garden

The Cooks's Garden

Growing organic vegetables has been a great deal of fun and very satisfying - not to mention putting really fresh food on the table for a couple of lively pensioners. But using GrowCover on hoop houses or cloches or just as a loose row cover has made it a whole lot more satisfying.

I'm learning to be more patient and more observant. I now notice the changes in seasons and the variations between years. I watch my water use carefully  and feel very privileged to have this time to grow with my garden.

Our open salad sandwich lunches with home made bread are pure delight.

Go to our Quick Cart if you want to try GrowCover Garden Fabric in your home veggie patch.

GrowCover hoop house

Inside a GrowCover hoop house

Grow houses keep our plants healthy and productive

my growhouse

 

grow house

6 arch kit

 

 

The VeggiePatch Plant Health Spa !

A varied and seasonal diet of compost, mulch, blood and bone, dolomite, sea weed, wood ash, rock dust and lime is on the menu.

Drip irrigation delivers regular pure rain water.

The beds all have companion herbs and a canopy of soft GrowCover.

Plants love this light, protected, well ventilated living space. Tall plants catered for!

Irritating insects are excluded and the healthy micro climate is perfect for edible plants

Artificial fertilisers and insecticides are banned from this veggie health spa!

GrowCover exclusion fabric

My vegetable garden was developed from bush land in the lower south west of Western Australia. We have a 'mediterranean' climate. Work on the garden was started in January 2004.

To improve the acid sandy soil I added sea weed, manures, paper, mushroom compost, garden compost, sawdust, garden mulch, rock dust, blood and bone and dolomite at various times. I think gardening for me is as much art as science so I keep experimenting as well as trusting my gut feelings. I've made mistakes and learnt heaps.

After four years using crop rotation and growing a mix of herbs and vegetables together, the garden has become very productive without using any pesticides or herbicides. The icing on the cake was the discovery of a fabric, GrowCover, that I use for row covers to protect my plants from pests and harsh weather, and I haven't looked back since. It's great stuff, any veggie gardener or organic grower should give it a try.

In case you are wondering, all the photos used in the veggiepatch we site were taken in my own garden.

The local birds, lizards and frogs enjoy it too. We even discovered a long necked turtle one day! I think she was looking for a safe place to lay her eggs. We had a tiger snake after heavy rain one Christmas taking refuge in our roof space. We just hoped it would go somewhere else pretty quickly.

Welcome to my garden, I have just started my garden year page if you are interested!
Kate

Photos of my garden and vegetables I have grown below
Or go to my garden slide show 
and vegetable slide show

garden
beans
eggplant flower
Future veggie garden 2003
Climbing bean
Kohl rabi
Eggplant flower
soil prep
amaranth
zucchini
eggplant
Preparing the ground 2005
Amaranth
Zucchini
Purple eggplant
garden
peas
tomato
First use of GrowCover 2005
Peas for green manure
Tomato
White eggplant
garden
rocket
Veggie garden 2005
Beetroot
Rocket
Eggplant
garden
broadbeans
potato
Mushroom compost added Winter 2006
Broad bean
Potato
Broccoli plant
 Veggiepatch pumpkin
daikon
Abundance February 2007
Pumpkin
Daikon (Japanese radish)
Curious  frog
sunflower
tomato
long neck turtle
Raised bed September 2007
Sunflower
Tomatoes
Long neck turtle
garden6
fennel
lettuce
 Veggiepatch frog
Veggie patch October 2007
Fennel
Lettuce
Another frog
brocolli
broadbeans
winter creek
New potatoes patch October 2007
Broccoli
Broad beans
Winter creek
Veggieppatch hoop house
vegetable harvest
lunch
marigold
Potatoes November 2007
Spring harvest
Daikon
Marigold
cabbage
peapod
zucchinis
Poly pipe frame supports GrowCover
Cabbage
Sugar snap peas
Zucchini
hoop house
tomatos
broad bean flowers
coriander
Herb garden hoop tunnel October 2007
Tomatoes
Broad bean flowers
Coriander
broad beans
potatoes
mustard
January 2008
Broad beans 2008 Potatoes 2008 Mustard
6 arch kit
mustard
tatsoi
broccoli
 
3x7 Flex frame kit 2009
Mustard in flower Tatsoi Broccoli
amaranth
salad burnet
cooks veggies turnips
Amaranth bed 2008
Salad burnet Cook's selection Turnips
silverbeet
 Veggiepatch capsicum
tall growhouse
  Silver beet Capsicum seedling Tall Growhouse
(Larger pic is on my desktop)