Gardening chat thread

[Ceres]

Soooo green-thumbed people.. what's happening in your gardens?
Mine is WEEDY. All this rain lately, I can't keep up with it!
Thinking about putting in my spring crops soon - pretty sure we're past the last of the frosts now.
Also just trying to keep on top of the ridiculous snail numbers and keep the caterpillars at bay.

[battlecrumpet]

Our back lawn is starting to die off from lack of water, there's some dirt patches in the corner but otherwise it's mostly OK. The front yard is a bombsite as usual. I tried to replace our small and weedy front lawn with sheetmulch and groundcovers, but due to no rain, the groundcovers have hardly grown from when I planted them a few months back.

Otherwise....sweet potato is rampant, as usual...every few days Caelan wants to dig for sweet potatoes though we never harvest many. Snow peas and strawberries have been going pretty well, we've been eating them straight off the vines. Some of the citrus trees are heavy with flower buds just starting to open, which is great.

But as for the climbers that we planted last year to shield windows from the western sun and give some privacy, well, they're not screening or shielding anything much at this stage. (The climbers we've planted are a bouganvillia, a wisteria and a bower-of-beauty).

[Ceres]

Sounds so dry! I hope you get a long, wet summer. I don't think I can grow sweet potato here but luckily pumpkin goes well in the dry months.

[Ayla]

Things have been moving slowly around here. I have a vege plot ready to go but still haven't planted anything in it :rolleyes Mainly because we'd need to fence it to stop the chickens from destroying it and we never get around to it/Dave's never here so it remains just another job that gets left by the wayside. The passionvine is growing nicely along one side of the chicken pen's chicken wire. I'm training the tendrils to where I want them to go. I expect fruit next year maybe? One of the 4 pigeon pea survived and for the first time has little yellow flowers on it, yay! :) The trusty old mulberry tree is fruiting (early this year due to the strange heatwave we're having!) so first harvest will be soon, I might try my hand at making some mulberry jam, yum! Still no fruit on the loquat, although it is smaller than the neighbours one (which is fruiting) so maybe it needs more time.

In the front yard I have some baby fruit trees - an imperial mandarin, dwarf mango and dwarf avocado. We had some big shady trees chopped down a few months back to let more sun get to the baby fruit trees and it seems to have helped. The avo has a flush of new green leaves which I'm happy to see as it seemed to struggle at first. The mango has just started budding so we'll prolly see some flowers in the next couple of days. I wonder if it will fruit next year? The mandarin is still struggling :( It seems to have some kind of disease affecting its leaves but it's still hanging in there so time will tell.

I want to add a peach tree and an apple tree to the orchard, and some kind of nut tree. Perhaps a macadamia or a pecan? Anyway, should prolly think about that later and get vege beds rotating, we don't even have any herbs growing yet!

[GreenGully]

I am itching to get a garden going in my own house, or at least aget stuck into the one here.

[Sarasvati]

Me too GG!

[Anaed]

I have planted out some herbs and tomatos in the front garden. Planning on ripping out two ornamental bushes that are in the two front gardens to make way for more veges.
The frong gardens get more sun, have better drainage and the chooks wont be able to get to them hehe

Out the back I am slowly making it a chook friendly garden.
I also have some potato bags all set up. The passionfruit vine is regrowing (had to cut it back) the carrots are also growing nicely, probably will never get to full size as I like picking them and eating them :lol
The capsicum plant has a wee caps growing on it, not sure how that will go though. The back garden is in desperate need of a weed and mulch.

One of the front gardens was full of grass and nutgrass so I covered it in wet newspaper and lots of mulch, around the edges some weeds are peeking out but I am hoping that where it is thickly covered they are dying off.

[Ceres]

That nutgrass can be SO persistent! Fingers crossed that shading them out does the trick. If all else fails you can put manure then black plastic on top in the summer - it burns the crap out of it.

[battlecrumpet]

That tip on nutgrass sounds really interesting Ceres. I sheetmulched part of the front lawn last year (with old cloth nappies, towels and newspapers)...it got rid of all the weeds except the nutgrass! The bugger nutgrass seemed to grow by runners under the ground....shading wouldn't stop it...grrrrr.....

[Beatrice]

I can finally join you in here :eager Once I finish building the chook run here I'm going to get stuck into rehabilitating the IL's vege garden. Nobody's done anything with it for two or three years so it needs to be totally weeded, composted and mulched. I'm thinking about making a couple of raised beds as well, will see how much room there is...

There are almonds (which have never actually managed to provide my ILs with any fruit because of bird attacks!), an apple, a cherry, a plum and a huge old lemon tree here :)

[Louise]

we're in an apartment, but have an ok potted garden. Peas and passionfruit growing up the balustrade, a crazy nasturtium threatening to break inside! and some other herbs and some things I've forgotten what they are....

[battlecrumpet]

Yesterday I cut back and composted the dead part of our passionfruit on the fence (which is most of it).
Caelan learned to use the secateurs and he's now obsessed with them!

"Chop-chop-chop" he says, looking for new plants to prune...my main job was helping him distinguish btw the big plants, that are OK to play at pruning, and the little ones which aren't, but he learned pretty quickly.

This morning it's cold and a bit wet - he still insisted on getting his rainjacket and boots on, then going out the back at 7am for another pruning session :)

[homebirthmum]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/homebirthmum/2130.jpg

Hope this works.... one of my girls in the garden on Sunday. We made a new vegie patch... my second one... and they are getting bigger!

[Ceres]

Aw, how lovely! I love chooks.

[turtledove]

We're harvesting broccoli, silverbeet, radishes, carrots, kale, spinach, celery, beetroot and loads of herbs (loving the coriander!) - small amounts of everything as we've only got a small garden.
I noticed the spinach and coriander seeds that I planted a week or two ago are starting to sprout.
Potatoes are looking great, but won't be ready for a couple of months.
I planted a couple of mulberries today - fingers crossed...
This weekend I'm going to plant lots more carrots and some beetroot, then we're going to bali for 3 weeks :eager (luckily my sister lives next door so she can look after the garden) but I'm already thinking about what I'll be doing in the garden when I get back.

[Anaed]

I planted out some herbs and a cherry & a roma tomato in front garden (did I post this already :lol ) and there are two things sprouting up that must have come from the compost, quite excited to see what they are :lol

Looking forward to dig up the two ornamental shrubs out front and replace with veges. One of the potato cages has leaves popping up so I need to top up with more mulch.

[Anaed]

Oh and I can't wait till our girls are bok boking around the yard, Lauren accidently let a couple of the chicks out of the lawn run, it was so funny trying to catch them!

[Ceres]

Wow, everyone's gardens sound so productive! I didn't put much in over winter, but I'm really looking forward to the spring planting when we get back from canberra.

[Beatrice]

I want to PLANT SOMETHING :runcry I'm thinking about gettng some punnets of forget-me-not and pansies to put into the formal garden for some instant gratfication :lol

It's not raining today so I'm going to try to finish the new rabbit run, then I can get on with weeding the established vege beds and chucking the weeds to the bunny :D

[GreenGully]

I went a bit crazy with the weeding yesterday. I love weeding. I want to do moooore!

[Ayla]

Come and weed at my place! :lol

[Ceres]

No way! I still have weeds here :P

[battlecrumpet]

Gosh I just ignore my weeds and try to grow something more useful over the top of them (e.g. sweet potato).

Works sometimes....other times it's an abysmal failure :lol.

[Ayla]

I just came home and a kookaburra was sitting on my clothesline. We have such diverse birdlife where I live :) There was a stunning heron in the backyard the other day. We get lorikeets and paleheaded rosellas too.

[Anaed]

Hmmph we get crows, peewees, miners (hmm is it spelled that way?) oh and Currawong, they are shy though, but LOVE their song. Have seen a tawny frogmouth in the tree next door.

Saw a python in the tree next door the other week.

[GreenGully]

mynahs :)

[Beatrice]

I hates them! We used to have a family of the nasty things at our old house, which ran off the silvereyes who were nesting in our front yard when we bought it.

Although there is also a native bird, the Noisy Miner, which used to confuse the heck out of me til I got some edumacation at this website (http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=10) :lol

[Anaed]

Ah yup Beatrice those are the ones that we have :)

[Beatrice]

Much better than the alternative!

[MindfulMama]

Planted some lavender today. Well, kind of. See, our soil (& I use the term very broadly) is actually clay, rock, and a little bit of dirt in between. So digging in the ground to any depth requires muscles I seem to have lost whilst I have been sick with whooping cough. Hmmm ... wonder if they will survive?

Also got some herbs from the shops today - mint, coriander, chives and parsley. DS keeps chopping 'em off but refuses to eat them *sigh*. And then we mulched the strawberries - except DS likes to play hide & seek with the mulch so the strawberries are now buried! Maybe when he's older we might have a productive edible garden :lol

[Ceres]

MM.... your soil sounds like mine was when I moved here. Since then I've dumped about 4 cubic metres of mushroom compost on it and whipper snipped the weeds so they rot into the soil, and now the soil is LUSH and there's about 5 worms in every shovel full of soil. It was mostly thanks to a particularly wet winter but the difference is amazing.

[Beatrice]

Sounds awesome, Ceres.

I've finally planted something :eager I put some edging (about a foot high) around the one weed-free bed, and planted potatoes. The edging is to stop the chooks and kids scattering the mulch.

After that, I set up my first bathtub worm farm, which is in the shade next to the compost heap. This is going to be the traditional shaded one which gets fed all the kitchen` scraps etc. It's been filled with wormfood and is waiting on a trip to buy the actual worms.

Then DH and I went and did some collaborative building (ie. I have the ideas and he does all the work :oops Stupid wrists won't let me use a saw for very long). We have two more bathtubs, which are going up on the north-facing back verandah, which currently has no railing to stop H falling off the edge. DH and I are building frames for them out of our scrap lumber, so they are stable and block off the worst of the drop. Then I'm going to fill them both like the other wormfarm, add worms, and plant herb seedlings into pockets of potting mix in the mulch on top. By the time the plants start growing into the worm layer it's starting to break down into gorgeous worm compost and the plants grow like billy-o. If I keep adding mulch and food scraps whizzed in the processor to the top, the worms should have enough food and shade. I've never tried this in full sun before so I'll be interested to see how they go.

[Ceres]

Sounds like an exciting project! I don't have a worm farm anymore, just the chooks and the compost. I think the worms do a pretty amazing job though.

[homebirthmum]

Maurie and I planted some zucchini seeds in various spots around the garden as my vegie patch is just not big enough!
Our spuds are looking beautiful.
We are waiting on our seedlings to come back from my dads place (he is a commercial orchid grower) who has a hot house!
Saw some amazing camelias at the bot gardens today and madly trying to work out where we could fit one. :)

[Beatrice]

I love camellias :)

I just don't think it's possible to build too much soil! Plus I'm lazy, so I prefer the worm farms to a traditional compost heap as the worms turn over all the compost for me :lol When I have done the worm farm as planter idea before, I ended up with gorgeous rich friable soil which I turned into the raised beds when we moved (except for one garbage bin full which came with us and is now in with the potatoes). If I were staying here permanently, I'd be aiming to empty them out and start again probably every six months or so with the seasonal changeover, and gradually build up the soil right through the garden.

[Sarasvati]

I planted out some seedlings I bought last week into a fairly cursed spot (have already killed a few plants there). Oregano and basil, am hoping they do better than coriander and parsley! I need to get in and break up some soil and dig into compost etc so I can plant some more seedlings but I have run out of usable compost and am very low on mulch gah! We're also a bit low on water in the tank (please rain this week!)

Am looking forward to raising from plants from seed, I have black russian seeds yay! (Best tomato ever). Need my vege plot for that tho.

[Ceres]

How are everyone's gardens looking? I'm still battling the weeds that came up over the very wet winter. Everything is growing like crazy with a bit of rain and sun.

[Beatrice]

Yeah, me too! But I'm using the weeds and the rest of the leaves to build up my worm farm planters. Nearly finished, then I can plant in them.

Oh, and our lawnmower died, and we didn't have the cash to fix it til this weekend, so we have waist-high grass out the back :lol

[GreenGully]

Well, mine is a bare courtyard, but I thought I would share a pic of J's tomato plant. He purchased it at the Meadows Country Fair last weekend with his own money. It is a green striped zebra. Thank you Ceres for the pot!


http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs276.snc1/10319_164954696103_586531103_3241084_1309908_n.jpg

[Ceres]

May it yield many tomatoes!

I have a couple of projects on the go at the moment. For some unknown reason the previous owners of this house decided on a gravel patch instead of a lawn, so I am going to move the gravel (that's the annoying bit) and put a lawn in. There's also another gravel area where they previously had a hot tub that I am going to turn into a garden bed. Both are heavy work (digging up and moving it all in the wheelbarrow) so I've been procrastinating on it a bit.

[Beatrice]

Sounds like a lot of work Ceres!

[Sarasvati]

Well I'm pleased to report the basil and oregano are growing, though I saw a flower bud on my baby basil! AARGH I can't believe it's trying to bolt already! I also planted some thyme, rocket and a marigold in the same garden bed (rocket did well over winter so we'll see if it likes the spot over summer).

The plants I planted in the spot I thought was full shade are suffering. The clivis and violets are ok as they are only in sun for the early morning. The others aren't happy, my fern is burning :(. So I've decided to put a no-dig thing there, layer it up and sow tomatoes and some other veg there. Only annuals as I'm pretty sure in winter it IS fully shaded :lol.

Bought black plastic for the area where my main vege patch will be. It is covered in weeds... die weeds die!

[Mud]

I've been working on mulching my trees and preparing beds for veggies -- digging out some onion weed and trying to slow down the rest with cardboard and mulch on top. Today I planted potatoes that I've had sprouting for months (we've been too busy!), so I hope they will still grow OK. I have pea seedlings ready to plant out too, another thing I meant to plant months ago. Seems a bit late for peas, but I'll see how they go.

Having time to plant a few things and being outside in the warm weather is heaven (now it's supposed to rain for a week -- I might try gardening under an umbrella.)

[evelynn]

another great thread!!

we are currently living at my mum's house until i find something of our own, so everything i am planting is just in big pots or boxes with holes.
so far we have planted:
tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes and watermelons.
minus the watermelons, i am SO amazed at how quickly everything else has grown!!!! SO quick!
must be all this nice weather and the amount that reikaya loves watering the plants :lol
i can't wait to have my own place and plant so much more stuff!

[Sarasvati]

Ooh! I have a BUNCH of seedlings growing. I have some flower seeds for companion planting, and the zinnia (thumbelina) germinated in 3 days flat! Was most impressed. Would be a great flower for kids to grow I reckon. I think my roma tomato seeds are too old, coz all of my tomato seeds have germinated bar the roma. I have a no-dig garden ready to go when the seedlings are big enough (I planted them in toilet rolls, cut in half, so I don't have to disturb them too much).

Had to cull two rocket plants this morning as the heat and sun have ruined them, but I have two more plants that are shaded by mint, that are growing well. My basil is doing well, as are the thyme, oregano and amazingly the mint. I have a nice little shaded spot with comfrey and coriander and chamomile, and just acquired a chilli and strawberry plant on the weekend. Need more strawberry plants tho!

Looking forward to planting seedlings out! It's so fascinating watching the seeds germinate, the different lengths of time till germination, the difference in the emerging seedlings...

[Ceres]

We're getting to the pointy end of the stick for gardening now. It's always a challenge to keep anything alive here with temps up to 45 degrees in the summer. Tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkin are usually the best bets. I have some corn germinating inside (as the chickens ate all the stuff I directly sowed) so hopefully we'll have lots of corn too!

[Ayla]

I have 3 wee passionfruits on my vine :D I have lots of baby mandarins too.

[battlecrumpet]

Some long purple beans are appearing on our bean vine. C usually likes beans but looks like I'll have trouble getting him to eat these, as they're purple :rolleyes
Flowers are starting to appear on our tomatoes. DH and C hauled in a few sweet potatoes a few days back, which was great because we were running out of roots from our vege box.

Cucumbers we planted a few weeks ago are sprouting balistically. If the fruits are as good as the shoots, I'll have to learn how to pickle them!

We have a spare patch of garden in partial shade under the outdoor starts - trying to work out what I can plant there at this time of year, that doesn't need heaps of water. Someone suggested arrowroot....also thinking of growing corn, as C loves it.
Oh we have tiny mandarins too Ayla :)
Most of the blossoms blew off our avo tree but there's still a couple of baby avo's on there.

Was trying to learn how to sprout mushrooms from mushy compost under the house - but it hasn't worked.

Keen to learn more about seed saving - hope to get along to some local seed savers' meets within the next few months.

We have watermelon growing but, same as Evelynn has found, the plants are slow to grow (and not many of the seeds I planted have survived).

[Ceres]

The purple runner beans go green when cooked.. is that what you have? They're called magic beans here :lol

[battlecrumpet]

They're called "purple king" - not sure if they're the same as purple runner beans, but I hope they do go green when cooked :)

[Ceres]

I think they are the same ones. They just look like beans when cooked.

[Sarasvati]

I love oddly coloured veges :lol. I can't wait to harvest my first yellow, purple and white carrots, not to mention the deep red shallots, the white eggplants etc. :lol I am drawn to veges that look different to what I'm used to.

[Ceres]

I was just thinking about all the purple vegies you could grow... cauliflower, carrot, beans and potatoes.. that would be an interesting looking meal!

[battlecrumpet]

This multicoloured thing reminds me of a book I read about the Okinawans. Apparently the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world, and they try to get as many different colours into the meal as possible (I guess, different colours=different nutrients....)

S, let us know how the white eggplants go! I was looking at some online the other day, and read that purple eggplants can go bitter due to lack of water (which means, they'll go bitter with me looking after them! Or not looking after them really!) but apparently the whties were sweeter or something?

[Janet]

I was pegging out washing today and enjoying the amazing fragrance of the whole 3 gardenia flowers out on my 3 bushes atm. :imateapot Astonishingly powerful they are! When the wind changes, I can smell the massive purple budleias in the middle of the yard. They smell like warm honey. mmmm.

[Sarasvati]

My grandpa grows white eggplants and when I asked mum if we needed to salt them she said no, they were never bitter. That's the other reason I got those seeds. But I guess we'll find out!

[Ceres]

I have seeds here for white and orange eggplants! Never got around to planting them for this summer though.
http://www.southernexposure.com/Merchant2/graphics/Turkish%20Orange%20Eggplant.jpg

Turkish orange eggplant

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/WhiteEggplant.jpg

White eggplant.

Kind of explains where the name egg plant came from though, considering the purple ones look absolutely nothing like eggs!

[battlecrumpet]

We grew the orange ones for a season, they were a bit bitter but OK. Bitterness might've been due to lack of water perhaps??

Anyhow I'll put the white eggplants on my seed list, they sound great! We also have some normal purple ones growing, but the leaves keep getting eaten...the white ones look more fun anyway :)

[Sarasvati]

THe orange ones look like tomatoes! I'm tempted to get the streaky purple ones too, but I have to be realistic about what we'll actually eat!

I am so influenced by aesthetics, that I bought an F1 hybrid instead of an heirloom type for my bunching onions :lol. The open pollinating type doesn't stay red in hot weather, so I got the hybrid :lol. But everything else I have is heirloom ;).

I am really excited tonight as my evergreen bunching onion is FINALLY sprouting. 11 days, it's taken the longest of all the veges (the poppies can take around 3 weeks so I'm hoping they still sprout). I've all but given up on a few old seeds I had, they are usually fast germinators (tomato, borage in particular) and they are still not showing.

[Ceres]

I have some pumpkin, zucchini, corn and bean seedlings waiting to be planted. I got sick of the chooks eating the direct-sown seeds and splashed out on some seed raising mix. I don't think I'll be buying seedlings again - these look fantastic!

[GreenGully]

yay!

[Ceres]

Now that the JB festival and the circus workshop are over I can turn my attentions back to the garden. Might plant up some more seeds today. Need lots of basil for GG's yummy home made pesto!!

[battlecrumpet]

Well I've succumbed to S's influence (and seed catalogues descriptions, OK) and got some white eggplant seeds. Also 2 types of squash, silverbeet with red stalks, and corn. Should be interesting!

[Ceres]

Hooray! How exciting.

[Sarasvati]

Woohoo! Do you have a garden plot ready to go?

I have to plant out my seedlings this weekend, I'm gonna be buggered! Huge weekend coming up!

[Sarasvati]

I ended up planting my seedlings in a fit of "just do it!" yesterday. I was worried coz my seedling "pots" were drying out and some of the seedlings were getting leggy. I had everything I needed, so I got stuck into it once the sun had moved over the other side of the house. I had to prepare a bed for the carrots, and then I had some lovely fine organic compost to spread over the top. After I planted the seedlings I constructed a shade sail using hessian and four bamboo stakes. I'm very conscious of the carrot seedlings possibly burning in the midday/arvo sun (which is what this particular garden gets) so want to protect them.

I was going to stop there but then decided to put in the tomatoes too :lol. So that garden now has seedlings, and I have a lot more space in there than I realised. So will keep my eye out for strawberry plants and will probably direct sow some more flowers for companions. So excited!

[Ceres]

I'd love to see some pictures when it greens up a bit!

[Sarasvati]

Will do! I took photos of my dodgy shadesail this morning :lol. I'm surprised it hasn't flown away yet. Will need to make it a lot sturdier.

[battlecrumpet]

Wow you have been busy S! I got some strawberry seedlings from Northey St a few months back, if that helps.

This morn C and I planted some seeds saved from a pumpkin that came in our Food Connect box; also some heirloom squash seeds. One of the packets of squash seeds I got is mildewy, does that mean they won't germinate?

We have to prepare a garden bed for the eggplant and sweetcorn seeds. Actually will prolly plant the eggplant in a polystyrene box. I'm thinking that eggplants are susceptible to verticillium wilt, and we have this in our soil I think. So was hoping that box planting would help? Althouh we have tomatoes in boxes currently, that've been growing really well, and looks like they might be getting the wilt, not sure though :(
And I've been watering them every couple of days so they shouldn't be drying out.

[Ceres]

I've planted tomato and eggplant in boxes before with good results. The tomatoes don't mind drying out a bit - actually I think it makes them more flavoursome - but the eggplants can be a bit on the bitter side if they're not kept nice and moist.

[Sarasvati]

I had massive problems growing tomatoes in pots, I ended up with tomatoes suffering blossom end rot, which is a sign of erratic watering.

As far as your seeds go, if you purchased them online, you should be able to get replacements. I once bought capsicum seeds that did not germinate at all and was sent a replacement.

[Ceres]

Capsicum seeds are notoriously hard to germinate - they need really warm conditions. I've put them on top of the water heater to get them going in the past.
ETA Water crystals really helped with the tomatoes in pots.

[Sarasvati]

I should have added I had other caps seeds that germinated no probs :). The only prob we usually have is seeds that want cold conditions!

[Ceres]

Opposite problem for us!! The weather here is so crazily extreme.

[shaestar]

Just jumping in here-have my first real garden! Growing heaps of veggies and some fruit. Have put a retaining wall garden bed around our tiny back yard and surprises with the amount of stuff I actually fit in there! Reading a lot of permiculture stuff and thinking about how to get some shade out there....

[battlecrumpet]

What are you using for shade Shaestar? Are you growing plants to shade the rest of the garden, or using something else?
I tried growing some grapevines, partially to shade our front yard...not working too well though.

[Ceres]

What went wrong with the grapevines? One of my plans it to take the top off of the (dodgy and poorly built) pergola and grow grape vines over it.
If it's a small space, deciduous fruit trees can be a good idea. Winter sun, summer shade.. and fruit!

[shaestar]

Planning on grapevine or wisteria-need to sort out structure for it to grow on....

[battlecrumpet]

I got 2 grapevines, supposed to be drought-tolerant, and planted out the front which is north-facing (gets sun all day) and very exposed / dry. Nothings totally wrong with them, but nothing's really right either. I planted them just over a year ago, they green a bit, lost leaves over winter, and they're now about the same size as when we planted them. *shrug*
Had some initial better luck with wisteria in the back yard. Also Pretty sunny but only from about midday on - not in the morning. This grew really well initially but I think it got pot-bound (it was in a really big pot). We transferred it to the ground a few weeks back and it's OK, hasn't grown but hasn't died either.

In short - we've had more luck with wisteria than grapes, but that was in a less exposed part of the garden.

[Ceres]

They are pretty slow growing anyway I think? I don't know what kind of conditions they really like but yeah you'd be a bit worried if there was no growth in a year.

[Sarasvati]

I think I might have roasted my newly planted seedlings waaa! Stupid hot sun!

[battlecrumpet]

Bugger. My tomato plants and strawberries (not seedlings anymore, but tommy toes are young) are roasting still. Might have to try some sort of shadecloth.

[Ceres]

Oh no! Sadness.
I should get out in the garden now, looks like it's going to rain soon.

ETA.. too slow, pouring with rain now!

[Sarasvati]

Just ventured out to water them, some survived, some baked. Poor cherry tomato is no more but the green zebra and black russian survived. Most of the calendula and marigold gone, the zinnia is bombproof so it's fine but no more rocket or yarrow. Welsh onion looks pretty unhappy too. :(

[Anaed]

Bugger :( :(

I weeded a crap load of nutgrass out of the front garden today, its looking heaps better, determined to keep plucking them out when they come up.

Ripped out two ornamentals and planted some lettuce &marigold seeds, hoping for hte best hehe

Planted some more carrot & radish seeds out the back and gave everything water.

*crosses fingers*

[Ceres]

I just went outside after the rain and picked up about 50 snails.... ewwwww! They make me feel a bit queasy.

[CariOfOz]

Oh goodie, gardening chat! :eager I'm a rather novice container veggie gardener. Well, sorta novice.. I've been at it for 3yrs now.. and failing miserably till now :blueroll

I've got numerous pots going right now and have a 1.2m square prefab raised bed that I'm going to put on the rather pathetic & dead back lawn soon... we rent, but the grass is dead and the agent knows it. I figure the GOOD soil we'll screed out over the yard when we leave eventually will do wonders for the horrible state of the lawn, so they best not complain much :cool

This is what I have in so far:
tomatos x4... 3 are doing 'ok', one was doing brilliantly but has started doing the yellow funky thing on the leaves :cry
silverbeet a few pots of this and it's growing great guns!
cucumber got a couple in a big pot with some plastic mesh nailed to fence uprights ala trellis
capsicum3 of these that are going pretty well so far, have had one smallish ripe one out of them already.
yellow button squash doing HORRIBLY :oops I don't know what is wrong with me, but I failed at growing zucchini..twice! and this sqush isn't looking much more successful.
bush beans had one group in and got a few meals out of them before they just died. Put another set of 6 in the garden bed in an empty spot but they just haven't gronw at all :bah

and herbs of course... I'm a basil growin fool! Pesto ftw :smileydance

[Ceres]

Do you use seaweed emulsion? I always found a regular water of that helped a lot when I was growing vegies in pots.

[Sarasvati]

Cari maybe the squash isn't getting enough airflow? I think squashes and zucchini are quite susceptible to mildew and fungus in humidity?

I got some more plants today, a roma tomato seedling and a lemon balm from the markets (I don't feel tooo bad about the roma, my seeds are too old to germinate and they are on my wishlist :lol) and after my weaving workshop I bought 3 types of strawberry plants: sweetie, pinkie and redlands. Hopefully that way I'll cover my bases with the heat/humidity. The nursery at Northey St is amazing, so many awesome plants, I was coveting the yacon, tropical blueberry and raspberries. Nowhere to put them just yet though so I restrained myself.

[battlecrumpet]

Let us know which of the strawberry plants do best, S. We have Redlands, which have been doing OK but not great, so keen to hear whether any of the other varieties do better.

Also - tropical blueberries and raspberries - that sounds great! I love eating them but not getting them frozen from Chile! I'll have to look into how and where to grow them - if anyone has any info, pls let me know :)

[GreenGully]

My zuchs are doing fantastically in pots atm. I only planted them about a month ago and there is one just big enough to harvest on one plant already with many more female flowers on the go. The capsicums have heaps of flowers so far and one little fruit growing on one. the strawberries were a bit of a flop, only 2 were edible so far but they are happier now I have moved them to the shade. I'm have a bush bean and eggplant that I will plant out into boxes on payday (potting mix ran out).

[Sarasvati]

The blueberries like acid soil apparently, I can't remember much else but you can grow them in pots.

[Sarasvati]

Planted out my strawberries, lemon balm and roma tomato. I put the roma where the cherry tomato seddling died and when I pulled out the little toilet roll pot I discovered a cherry tom seedling that has only just germinated, so I replanted it elsewhere. The strawberries and lemon balm are in the shade (mostly under a tree) so hopefully they do ok there (they get early morning sun then shade for most of the day).

Carrots doing well, shadecloth seems to be a success! I have one basil plant dying though, it is RIGHT next to another basil plant that is going great guns, go figure (not too close). Weird.

[Ceres]

Fucking snails... I've lost half of my seedlings :(

[Sarasvati]

:(

[Anaed]

oh noooes Ceres :(

Yay S! :D

I can't wait for my seedlings to start popping up, so exciting hehe

[CariOfOz]

Cari maybe the squash isn't getting enough airflow? I think squashes and zucchini are quite susceptible to mildew and fungus in humidity? They did have powdery mildew, but i've been told it's rampant with squashes in humid areas so I just did the milk/water spray daily hoping to control it. The zukes would get about 4inches long or so, then stop growing at the blossom end and go yellow. I tried epsom salts in case it was blossom end rot, but even after several applications it didn't help :shrug which sucks, cause we lurve some zucchini here! They were all in fairly good sized individual pots (20litre ish) so they *should* have had plenty of air flow.. I think I just suck at growing squash type things *sigh*


My zuchs are doing fantastically in pots atm. I only planted them about a month ago and there is one just big enough to harvest on one plant already with many more female flowers on the go. The capsicums have heaps of flowers so far and one little fruit growing on one. the strawberries were a bit of a flop, only 2 were edible so far but they are happier now I have moved them to the shade. I'm have a bush bean and eggplant that I will plant out into boxes on payday (potting mix ran out).Jealous much :p My capsicum have tons of flowers.. but the plants don't seem like they'd be big enough to support growing all those fruit lol. I've pinched a fair few off because the plants aren't even 50cm tall yet (they are probably almost there though)

[turtledove]

Maybe the zucchs need help with pollinating? I finally worked that out last summer with ours after trying everything else - sounds similar to our problem. You can rub the male flower on the female flower or use a paintbrush.

[turtledove]

I just read today about using homeopathy to repel snails & slugs - we don't have a problem with them here but it sounds like an interesting thing to try. Check out www.homeopathyplus.com.au

[Ceres]

Wow! I wonder if it would actually work?

[turtledove]

I reckon it's worth a try. I think there are some testimonies on he website or theycould have just been in their newsletter. I'd love to try using homeopathyin the garden - I'm thinking of getting the book they sell on the subject

[battlecrumpet]

Planted corn and a few silverbeet yesterday. C looooves corn and he was a bit over-excited about planting the seeds! i.e. after we'd planted enough out, went and dumped a whole handful in a hole - then another handful in another hole...I had to pull the dumped seeds out the ground, dust them off and put back in the seed packet for next time (we don't have heaps of seeds).

I'd love to plant more seeds in the sunny areas of the garden but afraid they'll get burned at this time of year. Unfortunately we don't have enough stakes left to put up more shadecloth...

[laura]

This morning I've been seraching for a solution to my aphid / white fly problems.

I've decided to buy some l.adybirds and and some green lacewings.

Has anyone tried using bugs to eat bugs in their garden?

here are the links to where I'll be getting the insects from

http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au/product/lacewings-general-predators

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Natural-Aphid-Insect-Control-Live-****birds-****bugs_W0QQitemZ160381962138QQcmdZViewItemQQptZA U_Seed_Starting_Hydroponics?hash=item255782879a

[Sarasvati]

I haven't bought bugs for that purpose, but I'm companion planting to attract lots of bugs to my gardens.

[Ceres]

Companion planting here too, but I would seriously consider buying bugs if I had aphids again like I did last year. They were terrible.

[Janet]

I just weeded my front garden tiny garden bed a few days ago, put down newspaper and straw. It's gorgeous soil with worms falling out of it when I was lifting weeds up! It's all just boring grass out the front and as much as I fantasise about a fence I just can't justify the money. The first year we were here I dug all our food scraps into the front yard and so the lovely soil is even lovelier now and I'm sort of itching to plant frivolous pretty stuff. :lol I loike flowers! I was thinking of a sort of space defining hedge as well instead of a fence. :eager

[laura]

blueberry bushes can grow into a lovely hedge. Pretty flowers and then yummy fruit!

[Ceres]

I was going to say a hedge too.. even better if it's edible!

[Janet]

Yes hedge is the plan - today... :uhh Blueberries, hey? I think of them as colder climate fruit? Perhaps I need to ask my old pal google.

[Ceres]

I planted one blueberry last year - the black birds ate all the berries then it died. Bit sad.

[Beatrice]

Bugger, Ceres. I would love to grow blueberries.

I came home and found all my rocket seedlings had bolted in the heatwave :blueroll But I do have a healthy, flourishing potato bed, yay!

[Echo]

I planted 2 blueberries last year...they're still going but I'm not sure how well!

[battlecrumpet]

I sheet mulched half our front yard about a year ago - it's really hot and dry (north facing). Have tried to grow drought-tolerant groundcovers but most of them haven't grown at all. Obviously they're not drought-tolerant enough for my front yard!!

So if anyone has any ideas what to plant in these conditions, please let me know! We have sweet potatoes round a lot of the rest of the yard, which would be do-able out the front, but I'd rather something different...

[Ceres]

Even drought-tolerant plants will benefit from some water, especially while they're getting established. I'd go with native grasses and ground covers.

[Sarasvati]

You want to grow food plants or natives?

[battlecrumpet]

Either food plants or natives. ATM I'm focusing on natives, only for lack of info about any food plants (beside sweet potato) that might actually not die there. Food would be better though.

[Sarasvati]

WHat if you grew a tree to shade it a bit more? Or do you rent?

ETA: mediterranean plants might be something to look at? The only problem would be the wet season, but if it drains well that shouldn't be a huge issue. Lavender, sage and rosemary all like sun and dry conditions (though they can't be left to fend for themselves completely). Most herbs like full sun but yes they will need watering.

[battlecrumpet]

We have an olive tree growing really well in the back yard. The front yard is small and the part I'm talking about it (that I'm trying to plant up) is right next to the side of the house. So I'd have to be really careful about tree roots I think??

We don't rent...we have a mulberry growing really well out the back, and it grows fast, so maybe we could put one out the front....not sure about it's drought-tolerance though. Or its roots.

We had planted 2 grapes in the hopes of them growing up, and putting up some sort of overhead trellis for them to climb on and shade the area - but these are the grape plants that aren't growing.

Lavender's a nice idea, I like it as an essential oil and there are a few gardens round here that have it. We have some native rosemary too, but that hasn't grown either, or has died hmmm.

The only thing we have that's doing reasonably well out there now is an evovulus, and I'm not sure if that's native or not.

[Sarasvati]

I don't know what an evovulus is :lol.

Ah for some reason I thought it was a big space. As ceres said a new garden will need watering, but plants labelled drought tolerant should be ok once they're established. I'm thinking you could do a succulent garden, but yes you would need to ensure good drainage for the rainy season. Maybe lavenders and succulents?

[Sarasvati]

Here are some links, there are loads when you type in drought tolerant garden:

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1868012.htm
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/article/-/5825809/drought-tolerant-plants/
http://www.abbenartgardendesign.com.au/drought-tolerant-gardens.html

[battlecrumpet]

Wow thanks for that :)

[Janet]

Bugger, Ceres. I would love to grow blueberries.

I came home and found all my rocket seedlings had bolted in the heatwave :blueroll But I do have a healthy, flourishing potato bed, yay!

The plus side of this is the field of rocket you will soon find in your backyard. My second field of rocket bolted recently. Good thing I love rocket. :lol

[Ceres]

Oh yeah I have more rocket than you can poke a stick at here.. and mustard greens self-seeding everywhere including in the gravel of the path.
Scored some freebie strawberry runners today, woot!

[Sarasvati]

Just did some work on my compost. I have rather acidic compost so I just added some garden lime, and mulch, then turned it heaps, watering thoroughly, then chucked some LOVELY organic compost on the top, followed by a sprinkle of mulch and a sprinkle of water. There is some nice stuff down the bottom but the stuff up the top is breaking down very slowly. I might need to add some poo to it. I wish compost was usable quicker than it is!

[Sarasvati]

Did some more stuff today. Bought flowers yesterday as some of my vege plants are flowering but I haven't seen any bees. So have alyssum, petunias and cosmos. Planted then out, then direct sowed the bombproof zinnia. After that I made up potting mix, filled a bunch of pots I've been saving from buying seedlings and sowed all the seeds that I haven't had any success transplating yet. I figure I'll grow them in pots till they are big enough to withstand transplanting.

[Janet]

I jsut did a little harvest for dinner, ain't that such fun?

[laura]

I agree.... I love taking the basket out to th garden, filling it up and then bringing it in to cook!

Today I pulled up half a green bin full of weeds. This is after pulling out a huge pile of stuff the other day. I now have heaps of empty beds ready for planting... just have to deal with a white fly infestation first.

I've got the l.adybirds coming this week. I'm hoping that they will help with aphids and the whiteflies. I'm also going to do a neem oil spray tomorrow morning.

Oh actually i did plant some things today. I finally remembered to plant out the cherry tomatoes and the basil.

I still have cucumbers, eggplant, peppers and watermelon sedlings to plant out and a pineapple sage plant to go in somewhere too.... just don't know where.

busy busy in the garden

[Sarasvati]

Oh I LOVE pineapple sage. Must remember to ask the herb woman for some!

[Janet]

It smells so ace. What would one use it for or is it just an incentive to brush against it in the garden? :lol

[laura]

I don't know what it's meant to be used for exactly... But bought it because I have been making ice tea every day and I thought that putting in a leaf of pineapple sage would give it an interesting kick.
I mostly make fruity ice teas.... like citrus punch from T2... and put lots of chopped up apples and oranges and whaevr othr fruit needs eating in the tea jug. So I thought the pineapple sage would be nice.

Also, I have a vague plan to make some kind of granita with it..... like maybe lemon and pineapple sage, or apple and pineapple sage. Endless possibilities.


I have a question... I have a lemon tree and I've noticed that around tthe tre there are a few little trees growing. I'm assuming it's from where lemons have dropped onto the floor and a tree has sprouted.
If I transplant those sapplings(is that the right term for a baby tre?) into a pot and giv them away as xmas presents.... are they going to grow up into real lemon trees or do they need to be grafted or soemthing?

[Sarasvati]

Pineapple sage just smells divine. It's good for attracting beneficial insects too.

I don't know about the baby lemons laura. Maybe google and see if you can come up with anything?

[Ceres]

Can you establish if they are separate trees or growing from the roots of your existing tree? If they are from the existing tree, cut them off, as they will suck the life out of the existing tree. It usually shows that the tree is under a lot of stress from lack of water if it starts throwing shoots like that. If they're separate trees, try potting them and see what happens!

[irishwillow]

*Sigh* finally back in the vege patch now my houdini chooks seem to be unable to escape...YAY!!!
Wish I could grow blueberries for my youngest...she'd eat them constantly if I could afford it!!! I've successfully killed 4 bushes and they were low chill varieties AND I made sure the soil was acidic...they hate me.:shrug
Have just planted globe artichokes,zucchini (2 types),corn, purple king bean, plus lettuce, patio tomatoes and silverbeet under a tree. Also 7 asparagus seedlings, tarragon, echinacea, evening primrose, white yarrow, more lemon thyme and rockmelons. The lemonades, mandarines, oranges and lime have fruit set and a few passionfruit too. The mangoes have about 250 mangoes nearly ripe (thanks to a little epsom salts helping with fruit set this year) and one of the macadamias is loaded with fruit.:D We are waiting patiently for the pomegranites to ripen (They get huge and set fruit very early in their life) and a few bunches of bananas...they take ages! Have recently also planted a red and a seedless white grape, 2 lychees, a chestnut, hass avocado and a couple of neems. The lychees were attacked by birds so only got a few...buggers just pecked a hole in each one...net will be required next year.:rolleyes
Could do with another couple hundred bales of mulch...had wonderful spoilt lucerne last time for only $3 each...no rain in forever tho' so it's all abit dear.:cry
Can't wait for Autumn...so much food to grow then....YAY!!!!!!!!
Happy gardening
Susan

[Ceres]

Wow Susan that sounds incredibly productive.
I'm feeling quite proud that I just sent GG off with eggs, rocket, potatoes, onions and herbs from my garden for her dinner tonight. All she needs to add is cheese and chilli and it's a meal.
I have more seedlings growing outside the back door to be transplanted into the garden in a couple of weeks. I planted some amaranth because it's so pretty as well as being edible, but I actually don't know what to do with it. It's the leaf amaranth. I guess I just use it as I would leafy greens?
Oh, and very excited to find some raspberries growing from the canes today too! Must get a net for those before the birds make a meal out of it.

[irishwillow]

Sounds good, but not actually a lot of food coming inside the house. I've been astounded at how much and how often we need to plant to even provide us with the basics. Last year we ate regularly from the garden and probably saved from $80- $100/week...mostly because we eat sooo many greens. Broccoli from the garden 5 times a week is divine..my girls loved it.
Just managed to get 100 metres of leaky hose for only $100 'cause someone ordered then didn't pick it up...this will save me loads of time once I get it installed.
Feeding my family home grown veges kinda' makes me feel more whole...weird?
Have been thinking about getting Atherton Raspberries as normal ones won't grow here...wonder if you can grow Goji berries here, or where I would even accquire a plant or seeds...they're delicious dried...YUM!!!
Susan

[irishwillow]

P.S. So cool to send someone off with food...one day I hope to be able to do that with all visitors and wherever I go take a gift of food. :)

[Ceres]

Feeding my family home grown veges kinda' makes me feel more whole...weird?
I can relate to that.

[Sarasvati]

I bought some basil seedlings today to replace my medium sized plant that I butchered for pesto the other night. Planted it out but didn't get a chance to put up shadecloth before a storm hit.

All of my seedling pots have little seedlings now, the eggplant and welsh onion were the last to come up. The humidity is obviously speeding the process up though! Hoping they get nice and big, can't decide if I will plant them before we leave or not. I suppose it depends how robust they get.

My roma tomato plant has two fruits that look great, getting bigger each day, and one strawberry plant (temptation) has ripening fruit (they are TEENY though). The other fruiting one (pinkie) has slightly bigger fruits. The other tomatoes are looking really good, so I'm really hopeful that I might have some successes!

[Janet]

I sent party goers home from here with armfuls of herbs on the weekend. It was lovely. :)

[Sarasvati]

I can't wait to do that...

[GreenGully]

I'm feeling quite proud that I just sent GG off with eggs, rocket, potatoes, onions and herbs from my garden for her dinner tonight. All she needs to add is cheese and chilli and it's a meal.
It was a delicious meal and I'm having it again tonight with what is left of the stuff you gave me.

[Sarasvati]

How about some updates from quieter gardeners? :lol

I have to say, I poked my head around the water tank today to look at my garden and it just looked so pretty. Awww.

[Kris]

When we left Tassie we had a beloved conifer type Christmas tree that has been part of our family for three or four years. I'd tried finding the right home for it with different friends but resistance was there. Much to my surprise my DH grabbed it as the packers were loading the truck and begged them to fit it in. Which they did whilst counselling us that it probably wouldn't make the journey. It did and DH repotted it with lots of compost from the composting toilet at the mudbrick place we moved into temporarily while we figured out what we were doing.

By the time we got here HOSTS of tomato plants had sprouted around the tree that was loving the muck. The weekend before last when we traditionally bring the tree in he mattocked up a raised garden bed and we transplanted all those lovely seedlings along with basil and parsley plants and now we've got an instant garden. We've got several more areas waiting for work and we're going to offer each child a space and choice of plants to care for over the summer.

[Ceres]

Mine is coming along nicely and enjoying the rain today. I've never seen such big pumpkin leaves! Hoping to get tons of pumpkin as it's a real staple in this house.

[Echo]

I have lots of corn! And that's about it right now. My cucumbers & peas died, most of my capsicum & beans died, and so did my parsley.

[GreenGully]

Oh that is lovely Kris!

[Sarasvati]

How does your garden grow? fak so will bb to add my update.

ETA:

Upon arriving back from hols I noticed that my garden had grown heaps, we had a lot of rain while I was away. On closer inspection I discovered some plants hadn't made it. I lost a cosmos, a petunia, some zinnia seedlings (indeed!) and a strawberry plant. The other 3 strawberries are flourishing (even one I thought might die). My roma tomato looks a bit sickly, not sure what's up with it, I googled tomato diseases and it doesn't look like any of them, so hopefully it just needs feeding and a bit less rain. The other tomatoes are doing fabulously, I've now put stakes in to support them as they get bigger. The zinnia are huge, they are supposed to be dwarf :lol. One is flowering.Native violet is taking over my shade corner, and the comfrey is starting to look a bit bigger than it was when I bought it.

In my small garden the carrot are still growing, the tops aren't bushy but they had the shadecloth on them which has flattened them and made them a bit straggly. Oregano has gone nuts but the thyme looks unhappy. Basils are growing well, I just harvested a bunch for pesto a few days ago. Chives are growing well, but the rocket is going to seed. Mint is rampant but not lush, I'm just pulling it up where I need room. Parsley is growing yaya (thought it would die too).

I still have seedlings growing in pots, the salvia are big enough to plant out but I'm a bit disappointed in the rest of them. Want to get some natrakelp so I can feed my plants.

[Anaed]

My garden is overun with nutgrass, this bloody rain has send it bezerk.
On the plus side I have two more capsicum (fruit?) growing nicely. My oregano & sage is very happy. Thyme not so much.

Cherry tomatos are starting to look sick, but I think maybe they are just at the end. Spinach & rocket are still comign along nicely.

Cucumber plants are doing ok, some fruit isn't making it but I picked one yesterday. The blue something or other bean plant has lots more flowers on it.

Out the back the corn is growing, there are 4 or 5 ears that are fattening up. THe zucchini & lebanese cucumber plants are coming along slowly.

The rockmelon has gone completely barmy, its HUUUUUUGE, taking over the garden really! There is one baby melon that is growing :D I"m hoping that I get quite a few considering the size of the bloody vine!!

Really want to get out there and dig up some weeds but its just too burny during the day.

[battlecrumpet]

I'm jealous about your rockmelon Anaed :) I tried to grow some once, not much luck.
We have corn growing too (about 12-15 plants) - my MIL told me that I need to look after it and put lots of compost on it....ooops! Will have to start doing that now.

I'm very proud of the little purple eggplant that's growing on our eggplant plant. Hope we're able to eat it.

Tomatoes are affected by wilt and fruitfly, so getting nothing out of them.
We have one cucumber getting big and some more growing.

Our front yard is a mass of nutgrass too! Needs quite a lots of TLC. I'm considering planting some native grasses out the front. Anything's better than lawn. I guess we could plant more sweet potato but it'd prolly run all over the path.

Our purple king beans have mainly died...have planted snake beens instead but only a couple of the seeds germinated (they came from my stepfather not from a commercial outfit).

[GreenGully]

I finally have some zucchinis that aren't affected by flower end rot. Lovely yellow ones that appear to be growing fast :D I harvested some basil the other day and using some rocket from ceres' garden I made some very yummy pesto.

[Sarasvati]

My two big roma tomatoes are ripening. So excited :lol. They are my first ones... hoping they survive to harvest!

Here are some photos. First one it the main (for noe) garden with the tomatoes and will eventually have bunching onions as well. Lots of companion plants down there. The second is my shade corner, the tallest plant is the chilli though. There are strawberries and herbs down there as well as ornamentals. Third is the herb garden (the carrots are in front but not shown). Oregano, basils, thyme, parsley and mint. And a big marigold.

[Ceres]

It rained here today! :badday
I put a bag of horse manure around the banana tree and mulched it and the one bed of natives, planted some more seeds into punnets, pulled out some weeds for the chookens. My brother dropped over and I sent him home with eggs, onions, leeks and beetroots from the garden. That makes me so happy! Oh I also constructed a tripod of stakes and planted some more peas.. I don't think you can ever have enough peas.. and ordered some bales of pea straw which will make a temporary bed for the spuds.

ETA looking good there Sarasvati!

[Sarasvati]

Oooh that's so exciting ceres!

I harvested my widdle roma tomatoes today! Gonna let them ripen a bit more before trying them, but I wanted to get them off so the other flowers/fruit get all the nutrients.

[Lina]

I'm really excited about our eggplants atm. They are Lebanese and from 5 plants we've already harvested 19, with plenty more still growing. I've never grown them before and can't believe how much they produce.

We also have tomatoes that are still ripening, one little strawberry producing fruit and lovely big, bushy basil.

[Janet]

We had eggplant glut last year, Lina. :lol And tomato glut! Very few of either this year but the rocket field is powering along. Next time you're over please take home some rocket plants with roots. :lol

[Lina]

We had eggplant glut last year, Lina. :lol And tomato glut! Very few of either this year but the rocket field is powering along. Next time you're over please take home some rocket plants with roots. :lol


Glut, what glut? :lol It's baba ganoush, grilled eggplant and Tunisian eggplant salad all the way! You're right though, they do ripen all at once. Aaah, didn't mention my rocket because all plants have bolted, producing masses of pods. It could well be a rocket jungle next year.

[Janet]

I love my rocket paddock. I eat lots of it!

[Beatrice]

I've given up on everything in my garden except the potatoes :lol I'm just waiting til it cools down to stick the rest of the old compost heap on top of them, and then I'll start rebuilding a new one, but that's it for me. It's hard to get enthusiastic about a garden we're only going to be in for another three months :)

[Ceres]

That's funny because potatoes have been my least successful vegie this year!

[Ceres]

In my never-ending quest to improve the compacted clay soil here, I've put a temporary garden bed on top of an area that really needs improving. It's just 4 bales of pea straw and I threw in some dirt and sawdust from the chicken coop, with some spuds at the bottom which were sprouting in the kitchen. As the spud plants grow I'll keep adding manure and compost to them. Hopefully at the end of this I'll have a heap of spuds, a pile of compost and some pea straw ready to become mulch, and the ground will be ready to plant a fruit tree in. Fingers crossed!!

[Beatrice]

Sounds good to me :)

[Butterfly]

I wanna vege patch!
But I have to get fencing first to stop the deer & roos :(
I want chooks too - but I think that will be a spring project
I do have my native plant "nursery" - a small fenced-off plot with a number of large native plants that I've grown for 18 months or so from seedlings. I need to start picking places for them to go then transplanting & setting up stakes & shields to protect them til they're big enough to survive the wildlife

[GreenGully]

We have ripening tomatoes finally! And I've been harvesting capsicums and zucchinis during the last week. I have some seeds sprouting to plant out into more boxes too - corn, basil and tomatoes. This is the first time I have had a potted garden and I must say I am quite impressed with how well styrofoam boxes work.

[Sarasvati]

I have some roma tomatoes doing well but suspect my much-lovedd black russian tomato will not set fruit :(. The flowers are wilting before they open, I think they are getting scorched by the aircon exhaust. Another reason aircon is evil. There is one strawberry almost ready to eat, and it's actually looking nice!

My new zucchini plant has just exploded, it has a whole heap of flower buds and I only planted it last weekend! We cleared a big section of garden too, I won't be able to put much edible in there because it only gets later afternoon sun but maybe we can make it into a flower garden. Will try some wild rocket though, maybe something else.

Rethinking my plans for the top garden. Now that I'm not sure how long I will be here I think I will just do some pea and bean teepees for autumn/winter, some more potato cages and perhaps more tomatoes instead of putting in expensive and time consuming plots. Am definitely going to go for potted blueberries too. A bit disappointed that I won't be doing what I originally planned but I'd hate to put heaps of money and effort into it only to move.

[turtledove]

We took a basket of home grown vegies to our friends as a house warming present today - cherry tomatoes, salad greens, beetroot, peppers, green beans, lebanese eggplant, squash, chillies and loads of different herbs - then we did another basket for my mum when she dropped around this afternoon. My 6yo loves giving away garden bounty!

[Ceres]

Potted gardens can be amazingly productive and happily very portable! I've never had much luck with strawberries - they get burnt so easily here - and the one lot of blue berries I had got eaten by the birds. *sigh*
I have some new raised garden beds - corrugated iron planter boxes - which are hopefully improving the ground under them by inviting the worms up to the manure. When they've been there for a season I'll move them and plant fruit trees where they were.
My parents have agreed to let me take an old claw-foot bath from their house so that can be a pond :) :) so exciting seeing it all start to take shape in the front yard! Oh and I have booked an arborist to cut down a gum tree which is inappropriately located outside the front of the house. When that tree has been removed I can start planting the orchard out there!

[Sarasvati]

Have you tried shading strawberries with hessian? I found that really helped my carrot seedlings get established, now they get full sun without bother.

I was eyeing off those corrugated iron boxes in a gardening mag. That was the idea I had but then I decided to try to find recycled materials. But filling them with stuff was going to be a very exxy enterprise!

[Ceres]

I was pretty lucky that a friend who works for hills was able to get them for me for $33 each (instead of the $100+ they sell for at mitre 10) and I filled them with a mixture of manure ($2 a bag from the side of the road) and dirt from another area I was digging out.
The strawberries are under the apricot tree now and are also pretty well shaded by rocket and pumpkin leaves so I'm hopeful they'll do better!

[Sarasvati]

I have given up on the tomatoes... although my cherry tomato is still coming along nicely (still immature). THe Green Zebra I uprooted, the Black Russian is only there to shade some lettuce and the roma has two fruits I am waiting on before I give up on it. I think the tree that partially shades the garden bed is dropping mealybugs :(. And the 28-spotted ****bug has found them too. Strawberries aren't doing too well, I do not have any luck with strawberries! My capsicum is looking a bit yellow, need to look that up.

On the positive side, the zucchini plant has lots of babies and I'm going to venture out early tomorrow to see if the female flowers are open; if they are I will pollinate them! :eager The carrots are coming along well, by what I pulled up on the last thinning. Eggplant is growing nicely but is a little shaded by the zucchini plant. Am starting to just look forward to autumn, summer sucks!

[Ceres]

That sounds a bit disheartening Sarasvati. In my experience of setting up organic gardens, the first year is almost always a wash. It seems to take a while to get the beneficial bugs in there doing their job.

[Sarasvati]

It is a bit disheartening but this time I'm not giving up ;). Bring on Autumn!

[Sarasvati]

Biggest baby zucchini successfully hand-pollinated this morning! I'm SO glad I went out, I almost didn't because it is raining, but I went out and the female flower was hugely open woohoo! :eager

[Ceres]

Hooray!
I was just out watering my garden and I realised that the summer crops are coming to an end. The pumpkin vines have almost had it and the tomato has almost finished fruiting. I guess I'll have to start thinking about what I want to plant for winter soon.

[irishwillow]

Doncha' just love the garden???!!! And the rain means I don't have to water...YAY!!!
At the moment we are regularly harvesting loads of purple king beans, corn, zucchini, rockmelons, lemonade fruit, rocket, lettuce and sweet potato tips. The mangoes have finished and we are waiting for the second bunch of bananas to ripen for the season. Cape gooseberries aren't setting fruit...think it might be due to a nasty beetle. Mandarines, limes and lemons are getting big and the next wave of passionfruit are nearly ready. First pumpkin has set fruit and waiting for a few tomatoes to ripen...hasn't been a really good season for me with them either.
Can't wait to see what happens with my grapes and the Atherton raspberries I planted next year. I reckon bring on Autumn too...gonna' plant soooo many things. :)
Susan

[Sarasvati]

Harvested one zucchini but the others shrivelled on the vine (even though they were pollinated). Things going very slowly here! About to move into prep mode though.

[battlecrumpet]

Our garden is not doing much. Our cucumber vines all died off within the space of a few days, when we had some really hot days and then some rain. Not sure what that was about as I thought the rain would revive them but ended up just murdering them completely.

Have planted some snake beans in the hopes that they'll be more heat-resistant than my purple king beans, which started well but then shrivelled on the trellis in the heat. 3 eggplants are growing, though I've had a couple half-grow before then die of some rot / fungussy thing. And our corn plants have little corns growing on them. I'm really feeling like I have a bit of a black thumb as most thing end up dying in my garden, and I'm lucky if they provide anything to eat.

Very jealous of Susan and also of S's zucchinis (I tried zucchinis once but they mysteriously disappeared, something ate them I guess). :)

[Sarasvati]

Nik I think our summer climate is harsh for beginners. I've read that a lot of "summer" crops should really be grown over the winter months in the tropics and subtropics. Otherwise you should be varieties bred specifically for humid conditions. And don't be too jealous, only 1 zucchini so far! Have vague hopes for my cherry tomato, the days are getting slightly cooler and the mealybugs seem to have buggered off so I *might* get some cherry tomatoes!

[Sarasvati]

Yesterday I attacked the first section of my vege patch. I have three sheets of black plastic over about 2/3 of it, to kill the weeds. The soil is very clay and compacted, so I have a bit of stuff to dig through to improve drainage. So I'm doing it in sections as I don't have a big man-dude to do the digging for me, and I am aching! So I got out the mattock and broke the surface of the soil, raked through gypsum, chicken poo and hay (thanks Anaed!), cow manure and then had to stop! Still have two 65L bags of compost to spread and then will mulch until the rains finish. After that I will sow buckwheat as a green manure. It's going to cost a bit to set this up but I'm hoping hoping to actually harvest some food out of this one!

[Ceres]

Wow that sounds like hard work Sarasvati! I have heavy clay soil here too. Last winter I put a thick covering of mushroom compost and straw over it and by the end of the winter it was a lot looser and full of worms. It took a fair bit of conditioning to make it grow well. I have some new beds I need to do the same thing to this winter. I don't think I could even dig through this clay!

[Janet]

I'm a strictly no dig, no weed gardener. :lol Any weed patches get newspaper, compost and mulch over them! We have chickens now which makes me do a happy chicken dance. :)

[CariOfOz]

Nik I think our summer climate is harsh for beginners. I've read that a lot of "summer" crops should really be grown over the winter months in the tropics and subtropics. Otherwise you should be varieties bred specifically for humid conditions. And don't be too jealous, only 1 zucchini so far! Have vague hopes for my cherry tomato, the days are getting slightly cooler and the mealybugs seem to have buggered off so I *might* get some cherry tomatoes!

I gotta agree with this big time. I have had more success with tomatos and such in winter here in Brissy than I did this summer. I think I got about 6 tomatos this summer total, something hit my bushes and they went to pot. The capsicum are going great though! I have a pot sized one that dones mini capsicum, and let me tell you, they are quite nice scooped out & stuffed with a little lump of marinated feta :D My cucumber vines are shriveling badly now too.. and any fruit on it (there were several small ones) is getting eaten by who knows what *sigh* I think this weekend we're going to pull the plants and maybe start some prep work for a winter garden ;)

[Sarasvati]

Just ordered my cool season seeds! YAY! Peas and broad beans and more tomatoes oh my! ;) I finished the prep on the first section of my garden this morning, I spread out the compost and mulched it and am now wondering where the forecast rain is hmmm. Decided to put mung bean in as my green manure as it copes ok with rain.

[Ceres]

Yummo! I love broad beans.

[Anaed]

oooh now i want some broad bean & pea seeds.
They are direct sown aren't they?

I had originally planned to put the chook shed by the shed shed so i had laid down some concrete tiles, decided to put the chook shed elsewhere but left the tiles where they were. I finally moved the tiles under the chooks shed so now there is a bare patch of earth where the tiles had been.

I put some compost and mulch on it just now, not really sure what I want to do with it. Need to get you S to help me plan it I think!

[Sarasvati]

Sure! Would LOVE to :D.

[Kris]

Joining in here as we are in a climate now that is easier to grow in with kids. We've got a large flat space that is raised just out the back door and we put in some tomatoes etc when we first moved in as an experiment. Now I want a brush cutter to get rid of the weeds and what ever it is that was growing in half of it, we've cut down the wild tobacco tree and I'm hoping to get a mix of flowers and herbs and vegies in pronto.

[Sarasvati]

Bump! How are the gardens growing? We're experiencing a monsoon atm :lol so no planting or anything here. SO GLAD I hadn't yet planted any seeds!

[Ceres]

I'm coming to the end of the summer plants and thinking about what's going in next. I pulled out a heap of pumpkin vines and the remaining one looks even happier now and has new female flowers on it. The tomatoes are all but finished - it was an incredible crop this year! We'll go and pick out the fruit trees for planting this winter soon. I'm still waiting for the arborist to come and chop down a gum tree out the front so I can plant in there.

[Sarasvati]

So jealous of your tomato crop!

[Ceres]

:(
It's the long dry summers here. Tomatoes love it.

[Himalia]

I'm picking lots of bush beans atm. I love broad beans so might get them planted soon too. I have lots of moth and grass hoppers mainly destroying the silverbeet. A friend said to cut up chilli and sprinkle them everywhere as pest control. What do others use?

[Janet]

I haven't had to face grasshoppers yet. I'd let my chooks in to see if they'd eat them, I guess, first off?

I'm thinking about Autumn planting atm. There's not enough growing vegie activity in my garden atm. I neeeeeeeeed to see more veg growing. :lol My one lone mango got to the point where I said to myself "I'll pick that tomorrow!" went out and it had TOTALLY vanished! Neatly picked off the tree-let, no skin, no stone, no evidence of anything! A very funny mystery that makes me want to buy a net for the tree next year. :lol Goddam! Our ONE mango! I pruned my olive tree which is only a baby and it's now covered with beautiful new silver growth, I've got frangipani cuttings in the ground that a friend sent me from QLD and recently planted tomatoes are about to fruit. Our tomato crops in Sydney have been shit this year because we had rain rain and more rain in Feb.

My chickens have worn big chickeny paths through my rocket field which is pretty funny, they're also eating their way through some of the weeds in a large unused garden bed, bless their little pointy toes. I feel quite rejuvenated in my gardening since the chickens arrived. They make the backyard somehow more alive and homey. :) I recommend them even though they're not old enough to lay yet. I suspect I won't get any eggs till Spring given the current seasonal change has just slapped us firmly into Autumn out of Summer over a weekend!

[Ceres]

I throw the grasshoppers to the chooks, they love them.

[Ceres]

So what's everyone planting for winter? It's the most boring season in the garden. I'll do lots more onions, I have some broccoli in already, and some leeks. The usual leafy greens are always there. Last week I planted an orange, peach and a pear tree after a few days of rain soaked the ground.

[Sarasvati]

Anaed and I are going halves in some seed potatoes and garlic. Going to be planting strawberries, broad beans, peas, tomatoes, and maybe some eggplants and zucchinis. Oh and carrots.

[Ceres]

We can't do tomatoes, eggplants or zucchini here in winter :(

[Sarasvati]

Tomatoes suck here over summer so am hoping to get a crop over winter. Since our winter is the same as a Tasmanian summer... :lol Not sure about the eggplants or zucchinis but worth a try!

[Ceres]

It's the powdery mildew that stops me from growing them through winter, but you probably get less rainfall in winter than summer so it might work for you.

[Sarasvati]

Yep winters are typically drier than summers. Last winter was oddly wet though!

[Sarasvati]

Time is creeping away so I went out and shifted the mulch off the first section of my vege patch and sowed mung beans. The girls helped me broadcast them and then I raked the soil over them. Hoping it rains a little tonight so I don't need to water them in, it's very patchy overcast/sunny/raining here atm!

I also cut down a couple of weed saplings. I would have let them grow but they'll shade the patch in summer and I can't have that! I also discovered some nice looking strawberries on my neglected plant that survived! The lemongrass has gone NUTS, it's huge. Should get some chillies soon too as the plant is finally flowering. Harvested my remaining carrots, teeny little things that Imogen and the rats are eating :lol.

Rain really dampens one's enthusiasm for gardening but the little glimpses of sunshine send me out there!

[Ceres]

Chilli and lemon grass, sounds like some yummy stir fries coming your way!

[Sarasvati]

I think I'll be offloading them on everyone too! :lol

[Himalia]

Oh I just planted lemon grass and chilli seed. They have all sprouted. I love fresh lemon grass tea, so hopefully it grows well.
Have planted more bush beans, peas and bok choy. Will wait a few more weeks before planting broad beans. I have never had success with zucchini or squash and I've tried many times. Perhaps I'll give it one more go through winter as you are doing Sarasvati.

What do others find productive, with maximum produce for small areas? I find celery, beans, silverbeet, cos, rocket and any herbs great. I had a great few months of carrots and a descent potato crop however I don't think I will replant either though. Organic carrots and potatoes are always cheap so I will use that space for something else.

[Ceres]

Leafy greens that you can just take a leaf off here and there are a great use of small spaces IMO. You get a constant supply of greens that way. Agree with you on the spuds and carrots - too long a growing season to make it worth while if you only have a small space.

[Sarasvati]

I am going to do the carrots and spuds as I've never grown either successfully and want to dammit! Peas and beans gornw vertically are good of course for small spaces. Tomatoes ;). How much room does sweet potato take up?

[Ceres]

I've just planted sweet potato for the first time and my understanding is that they can ramble a good distance.

[irishwillow]

Ceres, sweet potato goes beserk, but you can eat all those lovely green tips...great thrown into curries towards the end.
One great reason for growing your own carrots is they are a soil cleaner upper, which means the ones in the shops are full of all the chemicals and superphosphates that the average farmer uses...important to use organic carrots if you drink a lot of carrot juice.
Awesome read for anyone interested, Pat Coleby's Natural Farming...real eye opener.
My garden needs a major overhaul at the moment...soooo much rain, more weeds than veg.:lol
Susan

[Sarasvati]

The rain has actually killed most of the grass in one part of my lawn! :lol

[Ceres]

Rain killed your grass?! I can't even imagine what that much rain would feel like.
I just planted another peach tree - the weird looking flat peaches - and another raspberry cane.

[Sarasvati]

Yep one part of the yard is all dead. Crazy! The rest of the grass is fine though, very weird!

Going to go see if I have mung bean sprouts.

ETA: Yes I do! Woohoo!

[Ceres]

How's the drainage in that part of the yard? Does it get boggy? Might be worth stabbing it with a pitchfork a bit to loosen the turf up maybe?
I pulled out the last of the tomatoes yesterday - it really is autumn now. The pumpkins are starting to get powdery mildew so that's pretty much the end of them too.

[Echo]

I've been busy getting my winter plots ready. I decided to move my main planting area to the other side of the yard & plant under/around the fruit trees. I think that area should get more sun in winter (and less in summer). So last night I started trying to rip out a dead nectarine stump but there's 3 HUGE roots shooting out from it so I don't think my little shovel will really do the job!

[Ceres]

Getting tree stumps out is seriously hard work! We've just planted some bulbs under the new fruit trees in the front yard. The peach I planted the other day looks really unhappy. It started dropping leaves as soon as I put it in the car. I hope it survives as it was a replacement for another peach tree that also died. Luckily bunnings have a money back guarantee on fruit trees!

[Sarasvati]

Bump! How's the garden going peoples? I'm moving very slowly with mine, seriously tempted to not bother mattocking the last sections and just spread out gypsum, poo and mulch until I get my compost (getting a cubic metre soonish). I know I'll have plants coming in the mail soon so desperately need to get the prep finished! (Also need to find something to use to edge my gardens).

[Sarasvati]

Oh crap potatoes, garlic and strawberries on their way! I think I smell some compost heading my way!

[Ceres]

I need to get into my garden, there are a ton of weeds popping up since it rained, and the whole thing needs some manure and pea straw on it. I'm having a working bee here on Anzac day so maybe I'll get it all done then.

[Himalia]

Is it garlic planting time? How do I start, what do I do, get bulbs somewhere?

I have quite a few pumpkins on my vine. DD points to them every day and they are getting quite big, hmm when to pick. Broad beans have sprouted and peas doing well. Oh and I got a lovely new chook today, a Campine. Now I have an Isa, Campine and Barnevelder. I so want a rooster but i don't think my neighbours would be impressed.

[Sarasvati]

http://www.greenharvest.com.au that's where our garlic is coming from :).

[Ceres]

I planted some (organic) garlic that had sprouted in the kitchen, it's going well.

[Sarasvati]

So yesterday I freaked out somewhat, and even though am sick I went out and raked up the stones, wasn't going to mattock but the sight of a little marsh made me think digging some gypsum in would be a good idea, so I lightly dug up the surface, put down some green waste from the garden, the contents of my bokashi bucket, some cow manure and then covered the smelliest bits with sugar cane mulch (and then ran out). I think I need to borrow a wheelbarrow for when I get my compost delivered, or I might end up a cripple.

(oh and after doing all that I felt like crap and am now worse).

[Ceres]

Sounds like a wheelbarrow is an excellent idea! Mine has a flat tyre from being hauled up and down the steps so much from when I had the mushroom compost delivered and I am missing it.

[Sarasvati]

Ok so I constructed my garden beds, they are finished (although I need to redo my broad bean support because I didn't realise they aren't climbers!)

So this is after I shifted the dirt around. (Crap will link as it's apparently too large to insert and I CBF resizing)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bSJ4bQpXIWI/S9lzsMuF15I/AAAAAAAAAdk/RxhwTauKfy4/s1600/apr1026.jpg

Then this is the constructed beds.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bSJ4bQpXIWI/S9lzsrJCaVI/AAAAAAAAAds/aJMzzLAuZ7I/s1600/apr1027.jpg

Anyway I checked the soil to make sure it was moist... and it's dry as a bone even though it's been watered a bit. I was obsessing over it last night and I realise I made a HUGE mistake getting a soil mix rather than compost (which was my first choice but more exxy). I'm so used to how compost remains moist, but this soil is supposed to be mixed with compost... but I'm doubting that! So I'm trying to decide if I wait and see if any seeds come up, or if I just buy some compost and spread a thin layer and start again. The only problem with that is I have no more poppy seeds. Aarrgh. If I wait and nothing comes up it will probably set me back a good week. Shit!

[Ceres]

Just give it a really deep water with some seaweed emulsion and soil wetta mix, some soils are a bit water repellent and the soil wetta stuff really helps the moisture to penetrate. Seeds don't need much organic matter to germinate so you could just add manure and straw over time and it will start to hold more moisture.

[Morph]

You can buy supermarket poppy seeds (the eating ones) & throw them around, they will still germinate & are cheaper than the packaged garden ones.

[Himalia]

From memory of your garden Sarasvati, the beds may not be deep enough to hold moisture for long. Yeah I'd be doing as Ceres suggested and keep adding as much of anything as possible.

With my first garden beds, I bought in soil, sand and compost and mixed them together, it was great. For some reason with the second lot of beds, I just got soil and it was dry and nutrient poor but I went ahead and planted. I asked about it on JB and everyone said just give the seedlings a boost with seasol for now and add, add, add overtime. So that's what I've been doing. The soil still needs more compost/manure/straw but it's a work in progress :)

I have a great bed of Bok Choy but it is being attacked so badly with grubs. My dad reckons I should use pyrethrum and that it's all natural but I don't want to use any sprays. I have been removing the grubs by hand but it's so frustrating to have to share so much of my crop. I think I need to do more companion planting or try the chilli sprays again. Does anyone have other ideas?

[Sarasvati]

What's soil wetta? Is it organic? :lol

[Ceres]

You can get a type of seasol that has it in there. I don't know exactly how it works but it breaks the surface tension on the soil somehow allowing the water to penetrate instead of running off. A bit like detergent but not toxic. I use it on my water repellent soil here. Peter Cundall uses it on gardening australia so I think it's above board for organic gardening.
http://www.seasol.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=43&Itemid=66

[Sarasvati]

Fab thanks!!

[bella]

You can use your preferred dishwashing liquid (just a wee bit, diluted) as a wetter too. :)

It. Won't. Stop. Raining.

How will my garden ever grow? :( C'mon sunshine.

[Sarasvati]

Oh no Bel! I waited and waited for the rain to end before planting out, must be so frustrating up there.

[Sarasvati]

Ok so yesterday I bought a bazillion herbs. I bought coriander (I have seeds but they are slow growing apparently), chocolate mint (also want spearmint, peppermint and common mint, but oh well), lemon balm, basil, lemon basil and dark opal basil (the purple basils never seem to grow well for me so will be interesting to see if this dies or thrives), garlic chives (whoops meant to buy normal chives), thyme, fennel (desperately wanted bronze but no), dill, hyssop, lime verbena (was in raptures when I found it, it's in its own separate pot), stevia (total impulse buy) and I also bouoght some capsicum seedlings, just california wonder. I wanted chamomile as well but forgot to buy it (one place had heaps).

So they are all planted out, watered with a soil wetter thing (I bought eco-hydrate instead of seasol, yeah so the eco bit sucked me in) so hopefully I see some seedlings soon!

[Ceres]

Sounds wonderful! Hope it's all very fruitful for you.

[irishwillow]

Cooool, can't beat fresh herbs for making food taste divine.
Our kids adore chocolate mint...they also luuurve menthol mint.
Hope your stevia grows well, I bought a cutting and it just went to seed and died. Found some dried stuff at the markets and love it in cooking.
Paw paws have set fruit and I had my first cape gooseberries the other day. Had my first lot of unstung tomatoes, although half the plant on the other side of the fence is getting badly stung and mauled by stink beetles.
Dug up the most amazing, friable soil from the chook pen...there's probably another 6 wheelbarrow loads in there....YAY!!!
Bought a big mother of a weedeater (wanted a scythe, but everyone was against me weilding one...heaps quieter than a weedeater tho' :( )
and have been doing heaps of that ...some parts of the property, the grass is about 18ft high...not kidding...our horses are rolling down the hill.
Thinking of joining Diggers and buying a heap of tress before it gets too cold...will have to restrain myself to how many I'm likely to get in the ground.;-)
Susan

[Ceres]

It's the perfect time of year for planting trees! *enabler* :lol

[Sarasvati]

Trees! Trees!

[Echo]

Ooh, trees! I just planted a new apple tree a couple weeks ago. Still need another one to pollinate it, and I have a couple more fruit trees on my list too.

[Ceres]

What's on your list Echo?
I still need a 2nd apple tree, a 2nd avo tree, and a mulberry.

[battlecrumpet]

I've been spending too much time in front of the puta and not enough gardening :)
But we've recently pulled up heaps of nutgrass from, and mulched, some of the front yard. Want to plant a low hedge out there a couple of metres long. Perhaps lavender due to the hot, dry conditions out there, but if I can find something edible to plant instead, I will.

We have 7 cucumber seedlings and about 5 squash seedlings growing in the garden, and our white eggplant has revived even tho we haven't eaten anything off it yet. I've developed a rather bad habit of planting seedlings then forgetting what they are, and having to wait till the the unlikely event that something edible starts to show before I can work out what it it. So, I have, somewhere, some tiny rocket, cabbages, and err, I'm sure there's something else as well.

C has been learning about female and male pumpkin flowers and how to hand-pollinate them. Every day we go down to the garden and he looks around for more flowers that he can pollinate :)

[Echo]

My list is another apple tree, a mandarin, an avocado, and maybe another peach.

Today I pulled up my (dead) zucchini and moved all the bricks over to my new veggie patch behind the shed. I put down some newspaper, then C watered it, then we threw the rest of the straw I had on top of it & watered again. Can't remember what else I'm supposed to put on there for a no-dig bed but I'll look that up later. Then I moved my parsley into a pot and hung it on the back veranda. And now I'm heading toward the shower to clean off!

[Ceres]

Layers of manure and straw are pretty good Echo :)

[Echo]

If only I had the chooks already! :lol

[Ceres]

If mine don't start behaving themselves they might have to come for a visit! :lol

[Morph]

One for you, Ceres...

http://www.organicgardener.com.au/

Now you don't need a subscription! Plus I have one so you are welcome to peruse my mags.

[Janet]

Oh I'm all aflutter reading that site. :lol International Composting Awareness Week! What's not to love?! http://www.organicgardener.com.au/articles/international-composting-awareness-week I am SO signing up!

[Sarasvati]

I got out today and took stock of what has germinated and what hasn't. In light of that I have more pea seeds soaking, and have sowed more tomato and eggplant seeds. I found some potato shoots yay!

[Echo]

After a trip to Bunnings tonight, I've got seedlings & seed potatoes to stick in my new veggie bed! :eager

[Janet]

My basil and rocket are slowly going to seed atm. I love that change I can note each season, each year. :)

[CariOfOz]

After a trip to Bunnings tonight, I've got seedlings & seed potatoes to stick in my new veggie bed! :eager Bunnings has SEED POTATOES!?!?! That's it, I'm calling every bunnings around me to try to find some :lol

I've fallen out of the habit of checking boards, but as I posted elsewhere on here yesterday I'm feelin lonely ;) And I think this board is just what I need... rather like an aussie mothering.com :cool

I've just gotten the ok from our real estate agent to put in a couple of raised garden beds for veggies! I've got one of the prefab ones from Bunnings, the 1.2metre square by 30cm deep jobbies. Now have to find a local place to buy bulk soil... I am going to try to put in a 2nd bed next month so I'm thinking a cubic metre of soil and some compost should cover both? Or would I need less.. I'm clueless at this end of things :bah

Definitely going some shallots, peas & beans, bok choi, carrots (I have little finger seeds.. love them) and... who knows what else. Suggestions for what goes well in the Brissy/Ipswich area this time of year???

[Sarasvati]

I'm a newbie too Cari but I have in potatoes, garlic, strawberries, peas, broad beans, herbs, capsicum, tomatoes, eggplant (eggplant is a big NO according to the seasonal guides but I want to try it), and spaghetti squash.

A cubic metre is quite a lot, so I reckon it would be enough. Consider maybe getting a high quality compost instead of soil though, I got soil and am regretting it.

[CariOfOz]

I'm a newbie too Cari but I have in potatoes, garlic, strawberries, peas, broad beans, herbs, capsicum, tomatoes, eggplant (eggplant is a big NO according to the seasonal guides but I want to try it), and spaghetti squash.

A cubic metre is quite a lot, so I reckon it would be enough. Consider maybe getting a high quality compost instead of soil though, I got soil and am regretting it.SO ALL compost and no soil at all? I didn't know you could do that.. but then again.. it's sort of a DUH moment I guess? lol. Will try searching around to see who has what, and how much $$ it's gonna set me back!