HELP!!! where do I begin?????

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by nita, Sep 3, 2005.

  1. nita

    nita New Member

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    I am new to Gardening (let alone permaculture). I have purchased a block of bare land and would like to be self sufficient. I have started going to monthly permaculture meetings in my area but have found that I am stumbling in the dark. Could someone advise me on the best place to start with learning this new way of life and language.
     
  2. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    help for Nita

    Starting from scratch is a big project, my first suggestion would be try and find a self sufficent gardener, or at least a serious gardener nearby and volunteer your labour in return for hands on advice.
    bushy
     
  3. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    g'day nita,

    you don't say what area on the sunshine coast you are in or how much land you have. i am just north of gympie not saying i know everything or even anything but would be willing to help. maybe we could communicate by e/mail and see where it goes? if you get the time read my permaculture essay on my web page it'll give you some idea where i am at. we have turned our block around in under 4 years. it can all be basic and simple and be little more than common sense.

    i do like thinking outside the square and working outside the comfort zone.

    so if you think i can help the balls in your court?

    len 8)
     
  4. sab

    sab Junior Member

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    I borrowed some videos from the Gympie library which started me off. There were two or three there. One about a mandala garden was probably the simplest to apply straight away.
     
  5. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Hi Nota,

    Good for you. Land is a god place to start.

    My advice would be to

    1 See what other people near your land are doing, have done, and what has worked for them, and what has not.
    2 Take a Permaculture Design Course! Considering that you paid for land, and that you will be living off of the choces you make now, this will be the money most well spent in terms of your eventual land use pattern. You should do this before you get started as you WILL make mistakes! A PDC helps reduce the mistakes you make.
    3 Get Bills Big Book (Permaculture Design Manual) and read it three times!
    4 Start slow, and look into the future. Think harvests i3 month, 1 year, three year, five, ten and fifteen years. Trees are good.

    Questions: is it tropical where your land is (I don't know where the Sunshine Coast is, sounds tropical to me), if so, my advice for tropical permaculture is to think trees, and relations between trees!

    I think Widgeenut, Gardenlen and Bushy all have excellent advice! If you can connect with people who have experience in your environment, work closely with them. That would be my .02

    Good luck,

    Christopher
     
  6. sab

    sab Junior Member

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    The first thing I did was started making compost. But you ought to just sit and read and plan for awhile first like Christopher said. If you bung in a vegie garden and you decide the location is not great you can always move it but it's more difficult with trees. Next I planted lots of fruit trees but in retrospect and after learning more maybe would have put them somewhere else, but they're there now. I did get some advice from a local who has the most amazing garden in the area and he suggested taking out the gum trees near the house and where I wanted my fruit trees to grow because they'd suck all the water away from the fruit trees so I did that. It cost a bundle and was a lot of extra work. If I'd had more money I would've mulched them but we were scraping at that time - having just secured a home loan.
     
  7. baleboy

    baleboy Junior Member

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    pdc

    i agree with spending he money and doing a permaculture design course

    it really will give you a good grounding not just about plants andcompost and stuff but more imoprtantly about doinf a wholistic plan of the site

    just remember start at you back door and get that happening and manageble

    then move out from there other wise you might lose your motivation and give up

    you have a lot of work ahead of you but it will be amazing where you see it start to grow


    baleboy
     
  8. nita

    nita New Member

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    I want to say thanks to all of you out there who have given me some very sound advice. There is definitely "wisdom in a multitude of councellors". I liked and will take on board all your advice. I did neglect to say that I'm in Kin Kin on the Sunshine Coast and have 5 acres. Many thanks once again.
     
  9. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    that's ok nita,

    you are welcome to call inand have a look at waht we ahve achieved anytime you are passing by.

    len :D
     
  10. hedwig

    hedwig Junior Member

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    I am a very new gardener as well. We started four month ago. I could not wait and tried to plant, but not with many succes. Now I have MUCH more sucess, the things seem to explode recently, for the warmer weather and for the compost.
    Bevore designing, planting courses, I would constuct a compost bin - if you haven't got the material a heap is sufficient ,but a bin is much better (heating airing). Try to collect as much organic wate as you can (eighbours collegues....). Turn the stuff reguarally and it wont't take long. Meanwhile you can raise seedlings.
    good luck!
     
  11. derek

    derek Junior Member

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    Hi

    I started my small patch aroun 4 years ago and have made heaps of mistakes - but, of course, I learnt heaps from all of them. Some of my lessons:

    - Think 2 or 3 crops ahead. Harvest time for one crop is not the time to start thinking about putting in the next one. You need to prepare or even under-sow the next crop well in advance

    - Repeating some of the other posts in this thread, think very carefully about where you want to plant trees. I planted many of mine in awkward positions which seemed fine at the time of planting but less desirable once the trees grew and the garden expanded around them.

    - Never underestimate the power and destruction of snails and slugs. They can decimate a crop in no time. You need to think about how you can protect your seedlings from the very beginning - I've found beer traps the best

    - Mulching is the best thing for your soil. Never skimp on the amount of mulch you use and never stop adding new mulch as the old stuff breaks down.

    - Newspaper/cardboard used as a thick weet mat under new gardens is worth the effort.

    Good luck with your new adventure.

    Derek
     
  12. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Hi Nita
    Like yourself I got into Permaclture without knowing anything about gardening...I thought Back gardens were for Hanging out the washing and having BBQs for years lolol.
    After I saw the light,I went to local libarary,Newsagents,bookshops etc etc.In my search for Permie/organic information. xmas and birthdays helped to as presents of gardening books are even cheaper.
    I also checked newspapers for info on organic groups etc and went,saw,and learned my way through,still learning after 15 years though.
    I now say, that if i was to start off again with gardening. Id Learn about Permaculture/organic as the conventional books have a strong habit of putting people off,I think id have to be a rocket scientist to understand it all...Conventional seems so HARD,with soooooo many Pitfalls.Permculture
    makes it sound so much easier, especially if using the tried and trusted method expoused by Bill Mollison.
    My first book i bought was Organic Gardening By Peter Bennett. A respected Aussie .....An Excellent Book Lotsa Pics easy to read..
    2nd book Natural Gardening and Farming in Australia By Jeffrey Hodges..
    Both These Books are invaluble to myself and are what i call my garden Bibles...
    I suppose it all Boils down to .."What do you want to know"
    Whats your interests?Where do you live?How much money you got?
    etc etc.................I learnt lots at the start and just put aside what i couldnt do then till another day,Those days do get here lol.
    In my early days ,i just wanted to grow healthy vegies.
    These days Im out To change the world as well..

    Its a Pity We dont have a yellow pages(green Pages) so its much easier to find the relavent info or buisness a lot easier.Im sure there are hundreds of little Permies out there, who think the same when requiring various goods or services....Alltough this board is an excellent way of geting like mindeds togetherIts great chatting/arguing with others from other side of our planet for next to nothing....Where/how else does this happen?

    Tezza
     
  13. Rob6014

    Rob6014 Junior Member

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    Start small and start slowly. Starting from scratch can be a bit overwhelming. Look at the area and in your mind (or on paper) plan the hard surfaces first ie - where are the paths and things going to go. Shed? Seats, chook pen, fence? Do don't have to build them now, but have a space in mind. Next plan where the trees are to go. Think about the view from the house. There is nothing wrong with making it attractive. Junk at the front won't entice you out into the garden. Think about a spot to have those home-grown lunches. :) You can 'build' a wonderful shady spot with grape vines - train them up a post and along wires overhead. Cheap, beautiful and productive. Now fit garden beds around your structures. List all the things you want to have in your garden and what you want to use it for. Have fun - and remember that a garden is not permanent - you can move plants, trees, paths and sheds if they don't work where they are.
     
  14. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    yeah rock on robbie

    Tezza
     

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