Great news, the sun is shining, the builders are back, and things are happening. Although it was a little chilly this morning. It has just dawned on me that I’ll be building my new garden in the winter. Well, I…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: adding organic matter to sandy soil, April, compost, fertiliser, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, how to get the best out of sandy soil, Mid Autumn, New Zealand, Plant nutrients, sandy soil, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil
With the trauma of the recent storm behind us and any bad weather ahead of us already firmly blamed on the fact it is the school holidays because it always happens that way. The moment they go back in a…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: April, compost, fertiliser, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, Mid Autumn, Mineralisation, New Zealand, Plant nutrients, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil, well rotted manure
When you think about human health, what we need to keep us going seems simple in some respects: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, vitamins, and minerals. But these can come from varied sources and our diets are a wonderful combination of…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: April, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, Mid Autumn, New Zealand, NPK, Plant nutrients, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, Secondary elements, soil science, Trace elements, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil
Over the last week we got a bit side tracked from the study of the soil, what with Easter and April Fools – I think my 24 carrot gold seeds were a bit too subtle… maybe I should have spray…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: April, Chemistry, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, ions, Mid Autumn, molecules, New Zealand, osmosis, Periodic table, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, sowing seeds, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil
I find if I want to figure out how something works it is important to know everything. I’m not very good at accepting things at face value if it means I’m not quite clear on how it works. Except possibly…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: Atoms, Chemistry, Early Autumn, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, March, molecules, New Zealand, Periodic table, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil
On my journey to understanding my sandy soil from the plant to the soil, we have already found that the plant pretty much sucks up the water from the soil and releases it out of the leaves as water vapour…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: Early Autumn, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, March, New Zealand, plant science, root structure, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil
Just to recap – I am on a journey to understanding my sandy soil that has taken me into the murky depths of soil and plant science to find clarity. I am trying to understand the reason behind things, so…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: Early Autumn, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, Guttation, insecticial soap, March, New Zealand, plant science, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, transpiration, Understanding sandy soil, understanding soil, water, xylem
When you have great soil, you don’t really need to give it much thought. Just pop the plants in, they grow wonderfully, you harvest a bountiful crop and then chuck in some more compost and fertilisers to replace what was…
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Category: Uncategorized
Tags: Early Autumn, GARDENING, Growing Vegetables, how plants need soil, how soil works, March, moving to a new garden, New Zealand, plant science, Sarah O'Neil, Sarah the Gardener, soil science, understanding soil