to provide channels for air to permeate his heap. He sets a new heap down by layering material he has collected in different piles, being careful to maintain a ratio of 1:20 of nitrogen to carbon-intensive materials. He includes haystack bottom material, animal manures, (he runs chickens and composts their manure which is very good when fresh for getting the temperature of the heap high), coarse material from mulching tree branches and hedge trimmings, and wood ash. The moisture level is maintained so that handfuls, when squeezed, just start to drip and stay together as a ball.
• DO allow your compost to mature, and increase its micro-organism count. Jim adds biodynamic preparations through holes made by a crowbar deep into the heap. He keeps his heaps covered using wool bale sacks.
• DON’T use mushroom or other proprietary composts, they may contain non-organic residues. Use of blood and bone can contribute to a build up of cadmium levels, a by-product of New Zealand farming’s heavy use of superphosphate and other chemical fertilisers. The heavy metal content in these fertilisers is appearing in the soft tissues of our sheep. “Hoof and horn” is a better option.