This document introduces key success principles for food gardening in South Africa, including going organic, focusing on soil health, intensive gardening techniques, succession planting, efficient bed layouts, choosing crops carefully, and setting targets. It emphasizes that while many approaches exist, appreciating underlying natural laws and experimenting to find what works best for one's garden is important for success. The principles aim to help readers develop their own customized "Go Food Gardening" approach.

1. Let’s Go Food Gardening
in South Africa
Winning Strategies to Improve
Your Food Garden and Your Planet

2. Sharing
This is a free publication. You are welcome to share it with others in the same spirit. Or simply tell
them to get their own copy at www.GoFoodGardening.com or at www.MasterHerbGardening.com
If you’ve paid for this publication, or if you received it as a bonus with a paid product, please report to
saha.admin@gmail.com
Copyright
First Edition: October 2008
Second Edition: January 2009
Third Edition: July 2010
Copyright © All Rights Reserved SA Herb Academy
Acknowledgments
The Go Food Gardening Approach was originally developed by Di-Di Hoffman and it has since been
updated, expanded and improved with his help and the help of passionate food gardeners and food
gardening professionals from all over South Africa.
A green initiative co-founded by
BOUQUET GARNI HERBS and the SA HERB ACADEMY
PO Box 15873
Lynn East, 0039
Pretoria
South Africa
E-mail: saha.admin@gmail.com
Website: www.gofoodgardening.com

3. Contents
Introduction 1
Food Gardens Defined .............................................................................................2
Why Food Gardening? .............................................................................................2
What Do You Need To Start A Food Garden? ........................................................4
Your Two Biggest Obstacles ...................................................................................4
Steps to Start Your Own Food Garden ....................................................................5
About Let’s Go Food Gardening in South Africa....................................................6
The Success Principles 7
Go Organic...............................................................................................................7
Make the Soil Your Passion.....................................................................................9
Don’t Be a Purist....................................................................................................10
Study Intensive Gardening.....................................................................................10
Use Efficient Bed Layouts .....................................................................................11
Master Succession Planting ...................................................................................12
Practice Good Workflow Design ...........................................................................12
Make Ends Meet ....................................................................................................13
Choose Your Crops Carefully................................................................................13
Set Targets .............................................................................................................14
Expand Your Toolbox............................................................................................15
Become a Recycler ................................................................................................15
Lunatic Gardening .................................................................................................16
Pay It Forward........................................................................................................16
Keep a Journal........................................................................................................17
Test Advanced Strategies.......................................................................................17
The Key Food Gardening Activities 19
Planning .................................................................................................................19
Bed Preparation......................................................................................................21
Planting ..................................................................................................................22
Watering.................................................................................................................23
Feeding...................................................................................................................23
Weeding .................................................................................................................24
Pruning...................................................................................................................24
General and Crop Specific Tasks...........................................................................24
Insect and Disease Management ............................................................................25
Harvesting ..............................................................................................................25
Storage and Preservation........................................................................................25
Celebrating Abundance..........................................................................................25
A Sample Monthly Food Gardening Activity List ................................................26
Appendix 29
Resources.........................................................................................................................29
Home Study Courses..............................................................................................29

4. Web Pages and Newsletters ...................................................................................30
Online Communities ..............................................................................................30
Books .....................................................................................................................30
E-Books and Manuals ............................................................................................31

5. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Introduction
“In a healthy town every family can grow vegetables for itself.
The time is past to think of this as a hobby for enthusiasts; it is a
fundamental part of human life.” – Christopher Alexander
Dear Reader,
Welcome to this primer on Go Food Gardening in South Africa.
More and more South Africans are using the concepts and ideas in this
document to turn their balconies, city gardens, small holdings and farms
into productive food, flavour and health sources.
Some are motivated by passion, others by principle and still others by
pragmatism. I trust that whatever your reasons are, they are good ones
too.
Growing herbs and edible crops is a full time passion for me and it has
brought a huge amount of joy, friendship and satisfaction into my life.
I don’t believe in one-shoe-fits-all food gardening approaches. I firmly
believe everybody gardens in a different and unique way. What makes
one a successful food gardener is simply applying natural laws and a few
key success principles consistently well.
In this primer I’ll introduce you to how appreciation of these, combined
with a little experimentation to find which are most suitable to your
temperament, preferences and garden, allows you to garden more
successfully and expressively.
Your immediate rewards will be herbs that burst with flavour, great
tasting nutritious vegetables and fruits, shorter food miles and lower food
bills.
Growing your own edible plants is a way of life I would recommend to
everyone!
Happy food gardening.
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6. Introduction
“Having a successful vegetable garden takes time, effort and
commitment. The feeling of accomplishment you get when you
watch the seeds sprout and then turn into fabulous-tasting food is
one of the great pleasures in life. Start out small, grow what you
love to eat, have fun, relax, and enjoy healthy food on your
table.” – Catherine Abbot
Food Gardens Defined
My definition of a food garden is simply any space devoted to growing
edible crops with the intention of consuming them. It can be a single jar
of sprouts on a kitchen sink, a few herbs on a windowsill, a tray of baby
greens, a single lemon tree in a decorative pot, a small herb garden or
veggie patch, or an extensive herb/vegetable/fruit garden.
Why Food Gardening?
A few years ago, only passionate hobbyists and those with “green
fingers” had food gardens. This has changed dramatically. Today
individuals and organizations from all walks of life grow their own herbs,
vegetables and fruit.
In The Organic Gardeners Handbook author Frank Tozer lists several
benefits of a food garden. Here’s my slightly expanded version of Tozer’s
list:
 It’s a great pastime
Food gardening is the most popular ‘specialist’ gardening hobby
in the world. To quote Frank Tozer, “It’s been said that
‘Gardening is the natural activity of man’ and that pretty much
sums it up. It is one of the most gratifying and fulfilling activities
a person can encage in.” Children especially love to garden.
 Fresh cuisine
All food gardeners are familiar with the superior flavour of their
homegrown crops. In fact, this is perhaps one of the greatest
pleasures of growing your own: eating the best food that can be
obtained anywhere.
 Health
It has been proved beyond doubt that crops grown with eco-
friendly practices, fresh from your own food garden, is the most
nutritious you can get and that it can improve your health
significantly. What’s more, gardening is both a pleasant way to
relax and one of the best forms of exercise, with benefits far
greater than the simple burning of calories would suggest.
 Green Connection
“In the twentieth century, industrialization and greater affluence
broke the old bonds with the land. People moved to the cities and
suburbs and the self-sufficient home vegetable garden became a
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7. Let’s Go Food Gardening
thing of the past. To most people food is now just another
commercial product, like shampoo or detergent. It is available
year round, ready packaged from the supermarket. It is no longer
our most vital link to the earth and as a result our view of nature
has become distorted. We now see ourselves as so separate from
nature that the health of the economy seems more important than
the health of the planet.” – Frank Tozer
 Financial
A couple of years ago few people thought of saving money as a
big reason to have a food garden. This has changed and many
South African food gardeners now depend on their food gardens
to keep them well fed and they would be considerably poorer
without them.
 Spiritual
“Working with the earth to fulfill the basic need for food is a
fundamentally benevolent activity that can help you to reconnect
with nature. It can bring you back to the reality that we are totally
and absolutely dependent on the earth for our well being, and that
we should look after it more carefully.” – Frank Tozer
“In themselves the feelings of well-being and happiness,
fulfillment and self-worth created by working in harmony with
nature, and of experiencing the richness and tranquility of your
garden, are profoundly spiritual. Being with nature is releasing,
uplifting and healing.” – Pat Featherstone
But there is more to this spiritual benefit than just feelings of
wellbeing and self-worth. Our food gardens also allow us to
experience, firsthand, the wisdom found in Scripture. Just one
example that immediately comes to mind is that you’ll reap what
you’ve sown.
Our food gardens also enable us to clarify, reconnect and live our
values such as: fun, creativity, adventure, risk taking, growth,
abundance, nurturing, vitality, perseverance, patience,
collaboration and community to mention a few.
“My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a
manifestation of God’s presence, the kind of
transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your
place in the big picture. That is what I had with my first
compost heap”. – Bette Midler
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8. Introduction
What Do You Need To Start A Food Garden?
The most important things are free says Pat Featherstone in her book
Grow to Live. Here’s a slightly adapted version of Featherstone’s list…
 Intent and a well defined reason(s).
 Lots of sunshine, water and fresh air.
 Some basic information, the size of a seed. Water it, and it
swells; nurture it and it grows.
 Lots of enthusiasm, with a little hard work in the beginning.
 A pair of eyes, with hands attached.
 Curiosity. About nature, the weather, insects, etc.
 A small designated area.
Don’t let the absence of any of the above dampen your enthusiasm
though...
“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if
no birds sang there except those that sang best.” - Henry Van
Dyke.
Your Two Biggest Obstacles
A successful food garden takes time, effort and commitment. If you
already have a very tight schedule then time will be your biggest obstacle.
The amount of time you’ll need will depend on your level of experience
and the size of your garden.
Don’t think that you’ll just squeeze your food gardening in somewhere. It
seldom works. To be successful, plan and schedule your food gardening
time. Even if it is just 5 minutes 5 times a week.
The next obstacle you face is the get-skills-quick mentality that abounds
nowadays. Everybody wants to go to a one-day workshop and then come
out magically transformed into a seasoned food gardener. It doesn’t work
that way.
Reading books won’t make you a seasoned food gardener either. Beyond
what Pat Featherstone mentions above and the information you’ll find in
this primer, the things you’ll need most to be a successful food gardener
are:
1. The heart of a gardener. Great thing is we all have one. Sad thing
is we all (even experienced gardeners at times) fail to follow it.
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9. Let’s Go Food Gardening
2. A sound food gardening knowledge base.
3. Lots of practice.
4. Interaction with other food gardeners. Preferably from your
immediate area.
But ultimately, everything comes back to your heart. If you discover,
nurture and follow your heart, you can make every possible gardening
mistake and still have a rewarding and fulfilling experience. My prayer
for you is that this short primer makes you hungry to discover and
passionately live the lifestyle of a food gardener.
Steps to Start Your Own Food Garden
Step 1: Define Your Motivation
Be clear about why you want to have a food garden. Ask yourself:”What
motivates me?”
Complete the following sentences:
Fear of…
Love/caring/concern for…
Inspiration from…
Self reliant in…
Add any other reasons you can think of.
Step 2: Get Inspired
Find bountiful food gardens. Walk or bike around your neighbourhood,
ask around and find out about other food gardening enthusiasts in your
locality. Visit and talk to them.
Go to Google Images and Google “vegetable gardens”. “food gardens”,
“kitchen gardens” and “herb gardens”.
Step 3: Start Small
Start small... regardless if you rent or own your property, if it is big or
small. Use Go Food Gardening’s educational resources to help you and/or
get the support of a “Go Food Gardening Coach” (if that system operates
in your area) – or adopt one by approaching a gardener you admire.
Step 4: Swing into Action
1. Get your soil fertility pumping. Start a small worm farm in your
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10. Introduction
kitchen or on the patio and/or a small compost heap in the
garden.
2. Prepare two or three container gardens and plant seedlings into
them.
3. Find out where the local sources of (non-toxic) composting
materials are and start stockpiling.
4. Lay down a sheet mulch/no dig bed to get ready for planting.
5. Start raising your own seedlings. Set up a simple mini-
propagation area near a north-facing window in your house.
Learn how to raise seedlings, take cuttings and do root divisions.
You can begin with commercial potting mix and graduate to
making your own.
Step 5: Link Up
Link up with friends and/or neighbours and help each other out. On a
regular basis (e.g. monthly), do a project in a garden. Keep building up
your bonding through gardening together and add in others as you go. Do
a seasonal food gardening calendar together for planting, tending and
harvesting in your locality. Start planning how to provide for the food
you are unable to produce.
About Let’s Go Food Gardening in South Africa
The Go Food Gardening initiative was co-founded by Bouquet Garni
Herbs and the SA Herb Academy to equip and inspire South Africans to
make our beloved country a greener, tastier, healthier place... one food
garden and one crop at a time.
This special report is an overview of the natural laws, success principles
and key food gardening activities one needs to be a successful food
gardener. Adapting these to one’s own garden, preferences and
temperament, anyone can consistently improve their harvests.
For a more detailed discussion and application of the subject matter
please see the Resources at the end this publication.
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11. Let’s Go Food Gardening
The Success Principles
“If there is no gardener there is no garden.” – Stephen Covey
Books and new ideas about food gardening abound. And that is how it
should be. There is organic gardening, chemical gardening, intensive
gardening, square foot gardening, no-dig gardening, biodynamics and
permaculture to mention just a few.
Each of them has their pros and cons; good features and bad features; and
I might add their disciples and opponents. The latter sometimes fiercely
so.
It all goes to prove that everybody gardens in a different and unique way.
Yet underlying this diversity is a consistency of natural laws and key
success principles that apply to every food garden and every food
gardener.
Appreciation of these, combined with a little experimentation to find
which are most suitable to your temperament, preferences and garden,
allows you to garden more successfully and expressively.
What follows is a short discussion of the key concepts, ideas and natural
laws that one can use to form their own Go Food Gardening Approach.
As the word “GO” in Go Food Gardening indicates it is first and foremost
an active hands-on approach. So get out a pen and circle those that you
would like to make part of your own Go Food Gardening approach.
Go Organic
Why go organic?
“This commonly asked question is easy to answer. The primary
reason to embrace the organic approach is health. This means
the well-being of the individual as well as the health of the
environment. Many pesticides can accumulate over time, both in
our bodies and in the wider environment, a poisonous legacy that
can persist for decades. Organic gardening seeks to redress this
damage by working with and encouraging nature. It is a long
term investment in the health and wellbeing of us all.” –
Christine and Michael Lavelle
There’s an awful lot of hype around organic, and if you are starting your
own food garden, it’s something you need to consider seriously.
What does it mean to go organic?
That’s actually quite a complex question, which is not as easy to answer
as why you need to go organic. Some say that it means not using any
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12. The Success Principles
chemical pesticides or fertilizers because they can damage the
environment. You can only use natural stuff. Others say it means
reducing your carbon footprint or reducing food miles.
That’s all true, but there’s a sting in the tail. There are also some natural
remedies, like tobacco dust, that can be toxic. And some organic
formulations claim to be safe to use, but when used in excess these same
formulations can wreak havoc in your garden.
We encourage you to think about organic gardening in the positive sense.
It’s about using your common sense, and working with nature. It is about
employing environmentally friendly products and environmentally
friendly cultural practices.
Organic gardening isn’t very different from conventional gardening. You
still need to plant at the right time, prune, control pests and pull out the
weeds.
The difference lies in your approach. It’s how you understand, and value,
the interrelationship between all the elements in your garden. It’s how
you understand the ecosystem of your garden.
Source: http://permaculture.org.au
About a hundred years before the term “ecosystem” was coined, John
Muir said simply, “Everything is connected to everything else”:
 The micro-organisms that create humus in the soil.
 The pollinating bees and butterflies.
 The natural pest controllers like lady birds and their prey.
 The synergies between plants (companion planting).
 The natural rhythms of nature (day, night, seasons).
 And the cycle of life and decay.
In other words, organic gardening is a philosophy of gardening. It’s not a
style or a design.
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13. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Make the Soil Your Passion
Organic gardening starts with the soil in your garden. Make that your
passion and almost everything else will follow.
“Vegetarians may be appalled, but much of gardening is actually
raising animals: the tiny ones under the earth’s surface” – Toby
Hemenway
“One of the most basic principles of organic gardening is that
you encourage the life in the soil. It’s a mistake to think of soil
organisms as of no consequence, or as pests and diseases to be
‘fought’. They are all important and the more diverse and
abundant the soil life, the less problems you will have.” – Frank
Tozer
In food gardens we encourage the following organic practices, all aimed
at improving the life in your soil:
 Improving and conditioning your soil by using the correct
cultivation methods.
 Amending the soil with well-rotted manure and/or compost – it
encourages soil biodiversity and the more organic matter in the
soil, the more water it can hold, and the more nutrients it will
have.
 Mulching the beds with coarse organic material (pine needles,
bark chips, peanut shells, etc). It keeps the roots cool, suppresses
weeds and helps retain water.
 Rotating your annual crops to restore the balance in the soil.
Some plants deplete, while others, like legumes add nitrogen to
the soil. It also prevents pests and diseases building up in the soil.
 Companion planting, intercropping, poly-cultures, etc – combine
herbs and vegetables that stimulate each other’s growth, or act as
pest repellents. For instance marigolds repel eelworm.
 Avoiding soil compaction. Keep all traffic off the beds, including
wheelbarrows, children, dogs and hands. You really have no
excuse for walking in the beds. It is one of the worst things you
can do for the soil structure.
 Avoiding excessive cultivation. The soil doesn’t like to be dug.
This especially applies to vigorous cultivation with machinery
which tends to cause a plow pan in heavy soils.
 Making your own compost. It is the best amendment there is and
it is the best way to recycle all your garden waste. Or start a
worm farm if composting is not for you.
 Collecting rainwater, especially in winter rainfall areas for
summer use.
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14. The Success Principles
 Following an integrated pest management approach which means
always using the least damaging method of pest control at your
disposal.
Don’t Be a Purist
In Go Food Gardening there is a big emphasis on gardening with nature
and using natural laws. And rightly so. One should however keep in mind
that in the sense that a food garden occurs nowhere in nature, it is not
natural.
For example, No-Dig Gardening’s claim to fame is that it is the most
natural of all gardening methods. Nature don’t dig. But to make it work in
a food garden the no-diggers have to compost heavily. Or should one say
‘unnaturally’.
“It is a paradox that organic vegetables, grown the ‘natural way’, still
require somewhat unnatural conditions. Nature does not do vegetable
gardens, and permaculturists have made brave attempts to balance this
by clearing small plots at different times, growing plants that can tolerate
congested soil, and making full use of perennial vegetables. These are
difficult skills to use exclusively, so we have to acknowledge that the bare
soil we need is rarely found in nature and tends to re-cover itself with
weeds. Regularly cropped soil that is having plants removed from it will
deteriorate unless humus is applied regularly.” – Charles Dowding
The take-home-point here is that to be a really successful food gardener
one cannot be too much of a purist. Being a South African surely helps in
this regard. With our huge cultural diversity we are used to listening to
other points of view and trying out new and different ideas – keeping
only those that serve us best.
Practice Intensive Gardening
“If you look at food production per acre (or in relation to the
amount of energy, water and other inputs), home gardens are the
most productive way of growing food that humans have ever
devised. It is possible to produce a significant proportion of your
own fruits and vegetables in the average backyard.” – Frank
Tozer
With resources such as space, water, energy and time at a premium, and
given our sometimes very harsh climate, the gardening approach that will
serve you best, irrespective of the size of your garden, is intensive
gardening.
Intensive planting techniques maximize the yields of your garden over
the growing season. Besides increasing the yield of your garden it also
save time, space, energy, fertilizer and water.
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15. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Make it your business to study and practice intensive gardening
techniques. Here’s a report to get you started.
Report: Small Plot and Intensive Gardening
A great introductory report on the subject by Rosie Lerner and Michael
N. Dana from Purdue. To download visit
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/HO/HO_124.pdf
Reading
Use Efficient Bed Layouts
A prominent feature of intensive methods is using beds of a fixed width
and length for planting crops. This simplifies the layout of the garden as
well as most of the key tasks in a food garden.
Crops should be within easy reach.
A common mistake in food gardens is beds that are too narrow and paths
that are too wide. Your food crops should be within a comfortable arms
length. Preferably the arm of the person who will do most of the
gardening. For beds with access from both sides about 60cm to 120cm
wide will suit most arms.
Don’t waste growing space on paths.
Intensive gardening utilize rectangular beds which measure between 30
cm to 120 cm wide, and that are from 2 m to 9 m long.
A versatile standard bed size is 60 cm wide by 9 m long. The advantage
of this size is that the beds can be easily straddled with the legs for fast
and efficient planting, weeding and harvesting. It also simplifies and
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16. The Success Principles
standardizes other activities such as watering, fertilizing, setting targets
and measuring yields.
The beds are then laid out in blocks containing 10 beds each with paths of
30 cm to 40cm between them.
In smaller gardens 9 m long beds are not always practical. A more
manageable size is often 3 m long beds.
Where space is really at a premium you can make door size beds. These
beds are1 m wide by 2 m long. Or you can resort to growing in
containers.
If rectangular is not your style you can go for a spiral garden, key-hole
beds, or a mandala garden.
Master Succession Planting
One of the most powerful intensive gardening strategies to add to your
Go Food Gardening Approach is succession sowing and planting. This
also prevents the feast or famine syndrome so common to conventional
food gardens. The idea behind succession planting is to phase your
annual crops so that you have a continuous harvest and not a series of
sudden gluts.
For most crops this means that you’ll plant a third of the row or bed
allocated to the crop, wait two or four weeks and plant another third, and
finally the last section two or four weeks later still.
The result is that you’ll be able to harvest the crop for a couple of months
instead of just two or three weeks.
There may, of course, be times when you do not want to spread the
harvesting. For example, if you prefer making and freezing your pesto for
winter use in one go, it’s easier if all your basil is ready for harvest at the
same time.
Planting a spring-, summer-, and fall garden is another form of succession
planting. Cool-season crops (broccoli, lettuce, peas) are followed by
warm-season crops (beans, tomatoes, peppers), and where possible, these
may be followed by more cool season plants, or even a fall/winter crop.
Practice Good Workflow Design
There are 12 key activities (discussed in the following chapter) that need
to be done in any food garden. And unlike modern farms that employ
large work crews and expensive machinery, food gardeners must do most
of the work themselves.
Now if your food garden is small then creating a regimented and
balanced work schedule is not that critical at all. But as your food garden
expands this changes.
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17. Let’s Go Food Gardening
During the course of a growing season all tasks need to be coordinated to
ensure that no single task becomes overwhelming, that they all get the
attention they deserve and they all flow smoothly together. Spending too
much time on the tasks you enjoy might mean crops are lost to weeds or
they might die due to lack of watering, etc.
Learn to create a balance in the overall workflow of your food garden.
Where possible, aim to use a 5 day work week to perform the bulk of the
weekly activities and only attend to watering on the 6th and 7th days if
needed.
In a small to medium food garden this will translate to spending about 30
minutes a day for five days of the week and then just checking watering
needs on weekends. This is contrary to conventional food gardeners who
need to find large blocks of time just about every weekend.
Make Ends Meet
Always ensure that there is a healthy balance between the inputs and the
outputs of your food garden.
The easiest way to do this is to put a value on your crops. Even if it is just
a subjective health or nutritional value. Then use that value to estimate
what your weekly harvests are worth.
Knowing that your food garden produced so many packets of produce
worth “X” amount is very rewarding and highly motivating.
Your Harvests Are Valuable
Refrain from giving your produce away for free. That is apart from the
first tenth of the harvest that goes to those in need; the occasional gift
basket to show your appreciation or to cheer someone up; and the tasting
Tip samples.
Treat your produce like the valuable commodity it is. Sell it, even if it is
just to cover seed cost. Or set up barter deals. Some gardeners let family
and friends perform some of the more enjoyable gardening tasks, such as
harvesting, in return for some produce. And most people just love the
opportunity to be involved in getting a crop from the garden to the table.
Choose Your Crops Carefully
Irrespective of whether you are growing produce for your own family, a
farmers market, or restaurant, you need to make sure that there is
sufficient demand for your produce.
Nothing is more disheartening than growing a crop only to find out that
nobody wants it when it is ready for harvest. Or worse, not knowing how
to prepare and cook it.
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18. The Success Principles
You also need to balance the demand with your expertise. In practice this
means that you will include crops for no reason other than to gain the
experience needed to grow more difficult crops later.
Base your crop selection on the following criteria:
1. Ease of growing.
2. Yield per square meter.
3. Maturity – the length in time from sowing to harvesting.
4. General hardiness to adverse weather conditions and pests and
disease.
5. Short shelf-life (meaning store bought produce is generally of
very low quality).
6. Tasteless market varieties.
7. Nutrient density and phyto-chemical density.
8. Popularity or demand.
9. ‘Prototype’ crops that builds growing experience.
Crops that score high on all the above criteria are High-Value Crops and
they should get the lion’s share of your available growing space.
Your Go Food Gardening Coach (if that system operates in your area)
will be able to help you with a ranked list tailored to your area.
Set Targets
If you try to be everything for everybody you end up being nothing to
nobody. That’s why it is better to focus on a crop (or three at the most)
until you are able to consistently meet and exceed your targets for those
crops.
Then focus on new crops to master. Slowly but surely you’ll expand your
product range and production in manageable units.
“The biggest cause of failure amongst novice gardeners is that
they attempt to start too big or with too many crops. Or they
expand too quickly.”
Once you’ve decided on the crops you want to grow set some specific
targets. It goes without saying that a novice gardener cannot expect to get
the same results as an experienced food gardener with 10 years + growing
experience. But that does not mean that a novice gardener should not set
any targets at all.
The easiest target to set is the number of harvest weeks. In South Africa
you can aim to harvest over three growing seasons - spring, summer and
autumn. Depending on your location this translates to between 20 and 40
harvest weeks. In frost free areas you can also set winter harvest targets.
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19. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Having worked out the number of weeks (seasons) you’ll be gardening,
the next target to set is the yield you expect. This is normally expressed in
weight or bunches per square meter. The yield will depend on various
climatic factors as well as your experience. You can also express your
yield targets as the number of servings per crop.
You can also opt for income targets. This is usually expressed as income
per standard bed as well as income per harvest week. Novice gardeners
normally don’t bother with this in their first season or two.
Expand Your Toolbox
You don’t need any expensive power equipment to start with. Ordinary
hand tools such as a spade, rake, watering can and a hose with fittings is
all that’s needed. A wheelbarrow is always handy, as are harvesting
buckets.
A great addition to your toolbox is a variety of “planting-markers” to ease
planting and transplanting. These can be made at home from inexpensive
materials.
It is a myth that you need expensive growing structures. Where additional
protection from adverse weather conditions or wildlife is needed you can
use inexpensive frames that can be covered in whatever protective
material is called for. These can be made from inexpensive materials and
if you use standard beds your frames will be very flexible in their use.
2 Must Have Tools
Two must have tools are knowledge and experience. The most
important knowledge you need is data relating to the crops you want to
Tip grow as well as knowledge of the best practices to follow. Then you need
experience in planning and executing crop strategies.
How you acquire knowledge and experience is up to you. Some people
believe in the school of hard knocks. They go it alone. Surfing the web
for free information or perhaps borrowing a book from a friend.
Others like to invest in a good food gardening workshop or a short course
where they can get help and support from fellow participants and
experienced facilitators. This drastically shortens their learning curve,
and their initial investment is earned back many times over in lower food
bills and increased production.
Become a Recycler
There is a common misconception that you need lots of money to be a
food gardener. Fact is you can be very successful on a shoestring budget.
And as discussed earlier one should focus on making ends meet in the
food garden.
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20. The Success Principles
Part of this, and part of being ‘green’, is that one should become more
focused on recycling. This can be as simple as using old yoghurt cups to
cut plant labels from, or as involved as properly recycling all the
household waste.
It also entails making one’s own compost and/or starting a worm farm.
Become a Lunatic Gardener
“The lunar planting calendar, whether by coincidence or cosmic
design, is a wonderfully comfortable schedule for gardeners. It is
almost like a dream boss – one that rewards you when you meet a
deadline, knows there will be a next time when you don’t, hangs
silently on the wall and looks decorative.” Linda Woodrow
Also known as “planting by the moon”, Linda Woodrow, author of The
Permaculture Home Garden mentions three functions of the lunar
calendar:
1. It is a time management tool; an externally imposed schedule that
reduces the complete anarchic time flexibility to a manageable
level.
2. It is an organizational tool. It allows a bewildering list of jobs
with comparable priority to be reduced to short weekly or even
daily lists that can be ticked off. Nothing is neglected.
3. It actually does increase the vitality and taste of plants.
To this we can add a fourth function: Your food garden reconnects you
with nature and planet earth. The lunar planting calendar reconnects you
with the cosmos. It reminds us that we are just tiny specs in a much
bigger Creation.
Pay It Forward
The greatest food gardening gift you can give anyone is to teach them to
replicate your success. Start with your own children or grand children.
Then teach others in the family and finally reach out to your neigbours
and friends.
Join the local Go Food Gardening community to share ideas and success
stories. If none exists, start your own. Simply send an email to
saha.admin@gmail.com for ideas, help and support.
Join the Go Food Gardening Facebook community to get inspiration and
advice from all over South Africa.
Become a certified Go Food Gardening Coach.
Lastly, since we are giving the Let’s Go Food Gardening in South Africa
primer away, we do not have the funds to spread the word via the normal
paid marketing channels. So we must depend on your word of mouth to
help spread the word.
Please take a few moments to tell your family, friends and colleagues
about this primer and how it can make a difference to their food garden
and our planet.
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21. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Either forward them a copy of your primer or let them download their
own copy at www.masterherbgardening.com/newsletter.html
Keep a Journal
If there is one thing that characterizes successful food gardeners it is that
they keep meticulous records of everything they do.
Granted, it is easier to recommend record keeping than to practice it. It’s
often the first thing to be neglected when you are tired or pressed for
time. But keep at it, with time your journal will become an invaluable aid.
Make your journal an everyday record of all that happens in your food
garden. You can also use a few simple worksheets to make this task as
easy as possible:
1. Crop Data
Detailed information about each crop: best sow dates, spacing,
succession plantings, maturity; yield, etc.
2. Garden Layout
A simple ‘blueprint’ of the beds and their position.
3. Crop Plan
Used to record and plan when to sow which crop in which bed
and when to start harvesting.
You can also keep: harvest records, pest control records, fertilization
records, irrigation records, weather records and income & expense
records.
Test Advanced Strategies
The following strategies will contribute handsomely to the success of
your food garden. They all however require a fair amount of knowledge
and experience. So don’t lose any sleep over them if you are new to food
gardening.
Crop rotation
Crop rotation has been practiced for generations by vegetable gardeners
as a simple and effective precaution against pest and disease. The basic
idea is that if you grow the same type of plant on the same patch of
ground year after year, the soil will harbor pest and disease from one
season to the next.
If you move the crop to another piece of ground the pests and diseases
will lose their host and will die out.
Crop rotation, although it is admirable in theory, is not that important in
the small food garden. When pressed for space one does not have the
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22. The Success Principles
luxury of having four or five beds in rotation. It’s also essentially a tool
for annual crops.
Not that I’m saying crop rotation is unimportant. But if yours is a new
food garden, or a very small garden, don’t lose any sleep over it.
Inter-planting
Few gardeners have enough space to grow everything they wish. Every
available piece of soil needs to be used effectively.
One way of achieving this is with inter-planting. This simply means that
you plant quick growing crops amongst the slower growing ones. You are
then able to harvest the quick-growing ones before their slower
bedfellows can fill their space.
Intercropping can also be done purely for the decorative value. A simple
example is to intercrop red-leaved lettuce with green ones or with chervil.
Or planting quick growing chives around a slower growing rosemary
bush. Another example is to mix onions, carrots and lettuce in the same
bed. They have different leaf forms, light requirements and rooting
depths.
Companion Planting
When inter-planting is practiced for reasons other than space saving and
decorative value, it is called companion planting.
“Plants are conscious of the company they keep. Some help other
plants to grow, while other repels insects or even other plants.
And there is no accounting for tastes – plants prefer some
strange bedfellows…” - Pamela Allardice
Although you may think of companion planting as a relatively new
concept, it has, in fact, been practiced for centuries. The ancient Roman
agriculturist, Varro, declared: “Large walnut trees close by make the
border of the farm sterile.” Nearly two thousand years later, Canadians in
Ontario reached the same conclusion.
Companion planting can become quite mysterious, entering the realm of
folklore with claims that cannot be proven. So, unless you are considering
experimenting a lot and keeping meticulous records, don’t lose any sleep
over companion planting.
Roses are red,
Lavender’s blue;
Peas say to garlic:
‘Oh, how I hate you!’
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23. Let’s Go Food Gardening
The Key Food Gardening Activities
In any food garden there are twelve key activities that you need to
perform consistently well to ensure success.
To get you started I’ve given you a brief overview of each below. For a
more detailed account see the Go Food Gardening e-Learning Program
in the Resources.
Planning
The biggest reason for failure in food gardens is lack of planning. As the
saying goes: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Your planning can be
divided into four categories:
1. Garden Layout
2. Pre-season Planning
3. Post-season Planning
4. Seasonal Activity Planning
Here’s a short discussion of your Garden Layout and Pre-season
Planning.
Start by selecting the best possible site you can to grow your crops. A
great site will have full exposure to the sun, great soil, and good drainage.
It will also be easy to access from the house and near a water source.
With your spot chosen decide on the overall size of the food garden.
Avoid the mistake of starting with too big a garden. A food garden takes
time and effort, so start smaller than your inclination. As you gain
confidence you can gradually increase the size of the garden. If you are a
novice do not start bigger than 10 square meters (about 100 square feet)
Next plan your bed layouts. Use a standard rectangular bed layout of beds
which are 60 cm (2 feet) wide and 3 m (10 feet) long. Make the paths
between the beds 30 cm to 40 cm wide.
A garden with 3 to 4 such beds will not supply all your food needs but it
will be the best teacher you can get. And if you cultivate your heart you’ll
be able to expand within a growing season or two.
If you are more experienced and have more space available you can
easily manage a 6 m (20 feet) x 6 m (20 feet) area. You’ll be able to fit 7
standard 6 m long beds into this area. A garden this big will easily supply
most of your fresh herb and veggie needs.
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24. The Key Food Gardening Activities
Next, decide on the crops you want to grow using the criteria in the
previous chapter. (see Supplying a Demand). Spend some time going
through seed catalogs and talk to seedsmen to ensure that you grow the
best possible varieties of each crop.
With the crops and varieties selected, plan when to plant each crop and
also plan your succession plantings. Based on these you can then estimate
your seed and seedling needs. To plan when to plant one can use the
information on seed packets or crops sowing guides like the ones you can
find on the internet or in books. These regional guides are a good start but
they have their limitations. Rather learn to plan your crops based on the
first and last frost dates for your area.
Let’s recap:
1. Select the best site.
2. Decide on overall size.
3. Plan bed layouts.
4. Select crops and varieties.
5. Allocate bed space.
6. Plan when to sow/plant, including succession crops.
7. Estimate seed and seedling needs.
As you can see this is a rather comprehensive planning approach that
leaves nothing to chance and ensures the best possible harvest from the
available growing space.
Start With a Few Crops Only
Most novice gardeners make the mistake of trying to grow as many crops
as they possibly can. Because they cannot manage the diverse crop
Tip requirements, they battle to get them to harvest readiness and soon give
up food gardening.
Start with a handful of crops and master them before you expand your
crop selection. The leafy green crops are a good group first up and if you
add one or two root crops, a legume, and some herbs you will be on your
way to success.
Here’s a Proven Small Garden Blueprint from the Go Food Gardening
Learning Program. This blueprint makes the most of a small growing
space and it helps you gain experience in a variety of planning tasks and
growing activities such as succession planting.
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25. Let’s Go Food Gardening
It consists of three beds, each about 3 meters long. In spring or early
summer it can be planted as follows:
 Bed # 1: Two thirds planted in perennial herbs. 10 to 12 herbs. 2
plants each.
 Bed #1: One third planted in chard or spinach. Crop cleared out
and re-sown in autumn.
 Bed #2: Planted with annual herbs (parsley, dill, basil, cilantro)
and leafy greens (arugula, garden cress or mustard greens). Bed
divided equally between crops selected.
 Bed #3: One third leaf lettuce. 3 Plantings 4 weeks apart. The
first can be planted as soon as frost is over.
 Bed #3: One third bush beans (not runner beans). 3 Plantings 2
weeks apart. Followed by peas in fall and winter.
 Bed #3: One third beets. 2 plantings 4 weeks apart.
 Beds #2 and #3 – areas laying fallow awaiting succession crops
planted in radishes which matures quickly.
Bed Preparation
When preparing beds for the first time you really need to put your back
into it. Double dig the beds and add generous amounts of organic
material. Following this strategy you only need to re-dig the beds every
fourth year.
Bed Preparation for Novices
To the novice food gardener starting with a good soil is highly desirable,
but don’t despair if you don’t know what constitutes a good soil.
Tip
Clean the area.
Then measure out the beds.
Take the topsoil (about 5 cm) from the paths and add them to the beds.
Add liberal amounts of compost, kraal manure or any other good organic
material, and a good pre-plant fertilizer. Make sure the pre-plant fertilizer
is safe to use in organic food gardens. Then dig the beds over.
This will result in raised beds. There is no need to support the sides. Do
not step into your beds after digging. It will compact the soil and damage
your soil structure.
Try to get your beds as level as possible and give them a small (about
10cm or 4 inch) ridge on the edges. Make sure the center area of the bed
is flat and level. This is where the planting will be done.
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26. The Key Food Gardening Activities
Mulch the paths with any organic material. Grass clippings are great.
Planting
Gardeners often suffer heavy losses due to imperfect germination. What’s
more, incorrect planting depth, either too deep or too shallow, accounts
for most of the erratic germination rates and seedling losses.
If you are a novice, start with seedlings or small plants instead of sowing
directly into the beds. This gives you a head start because the seedlings
were started earlier in the season. It can also help extend your growing
season.
Some crops however do not like to be transplanted and need to be directly
sown where they will grow. That’s why it’s important to research each
crop in detail and why you need to keep meticulous crop records.
In intensive gardening we use narrower plant spacing and we place the
plants in the beds with precision using special markers.
The planting depth as mentioned above is very important. Read up, or
follow the directions on the seed packet.
Once the seeds or seedlings are planted give them a thorough watering.
Start Wisely
Start your crops as suggested below:
Tip  Perennial herbs – buy young potted plants. Do not try to grow
them from seed as most are best grown from cuttings. Meaning
you need a ‘mother plant’ to start with.
 Annual herbs – these you can easily grow from seed. But if
you’ve never tried growing from seed, rather buy seedlings or
young potted plants in your first growing season or two.
 Leafy Veggies – some are difficult to germinate without
experience. So get seedlings for your first crop or two. Then start
growing your own from seed.
 Root Veggies – both beetroot and radish is easily grown from
seed. Sow them directly in rows in the bed. Follow the
instructions on the seed packet regarding sowing depth and seed
spacing precisely. Soak the beetroot seed for 12 hours in
lukewarm water to speed up their germination.
 Beans (or peas in winter) – these are best sown directly in the
beds. Follow the seed packet instructions.
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27. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Watering
Conventional food gardeners tend to waste precious time and water when
they water their gardens. Because they rely on one garden hose and a
sprinkler attachment they often battle to distribute the water evenly, and
timely, which result in inferior crop quality and crop losses.
What’s more, watering with traditional overhead sprinklers can lead to
disease problems and because one third or more of a growing area is
usually paths it means one third or more of the water go to waste.
Learn to water your plants with precision. More specifically, water only
the roots of the plants and use a combination of methods such as low cost
soaker hoses and hand-watering hoses. More expensive drip (not micro)
irrigation is a sensible investment when you have big growing areas.
Where possible, automate your watering to some degree to save time.
Be aware that the moment a plant wilts it has stopped growing, and this
means that production has stopped. So check your crops daily.
Only water when plants need it.
Water early in the morning. This helps conserve water and it discourages
a lot of diseases.
Never Let Your Plants Wilt
Especially seedlings. You also need to ensure that the seeds you’ve sown
never dry out until they germinate. During warm dry spells you may need
Tip to water them twice a day.
But be careful of over-watering seedlings and young plants. This could
lead to disease problems and crop losses.
Feeding
Just like humans plants need feeding too. Many food gardeners either
don’t feed at all or they over feed their plants completely. They also use a
one-size-fits-all approach to feeding their crops. These practices result in
inferior crops and a plethora of pest and disease problems.
In a productive food garden, where the plants take a lot of nutrients from
the soil, you need to give them supplemental feeding to ensure a quality
crop.
The time you spend to devise a regular and precise feeding schedule for
each crop (with a fertilizer safe for use in organic food gardens) will pay
23

28. The Key Food Gardening Activities
for itself a thousand fold.
A Proven Feeding Schedule for Novices
Start by feeding your crops at regular 2 to 4 week intervals with a good
organic fertilizer at half the recommended strength.
Tip
As your experience and knowledge of growing specific crops grows you
can start developing individual schedules for each crop.
Weeding
In conventional food gardens weeding is one of the most hated activities.
I follow a structured approach that makes weeding a breeze. The
principle is not to let any annual weeds go to seed and to destroy
perennial weeds with a vengeance.
The first tactic is to weed the paths using a weeding hoe or even a flat
blade spade. This can be done in minutes. Then the beds are straddled and
the weeds within the beds are removed by hand. If this is done on a
weekly basis, while the weeds are still small, weeds never present a
problem.
The second tactic is to mulch as many areas as is possible to limit weed
growth. This practice also conserves water and buffers the crops roots
against extreme temperature. It also adds to the biodiversity in the soil.
Pruning
Most fruit trees need precision pruning and it is a critical part of their
cultivation.
Careful pruning of herb crops, and even some veggies, can drastically
increase yields. Remove growing tips to encourage bushy growth. Prune
out uncessary leaves and flowers to increase your yields and prune back
your perennial crops on a regular schedule.
General and Crop Specific Tasks
The above activities cover most of what you’ll do in your food garden at
any given time. But there are also some essential activities that apply to
specific seasons and specific crops. These include activities such as
cleaning up, making compost, staking crops, earthing up, etc. You’ll learn
and master these along the way.
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29. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Insect and Disease Management
Take the time to observe your plants. You will be able to spot any
problems early on, which will make it easier to prevent or control the
problem. When considering pesticides (even home-made ones) research
them properly, it will save you time, energy and money.
Give bugs the personal attention they deserve by removing them by hand
whenever possible. Use companion planting and row covers with
susceptible crops such as the brassicas.
If all the above fails, employ harmless home-made insect repellent
sprays.
Only as a last resort employ a pesticide labeled as safe for use in organic
food gardens.
Harvesting
In conventional food gardens one crop is grown per year and at the end of
the growing season the old crop is digged in to decompose and build up
the soil during the winter.
In Go Food Gardening the aim is two or three (sometimes more) crops
each year by using seedlings, balanced fertilizers and precision spacing.
Make it your business to know exactly when a crop is ready to harvest,
and once that happens do it without delay to ensure that the crop is at its
best.
This ensures a final product of outstanding quality and it also prolongs
the keeping properties of the crops.
Storage and Preservation
When you have more of a crop than you can use (or give away) at any
given moment, you need to know how to store or preserve it for winter
use or for a time when none is available in the garden.
Some crops, like onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes can be stored for
months if done correctly. Others can be frozen and/or made into
preserves. The latter makes sought after gifts, and often we grow crops
purely to fill the orders for a heirloom preserve, sauce, jam or vinegar.
The combination of home-grown and home-made is unbeatable.
Celebrating Abundance
In the end this is what it all boils down to. We grow crops to enjoy them
on the plate. And our food gardens are living proof that food that is
25

30. The Key Food Gardening Activities
healthy and food that gives pleasure are not mutually exclusive.
It’s no use having a garden full of crispy fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit
and you don’t have the foggiest idea of how to showcase their best
qualities in the kitchen.
Make it a habit to try at least one new recipe with each of the crops from
your food garden every week.
A Sample Monthly Food Gardening Activity List
In practice, all the above results in a series of tasks that need to be done in
any given month of the year. To give you an idea, here’s an activity list
for late autumn (May). Use it to help brainstorm your own list.
Planning
 For winter colour think about Calendula’s, Californian Poppies,
and Viola’s. To get a head start get seedlings from your garden
centre.
 Where heavy frosts are experienced buy frost protection. Don’t
wait till the first frost hit.
 Keep weekly food gardening diary and records up to date.
Compare actual results and actions with plans and make notes for
next year where necessary.
 Start thinking about your spring crops and perhaps expanding
your existing food garden.
Bed Preparation
 Finish digging beds, adding generous amounts of compost, in
preparation for spring. Wait for a dry spell. The frost will make
the soil crumbly and workable, ready to sow and plant the
seedlings when the weather warms up. After digging roughly
level beds off with a rake.
 Mulch beds. Especially perennial herbs, fruit trees and berries to
protect roots against cold.
 In winter rainfall areas consider mulching paths as well, it’ll keep
your feet clean and it adds to the biodiversity of your garden.
Planting
 Thin out seedlings to desired distances.
 Last month to take cuttings of lavender, lemon balm, mint,
oregano, rosemary and thyme.
 All potted herbs available from garden centres can still be
planted.
 Last month to plant strawberries in warmer areas.
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31. Let’s Go Food Gardening
 Last month to lift and divide perennial herbs such as yarrow in
warmer areas.
Watering
 Containers: check daily and give a thorough watering if needed.
 Beds: check weekly and give a thorough watering if needed.
 Fruit trees: give a thorough watering (if needed) every three to
four weeks depending on your soil.
 Do not water mangoes. They need to be kept on the dry side till
the end of July.
Feeding
 All crops: foliar feed once with a seaweed or kelp product.
 Containers: give a diluted feeding once a week.
 Beds: give a diluted feeding once every two to three weeks as
needed.
 Fruit trees: feed sub-tropical fruit like granadillas and papayas
once.
 Stop feeding brassicas as soon as they begin forming heads.
 Beware of over feeding your worm farm. As the days get shorter
and temperatures drop their activity also slows.
Weeding
 Keep up your weed control. Don’t give weeds a chance to flower
and seed.
General and Crop Specific Tasks
 Start pruning fruit trees. Remember to seal large cuts with a
proper tree sealer.
 Shape perennial herbs as necessary.
 Remove tendrils and side shoots from sweet peas so that nutrients
are not wasted on unnecessary growth.
 Support peas as needed.
 Cover cauliflower heads.
 Pull up all spent summer herbs and vegetables. Add to compost
heap or use as mulch elsewhere in the garden.
 Add fallen leaves from deciduous trees to the compost heap or
use as mulch elsewhere in the garden. Now is also a good time to
see who in the neighbourhood dispose of their leaves. Offer to
recycle it for them free of charge. Use it to build the soil in your
garden.
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32. The Key Food Gardening Activities
 Dispose of any insect or disease infested plant material.
Integrated Pest Management
 If you have fruit trees put out bait for fruit fly. The last
generation overwinters in the garden and they come out on fine
days to feed.
 Be on the lookout for snails and slugs, aphids, red spider mite
and the odd caterpillar or two.
 Protect seedlings and leaf crops against birds and other wild life.
Note the occurrence of pests and disease, the measures taken (if any), and
results.
Harvesting
 Continue harvesting seed.
 Continue harvesting crops as required for the table.
 In winter rainfall areas lift sweet potatoes before the rain season
starts.
Storage and Preservation
 Continue making herb oils and vinegars.
 Make pesto with excess basil. Do not add cheese and nuts if you
want to freeze the pesto.
Celebrating Abundance
 Try a new recipe once a week with one of the crops from your
food garden as the main ingredient.
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33. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Appendix
Resources
Home Study Courses
Go Food Gardening e-Learning Program
For some people, starting a food garden from scratch or improving the
results from an existing garden, can be intimidating. There seems to be so
much you need to know. To help you formulate your own Go Food
Gardening Approach this practical hands-on learning program guides you
through each of the key food gardening activities.
Whether you are a gardening novice who wants to start your first food
garden or an experienced gardener who just want to enhance it, this
learning program offer the know-how and guidance you need to make it a
success.
Your vegetable garden can be as small as a few pots on a windowsill or
as large as a small farm, or any size in between. You’ll develop an
approach based on natural laws and proven strategies tailored to your
garden and preferences.
To decide if this learning program is for you answer the questions below.
Do you want to:
 Produce a substantial quantity of edible crops in a small area?
 Grow healthy, nutritious and flavoursome crops?
 Harvest two, three, or more crops from the same area each year?
 Start with easy-to-grow, high value crops and slowly progress to
more difficult crops as your experience and knowledge grows?
 Minimize your gardening time and effort?
 Conserve water and minimize weeding time?
 Garden with simple inexpensive gardening tools?
 Get a complete blueprint for a small garden that you can use as is
or adapt to your needs and available space?
If you’ve answered “Yes” to any of the above then the Go Food
Gardening e-Learning Program is for you.
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34. Appendix
The program is available in a standard version and a deluxe version.
The standard version includes:
 Program manual in Adobe .pdf format.
 Sixteen weeks access to the Go Food Gardening online learning
centre.
 A complete food garden blueprint which you can adapt to your
own needs, install and then cultivate using the key Go Food
Gardening activities.
 An online forum where you can interact with and get help from
experienced food gardeners and fellow participants.
 A complimentary electronic copy of The South African Herb
Growers Guide.
The deluxe version includes everything in the standard version plus:
 One-on-one coaching with the initial planning of your food
garden. Get an experienced eye looking over your plans and
guiding you in making the most of your food garden.
 One-on-one feedback. Each of the lessons has an "assignment" to
complete. You can submit this assignment for feedback which
tells you how you are doing and if you are on the right track.
To join either of these versions Click here!
Web Pages and Newsletters
Go Food Gardening – www.gofoodgardening.com &
www.masterherbgardening.com
Bouquet Garni Herbs – www.herb.co.za
The SA Herb Academy – www.herbclass.com
Online Communities
Go Food Gardening Facebook Community -
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Go-Food-Gardening/363723207110
Books
Bird R. Growing Fruit and Vegetables. London: Hermes House; 2003.
Brookes J. Room Outside. Southampton: Thames and Hudson; 1979.
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35. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Brookes J. The Small Garden. London: Marshall Cavendish; 1982.
Dowding C. Organic Gardening the Natural No-Dig Way. Green Books;
2007.
Featherstone P. Grow to Live. Jacana; 2009.
Griffiths J. Jane’s Delicious Garden. Sunbird Publishers, 2009.
Hadfied H. Die A-Z van die Groentetuin in Suid Afrika. Capetown: C
Struik; 1985. Also available in English.
Hemenway T. Gaia’s Garden A Guide to Home Scale Permaculture.
Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company; 2000.
Hoffman D. The South African Herb Growers Guide. Pretoria: SA Herb
Academy; 2008.
Knox G. Vegetables and Herbs You Can Grow. Iowa: Meredith; 1978.
Lavelle C, Lavelle M. The Organic Garden. London: Hermes House;
2003.
Seddon G, Radecka H. Your Kitchen Garden. London: Mitchell Beazley
Publishers; 1980.
Tozer F. The Organic Gardeners Handbook. Green Man Publishing;
2008.
Wright H. Biodynamic Gardening. London: Octopus Publishing; 2003.
E-Books and Manuals
The South African Herb Growers Guide
As the word ‘guide’ suggests, this is a practical, step by step approach to
planting your own herb garden and harvesting the fruits of your labour.
Because herbs are grown for cooking or for health, or both, how the herbs
are grown is very important.
This guide is also your ideas bank – with loads of suggestions on where
and how to grow herbs, herb garden designs, companion planting advice,
how to make your own organic pesticides and how to get herbs for free
(legally and not holding up the local garden centre!).
Get more details and order online. Click here!
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37. Let’s Go Food Gardening
Notes
33