1. Good Organic Gardening - January-February 2016

Earthy Tips | SHORT SHOOTS
10
Top Tips
Clever ideas for your garden
Words Erina Starkey
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Seasoning
for all seasons
Got a profusion of culinary herbs
in the garden — way more than you can
use right now? Dry some and make up an
Italian herb mix you can use all year round.
Here’s a simple formula: equal parts basil,
marjoram and oregano to half parts of
rosemary and thyme. Shake well together,
store in a jar and use in pasta sauces,
soups and casseroles all year round.
Circular logic
When planting a tree, dig a
square hole at least twice the
width of the plant’s rootball. A round
hole will encourage roots to grow in
a restricting circular motion, whereas
a square hole will encourage the roots
to grow outwards, allowing the plant to
tap into nutrients from the surrounding
ground. To give the plant a helping hand,
tease out the roots on all sides before you
pop it in the soil.
Scrunchies save
wildlife
A recent study has found that
putting a colourful hair scrunchie as a
collar on cats will reduce the number of
wildlife they kill by more than half. Most
owners place bells on their cats, but this
isn’t always effective as cats can learn to
move in a way that doesn’t disturb the bell.
Bright colours are very noticeable to birds
and the colourful scrunchie allows cats to
be spotted further away, giving birds more
time to escape.
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Home healing
It’s always handy to have a pot
of aloe vera growing in the
garden to serve as a healing and soothing
balm for sunburn, insect bites, stings
and skin irritations. To apply, simply slice
open a lower leaf, squeeze out the gel
and rub onto the affected area. The
slightly curved leaves at the base of the
plant are the most mature and potent,
which means they have the highest
nutritional content and therapeutic value.
Partially used leaves can be wrapped
tightly in plastic wrap or foil and stored
in the fridge for three to four days, or in the
freezer indefinitely.
A cool idea
Ice cubes can make a fantastic
slow-release watering system
to help minimise run-off. Pop a few ice
cubes in your outdoor hanging plants and
the slowly melting ice will give the plant
plenty of time to absorb the water it needs
without it draining out the bottom of the
pot and out of the drainage holes. The
melting ice will warm to room temperature
by the time it reaches the roots, so it won’t
shock the plant.
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Keep it coming
By sowing a new row of seeds every
two to three weeks you can stagger
your crops and create a more manageable
flow of produce. This ensures you have a
continuous supply of food without gluts.
Successional sowing works particularly well
for fast-growing fruit and vegetables — in
particular, those that can’t be stored longterm
like lettuce, radish, spinach and broccoli.
Win the war
on weeds
Tackle weeds as they crop up
rather than put it off. The longer you wait
the more opportunity they have to seed
and multiply and the harder they will be to
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Shutterstock, Sabrina Mellare
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