HOME GROWN
Newcastle Herald
Monday March 28, 2011
THE work of Pat Coleby, while mostly applying to farming, has a lot to teach gardeners.She immigrated to Australia with her unwell husband in the late 1950s, seeking a warmer climate.As a tenant farmer she began a goat dairy, and has been involved with goats ever since.Her Australian Goat Husbandry (1983) is a classic, and I can recommend her Natural Farming (2004) for the points below.Coleby's main work as a farmer, writer, and farming consultant is to do with keeping healthy domestic farm animals.This is mainly achieved by providing a healthy diet and involves correcting mineral imbalances in the soil.Correct any mineral deficiencies and pH problems and you are more than halfway to a trouble-free farm.Australian soils, as Coleby explains, tend to be deficient in calcium and magnesium, and tend towards acidity, especially if non-organic practices are used.One of her main strategies is to top dress soils with gypsum (calcium sulphate), lime (calcium carbonate) and dolomite (calcium-magnesium).Often, essential minerals in the soil only become available when the pH is in balance.Compost naturally gets the thumbs up.After a lifetime in farming, Coleby's stories of farm disasters and successes are riveting reading. Even if only half of what she says is correct, it suggests that "natural farming" is the answer to many of our agricultural problems.For the home gardener, a knowledge of the main fertility requirements of plants - nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium - together with the alphabet soup of trace elements, would help make the difference between being an outstanding gardener and an ordinary one.swilliams@theherald.com.auThe Vegie PatchWhat to plant now Artichoke, globe Beans, broad Beetroot Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Chinese cabbage Garlic Leeks Lentils Lettuce, winter Onion Parsnip Peas Radish Shallots Silverbeet Strawberries Swede TurnipSource: Hunter Organic Growers Societyhunterorganicgrowerssociety.org.au
© 2011 Newcastle Herald
