8 October 2019: Wicking Beds & Straw Bale Beds

This month we present you with 2 very different garden bed designs.  We look at the pros and cons of wicking beds and straw bale garden beds.  If you are short of space or just have poor quality soil these two alternatives may provide you with a gardening solution.

Julie will share with you exactly what a wicking bed is and why you would go to the trouble of setting one up? Is it gardening by the full moon, or does it require a broomstick? See a simple small scale demonstration and think of the possibilities.  Do you have a balcony, space under the deck, a hard surface, an indoor area or rocky yard just crying out for a veggie patch? Are you away for days at a time and wish you could sustain a garden?  If the answer is yes, then this is one to consider for you!

Nada will share with you her experience of straw bale garden beds.  Like wicking beds, these can be set up anywhere you have some spare space.  Straw is the ideal low cost container for garden beds.  As the straw breaks down it will provide the perfect medium for growing vegetables.  Nada will explain the process in setting up the straw bales and the different layering and watering required before planting.  This is a much slower process than setting up a wicking bed as each step requires time before you proceed to the next step.  However, it does have a much lower outlay cost.

Visitors  welcome – $10 casual fee/ free to financial members.