Gardening/School gardening thread

[BigTransformerTrev]

Well Swan Hill was officially the driest place in the state in 2015, no wonder none of my plants did great

The other week we had five days straight of 41 degrees! Now we have a blue-green algae alert on which means I have to water like mad and then try and get my dam refilled before it reaches our area. If we get it in our dam it makes all the water unuseable except for watering lawns. Any food plants watered with it can no longer be eaten and you cant use it for animal water or even let it touch your skin which would completely stuff us as we use our dam water for everything in the house bar drinking

[morg176]

Trying to get another garden started at school. don't have the same one as last year, but have (with another teacher) taken over an abandoned garden from last year.
About 14 raised beds (8 1m squares + 6 1m diameter metal). But soil isnt great and there is alot of debris in it.

Also, some, if not most of the raised garden beds are made of only pallet wood, splinters amany and some need repair.

Was also thinking of making a larger soil sifter/grader to sort the soil, because we do need to get more for the gardens.

Vegetables, strawberries and some flowers to attract the bees.

Ideas and thoughts

[BigTransformerTrev]

Trying to get another garden started at school. don't have the same one as last year, but have (with another teacher) taken over an abandoned garden from last year.
About 14 raised beds (8 1m squares + 6 1m diameter metal). But soil isnt great and there is alot of debris in it.

Also, some, if not most of the raised garden beds are made of only pallet wood, splinters amany and some need repair.

Was also thinking of making a larger soil sifter/grader to sort the soil, because we do need to get more for the gardens.

Vegetables, strawberries and some flowers to attract the bees.

Ideas and thoughts

You won't get much from Strawberry plants this time of year - wait till spring to plant those.

Decide what veges you wanna plant first then companion plant flowers to match. For instance if you plant cabbages some types of flowers will repel cabbage moths while others will attract them.

Snow peas this time of year will increase the nitrogen in your soil a treat! But you will have to built lattices for them to climb.

Root vegetables are a very safe bet to get a good return such as beetroot and carrots.

If your soil isn't great chuck some bags of fertiliser in to start with and give the veges a fortnightly dose of seaweed juice. But I run a composting program at my school and that can pay off in the long term.

[morg176]

The strawberries were running like crazy, and I got alot of free, albeit small, plants. Not caring about the actual fruits, I just like then cause they send runners out everywhere

As far as the soil goes it isnt anything much. There is alot of small debris and the occasional plastic and small branch. Got most of the large stuff out and most of the grass/abandoned plant attempt. But I think it still needs sifting/sieving. And it gives the kids something to do if too many show up to help.

My biggest expense last year with my gardenbox project was the seedlings, unless you buy the really big mega punnets, but they aren't around much. And seeds do take forever.
Thoughts...

[morg176]

I had an idea about the gardening at school. Having planter boxes on castors would have advantages when a mobile garden is called for, even if just when moving classes at the end of the year. Or being casual and not having your own class, having boxes that could be moved or disassembled if needed, would be an advantage to me.

The problem is the cost

I was thinking of a 1200 x 600 box on casters
Suppose it would have to be 300 deep

I know stuff all about carpentry,
What would you suggest are my options

EDIT: it would appear that a 1200 x 600 x 300 planter box is out of the question cost wise.
Hell even a 1200 x 300 x 300 deep may cost too much. And the casters aren't cheap either. Many have said it will cost $60 - $80 to build this. It does my head in. A large sleeper based raised garden bed only costs $80


Spoke to someone at bunnings today and they suggested marine ply, which again is not cheap, but will last a few years at least.

It seemed like a simple idea, but it stalls at every turn...

I just want to garden with the students.

Styrofoam fruitboxes are the backup plan

[morg176]

Well finally after looking for materials and trying to find tools and fixing one or two hiccups along the way...

I got the prototype rolling planter box built.

1200 x 300 x 200 deep.
Cheap cast iron casters
All exposed ply covered with a sealant

Some weed mat, dirt and seedlinds and it's on
Thanks for all the advice and support

[5FDP]

Picked up a tree and 3 shrubs from the Hawkesbury Show a couple of weeks ago. They were all free from council. The tree is to replace our large one that came down last January in a storm and the shrubs are going out the back. Just gotta work out how to keep the dog away from them (he's a digger).

[BigTransformerTrev]

Picked up a tree and 3 shrubs from the Hawkesbury Show a couple of weeks ago. They were all free from council. The tree is to replace our large one that came down last January in a storm and the shrubs are going out the back. Just gotta work out how to keep the dog away from them (he's a digger).

3 wooden stakes in a triangle around each new plant and either some green shade cloth or some hessian sacking stapled around them

Thanks for all the advice and support

And thanks for your positive feedback on my website

[BigTransformerTrev]

Geex, sometimes I get a stark reminder of what kind of school I work at. We were planting spring onions, I showed some students how to do it then went off to help others. I came back to find they had planted all the plants upside down because 'the roots make the plants look like they have hairy heads'

On my own farm this week I've planted 5 River Red Gums and 2 Pomegranete tree's

[BigTransformerTrev]

On the long weekend I planted two different types of self-pollinating cherry trees, a pear tree to pollinate our existing one and transplanted my bay leaf tree and blueberry bush to new spots to see if they will grow better come the spring.