Plant seeds for summer growth

AN upcoming workshop taking place next month is set to plant the seeds for gardening beginners looking to grow vegetables.

Author of the Urban Food Garden blog John Ditchburn will host his annual seedling workshop next weekend and he’s seeking to pass on his decades of experience with propagation methods.

He said the event will give budding gardeners the tools to grow their own seedlings.

“It has two sessions of theory about growing seedlings, the first of which will be a basic one and the second will look at heating propagation units,” he said.

“People will be planting their own seedlings in a Styrofoam seeding box, and if they want to they can have a sheet of glass over it which will turn it into a mini-greenhouse.

“They’ll take that home with them to start growing their own seedlings. With Styrofoam it takes a lot longer to dry out the soil so it makes it easier for the beginner to grow seedlings.”

Mr Ditchburn has been running his annual seedling workshop for about 15 years, following a guide he’d co-developed on the subject as part of his Urban Food blog.

Materials like soil, seeding mix, and manure will be provided while attendees must bring their own Styrofoam boxes.

Funds from the workshop will go towards Mr Ditchburn’s blog, which details his experiences gardening against Ballarat conditions.

He said the workshop is in the spirit of the ethos behind Urban Food Garden.

“I made so many mistakes as a food gardener specifically to Ballarat’s climate which is pretty grim,” he said. “The methods you’d use here are quite different to what you’d do in Melbourne.

“When I lived there, I’d plant my tomatoes in September. Here, it’s traditionally the first weekend of November. Any earlier than that and you risk getting hammered by a late frost.”

“I’ve built up quite a lot of knowledge on how to grow to Ballarat weather and this is to impart some of that.”

The workshop is set to run from 1.30pm on Saturday 2 September at 104 Crompton Street, Soldiers Hill and is capped at 18 people.

Tickets to are $45 for the whole session or $30 for just the theoretical talk.

To book, call Mr Ditchburn on 0428 157 618 or email [email protected].