Wind and rain and harvest

We have the first harvest today, cherry tomatoes and rocket straight from the garden.

We have had another storm, with high winds and rain overnight, and this brought one of the tomatoes down.  Fortunately it was not actually broken at the stem, just bent.  So I tied it up again.  This brings me to the types of ties to use.  Old stockings are perfect as they are strong but flexible, I have some strong wire coated in plastic that I use, and it works well.  Some people use string, not as good as it can rub the stems.  Whatever you do use, tie up tomatoes about every 4 inches to keep them going.

The rocket is quite small yet, but tastes really good.  It has a mild peppery taste, and is perfect for rolling up with some chicken in a wrap.  I have a couple of rules for what I grow:
1. Something we like to eat,
2. That is expensive to buy,
3. Things I use often but little at a time (like mint or radish), so waste a lot.
4. Easy to grow in our area.

Here is a great article that might help with planning a garden : http://thenaturallivingsite.com/blog/2011/03/how-to-plan-your-garden-food-production-for-self-sufficiency/

I decided to make a chicken curry tonight, and had to buy some chilli (mine is not ready yet) and some lemongrass.  The lemongrass was quite expensive, so this makes it a perfect thing to grow in the garden.   Just  purchase a lemongrass stalk from the supermarket with a bit of roots at the end of it.  Place in water to get the roots going, then replant in a pot or in the ground.  Pots are better I think, as lemongrass can really get out of hand and is quite spikey.

Oh dear, the peas have suddenly stopped.

I don't think it is going to be a great year for peas.  A friend of mine saw ours and was amazed (note: this was a week ago) as his had started and suddenly stopped after an inch or two.  Well, since then we have had a lot of rain, and I suspect our peas don't like wet feet, because ours have stopped growing, and are starting to yellow.  After such a promising start too.

So I have taken the mulch from around the roots, this may help - stay tuned for an update.


UPDATE:  removing the mulch seems to have worked and we have peas!

Mulch, and more mulch.

So, the seeds are up and now it is time to mulch - but which one?

Bark - not so good for vegies as it takes up nitrogen from the soil.  Better for other parts of the garden where you do not want to replace mulch too often.

Leaves - Saves money, but you need a lot of them.

Grass - grass clippings break down fast but add nitrogen to the soil as they do. It's best to use grass clippings in thin layers or to let the grass dry before spreading it as a mulch otherwise it starts to stink

Bill was right - especially about the crocodiles

 

This is what Bill Bryson said about Australia:

Not as tough as my place! 
Our garden contains, and has contained over the years a variety of critters such as  (Note, this is just a small selection):

Eggshell recycling 101

Eggshells are great for deterring snails and slugs, as they do not like the sharp endy bits.  Once you have broken and used the eggs, just put the eggshells into the microwave for about 30 seconds to harden them up, then break them up and store in a jar for use on the garden.

Eggshells are a great source of calcium, so put them into the worm farm or compost (don't nuke them for this!).  This is very beneficial to  tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. These crops are susceptible to blossom end rot, which is caused by calcium deficiency. While this deficiency is most often caused by improper watering, there’s no harm in making sure your plants have a steady source of calcium. As the eggshells break down, they’ll nourish the soil, and your plants.  Don't be concerned that there are bits of eggshell in the worm castings, just make sure you have crushed them well before putting them in.  I go on, and then off, putting eggshells in with the worms as I don't want them to dominate the castings.  If you are using them as direct fertiliser, then crush the shells really well until they are powder as I have for the tomatoes below.  (sorry about the glare in the corner).

Oh dear, I nearly killed the lettuce!

Lesson learned!  DO NOT FORGET TO WATER LETTUCE AFTER FERTILIZING.
It was raining a bit yesterday, so I put some liquid fertilizer on the lettuce thinking the bit of rain would do the rest - Today they are burned at the edges.  Well, that is the last time I do that.

Failure is good.
 It's fertilizer.

Everything I've learned about coaching,
 I've learned from making mistakes.
........Rick Pitino

 

~

The first snow peas have peeped above the ground!

Exciting, the snow peas are peeping through the earth.

Only just!

I wish I had shares in the weedkiller company

Seriously, I have spent a fortune on weedkiller!  When we moved into our house the garden was infested with wandering jew - a weed.  Now it is 35 years later and I am still killing it.  The only thing I have found is to pull out as much as possible, and hit the rest with roundup or zero weedkiller.  But it does not stop there!  Oh no.  I have a large area of paving, and it constantly gets weeds in it, and around the side of the house is concrete, it also constantly gets weeds.  So I have tried this recipe out, to see if it works.

The seeds they are a spouting!

Great news, after less than a week, and despite horrible winds and heat, the rocket, marigolds and radish are sprouting.

 
 

Rocket

 

 

 

Radish

 

Marigolds

 

 

So the first of the seeds are up!  The marigolds will require no special attention. 

 

The Rocket  is a slightly different, here is some advice from Burkes Backyard:



The best rocket to eat is baby rocket, very young rocket, and that’s almost impossible to find in supermarkets. I get all my rocket by growing my own and harvesting it young, when it’s about 50mm (two inches) tall. When it’s young, it’s sweet and nutty and lovely.  Keeping crops of salad greens well watered is the main job for salad green grown either in pots or in the ground. Also keep them growing steadily by giving them a liquid feed (mixed up in a watering can) every fortnight. I use Nitrosol, but there are plenty of good alternatives.

 

So my plan is:  water every day,  weekly liquid feed with worm poo,  eat young,  and plant more each 3 weeks

 

 

The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.
Gertrude Jekyll

 

~

 



necessity is the mother of invention.

Its very hot today, with an estimated 38degrees C top temp!  And the hot wind is blowing from the west/ north west - not so good for newly planted plants.  What to do?  Well, I have put an old fitted sheet over the stakes, should be both a wind break and some shade - hope it works.  Also watered around the roots and where the seeds are sown.

"Necessitie, the inuentour of all goodnesse."

...Toxophilus, C1545

 

 

Postcript.  18/10/2013



 

The sheet was a failure as the winds were really bad.  This is what it looked like yesterday at my sisters house, bear in mind she lives in a suburb, NOT near the bushland.  It was the same at my house.

 

 

Many homes have been lost in the fires, that only lasted about 24 hours, but were very destructive.  It is not even summer yet, and we have had catastrophic fires!  I cant think what it will be like in February.  As for the plants, well the lettuce look a bit worse for wear, I have hand watered them, and the seeds so hopefully they will survive well.  We are all coughing from the smoke left in the air. 

~

The fun begins with the planting

After a day that got to 40degrees C, (that is really HOT), it rained overnight so my beds are perfect for planting today.  The soil is warm and wet.  This is the great thing about living where I do, we face south and are on the top of a hill, so my house was built to passive solar standards to take advantage of this.  When we get a hot day in Sydney, it is usually followed by a southerly buster - rain and wind from the south.  I just open the doors and in comes the cool air.  I doubt I will ever move!

So the plan today is :
Bed A

1. two tripods for snap and snow peas,
2. a row of radish, rocket and pac choy seeds which is repeated every 3 weeks so we have a continuous supply.
3. flowers in one corner - courtesy of a wedding my son went to where he received seeds to plant as a thank you gift - lovely, and some marigolds if I can find them,
4. parsley in the other corner to keep away pests and encourage good bugs

Bed B

1. Yellow cherry tomatoes
2. Grosse Lissie grafted tomatoe
3. More tomatoes
4. Basil
5. Lettuce that can be continuously picked.

After a trip to the shop for seedlings, this is what I actually planted

So, all the things in bed A are seeds, and only the basil and flowers are seeds in bed B.  As the soil already has manure and compost in it, I only added lime to the lettuce and tomatoes, and worm castings to the bottom of the tomato holes, and coffee grounds on top of the soil around the tomatoes.

4 peas have been planted at the bottom of each tripod, 2 per stake, and I will put in another 4 under the other stakes in about 3 weeks, that should keep a good supply going.  The beds currently look like this:

Here are some tips I used at the plating stage

• Add a bit of lime to the soil for tomatoes and lettuce
• Take off the bottom leaves of the tomatoes so that they don't develop fungus or virus diseases.
• Put some worm castings into the tomato holes.
• Sprinkle ground coffee (not instant) around the tomatoes.
• Water Epsom salts over the peas to help the seeds sprout, and over the lettuce because they like it.  (I did this the next day)
• On the second day I watered everything with a mild solution of seaweed extract and worm juice.

By the bye,  I set up a very successful worm farm for next to nothing, here is the link on how to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN3cACBUWjI  - and thanks to Gardening Australia.  I have used this method and it works.  I bought my worms from a place in Oatley though, as they are much fresher than if you buy them from the hardware store.  Check out  Able Worms -   Myall St, Oatley NSW 2223

Here is a picture of my worm farm, I got the boxes for free at the Sydney Markets.

When I judge art,

I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower.

 If it clashes, it is not art.
...Paul Cezanne