The horticulture group began work on garden beds for Amy and Blair at the beginning of the year by marking out the areas with wooden pegs. The beds are each approximately 3m x 5m. We placed them 1m from the border fence to allow mower access around them.
Tracey and Ben began removal of broad-leafed weeds such as Cape Weed using hand tools to dig them up. Gail sprayed the Couch Grass repeatedly with glyphosate.
The whole group mulched the areas using compost that we produced on site (using grass clippings & shredded office paper). This was topped with a layer of pea straw. Both of these organic mulches protect the bare soil and encourage beneficial micro-organisms such as worms to inhabit the areas. They also facilitate water penetration into the soil, rather than it running off in heavy rainfall.
The next big job for the group was to dig trenches right around each bed, to sink 20cm wide hardwood as garden edging. This edging will minimise the re-invasion of Couch Grass into the beds.
We attached lattice trellises at the south end of each bed to plant climbing crops. Blair has planted beans and Amy has planted sweet peas for their trellises. Blair will be planting more vegetable crops, while Amy plans on mostly flowers.