Every family needs an organic vegetable garden!

Having recently moved into the new property we have now decided that we need to establish our own vegetable patch so that we can feed the family organic home-grown produce.
From the veggie-patch straight to the kitchen table!

This is the BEFORE photo.

The area we chose is quite near the kitchen, so we thought it would be a good spot for a veggie garden, as it is fairly sheltered from the wind and the extreme Karoo summer heat.

(Notice the thick layer of 'hen-and-chicken', other wise known as the indigenous 'spider plant', (Chlorophytum comosum) which had overgrown this area. 

These had to be dug out as they have numerous bulbs which if left in the ground, just begin growing again.) And these little guys can take over your garden if you are not carefull!





With great excitement,  we started by clearing the designated area of weeds, and the 'hen and chicken' plants ...not an easy task, but hubby excelled at the job!

AFTER photo!

Finally, 'hen and chicken' out! The next project was to erect a type of "square foot garden".

Hubby came up with the genius and cost effective idea of making a fence and trellising from the local reeds, and so daily excursions to the river bank ensued, until sufficient reed was collected.

The kids where reluctantly 'volunteered' to help with the stripping and cleaning of the reeds......!

 Voila!  We put reed trellising at the back for the climbers such as tomatoes, beans etc, and finally the bricks where laid in between the squares, as easy pathways to make the watering and weeding easier .
We where given a whole lot of onion plantlings, and so they where planted behind each patch, as a starter for our vegetable garden.





A reed fence has been erected to keep 'Daisy' the dog out. The first young plants have been planted, and some seedling have been sown directly into the soil.  Our idea was to have different patches/squares for different purposes:  a 'veggie' patch, a 'herb/medicine' patch and a 'salad' patch.
 

Salad patch....except the spinach!

Note the apricot pips in amongst the home made compost? Montagu is 'apricot country' in the Cape!
And 101 uses for plastic cable-ties.......Hubby Macgyvers idea.

    

After a few weeks the patches have started resembling a 'real' vegetable garden. Almost ready for the picking! Soon it will be time to harvest our first crop.

Below:  'Daisy', our Africanis dog inspects the veggie patch. (So what was the purpose of the fence?)

We have planted Marigolds (Tagetes) and Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum) around the edges of the squares, as these are good companion plants and they also aid in keeping the bugs and 'goggas' away from the growing vegetables.

(For this seasons planting, we have not stuck to the 3-patch 'plan', as not all seedlings where available.)

Finally, the veggies are nearing harvest-ready. In this patch, we now have:  lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, basil, tomato and chili. The other patches have various herbs, broccoli, zuchini/courgettes, pumpkin, cocktail tomatoes, and of course Leopard tortoise.

And look who has moved in! The resident wild tortoise...he seems to have decided that the vegetable patch is his new 'built-in kitchen'.

And finally, our first 'home grown salad' .

Now THAT is rewarding:  knowing that it has been grown in your own back yard, and with no chemical pesticides!