The Green Life Soil Co acknowledges the Nyoongar Whadjuk people - traditional custodians of this land. We wish to acknowledge the strength of their continuing culture and offer our respects to Elders past and present.
Green Life Soil Co. provides Custom Mixed Soils, Garden Products and Landscaping Supplies.
Shop Online for bulk or bagged potting mix, organic soils, manure, compost and fertilisers delivered anywhere in the Perth Metro Area!
Secure Online Shopping
Spring is here! Spring is here! After a wet and cold winter the thought of some warmer, sunny days is most appealing. Our gardens have loved the rain (there's a good moisture bank built up in the soil) but not the cold so much - seedlings have been slow and many plants are looking a bit sad and yellow - but they'll soon pick up again as the days get longer and warmer.
Such a busy time in the garden AND at GLSC right now. We've given the place a bit of a face lift, increased our little nursery area, and built some new bays in the yard - there's projects going on left, right & centre! Here's Luke on the roller preparing part of the yard last week. Read on to find out more...
We hope to see you at Green Life really soon!
Cheers! ~ Linda & The Team @ The Green Life Soil Co
It's THE PERFECT time for planting your summer vegie seeds, or if you'd prefer to get a jump start on the season, some seedlings that are ready to go. Things to try right now include:
Artichoke (pictured here), Asparagus, Basil (keep them sheltered), Beans, Beetroot, Broccoli (if you have a plan to net them against pests), Capsicum & Chilli (be patient ~ seed will take ages while it's cold), Carrots, Celery, Coriander (keep in a cool/shadier spot), Cucumber, Eggplant, Kale (again you'll be best to net them), Kohl rabi, Leek, Lettuce, Onions, Parsnip, Peas, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Radish, Rocket, Silverbeet, Snow Peas, Spring Onion, Squash, Strawberries, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Zucchini.
Plus many herbs will take off now the days are slowly warming up.
Also use the search box (top/left of the website) to find other useful information on companion planting, crop rotation, pest control, etc. We've got HEAPS of info there and we'd encourage you to reference it whenever you need to, and please tell your friends. :-D
Jobs to do in the Garden
Weeding - nobody's favourite job but if you turn your back on weeds at this time of year they'll all be going to seed, so get onto them now while you can. Slashing them to remove the forming seed heads/flowers is good. Of course the plant will send out another flower and another - but each time it will have less & less energy to do so, meaning that seed heads will be smaller and in theory spread less next year. So if you don't have time to pull them all out, at least whippersnip. If you CAN pull the weeds, it's a great time of year to make weed tea. Return all those nutrients to your garden in a few weeks when your young plants can take advantage of them. Click here to learn how.
Get your seedlings started! We've got HEAPS of seeds available plus our Certified Organic Seed Raising mix - so get started and give it a go. If you're a beginner we're happy to help you with advice. It's very rewarding to have your own plants grown from seed and it's quite addictive.
Feed your citrus & passionfruit vines. A slow release organic fertiliser like our Multigrow & rock dust; or our own Blood & Bone mix (which already contains rock dust) is ideal.
Feed your winter crops that are still coming on, and watch for pests as the weather changes.
Plant out some flower seedlings - they're always gorgeous to have around the place and they also have a valuable role in attracting beneficial insects to your garden. There are a range of lovely spring/summer flowering annuals; pick a colour scheme and get planting!
If you haven't cleaned up your strawberries (like me - ooops) it's time to get onto it. Separate overcrowded plants and keep the healthiest & strongest runners. Top up their soil with something like our vegetable concentrate and if you have access to pine needles, they make a great mulch for your strawberries.
Lawns will be waking up from winter; so if yours needs some TLC check out our fact sheet here. It's time to fertilise and/or top dress, so have a chat to us about the best way to go about it.
Think about mulching - your plants don't really need it yet, but what it will do is keep the moisture bank from all this lovely rain in the soil, longer. Any bare areas of ground or weedy areas will benefit from a really nice, deep layer of tree pruning mulch - you'll be building the soil and you can make the space look more attractive very easily this way!
Greener Garden Festival - THIS SATURDAY, 3rd September
FREE FAMILY FUN FESTIVAL 10am - 4pm
Oh My Gosh - this is going to be a big day for us @ GLSC!
The speakers will be presenting in the big shed, and the program for talks is:
11.15 Sabrina Hahn
1pm Charles Otway
2pm Sue McDougall
3pm Panel Q&A - with Charles, Sue and a number of our 'Brains Trust' who'll be around on the day. Come with your gardening questions!
We have a fundraising sausage sizzle being run by the Swan Districts Gymnastics Club around lunchtime (bring some cash).
There'll be organic coffee & tea available - we'd encourage you to BYO reusable cup on the day.
EMRC will have a stall with information on waste reduction & recycling. They're also bringing a giant game for kids plus an activity where they can make a newspaper pot/plant a pot to take home.
We have Old MacDonalds Farm coming in with their animals between 1-3pm for the kids.
At the festival, come along and see displays & get ideas on more sustainable ways to live and garden. There'll be the opportunity to talk to these experts:
Plus it's the official launch of The Harvest Club - our participants will be there in the morning so come along and say hello. They're a great bunch of people and we hope you'll follow their journey this spring.
So there'll be lots to see & do - come along and get advice on getting your spring garden off to a flying start. Whatever your gardening problem, one of experts will be able to help you.
We hope you can join us on the day. It's the first time we've ever held an event like this & we're really excited!
Parking on the day may be at a premium. Of course you can park along Farrall Road but please be careful (especially with your kids) as the road can be busy. You'd be best parking on the opposite side of the road to GLSC (to avoid the ditch on our side which is rather full of water right now).
The Harvest Club
Thank you to EVERYONE who took the time to apply - the quality of the applications was amazing, and in the end we couldn't narrow it down to 8 finalists so ended up with 9.
I am pleased to announce they are (in no particular order):
Trevor & Peta Theunissen of Lesmurdie
Brendon Simpson of Huntingdale
Karen Porter of Dayton
The Rose family of Rivervale
Sarah Ainslee of Swan View
Bianca Holtom of Meadow Springs
Gary & Amy Hussey of Mundaring
Nischa Blair of Karrinyup
Sarah-James & the O'Toole family of Queens Park
Some of the bunch are pictured here on our visit Sunday morning to Jetto's Patch in Maida Vale.
In the group we have a great mix of locations, base soil types, demographics of participants, and a range of previous gardening experience.
The project gets underway at the start of September, so the garden beds at each of their homes is being prepared this week with our Certified Organic Vegetable Concentrate, ready for planting on the weekend.
This will be the place to check in regularly to see what's going on with the Harvest Club participants. We'll be presenting a profile of each of the crew (and their garden), monthly progress reports and observations.
It will be interesting to see how plant growth and issues vary between the sites. There's bound to be one having similar issues to YOU, so follow along and let us know what's happening at your place, too!
Our vision for this is that there will be something of a database and resource for Perth gardeners to help them in their own garden.
Please do follow our Facebook page and the Blog to keep in touch with The Harvest Club.
Workshops @ The Green Life Soil Co
Have you attended one of our popular workshops yet? This photo was taken at Charles Otway's 'Permaculture Garden & Yard Design' workshop last Saturday.
We are planning more for Spring so check in with our Events page regularly.
Some of the upcoming workshops confirmed so far are:
Grow Your Own Food & Medicine (Leesa Caldwell) 10 September 2016
Grafting Techniques (Joe Tassone) 24 September 2016
Basics of Garden Design (Lisa Passmore) 1 October 2016
Propagation (Leesa Caldwell) 8 October 2016
Worms & Worm Farm Management (Kevin Smith - The Worm Shed) 15 October 2016 *
Make your own Herbal Products (Leesa Caldwell) 12 November 2016 *
Integrated Pest Management & Natural Pest Control (Ross Mars) 26 November 2016 *
* bookings not yet live on the website - but will be very soon!!!
For more info on each workshop, visit the Events page and click on each individual listing for specific details.
We're also looking at some other great sessions between now and Christmas so keep an eye on future newsletters, on Facebook and on our website.
VIP Member Discount
Between now & 31st December, use the code HARVEST at checkout to receive FREE delivery on orders over $100 (normally $15). So there's no excuse not to stock up on your garden goodies... Shop online for convenience 24/7.
OR...
Coming in to see us or booking a bulk delivery? Spend over $100 to receive a FREE bag of soil product of your choice*.
(*Not valid in conjunction with the free online delivery order above.) Instore bag offer valid to 30 September 2016. Please ASK to receive the free bag at the time of purchase.
So until next time - have FUN in the garden & see you SOON @ The Green Life Soil Co.