Super Salad!

Well it was BBQ night so we needed a Salad... so I went out the back.  So happy to be getting so much from the garden in winter!  Salad is not just lettuce but Red Cos, Nasturtiums, Parsley, Rainbow Chard, English Spinach, Red and Green Frizzy Lettuce (Green is out of the lawn!), Kale, Oregano, Native Violet flowers, Dragons Tongue Beans, Purple King beans, Easter Egg Radishes and a long scarlet radish.  

As you can see my boys don't wait until dinner before eating their salad hehe.

As well as all of this we had a sieve full of parsley for the potatoes and rosemary for the steaks!

Happy Gardening!

*hugs*
Sarah

More planting!

Another busy afternoon planting seeds with the help of both T and B!  My Greenhouse frame was rebuilt to make me a "shed" which gives me a designated propagation and seed raising area.

Chinese Cabbage - Wombok.
Cucumber Armenian - only 6 since it might still be early.
Chilli - Razzamatazz.  These are the multicoloured chillis which we will use as ornamentals as well as productive plants.
Tomatoes - Pops Super Toms!  I found a whole sheet of Super Toms so they had to go in!
Mr Fothergills Tomatoes - Gourmet Mix.  We have renamed these Fairy Tomatoes since each seed was either yellow, green, blue or pink and sparkling lol.  These have Urbana, Burnley Sure Crop, Pineapple and Cherokee Purple.
Country Value Pepper - Hot Chilli Mixed... because Chris and Brandon need lots of chillies!
Capsicum Sweet allsorts.
Cucumber - Crystal Apple - planted only 14 of these since its still a little early.
Rosella - 8 of these and crossing my fingers X.
A whole tray of Garlic Chives thanks to Jen for these!

More Rocket was up this evening, along with some turnips and a lone cabbage!

T brought a plank of wood over the fence to make the new mint bed... I would love it if we can get started on this!  Once the frame is knocked together I will line it with weed mat, put two partitions in to make 3 sections.  One each for Chocolate Mint, Common Mint and Basil Mint.  I love that Mr T who has only just hit his teens is so handy on the tools!

Anyways that's it from me *hugs* Sarah

Rocketing Rocket!

Well on the 29th of July I planted a heap of seeds including Rocket... and today they are UP!?!  Lets hope that the Broccoli - Italian Sprouting; Mesclun; Turnip - Early Purple; Cabbage - Sugar Loaf; Cauliflower All Year and Leeks, Lyon Prizetaker aren't far behind!

Yesterday I planted Harlequin Carrots, Diggers Heirloom Carrot mix, Diggers 3 colour purple carrots, Baby Pak Carrots, Black Sapotes, Tomato Tigerella, Ginger, Turmeric, Chioggia Beetroot and Baby Beets.  Yesterday my first Stevia seed germinated so fingers crossed it survives AND my new Grape has burst into life with a tiny leaf!  By golly I think spring might be early!  My Mulberry has sprung also!

Today I transplanted and separated the strawberries into planters.  I found some very ripe Cape Gooseberries under the bush so squeezed out the seeds and popped them into a seed tray.  I am trying out some Cucumber seeds that are way out of date - Diggers Sweet and Striped and Lebanese Mini Munchers.  I over planted both of these as I doubt they will come up as they are over 3 years out of date.  Many of what I am planting are out of date but I figure if I don't plant them there is zero chance of germination... we might get one or two.  Finally before coming in I sowed some Gourmet Basil mix since the basil in the hydroponics is looking most unwell with the cold weather we have been having.

While we were at Jetto's Patch the boys tried some Tangelos and well they are now our FAVOURITE and they are EPIC.  So who am I to argue?  Hopefully I can get Mr T to dig a clump of Dietes out this weekend and we can pop this beauty against the fence.  This will take us to a Sub Lime, Imperial Mandarine, Dwarf Lemon and Tangelo in the citrus family in our garden.  Now we just have to get them all to hold fruit!

 As you can see the Flame Grape has sprung to life so I potted it up quick smart!

In the front bed are the Ruby Lou's that B planted... the bed behind are my Delawares... they just don't have the same oomph! I should have had Mr Green Thumbs plant both of them lol.

 The planters at the front have strawberries in which will hopefully up our production. The beds behind you can see my small Delawares finally poking their heads skyward and the bed of fingers crossed - out of date seeds.  Tatsoi, Mustard Mizuna, Mustard Giant Red, Pak Choy, Lettuce Yellow Leaf, Kale Tuscan Black and Red Spring Onions.  If any of them come up I will be happy, if not I will plant the bed out with more Beetroot and radish seeds.

 In the cups topped by bottles are my tigerella seeds, I am so excited to get these planted.  Reading my Diggers book they pack a punch in the taste steaks and one plant can produce 20kg of fruit!  So lets hope with our early start we can get some decent tomatoes and maybe even have enough to make Tomato Kasundi!

The Dwarf Pomegranate has put on new growth so I think it might be happy living under my kitchen window.

 I moved a shelving unit to the hydroponics corner to lift the Tomatoes skyward to hopefully help with their growth and fruit set (yes we might have to wait for warmer weather for fruit set but I can dream!).  The watercress got hammered by two boys and two dogs and it's still filling the box!  I don't think it will suffer having shade from the above shelf as Watercress likes creek and stream beds that are generally shaded by overhanging trees.  If it isn't happy I am sure it will tell me by walking lol.  If you have grown Watercress you know what I mean!!

As you can see growth is still happening in the hydroponics two of the rockets have gone to seed, the basil is looking the worse for wear!  The oregano, parsley and thyme are going great.  The self seeded cos lettuce and rainbow chard are complete superstars too.  We are harvesting daily not that you would know!  The strawberries are full of fruit and the rhubarb is none to sure what it is doing so I will keep you posted!  The very best thing about the hydroponics is working out the back and looking down to the corner only to spy boys and dogs standing pulling leaves off plants and filling their mouths!  You cannot get any fresher than that!  I cannot wait to expand to the rest of the fence.  Now I have seen how successful this is I am looking forward to implementing an aquaponics set up on the other 12 meters.  It will only have 4 levels however that will give us around 250 planting holes!  This will cover us for all our stir fry greens, rainbow chard and salad greens with room for growing!

Pop's Super Toms (Tomatoes) are flowering profusely.  They are not growing tall at the moment but they are very sturdy!

Even through the cooler weather we have been harvesting.  Lunchtime yesterday Radishes to go with salad and Lemongrass for a cup of tea!

Any my purple beans have decided it is NOT winter!  They are giving me beans?!?  Who am I to argue!

 In our quest for long carrots we are trying foam boxes.  We will see what happens.

Ok that's my update for today.. thanks for stopping by!

*hugs*

Sarah

The story so far...

So we began our "vege patch" on the 11th of May 2013 so we have been vege gardening at this house for a little over a year so I thought it was time to take stock and see how far we have come.

Sub Lime - in ground.
Dwarf Lemon - in ground.
Dwarf Imperial Mandarin - in ground.
Mulberry - Guessing English Black.  In Pot.  Back in leaf and berry!
Bay Leaf Tree - well established in pot.
Curry leaf tree - needs a bigger pot!  Little one in ground out the front.  4 seedlings in pots.
Pepino / Cameron Apple "Gold" - In Pot in flower.
Dragon Fruits - two in pots - types as yet unknown!
Fig Cutting in pot - unknown.
Blackberries - 4 pots.
Loganberry - in pot.
Raspberry - 2 pots.
Strawberries - various.
BlueBerries - 3 in ground but I think I will need to dig them up and put them into pots of Azalea potting mix.
Passionfruit - Gold and Red (either Nelly Kelly or Panama - need to check!)
Rhubarb two in ground have survived.
Cape Gooseberry.
Dwarf Pomegranate.
Potatoes - In various spots: Delaware, Ruby Lou and possibly Royal Blue and Nadine.
Mints: Common, Chocolate and Basil.
Rosemary - Common (upright) and Prostrate.  In ground.
Thyme.
Oregano.
Lemon Balm.
Lemongrass.
Coriander.
Sage.
Onions.
Native Violets.
Rainbow Chard & Silverbeet.
Kang Kong.
Purple and Green globe artichokes.
Purple and Green Asparagus.
Sugar Cane - only just gone in so fingers crossed.
Kale - Black Tuscan.  Seedlings just gone in.
Sweet Potatoes - Japanese.  Pink skin, white flesh.
Self seeded lettuces - everywhere!
Radishes - easter egg and Long Scarlet.  Now self seeded and crossed.
Peas - Greenfeast and Snow Peas.
Broad beans.
Beans - Lazy Housewife, Purple King, Rattlesnake and Blue Lake - self seeded and growing right through winter!
Celery from bases of shop brought - growing well!
Jerusalem Artichoke - 1 but not looking well!

Hydroponics:
Strawberries.
Rhubarb.
Oregano.
Thyme.
Chives.
Rocket.
Rainbow Chard - star performer.
Kale.
Spring Onions.
Basil - Common and Purple.
English Spinach.
Watercress - filled entire grow bed.
Grandpop's Super Tomatoes. - in flower in grow bed.

Sown the last two days - many seeds being out of date (due to move) and not expecting much of a turn out:
Amaranth Red Calaloo.
Kale, Black Tuscan.
Lettuce, Yellow Leaf.
Celery Stringless.
Mustard, Giant Red.
Mustard, Mizuna.
Silver Beet Bright Lights.
Silverbeet Five Colour Mix.
Silverbeet Fordhook.
Rocket.
Mesclun, French Salad Mixed.
Broccoli, Italian Sprouting.
Leek, Lyon Prizetaker.
Spring Onion Red.
Pak Choy.
Tatsoi.
Cauliflower, All Year.
Cabbage, Sugarloaf.
Turnip, Early Purple.

Over the next few weeks the sow list:
Broad Beans - I know its late but I can try!
Snow Peas.
Garlic Chives.
1 starfruit seed (I hope it takes!).
Black Sapotes (Chocolate Pudding Fruit!)
Spring Onions.
Parsley.
Beetroot, Heirloom Mix. Red, Gold and White.
Beetroot, Baby Beets.
Beetroot, Chioggia. (Target)
Beetroot Crimson Globe.
Carrot, Harlequin. Yellow, Orange, White, Purple Nantes.
Carrot, All Seasons.
Carrot, Baby Pak.
Carrot, 3 Colour Purple.
Carrot Heirloom Mix.
Parsnip, Hollow Crown.
Radish, Easter Egg. Purple, Pink and White Egg Shaped.
Radish, Long Scarlet.
Radish, cross bred - see what happens!
Cucumber - Lebanese Mini Muncher.
Cucumber - Sweet and Striped.
Spinach Climbing Malabar Red.
Sunflower Yellow Pollenless.
Coriander.
Chives.
Oregano.
Basil.
Rockmelons.
Watermelons.
Dwarf Beans.
Pop's Super-Toms.
Paprika Capsicums.
Rosella.
Squash Mix.

Now that is one awfully big list to plant *but* as I said, a lot of my seeds went out of date due to us knowing we were moving and being unable to plant.  I doubt many are going to germinate but there is no harm in trying!  If they do... well we will eat well! hehe.

To expand our growing space I am hoping to get Aquaponics with NFT going along the whole of the back fence.  That should give us another 200 cup holes (4 levels of about 10 meters.)  Fish in an IBC clad with either wood and painted or colour bond like the fences.  The Lettuces, Silverbeets, Basil (in summer), Pak choy, tatsoi, mizuna and other greens will grow brilliantly here, freeing up garden beds for other edibles.  I would say we would be just about self sufficient for greens down there with staggered plantings.  The IBC would still need some media beds on top of it (prettied up of course) to help filter out solids... this will be great for tomatoes!

Looking at how far we have come in a year I am pretty proud of everything our family has done!  I hope that we can continue to expand our edible garden and sculpt it into something that is aesthetically pleasing for the neighbours too!

*hugs* Thanks for visiting,

Sarah

A wonderful weekend!

Tom kept his hands busy with saws, hammers, screws and the like and made me a box to store and organise my seeds!  Thanks Tom... I love it!  It currently has my seeds in which I now need to organise.  I was working out of a small esky which is fine until you need something lol.

Tom also planted our Dwarf Imperial Mandarine Tree out the front.... No photos since I wasn't quick enough to keep up!  So we now have a Dwarf Lemon, Sublime and Mandy in our citrus range!



Sadly one of our big bags of potatoes got decimated by caterpillars and the plants didn't make it :-(  So Brandon went ahead and harvested the potatoes... there weren't many but that was not surprising since they finished early.  Meanwhile I got on with topping up the new seed beds.  There was a lot of excitement when wriggly friends were found!  When we moved in we had straight sand (still do if you dig far enough) and NO worms!

Now our Raspberries have finally figured out it's winter and given us some beautiful red and orange foliage... Our strawberries are *still* confused!  We have a few red leaves but other than that they are still flowering profusely and producing lots of luscious fruit!

 On the subject of confusion... Our Purple beans are still growing and flowering?!?!  So along with peas I am sticking in more bean seeds!  The Sublime that looked so ill last winter is looking better (middle right of above picture) so let us hope for fruit this year!

So today, Sunday, we headed to Jetto's Patch!  Now the boys were none to sure about going but by the time we finished... well lets say they haven't stopped talking about it all afternoon.  We had a great tour of the garden by Dario and got to have a chat with Michele.  It was wonderful to see the variety for food that will grow here (despite people saying they wont!) and I believe it was an eye opener for the boys on the possibilities they could have at their doorstep!
(Photo care of Dario)


 The boys enjoyed the food forest especially the Starfruit, Tangelos and especially Cane Sugar!  So now our garden plan needs modifying to add these!  I planted out two cuttings of Cane Sugar just after we got back in front of the fence where it will get sun all day so cross your fingers that they decide to grow.

 Tom didn't know what to eat first!  The Tangelo's are already all gone!  Oh and Tom... Don't look behind you!  You have been busted!  Hehe  

 

Thanks so much to Michele and Dario for their time and sharing of knowledge and "tastes"!

This afternoon (or what was left of it) we headed back into the garden.  We potted up 4 baby curry leaf trees, a random tomato and planted lots of seeds that were way out of date, just incase.  (We had them then found out we had to move)  If they all come up we are in deep trouble.  Yellow Leaf Lettuce, Pak choy, Tatsoi, Mizuna, Red Mustard, Red Amaranth, stringless celery all went in.

Tomorrow while the boys are at school I will hopefully get time to put beetroots, carrots, black sapote and more rainbow chard in.

Now the funniest thing to happen today... I ate watercress... because I skipped lunch then went back to fill a pot with the potting mix at which point Rex.. all 40kg decided to try and find the "smell"... Yes ok that ended up with me in fits of laughter on the floor.  So I take Rex up to the hydroponics and give him some watercress... now he HATES greens... he will pick the peas out of his cooked dog food!  So he grabbed it and chewed it up and disappeared... came back for more... so I followed him he ripped all the leaves off and tried to kill it lol... glad he didn't do that to my head :-D

Happy Gardening *hugs*

Sarah

More treasure!

My youngest garden gnome and I have had a busy and productive day!  While I planted 16 Rainbow Chard, 8 Kale and 8 Cauliflowers into the front bed B was busy planting snow peas along the fence and then went treasure hunting... oh boy did he find some. A 2.3kg Sweet Potato hiding near the passionfruit vine... and some smaller ones that apparently needed harvesting now! :-)  Can anyone confirm for us these are japanese sweet potatoes?  Bright pink outside and white inside.

On my way out to the worm farm for some castings for the new seedlings I spied MORE flowers on Pop's Super Toms.  Shhhh NO-ONE tell them its winter! ;-)

I definitely need to make some watercress soup as my one little pot is now escaping from its grow bed since it's so happy!

Then I lifted the top floor off of the worm farm and went for the good level down the bottom... OHHH the whole thing was ready!  There were only two twigs and some egg shells left unprocessed in this whole layer and I only fished out two worms which were returned to the currently active layer.

It seems Rex and Balla Balla have found some treasure too!  Sadly it's the chook poo I put on the Curry leaf, Bay and Mulberry trees!  

Now keep your fingers crossed my seedlings don't get eaten by the crickets, slugs, snails, green caterpillars, hair black caterpillars, millepedes or salters lol... they have all discovered that we have a delicious smorgasbord on offer all year round.  Now if only the dogs would eat them!

Happy Gardening,
*hugs* Sarah

Preparation and maintenance!

Wow we have had the busiest day in our garden!  Mr T drilled old preserve lids and sawed some garden stakes for me and Mr B and I turned them into new plant labels!  We need to eat some more preserves to get some more lids now hehe... what a shame!

Well we have been busy getting the back garden back in order.. we are slowly getting there!

This is the mess I started with, grass in the garden beds, weeds everywhere, overgrown bushes... Everything grew wild while we were on holidays!  Below... much better!  Ok yes the first photo is better and we are working on the next ones!  Mr B and I put in two "garden beds" today.. tomorrow hopefully we will get time to plant some seeds in there!

Our Raspberries, Loganberries and blackberries are now labels thanks to the boys efforts!  The new dwarf pomegranate is currently under the kitchen window and Brandon's Dragon Fruit is now in a pot (with a layer of expanded clay then pearlite then potting mix) next to our heat sink - next doors garage wall.  It also got its own label.  It also looks like we get strawberries within a few days :-D  No one tell them its winter! 

Our fig cutting got potted up today and got labelled along with the Gold Cameron Apple (Pepino), Native Finger Lime and Mango!  I took our pineapple out of the pot today and popped it in ground in a higher light area... I am hoping it cheers it up a bit!

 B's Mint Collection got labelled, we have Chocolate Mint, Basil Mint and Common mint.  I also fertilised it with the Maxicrop (chook poo pellets) and gave it a sprinkle of Multicrops Snail Pellets that turn into Iron rather than anything nasty and also wont harm the dogs if they find any.

 Which is probably a good thing since my darling shadow is 2 steps behind me at all times hehe.  I would give you a picture of Balla but she was wagging so hard the whole image was blurry!  I did try 3 times lol.  B and I filled some seedling trays for seed sowing tomorrow or Saturday.

 We allowed some lettuces to goto seed in the hanging baskets and with all the rain woo hooo we have many, many babies!  We are going to need to pot these up or I may let them get a little bigger and pop them into a garden bed.

You will please forgive the fuzziness of some of these images, the light was fading and I had to use the software to lighten things up.  Also today we Multicropped (chook poo pellets) the whole of the back garden beds and tree pots.  Dug out two escapee Blackberries and popped them into a pot.  Potato E'd all the potatoes.  Use Multicrops Long Lasting Pyrethrum spray on some of the potato leaves, sweet potatoes, broad beans, lemon tree and passionfruit plants as our garden had a huge sudden onslaught of green caterpillars, black hairy caterpillars *and* black aphids being farmed by ants!  I at one point checked a potato plant and noticed damage, by the time I came back the 4 leaves it had had turned to two!  Squashed a green caterpillar and sprayed... hopefully it will recover.  Anyway its been a busy day ... thanks for stopping by!

*hugs*

Sarah