Kelp in the Garden

Natrakelp

Doug and Kaye McGaughey own Natrakelp, it’s a family business with both son and

daughter involved.

The factory is situated just out from Maroochydore, Queensland.

We use this product all year round in our garden and advise others just how good it is.

Natrakelp Liquid Seaweed is a certified organic product made from brown kelp.

The Brown kelp comes from the cold, unpolluted waters of both the southern and northern hemisphere (Tasmania and Canada).

Don’t forget that kelp is the fastest growing plant in the world

The efficacy of a seaweed product is judged by the amount of Alginic acid retained in the product.

Alginic acid is a naturally occurring hydrophilic colloidal polysaccharide (sugars) obtained from various species of brown seaweed (Kelp).

Seaweed products also contain a wide range of minerals and trace elements.

The kelp is either harvested or collected from the shoreline.

It is then hung in the open, allowed to be washed by the rain to remove any sand and excess salt, then kiln dried and put through a hammermill to the consistency of meal.

It is then bagged and shipped to the factory at Maroochydore for processing.

It is then put into large stainless steel vats using a unique bacterial fermentation process for 21 days with absolutely no heat,chemicals or acids used.

This process retains all the vital elements of the original kelp including the alginates.
There is a great video by Doug on youtube, see linkhttps://youtu.be/whgi_pF2CSU

Other well known products are manufactured either after the alginate is removed or used as a bi- product or by using either heat or chemicals (acids) which tend to destroy much of the original alginates.

After the fermentation process the liquid is filtered to 100 mesh to allow it to go through all types of sprays.

Natrakelp is packaged into various sizes from 1 litre for home garden use to 1,000 litre for commercial growers.
The product ranges from pure kelp to kelp with trace elements, soil conditioners or foliage sprays.

Seaweed products are used for the ability to:

Provide more rapid germination

Increase nutrient uptake

Increase both yield and quality

Increase shelf life

Increased frost tolerance.

Increase photosynthesis

Decrease water stress due to either drought or salinity.

So, all in all it’s a great product that does wonders for your garden as it has done for ours.
We love this product and recommend it to all gardeners.
Unfortunately the product is not available at retail outlets, but can be bought directly from Natrakelp or if you live in Brisbane we sell for Natrakelp at their wholesale price on a non profit basis.

Greenfield Shredder

Just over 15 years ago I bought my Greenfield 6hp garden shredder.
It is a decision I have never regretted.
At the time I think they were just under a thousand dollars.
It has been a great machine with no breakdowns all I have need to do is change the filter, plug, blades and oil occasionally.
I suppose the blades are the most expensive item to buy but they are double sided and do last for several years, I think I am only on my third set after 15 years.
I do shred a lot of garden waste but DO NOT put hardwood of anything that has a fibrous stalk like ginger through it, my advice is just be careful what you shred, for instance palm fronds are OK but only until you hit the hard end bit.

By observing this method of shredding your blades will last much longer.
I know that Greenfield now make shredders with much larger engines but I have found my 6hp copes pretty well with my garden waste.
All my shredded material goes into the compost bins and eventually end up back in the garden, like the old saying ‘what goes around comes around’. ‪#‎greenfieldshredder‬

Hose Reel for Small Areas

First this is not something that I would purchase.

Why, you may ask especially when I am reviewing the product.

We live on a 4000 square metre block so all our hoses have to travel a long way as there are gardens everywhere with literally thousands of plants.

That’s not to knock this product as it is quite cleverly designed and marketed by Hozelock. 

If where you live is anything like Brisbane then you will have seen thousands of units built or being built, I think this is where this product will come into its own.

It is retractable with ten metres of hose complete with a high quality nozzle and is very portable, light and importantly for small area's is very easy to store.

So in the right place this is a great product.

Made in Great Britain so you can be assured of the quality and it has a two year warranty.

Garden Soil Brisbane

Well there was certainly no sign of Christmas spirit at Nuway landscape yard at Chandler today.

I went in with my trailer to buy a half metre of garden soil.

I do this often but usually from TLS or Colonial so I know how exactly how much is in a half metre.

The guy working the loader drove into the soil bay and proceeded to drop the load of soil into my trailer.

I had noticed that the bin of the loader was not even, there was a fairly large space at the back without soil.

Now these buckets are half metre fully loaded and level from front to back.

I complained and after a bit of to and fro he put the tiniest extra bit in my trailer.

I still felt cheated and went up to the office to complain.

What the hell happened there? I left feeling ridiculed, laughed at and being called a liar.

So much for the customer always being right.

Never again will I cross the doors of this company, the attitude of the staff was terrible especially when you compare it to other nearby landscape yards that treat you decently.

I just wonder if they short change a lot of customers who do not complain, they can make a lot of profit over time by doing this.

Yes, I am bloody angry and I am going to circulate this on my blog and websites.

Rainwave/oscillating Sprinkler for the Garden

Gardena send me some garden watering products including a oscillating or as I prefer to call it a 'Rainwave Sprinkler'.
I must admit I rarely use a sprinkler these days as water is just so expensive but as I had an 'Open Garden' coming up and the lawns were brown I decided to give it a try.
I found it to be a very good garden sprinkler to have in my inventory.

Why you may ask?
Not one drop of water was wasted, I could control the width and the length of the water with the simple control levers on the sprinkler.

I must admit that there are several makes of gardening equipment that I consistently purchase and one of these is Gardena, hose fittings, hoses you just cannot get any better.
I am not just saying that because they sent me some gear to review I honestly believe it as I have been purchasing these products for years.
#rainwavesprinkler #oscillatingsprinkler

Best Garden Watering Products

When it comes to gardening tools only the best will do, there is nothing worse than a fork bending or a hose kinking or a fitting blowing off and soaking you.

Usually a good product will save you money in the long run as they last for a long time.

I have made mistakes in the past buying cheap stuff and living to regret it.

One thing I have never scrimped on are garden hoses, I hate hoses that kink and burst, that’s why I have for the past 20 years only bought Gardena products, and yes I am still using them today.

One of the hoses I am using at the moment is a ‘super-flex kink resistant 6, which I think would be at the top of the Gardena range, it’s a great hose and well worth a few extra dollars.

The same applies for hose fittings, when I go to our local hardware store I do not look anywhere else but Gardena and they are trouble free and do not come off the hose unlike some other brands.

In some places in our garden I need two hose outlets and fortunately Gardena make a conversion that fits onto your tap and gives you two outlets, believe me it’s very handy.

Often when watering our garden I wonder just how much water am I using? Well Gardena have another great product which fits between your hose and spray gun (Gardena of course)

 that tells you exactly how much water you are using, it’s called a ‘water smart flow meter’ it shows total per day, per watering cycle and even per season. I must admit I received a shock after watering the garden for a day; it made me a little more careful in my water consumption.

I also have an auto watering system and some sprinklers that I will review later; I have no doubt that they will be the highest quality.

I forgot to mention that all Gardena products are made in Europe and come with a guarantee, for instance the hose has a 30 year guarantee which is pretty awesome to think my hose will last me until I am 99 years old. 

Great All Purpose Garden Tool

When Judy and I visited the Nambour Garden Expo this year we called in to say hello to Clint Kenny who runs the ‘Garden Tool Shop’.

Clint is a well know gardener from Warwick and has opened his beautiful garden to the public on many occasions.

He only sells top quality garden tools, so anything you purchase off him will be of the highest quality, but not of course the cheapest.

With garden tools it’s all about quality, I am very particular with my tools and never ever buy any cheap rubbish made in China, it's always worth paying that bit extra to get quality.

Clint was kind enough to give me a ‘CobraHead’ weeder and cultivator to test and review.

What a great little tool this is, has so many uses around the garden from cultivating, scratching, weeding, planting, making furrows or trenches, seed and bulb holes, the list goes on.

The tool is made in the USA, has a plastic handle and a stainless steel shaft.

The blade can be sharpened with a small file.

I can see my ‘CobraHead’ lasting me a lifetime.

Retails for a little under $40.00 and well worth it.

Clint sells tools online; here is his web site...http://www.gardentoolshop.com.au/p/997783/cobrahead.html

Enjoy the video.