Learning about sustainable practices is fundamental to the long term success of your garden.

Length of party:

6 hrs plus breaks

Full Menu Items:

• Permaculture
• Garden Soils
• Composting
• Support Species

Taster Menu Items:

• Beneficial Insects
• Worm Farms
• Crop Rotation
• Seed Saving
• Garden Maintenance
• Soil Improvement

Outcome:

Creating a sustainable garden that requires minimum input for maximum output.

Host Gift:

• Compost bin supplied and setup or
• Worm farm supplied and setup
• 3 x support species, planted.
• DVD

Guest’s Goodie Bag:

• Notes Pack
• Small pot containing support species
  
• Soil improvement kit - Soil conditioner, organic Xtra, NatraMin

Cost: $95 per person

• Minimum 12 people required
• Early bird specials apply

Full menu items:

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

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

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

... 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

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

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
  

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

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

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

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