From a humble veggie patch... a bountiful harvest!

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Just... begin it.







Fresh picked this morning from my vegetable garden

Tuscan kale, eggplants (Eggplant Especial), lettuce leaves (Buttercrunch, Lollo Rosso, Red Oakleaf and Green Mignonette), honey snap peas, a few leaves of mustard greens (Red Giant), red spinach leaves, silverbeet leaves (Rainbow variety), Mushroom Plant leaves, cherry tomatoes (Sweet Bite), parsley, coriander, basil (Lemon and Spicy Globe), pansy flowers, viola flowers and calendula flowers.



Reaping the rewards from my herb and vegetable garden

How to Begin a Kitchen Garden... a Few Tips

• Keep it simple start off with a couple of your favourite herbs or a punnet of lettuce seedlings and a tomato plant, for example.  
• Plant in pots to begin with, so you can move them around and see where in your garden it is that your plants grow best. 
• Use good quality soil - plants need sunlight, water and soil that is biodynamic... the soil needs to be "alive" and healthy in order for your plants to thrive.  I cannot stress enough the importance of quality soil... I am planning to write a whole post on this!
• Feed regularly with a seaweed or fish emulsion (I use "Seasol" every fornight on my plants... they are thriving!).  You need to fertilise regularly, as well (I use "Powerfeed" once a month on my plants, and for my citrus trees I use an Osmocote slow release fertiliser)
• Five minutes a day - is all you will need to tend to a few herbs and a couple of vegetable plants.  Water, check leaves for pests (certified organic chilli and garlic sprays are available to deter pests if you notice leaves being eaten or damaged), pull out any weeds... you will be surprised at how rewarding these few minutes a day, will prove!
• Keep going!  Don't be discouraged if you can't get a particular plant to grow, there will be many plants you have success with... just keep trying and learn from whatever you do!

Happy gardening!

All text and photographs copyright HL Millen