Author: Peter Van Beek
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Introduction to wicking beds and boxes
Wicking boxes and beds are for people who like to grow at least some healthy vegetables but are short of time, water, suitable space or money. With wicking boxes, they can grow healthy vegetables in weekends, on balconies, concrete surfaces, near trees and on heavy clay soils. They are very water-efficient. Wicking refers to water…
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The Hidden Costs of Using Cloth and Stones in Wicking Boxes and Beds
When making wicking beds and boxes, a widely promoted mistake that is based on two common misconceptions, is to put stones next to the reservoir and a sheet of cloth over both. In addition to costing money, there are hidden costs that are far more important. Rocks waste space where the soil biology should be,…
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Countless Ways to Make Wicking Beds
Wicking beds can be made from almost any materials and are limited only by our imagination. Here are some examples: Styrofoam Boxes Styrofoam boxes of all sizes can be turned into wicking beds, from 50-litre boxes to 13-litre mini versions using 40 mm PVC pipe as a reservoir. These can be decorated and placed on tables…
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Build Your Own Shade House with Poly Pipe and Battens
This six metre by four metre shade houses protects against excessive sun, wind, and pests such as insects and possums. A simple structure can be made using materials that can be purchased at any good hardware store. This design minimises waste and time, with an estimated material cost of $500 as of March 2025. Use…
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Saving Macadamia Trees, the deadly cost of transplanting trees without their soil biology
In mid-April 2020, 11 young macadamia trees had been transplanted to the Bundaberg Botanical Gardens. These trees are a subspecies of Macadamia jansenii, as are the commercially grown ones. They are being grown to ensure that all genetics of the native macadamia tree are preserved, not just the commercial ones. Holes were dug, the trees…
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From 30 steers to 90, how Brent tripled his farm’s carrying capacity in 20 years
This is the story of Brent Lashford ’s change to regenerative grazing, starting in 2000. Brent bought his property in the Machine Creek area behind Mt Larcom, Qld, 25 years ago, after looking around for 18 months. That included getting to know and learning from people like Peter Andrews and others who have pioneered natural…
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Improving Soybean Yield by 9% with Bio-Booster and Humic Acid and Sea minerals
Bio-Booster, plus a 50-50 mix of humic acid and sea minerals, was applied to soybeans to test for any effects on yield and soil in two paddocks. The Bio-Booster is an extremely high concentration of living soil biology based on a wide range of locally-sourced soil biology and was ‘grown’ on farm. (See our guides…
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Known Functions of Sea Minerals
As a society, we are still learning the roles and functions of Sea Minerals in both plants and soil biology. The list below shows the ones we are aware of, but there are many publications that we are not aware of. If you want to find out more, check out our introduction to sea minerals.…
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Growing Avocados, a demonstration of increasing bin weight with Humic Acid and Sea Minerals
Building Soil Carbon Nature’s way is, amongst other things, about diversity in the soil biology and feeding it with what that needs. They require more elements than what artificial fertilisers provide. One source of the most complete range is the sea where anything that has been washed away finishes up. Sea minerals are being harvested…
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“Our Growing Business”, a Y6 Student Run Project
Students at a Queensland public primary school, inspired by the school’s wicking beds, purchased and cultivated seedlings, later selling them to raise funds for their Year 6 camp trip. We started our business off by selling seedlings we bought and raisedfor several months during school. We made recycled newspaper pots togrow them in and we…