Start building your garden.

Theory

• Safety in the garden
• Types of materials to use for construction in your organic garden
• Grow your own materials (bamboo etc)
• Pathways, heights, size, accessibility

Practical

• Building a raised garden bed
• Creating a bamboo trellis and tepee

One hour of clever design can save ten hours of hard work.

Theory:

• Elements of a design
• Sectors and Zones
• Positioning the garden
• How to design a garden
• Why good planning saves time and improves productivity
• The needs of the client/school
• Materials required

Practical:

• Walk around a garden area for observation
• Note services and other elements
• Draw a quick mud map of property / school

Keeping everyone safe in the garden.

Theory:

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Use of equipment
• Safety using garden products
• Others working around you
• Storage solutions
• Wildlife awareness
• Lifting and carrying equipment
• Reading labels
• First Aid

Creating habitat to attract diversity into your garden.

Theory:

• Identifying the different types of habitats
• What do we attract to the garden and why they are important
• How do we bring them to the garden and keep them there
• Recognising the importance of existing habitats and nurturing them

An introduction to seasonal planning for a subtropical edible garden.

Theory

• Mapping sun and shade patterns throughout the year
• Understanding orientation
• Growing in the subtropics (specific issues)
• Planning your garden for a year of food (this steps into garden design)
• Seasonal jobs - busy times, quiet times
• When to plant, when to harvest
• Annuals & perennials - growing food throughout the year
• Understanding the subtropical climate and how it affects backyard food production

Practical

• Using a compass, finding orientation
• Using sun map for our region

Creating a garden that's a feast for the senses.

Theory:

• 5 senses - Colour (sight/seeing); Texture (touch/feeling); Smell (scents); Sound (hearing) & Taste (flavour)
• Designing Sensory Gardens and Rainbow Gardens
• Varieties of plants and their uses

Practical:

• Sample sensory plants.
• Have a taste, smell, feel, admire and listen for any sounds

Herbs for human and garden health.

Theory:

• Looking at different varieties
• Their many uses
• Growing needs
• Designing herbs into gardens
• Growth habits
• Container growing
• Harvesting and using

Practical:

• Looking at and tasting a variety of herbs
• Creating natural remedies from herbs

Biodiversity in the garden.

• Why we need natives in the sustainable garden
• How to identify and selecting the right natives for your garden
• Attracting natives birds, lizards, frogs and other species to your garden
• Bush tucker plants in the edible garden
• Forestry, National Parks and Landcare
• Our local species - what's growing in your area

Knowing what, when and where to plant.

Theory:

• Nomenclature - the naming systems of plants
• Growth habits
• Identify the conditions for plant growth
• Pollination
• Types of crops for your needs
• Water, sun, soil and fertiliser requirements
• Annuals & perennials - growing food throughout the year
• Sub Tropical foods

Practical:

• Looking at examples of different plant species

Knowing how to handle, plant and maintain seedlings.

Theory

• Where to get seedlings (buying them or grow your own)
• What type of seedlings to buy
• What to look for when buying seedlings
• Prepare the soil
• How to handle seedlings
• Planting them
• Caring for them
• Avoiding transplant shock

Practical

• Handling, separating and planting out seedlings

Invest now for a sustainable and productive future.

Theory:

• Why we should save our quality seeds
• How to find the right seeds and collect them
• Choosing the right plants
• How to store you seeds
• Seed Viability
• Heirloom varieties

Practical:

• Methods of processing - wet and dry seed saving

Grow plants from seed and create new ones from old

Theory

• What is a seed
• Types of seeds
• Importance of heritage seed - non GM
• Some quick seed raising tips
• Germination methods/ conditions
• Greenhouses and their uses
• Where to get seeds
• When, where and how to sow seeds
• Selecting plants to propagate
• Materials required to propagate from cuttings effectively
• Getting set up to start propagating
• How to propagate from cuttings - hard or soft
• Sprouts and how to grow them

Practical

• Selecting & sowing seeds into punnets and direct sowing into garden beds
• Transplanting seedlings into veggie beds
• Selecting and collecting cuttings for propagating
• Looking at different types/sizes.
• How to sow into seed raising mix in punnets
• Watering and care
• When to plant out/ transplant

An introduction to permaculture ethics and principles.

Theory:

• The history of Permaculture - the beginnings and the name
• Design ethics and principles
• The importance of this for the future
• How to incorporate this into our daily lives

Practical:

• Activitiy to familiarise everyone with Permaculture

Composting made easy.

• Why compost?
• What is compost?
• The role of compost in an organic garden
• The life in compost
• What goes in, what stays out - ingredients
• Building, maintaining, harvesting, using and storing your perfect compost
• Troubleshooting common problems (vermin, odours etc) & easy remedies

Practical

• Selecting and preparing the site
• Selecting & preparing the materials including compost starters
• Build a small compost heap to manage kitchen scraps and provide soil for your garden
• Bokashi system

All good edible gardens start with the soil - learn how to create and care for healthy soil.

Theory

• Understanding soil and its relationship with plants; importance of humus
• Soil testing
• Getting your soil ready to grow food
• Ways to improve soil
• How to care for your soil to keep it healthy in the first year
• Strategies for healthy soil; compost, worm castings, green manure cropping, mulching

Practical

• pH testing
• Looking at compost and worm castings
• Soil ribbon test

An instant garden - build a no-dig garden in no time at all.

Theory

• What is a no dig garden and why to build one
• The origins
• How to build one
• No Dig recipe
• The benefits and outcomes
• Where to build a no-dig garden
• Different ways of creating no-dig gardens
• How to plant in the garden
• Ongoing maintenance
• Installing a worm farm in a no-dig garden

Practical

• Building no-dig garden

Strategies for improving the health of your soil.

Theory:

• Why we need to continually improve our soil and how to do it
• Organic inputs
• Building Humus
• Changing pH balance
• Increasing moisture holding capacity
• Mineral Balance
• Green Manure Crops
• The benefits of compost, worm farms and mulching
• What is Crop Rotation?

Practical:

• Plant out a green manure crop
• Looking at different soil improvers - touch and smell

You'll have an army of workers in your garden busy working while you sleep.

Theory:

• Elements of a design
• Sectors and Zones
• Positioning the garden
• How to design a garden
• Why good planning saves time and improves productivity
• The needs of the client/school
• Materials required

Practical:

• Set up a worm farm
• Feed a worm farm
• Handle worms and castings - mmm
  

Attracting beneficial insects into your garden.

• Introduction to beneficial insects
• The role of beneficial insects in an organic garden
• How to attract and keep beneficial insects in your garden
• Identifying common beneficial insects in an edible garden
• Resources for bug ID

Practical

• Identifying insects in the garden with magnifying glass
• Planting Good Bug Mix

Create an abundant garden year after year.

• Introduction to common crop rotation cycles
• Preventing disease and breaking pest breeding cycles using crop rotation
• Mixing annuals and perennials in crop rotation

Making and using organic fertilisers.

Theory:

• Types of fertilisers - organic vs synthetic
• Methods and timing of applications
• Benefits of using the correct fertilisers
• Nutrient deficient and plant language
• Green manure crops
• Selecting eco-friendly fertilisers
• Make your own fertilisers
• The use of slow release fertilisers

Practical:

• Make a bucket of comfrey tea
• Apply worm juice and other liquid fertilisers

Maintaining a healthy and productive garden.

Theory

• What is this and why we do it
• How to maintain your garden
• Successional Planting
• Pest and Disease Management
• Jobs in the subtropical edible garden
• Tips for saving time, energy and money
• Selection and care of garden tools
• Garden tidy ups
• Understanding weeds
• Weed management - the organic way

Be waterwise.

Theory:

• Different methods of irrigating and how to apply them
• Your plants' water needs
• Designing your garden to save water
• When to water and how
• Storing and using water for irrigation
• Irrigation systems and watering options
• Water saving techniques
• Sources of water

Practical:

• Create an irrigation system in easy steps

How to manage common pests and diseases in an organic garden.

• Understanding who's who in the garden
• The important role insects play
• Making peace with the pests
• Integrated pest management strategies
• The role of good garden design
• Attracting beneficial insects to your garden/companion planting
• Common diseases in the subtropical garden
• Organic solutions to common problems (recipes for common pests and diseases)

Practical

• Identifying insects in the garden
• Planting out some Good Bug Mix
• Identifying healthy/sick plants - understanding plant ‘language'

Healthy happy backyard chooks.

Theory

• Why keep chooks?
• What type of chooks?
• Getting your garden ready for chooks
• Housing your chooks (including chook tractors)
• Feeding and watering you chooks
• Organic treatments for common chook problems using herbs and home made treatments
• Chooks in the garden system
• Incorporating free range chooks into your garden and food forests
• Council regulations

Practical

• Holding a chook
• Preparing and adding organic preps to their water

... and the award for the best support species goes to...

• Identifying common support species in a sustainable garden
• The role of support species in an edible garden, orchard and food forest
• Using them in garden design
• Exploring the many uses of plants and their benefits
• Growing your own mulch, fertilisers and compost activators
• Growing your own shade and structural plants

Practical

• Identifying various species and how to grow them