We believe that the urban garden is one of the solutions in the face of rising cost of living. By applying permaculture principles in the design and lifestyle, we seek to maximize onsite resources to meet most of our needs with minimal impact on the land.

Saturday, 1 December 2007

Growing Carrots - Part 1

I'm having success germinating and growing most plants so far but the carrots planted in spring has failed miserably. Anyway in all true Permaculture spirit, make as many mistakes as possible and learn from mistakes. So, I've learnt the 3 DON'Ts for growing carrots-
-Don't let the veg bed dry up
-Don't use strong watering sprayer
-Don't plant them too far apart otherwise they don't germinate

I haven't given up growing carrots yet. In my search for better ways of growing carrots I came across this website Tinker's Gardens that has a really good tip on sowing carrot seeds.

Tiny Seed Planting Technique:

When planting tiny seeds in your beds Make a shallow furrow the appropriate depth, or directly on top of bed. Roll out a strip of toilet paper in the furrow. Deposit the seeds on top of the toilet paper. This will enable you to see the seeds drop and adjust the spacing, which will save seeds and the amount of thinning-out necessary later. Roll out another layer over the seed and lightly sprinkle or mist with water to hold the layers in place. Lightly cover with soil and gently sprinkle with water. This will prevent the seed from being scattered when lightly watering. The seeds will germinate and grow as usual, right through the paper, which will disintegrate after a few waterings.