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Monarchs In My Garden

3/5/2017

3 Comments

 
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Who doesn't love Monarchs? These beauties are reliant on the home gardener for their continued lifecycle in NZ, because the food for their caterpillars - the Swan Plant - does not grow wild here, but only under cultivation. This beautiful butterfly is NZ's largest and most colourful, and it's lifecyle is fascinating to observe.

I've grown swan plants in various ways over the last few years. I quickly discovered that unless I managed the number of caterpillars on the plants (by limiting the butterfly's access to lay eggs), the food would run out, with the plants being completely devoured, leaving hungry caterpillars. Substitute foods such as pumpkin generally result in deformed butterflies, unless only fed to very mature caterpillars almost ready to pupate. 
This season, I decided to plant lots of seedling swan plants at one end of my large blueberry/strawberry patch, which is already covered in a permanent framework and netting. I also planted one seedling outside of the netting, to serve as a "birthing room" - a place where the Monarchs could lay eggs, and then once hatched, I could move a suitable number of caterpillars into the "nursery" to feed, grow and mature. Once I had enough of them, I would chop down the other plant, preventing the laying of more eggs for caterpillars I could not feed. 
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The blueberry/strawberry patch, with side nets rolled up. I planted swan plants at the far end, where there was space.
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When I planted the seedlings, I had two lots - some which I had grown from seed late in the previous season, and overwintered in the greenhouse, and some I had started from seed in spring. I wanted both for two reasons - firstly so some plants would be bigger and grow faster, and secondly, and more importantly, because swan plants usually only produce seed in their second year (assuming the caterpillars haven't eaten them to the point where they cannot), and fresh seed produces the best results. Besides, why pay $3.50 for a packet of 20 seeds (or $3-$5 per seedling) when I can grow hundreds for free?
I kept the seedling that was to be the one for the Monarchs to lay eggs on in the greenhouse until the ones in the garden (protected by the nets) had a chance to establish themselves and start to gain some size. I then planted it out, and waited for the butterflies. 

But some things happened, which made me think for a while maybe I was going to end up with lots of plants and no butterflies! That's because:
1) It was a long, cold, wet spring, and so the butterflies were slower to arrive than usual. 
​2) Finally butterflies came, eggs were laid, and caterpillars hatched. BUT they started to disappear....
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Over the last few seasons I have deliberately been planting with beneficial insects in mind - I don't use sprays or chemicals, and I want to attract those creatures that help do my work for me, dealing with pest insects on my behalf. And that has worked really well! My garden is teeming with creatures, many of whom keep pests such as the white butterfly and diamondback moth larvae from decimating my brassicas, control the green loopers that would otherwise devour my tomatoes, beans, basil etc, or who eat aphids and other pests. 

*Unfortunately*, some of those beneficial insects are not choosy and will also "control" Monarch caterpillars - apparently no-one gave them the memo on not touching bugs the gardener likes! Though really, it's not so unfortunate - all living things in the environment are part of a natural ecosystem, and without natural predators etc, things get out of balance. Just as we have to have some "pests"  available as food to encourage the predators that control problems for us, also "good" bugs need to be controlled so that their numbers don't overwhelm the available food supply. 
​So, up until about March, praying mantises and parasitic wasps were keeping the numbers of Monarch caterpillars to a minimum - in that time, I only know of one caterpillar that reached maturity, but I never saw it turn into a butterfly, as it crawled off and pupated somewhere hidden I could not discover. Perhaps it never hatched either. Other predators which can kill Monarch caterpillars (or eggs) include some species of shield beetle, German and Paper wasps, ants, spiders and harvestmen etc. Early in spring I hunted down and destroyed every paper wasp nest I found developing, so very few were seen over summer in my garden, and German wasps were few and far between also this year. 

Fortunately, by the time March rolled in and the predators "let" the number of caterpillars increase, the plants were well grown and I was able to raise a much higher number of caterpillars than I would have been able to earlier in the season. So, this year, it turns out I probably could have grown the plants without nets at all, since my garden ecosystem now seems to be balancing itself!
The downside of the butterflies being so late in the season is that most of the flowers I had in the garden which would have fed them were finished....I didn't plant a lot of later flowering ones as I'm intending to completely overhaul my garden over the next few months. But, the bed full of marigolds has proved a favourite for them, and every day is visited by the young butterflies. There are other flowers around for them too, just not so much in my main garden.
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Due, I think, to the cold, wet summer, all my plants flowered this season - both the second season plants, and the new ones. I will have lots of seed for next year! Also, the flowers drip with nectar, and are very attractive to the bees!
To date, about 30 butterflies have hatched in my garden this season. There are another 10 or so crysalises hanging about. Now we are starting to get light frosts, they may not all make it. And there are still caterpillars on the plants, which still have plenty of food. My most successful year yet! 

Monarch life cycle stages

Monarch butterfly life cycles are fascinating to observe. In summary, they go like this:
1) Adult butterfly spots a swan plant and lays eggs on it. One female butterfly lays and average of 2-300 eggs per season, but can lay up to 1000!
2) 4-8 days later (depending on temperature) the baby caterpillar emerges - and it's tiny!
3) The mini eating machine chomps and chomps on the swan plant leaves - growing to about 2,700 times it's birth weight over 2-3 weeks, and molting 4 times during this process. 
4) The now fat, mature caterpillar will be about 5.5cm long. It's time for it to begin the metamorphosis process. It will likely crawl off the plant and look for a sheltered spot - which could be anywhere! This year mine have chosen nearby feijoa trees, the wooden framework over my garden bed, various spots on the bird netting, and some decided to stick to the swan plants. The caterpillar first produces a tightly woven silk mat, into which it hooks it's hind legs, and then hangs downwards in a classic J shape. Within 2 days, it will moult, splitting it's skin from the head end, and emerging as a pupa - the wiggling of the pupa cause the skin to wrinkle up and end up hanging from the top of the cryaslis until it falls off, and the pupa to "shrink" upwards and finally turn into the beautiful green crysalis with golden spots. This is fasinating to watch! Here's a short 2.5 min time-lapse video of the process:
5) Inside the beautiful crysalis, the butterfly is developing. This can take from 10 days to 3-4 weeks. Near the end of the time, the crysalis becomes translucent, and you can see the butterfly's wings inside it. When it is ready, the butterfly emerges from the crysalis
6) The newly hatched butterfly has a very fat abdomen and crumpled up wings. The abdomen is full of fluid. The butterfly hangs for several hours, slowly turning from side to side, pumping the fluid into the wings, and then eventually opening and closing the wings as they dry. (See pics below)
7) Once it is ready to do so, which may be the next day, or longer if it is cold and wet, the butterfly will fly off and find a source of nectar for food, and then mate and begin the new generation.  Usually, adults have a lifespan of 60-70 days, but this can extend to 6-7 months if it pupates in autumn. Adults overwinter in sheltered locations, often near the coast. 
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6:20pm - newly emerged butterfly. Note the fat, fluid filled abdomen and crumpled wings. The curled "tongue" (proboscis) is clearly visible - this is what it will use to sip nectar from flowers.
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6:40pm - the wings are fully extended, but still soft and floppy. The butterfly continues to turn side to side.
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6:28pm - the wing veins are filling with fluid pumped from the abdomen. The butterfly is slow rotating from side to side as it does this.
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6:55pm - see how slender the abdomen is now? This butterfly hung here all night and once the day warmed up the following morning, flew away.

Various photos from the Monarchs in my garden

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Double trouble! The flowers above are the swan plant flowers. Bees love them!
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Classic "J"
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Won't be long now!
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Female monarch - no black spots (though the wings aren't extended enough to show this in this pic). The thicker wing veins confirm this one is female.
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See the proboscis extended into the flower to suck up nectar?
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New monarch. Note the big green seed pods of the swan plant. These are filled with cotton-like fluff with seeds attached.
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Mature caterpillar climbing the feijoas, looking for a good spot to pupate in.
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The beautiful jeweled crysalis
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Male monarch - note the two black spots on the lower wings, and the fine wing veins
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Feeding on the marigolds
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These guys all hatched the night before it began to rain heavily. They hung around for nearly 3 days before the sun finally came out and they flew off.
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A garden bed I've deliberately get quite "wild" after I harvested all the brassicas from it is providing food for the monarchs, bees, and other beneficials. It's also full of human food. More on that in another post.
3 Comments

My Garden in Pics January 2017

5/1/2017

3 Comments

 
Time for a photo tour of my garden! Over the past year, I totally haven't kept up either the garden or my usual monthly photos of it. So the past month or so has been one of trying to tame the jungle once again, and get things back in shape. I've still go a ways to go, but it's starting to look like a functional garden again! On the plus (or minus, depending how you look at it) side, the season's weather itself has been very behind too - temps are still in the single digits at night, on the 2nd of Jan we had the fire going all day, and the winds have been very strong. Now, of course, one hopes that summer will last longer to compensate, otherwise some crops won't stand a chance of maturing, but as usual, it's a game of wait-and-see, and the gardener can only do what they can and hope nature cooperates!

So, let's have a wander through the area I refer to as my vege garden - there's quite a lot to it, so I'll leave the greenhouse and other parts of the section for another day. Follow me.....this gate to the garden area is just a few metres from the door to the house. My daughter and I build this fence, arch and gate 3 years ago, to keep dogs, chickens and later ducks from the garden. The banksia rose on the high side to the left is very lush - it started out as a bedraggled nearly dead bargain plant from the garden centre. 
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The entrance border (below) is planted with love-in-a-mist on one side (about to start flowering, and candytuft, dwarf phlox, and some extra dwarf beans on the other. 
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Three zucchini plants (right) are now producing well. The two blue bins are planted with: "Chloe's Surprise" climbing Novella peas on one side, drying out now so I can save the seed, and Moonflowers which I've just planted in the near bin, where they will climb the trellis arch made from an old ladder. 
And along this fence (below) is quite a variety - another zucchini, a big patch of cosmos (just starting to flower) under a triple-grafted apple tree, a patch of calendula, 4 tomatoes against the trellis on the fence (not tall enough to see yet), a lemon tree, two lemon balm bushs, some dahlias, a carpet rose, a pomegranate in a pot, and a few other flowers. 
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Bordering the path is a row (above) of much-used perennial culinary herbs - chives, rosemary, oregano, pizza thyme and common thyme
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Note: basically everything in my garden is grown from seed. I very, very rarely buy seedlings (and haven't this year so far). I do occasionally buy small herb plants from a local lady who grows them from cuttings, which is how I got my rosemary, lavendar and oregano plants. Otherwise the only plants I buy are occasional fruit trees. I grow vines and fruiting bushes from cuttings, and some of my trees have also come from seedings or root suckers that have been gifted to me or found by my foraging son.
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This year I've planted my upcycled arch/growing frame with cucumbers on one side, and buttercup squash on the other - which I will train to climb up the sides. Not where I was planning to plant the squash, but I'm running out of space, and they desparately needed planting. Behind those are planted some globe artichokes (below), mulched with sheeps wool/dags.
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Next (left), the yacon, a south American root vegetable which grows as a perennial and produces abundant, sweet tubers which can be eaten raw or cooked, or boiled down to make a sugar substitute. They are bordered with a row of calendula, with a dahlia in the front corner. The low-growing polyanthus along the front edge have finished flowering for now; they are pretty and purple all winter long. The yacon plants will reach heights of around 6 feet before producing tiny, sunflower-like flowers at the tops of the stems, and then dying off when the frosts get them. 
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To the other side of the entry path (right) is a tangled mess! Silverbeet from last season, gone to seed and then blown over by the gales we've been having, it is draping itself all over the damson plum. Self-sown parsley now going to seed again has taken over the rest of the space. Between the two, the spring onions and scented geraniums are pretty much hidden. Clearing out this section of the garden is high on my next-to-do's list.
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At the end of the path, where it divides in different directions, is my berry patch. Facing us (left) is a trellis for boysenberries. I got part way through training the vines up it in winter, and never finished, so it's a tangled mess at the mo, but plenty of berries. Looking at the patch from the side (below left), you can see all the raspberries behind the boysenberries. These have finished fruiting for now - there will be more in autumn - and needs a good clear out. Lemon verbena grows at the corner of the raspberry block, with soapwort underneath (below).
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The path goes in three different directions. Let's take the middle path, head over to the washing lines, and turn to look over my main vege beds, and then walk a circuit around them, checking out what is growing......
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The first bed, in the foreground of the above photo, was recently planted with Sweet Granite melons at the front, and Sugar Baby watermelons at the rear. In the adjacent bed, my favourite beetroot (Detroit Dark Red), are producing seed for future crops, while behind them the experimental popcorn crop is growing well (experimenting with colour genes; I've grown plenty of popcorn before), and the front edge of the bed has some extra chives in it. 
The next bed along has a flourishing crop of silverbeet and perpetual spinach in one half (right), though currently a bit wind battered, and the other half is newly planted with longkeeper brown onions.

The onions were started as seed in my greenhouse in late Sept, in extra deep seed trays. Ideally I would have done that in July, but this year that wasn't possible. I grow the seedlings on in the greenhouse, and plant out in December. This seems to yield the best results. The seedlings are planted out individually, by laying them down with their roots in a shallow trench, and just pulling back enough soil to barely cover the roots. Within a week or so, the plants begin to create upright leaves - as you can see them starting to do in this photo (below right). I have netting over the bed to keep off the birds, and some shadecloth, partly lifted today, which I use for the first little while over most newly planted crops at this time of year, to give them a chance to become established without having to deal with the brunt of the hot sun and drying winds, especially important for these onions, which weren't subjected to the careful hardening off process I normally employ.

The last bed in this row (below) has a variety of dwarf beans planted in one half, and a couple of rogue bush tomatoes have popped up, so I gave them cages for support and will leave them to see how they do. The other half of the bed is currently empty; I have another tray of onions to plant there.
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In the next row, first are two beds (below), one of which, as you can see, is completely overgrown and yet to be cleared. Between the beds is a Cox's Orange apple tree, with shallots around it's base. The second bed has recently been planted with spaghetti squash, which will climb the ladder and trellises. Two of them are also against the trellis on the side fence, the rest of which I will probably plant with climbing beans. 
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This year's garlic crop (right), badly affected by rust. I need to pull it, and aren't expecting great things! :-( Will have to find new seed garlic for the next crop, as none of these will be worth replanting from. Ah well. The majority of gardeners seem to have struggled with their garlic this year, thanks to a wetter and warmer than normal winter and spring. As I didn't plant these until August, in theory they shouldn't be ready until Feb, but there is no point leaving them any longer. We usually get a little rust on them, but nothing like this!
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This next bed (below) I'm very pleased with! I've NEVER been able to grow good cabbages, at any time of the year - they are always small and then bolt. Now I have 6 lovely Premiere cabbages with good, firm heads on them! At the other end of the bed are Mini-white caulis, and there are also spring onions (in clumps), pyrethrum (to see if it deters white butterflies), and marigolds around the edges. The rest of the bed, as you can see, currently has a "living mulch" lol of weeds - though most of them are edible! I need to get in and weed this bed, and put down some "official" mulch. I think the main difference with this bed is that since the former wooden frame was completely rotten, I dug this bed extra deeply in the process of not only weeding it, but putting in new sides with bricks laid in trenches etc, and the resulting bed was not only very well dug, but quite mounded too. Some more Quash slug bait is also needed!
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This last one of the main vege beds (right) has just been planted with some Samurai F1 broccoli - which waited far too long to be planted, so either they live or die at this stage, and some butternut pumpkins. I expect the pumpkins will trail over the area next to the bed, so now I've planted them I figure I have about 2 weeks to clear that area of last year's various container growing things, and weeds. 
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Let's now circle back around the perimeter of the garden...
Along the back fence are three "patches" (right). The first has a pear tree, a rosemary bush and some lemon balm, but is overrun with weeds. Next to it, where the compost bins are standing, is a space that until a week ago had two raised and overrun beds I've been wanting to move for 3 years but have been in the too-hard basket! Fortunately I was able to hire a strong young helper for a few hours, and he got these out for me. Yay! Now to decide what goes there.... And at the far end is a Gala apple tree, some lovage, and lots more couch grass! It's going to be a pain getting that all out from around the tree without damaging it's roots! But it must be done! There are also lots of white alpine strawberries growing there.
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Along the side fence, near the front of the vege patch (left), are some tyres I put there back when I first started a little gardening in 2012. They are planted with rhubarb, a gooseberry and a red currant, and very overgrown with the couch and blackberry that keeps creeping up between and through the tyres, and I can never keep on top of. I really need to get rid of them entirely, but that's another job in the too-hard basket. I should really take some cuttings of the currant and gooseberry in autumn, and then see if I can find a handy helper to do the heavy work for me! Meanwhile, I need to don some armour (against the thorns) and give them a good weeding.
Meanwhile, in the front corner (right), with some help from my husband and the most enormous crowbar I've ever seen (I basically can't lift it), I finally managed to get out the blackberry bush  and all it's roots which I (foolishly) planted in the tractor tyre a few years ago. The tyre is now planted in crown pumpkins in plenty of compost - they can trail out over the grassy area (below), which I will keep mown until they're big enough to take over. When I was prepping the tyre, I curled some old irrigation pipe with holes in it around the rim of the tyre. Now I can water from a distance by plugging my hose into the connector on the pipe, run out to the edge of the garden bed corner you can just see to the bottom left of the pic below - this will be handy when I can't get close to the tyre when the plants are large!
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I've planted this patch under my second washing line with Pink Banana Jumbo squash. I hope they get a chance to do well; they are the most delicious squash I've ever tasted! A rich orange flesh with pink-ish skin, I grew my first one a couple of seasons ago, and have been meaning to grow more ever since.
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The fence along the front of the garden has a border planted with blackcurrants (below). I've rough weeded it, but need to work on getting the couch out. Not sure what I'll plant here - was going to be celery and lettuces, but I think I might just sprinkle wildflower seeds and see what happens. Further along, the blackcurrants are overrun with an unruly grape I planted from as a gifted seedling a couple of years ago. (below left) 
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The Chilean Guavas in the foreground of this pic (left) are doing quite well now I've freed them from their personal jungle. I've mulched them with sheeps wool/dags, and planted some coloured alyssum under them - they're much more controlled and low growing than the rampant white alyssum I often plant elsewhere. The swing seat area behind is still in dire need of clearing. There is a stauntonia growing up the right side of the trellis, which I was toying with removing; it has now suddenly died, which makes that decision for me! A young kiwifruit is beginning to climb the right side, and the rampant grape behind needs attention. You can also just see my worm farm bath-on-a-stand in the background. This is almost full and needs some vermicast removing. 
Stepping back a bit and showing a wider angle of this area, you can see the empty space between my blueberry bed/cage and the Chilean Guavas pictured above. Those wooden frames are from the area my helper cleared; I'm going to lay cardboard down over this area and lay out the wooden beds, and plant them with potatoes. Behind this area is a row of feijoa bushes, mulched with more sheep's wool/dags, and underplanted with NZ spinach. The path runs behind them from by the berry patch shown above, to the paddock gate. On the other side is a row of compost bins made from pallets, underneath a large old grapevine. Behind the grapevine is my glasshouse where I start all my seeds off, but that will be shown in another post.
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At the end of the blueberry area (below and below right) is a Red Bartlett pear tree, underplanted with cornflowers. Pretty and edible, but bland, the flowers make attractive garnishes for salads or meals. The blueberries are underplanted with strawberries, and I've put in some swan plants at the far end, as when I lower the nets soon to keep birds off the ripening blueberries, it will also keep Monarchs from laying too many eggs on the swan plants for them to support. I have another swan plant in a pot - I will put that out for the monarchs to lay on, and transfer a suitable number of caterpillars to the cages plants. 
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At the end of the raspberry patch is my sweet-leaved, non-bulbing fennel (right) - grown for it's seeds and fronds. It comes back year after year, quickly reaching 8-10 feet tall. However, I have more than enough seed stored for now, so I might just chop these out and mulch them to add to the compost. Opposite it is a fig in a half-barrel, which is doing very well. I intend to move it, and have contemplated planting it in the ground, but figs can get very, very big, and overall are preputedly more productive for size if kept in pots. Behind it are an orange and a manderin, also in half-barrels.
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Wormwood (right) grown in a tyre - in severe need of pruning. I will mulch the prunings and sprinkle them throughout the hen house; wormwood is an effective vermicide and insect repellent. 
Well, that's a look at my main gardens currently! I'll finish off with a series of wider-angle photos of the garden to give you more of the big-picture, as well as some pics of our current batches of chicks and ducklings......(can't beat some cuteness :-) ). 
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A Strawberry (& Chives & Mint) Bath

3/1/2017

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Old bathtubs have so many uses in the garden! And they're even better if you can put them on a stand. Fortunately my lovely, handy husband has made me two bathtub stands now - the first which is set up as a wormfarm, and then more recently, this one for my strawberries. I wanted a new bed of strawberries close to the house for easy picking - and because I've noticed that birds are less likely to bother them right in front of the house where people (and cats) are frequently visible. I do want another, bigger planting elsewhere, but with my garden in serious need of work, and some potted strawberries in need of planting out, this was a perfect project to get things under way. 
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After my husband built the stand/frame to my specifications - so the bath would be at waist height, no bar across the front (lawn edge), shelf around the edge (explanation below) -  we leveled the ground underneath, and laid black plastic down. The base of each leg is sitting on a thick brick tile, to keep it out of any accumulated water. The edges of the plastic are folded up on three sides and secured behind boards used to create an edging that can be weed-eatered up to. On the side edging the concrete deck, it is folded up somewhat less, which means that water can only accumuate in it up to a certain point before seeping out onto the grass. 
Underneath, a lack shallow tub (formerly the base of an animal cage on a stand, but it's broken edge means it no longer works for that) was placed. I drilled holes along one end, a couple of inches up from the bottom. This is specifically so it would hold water in it's base, but not completely fill up. It was positioned near the drain hole of the bath above, but couldn't be put quite in position because of the tiles under the feet of the stand, so I attached a cut-down icecream container to act as a ramp to direct dripping water. 
I used a bag of stones to line the bottom of the tub, then filled it with compost, and planted some English mint in it - they love damp, shady areas, and cope well with wet feet - I had it growing in pots last year but it never did very well as I wasn't good at keeping them moist. Contained in the tub like this, it can't escape and take over the garden either. And as it grows out the sides a bit, it will smell wonderful when I brush against it. 
Later, stones were added to cover the rest of the plastic, and a pot of impatiens was placed in the end, where it's base can soak up excess water that has flowed there.
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As for the bathtub itself, I first placed a broken brick over the drainhole, to keep stones out of it, then filled the bottom of the bath with a layer of stones, for drainage, covered the stones with a double layer of shadecloth (to keep soil out of the stones), covered that with a layer of home-made compost, then a layer of sheep's wool/dags from our sheep, then more compost, a sprinkling of rock dust and plant food, and topped it with some strawberry potting mix followed by plant matter I'd put through our garden shredder (mostly grapevine prunings).
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I then planted the bathtub with two varieties of strawberries, and a chive plant in the middle. When I grew chives in the middle of my strawberry patch a couple of years ago, I have the best strawberries ever! Plus it's handy having this much-used herb close to the kitchen. 

I added hoops of 10mm steel rebar to hold up bird netting. My husband put in screws around the sides of the wooden shelf, so the netting is easily hooked over them. 

And that shelf around the edge? It serves two purposes - one, it holds the netting out from the edge of the tub, keeping birds off any dangling berries. And second, it's the perfect place to line up small pots of potting mix, and peg down runners that I want to grow roots, so they can later be separated from the mother plants and planted out.
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And now, the berries have been producing nicely, the mint is looking lush, and the whole thing is working very well! :-). 
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An Edible Garden Keeps on Giving Even In Neglect

15/11/2016

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Life has seriously got in the way of gardening this year. But even though my garden has been almost totally neglected since February, I am amazed at the abundance of food it is producing. It's full of veges I didn't cultivate, and herbs and fruit that just keep on coming, as well as wild foods.
And it reminds me of these wise words from The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe:
These days, we tend to design our gardens and our gardening for good times, times when everything is going well. That isn't what we need. Reality is, there is almost always something going wrong. Hard times are normal. My experience of gardening while caring for my [terminally ill] mother helped me realize that I needed to garden differently. My garden needed to be designed around the reality that life has its ups and downs. It has good times and bad. How to garden in the best of times was not the issue. I didn't need a "good-time garden." I needed to understand more about how to garden in the hard times. I needed a more resilient garden. And I needed a garden that better enhanced my own resilience, in all kinds of times, good and bad.
You see, this year I planned to do plenty of gardening. To keep on top of the weeding and compost making and spreading, the planting and harvesting and pruning. But I didn't count on a series of life events that made this near impossible. This year, 4 of my 5 kids have left home and/or moved away, 1 got married, and then my dad passed away suddenly, leaving me as executor with all the responsibilities of organising his funeral, and taking care of his fairly complicated estate. On top of which, we were burgled, and my autoimmune disease has been in full flare, making every day life extra difficult. When you add in my nearly full-time responsibilities in advocating for and mentoring home educators, as well a bookkeeping for my husband's business and looking after our 65 odd animals, it's little wonder my garden has been neglected!
And yet, now I am finally spending some time in the garden, clearing beds, reclaiming the jungle, and actually doing some deliberate planting, I am so thankful that my garden, even in my essential absence, has kept right on growing food, including a lot of things I didn't plant as such. Before we take a look at what foods (and potential foods) I can find in my garden right now, let's talk about what a resilient garden is.....
To me, a resilient garden system is one that:
  • Provides us with a wide array of nutrient dense foods
  • Whose output (food and useful products) is considerably greater than the required inputs (time, effort, money)
  • Is set up in such a way that it can survive and thrive even when the gardener is unable to tend it
  • Contains plants that will keep on regenerating and producing without the direct action of the gardener
  • Produces abundant viable seed that can be saved, stored, shared and replanted
  • Minimises the work needed by the gardener to keep it producing well
  • Whose foundation - the soil and it's life - is continuously being built and improved by the system itself
  • Provides food, shelter and habitat for beneficial creatures that do a lot of work for the gardener by controlling pests and diseases, pollinating fruits and veges and generally improving the overall well being of the system
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Yesterday I was clearing an overgrown garden bed in order to ready it for planting. In doing so, I was *forced* to harvest a bowl full of potatoes (self-grown from left overs of a crop from 3 years ago), a basket full of broad beans (self sown from broad bean stalks I thought I'd stripped before using them as mulch around some watermelons), a whole bunch of calendula flowers (perfect in a salad or for making healing salves), some dahlia tubers (they're edible, though I plan to replant them elsewhere), and some yacon. All thriving despite my complete neglect and the weeds that were growing throughout the bed. This reminded me I have much to be thankful for in my garden jungle. Let me walk you through what I can find there now....
Trees: fruitful trees are a great backbone to any garden. Over the last 3 years since I started my garden I have planted some here and there. Right now, there are 5 varieties of apples and 2 pears forming fruit. The double-grafted cherry looks like it's going to have a good crop. The damson plum I planted from a root sucker is going to have it's first crop. The fig has figs fattening up, the quince in the paddock is going to have a heavy crop, the feijoas are about to flower and will hopefully bear well (last year they had THE most delicious feijoas I've ever tasted - being positioned for the run off from the compost bins has something to do with that I'm sure!), and the lemon is still fruiting and flowering, as is the lime, and the orange and mandarin trees are flowering again now too. Even the neglected baby pomegranate in a pot I was sure I'd killed by leaving out over winter has made a come back (though may not fruit this year). The chestnut tree hanging over the boundary is flowering and will be tossing it's nuts everywhere in months to come. The willow on the boundary can provide pain relief as well as natural rooting hormone and plant growth stimulants, and it and the poplars help feed the soil and the sheep, who in turn feed us, as well as providing leaf litter that increases the populations of worms and bugs, which the chickens and ducks devour with relish, and give us eggs in return.
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Bushes: The red currant has ripening fruit, as does the 8 blueberries. My 8 or so blackcurrants are in full flower and should have good crops, and the 6 Chilean guavas (aka NZ cranberries) are flowering now too. The gooseberry has ripening fruit, though not in the same quantity as last year, but the baby one in a pot is working hard to outdo it!
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Vines, canes and brambles: My old grapevine is covered in flowers that foretell much fruit, and so is the young one I planted on a whim next to a fence - where it's trying to conquer it's corner of the world. The stauntonia flowered but I don't think will fruit, and the young kiwifruit vines are growing well. Meanwhile, the raspberries and boysenberries have proliferated and created their own dense jungle of thorns, flowers and fruit. I'm really going to have to sacrifice some to gain full access to the rest! A blackberry I meant to dig out has set up shop again in one corner and will produce well, if I let it. There are strawberries everywhere - white alpine ones are spreading wherever they can (I've been picking and eating their sweet fruits most days), and normal red ones are coming up again under the blueberries and Chilean guavas, but have also replicated themselves in odd spots - such as growing out of a log in another part of the garden! Homegrown strawberries ALWAYS taste WAY better than bought ones! The self-sown hop vines are climbing back up over the chook run for the 5th or so year in a row; their hop flowers are an excellent sleep aid, and could be used for brewing beer if you were so inclined.
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Herbs & flowers: The sweet-leafed fennel is already providing abundant leaves for flavouring dishes, and will soon start producing a ton of seed (great for cooking and home remedies). Lovage and sage are determinedly raising their heads above a jungle of couch. Calendula is dotted here and there. Parsley is everywhere! Chives are abundant, I have more rosemary than I can ever use, the oregano, pizza thyme and common thyme are all looking lush, and there is a patch of garlic chives over there.... Lemon balm is growing vigorously in various places, and the lemon verbena smells heavenly and tastes great as a tea! I shall never want for mint or spearmint, and the lavender is abundant. Soapwort has come back up for the third year - it's delicate flowers look lovely, and it's roots and leaves can be used instead of soap. I have plenty of nasturtiums and borage flowers to add to salads from here until eternity, as well as rose petals and geranium flowers. If I, or the critters, need worming or delousing there is plenty of wormwood to go around. The comfrey is lush and ready to use in the garden or for it's healing properties. Self-sown cornflowers are popping up here and there too; their pretty flowers are edible but rather bland. The self-sown pansies and voilas that are dotted here and there also make lovely salad garnishes. And the dahlia tubers are all over my garden, about to regrow and multiply. Dahlias are super easy to grow from seed and add lovely colour to the garden - bees love them!
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"Weeds": Huge dock specimens provide nutrient laden compost ingredients or garden mulch. The leaves can also be eaten similar to silverbeet, but due to it's high oxalate content should only be used in moderation. Plantain (broad and narrow leaved varieties) have come up all over the place and stand ready to serve if anyone suffers a bee sting or insect bite, or needs a cream for nappy rash or eczema. Dandelion and puha are abundant, and I have lush crops of chickweed (edible and nutritious) in various places. Miner's lettuce, that delicious, slightly crunchy and succulent vegetable "weed," is plentiful, and the edible flowers of white and red clovers are everywhere, while the plants themselves are adding nitrogen to my soil and are excellent for compost or mulch. Self-sown hawthorne trees provide edible leaves and berries with health properties, and fumitory is abundant should I need it's healing powers. That fuchsia that keeps insisting on re-growing out from under the house has edible flowers and berries, and the cleavers that are climbing their way over various things are also edible. And parsnips. Boy, they are a weed in my garden! They self-sow everywhere, and grow with abandon, as well as provide excellent rough mulch to protect tender watermelon plants and other seedlings one wants to keep the birds from digging up. Even the afore-mentioned broadbeans and potatoes can be considered weeds, since they are plants growing where I don't want them, but meanwhile they are producing good food, so who am I to complain?
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Vegetables: Garlic and shallots were the only things I actually planted over winter; they are doing well. The beetroot I should have harvested months ago are now going to seed, but that's ok since they were the last of my favourite variety and I will save seed from them for the next crop. The silverbeet I planted a year ago has kept on producing and producing, and is now about 2.5m tall and going to seed. But unlike a lot of crops, it still gives when flowering - the small leaves growing all up the stalks are perfect for making salads and smoothies. I'm cutting the flower heads off them all so they won't cross pollinate with the beetroot, and have just planted new seedlings; once those are established I'll remove the old plants. There are also a whole bunch of "wild" silverbeet and perpetual spinach plants sprinkled around the place - a legacy from the ones that I saved seed from a few seasons ago. As well as the self-sown broadbeans, I do have a bed of deliberately planted ones I put in a couple of months ago; they are now flowering well and have baby broadbean pods starting to develop. The long neglected but faithful rhubarb plants are putting forth big leaves and stalks, and the spring onions from last spring are still going strong. There are wonderful leek and celery specimens that self-sowed next to the compost bins, and more potatoes here, there and everywhere. The bins of them I never harvested are happily regrowing, and with the addition of some compost to feed them should produce even more than they would have last season. Yacons multiply themselves every season - producing an abundant crop of edible tubers and more and more crowns from which they regrow. They are now sprouting away happily; if I wished I could still dig them up and harvest some tubers, but I'll leave those now to feed the new plants. Last year's radishes spread some of their seed - a huge specimen is now flowering next to my broadbeans, and I'm looking forward to picking the young seed pods to add to my stir-fried vegetables and salads. I've been pulling out self-sown broccoli seedlings too, and I see tomato seedlings popping up here and there. No doubt, if I had not been so diligent about NOT putting pumpkin or zucchini seeds in the compost (I give them to the chickens; a nutritious vermicide, or roast and eat them myself), I'd have lots of those growing everywhere about now too. And the self-sown popcorn cobs I discovered while weeding one patch are now safely harvested; some I have re-sown, and the rest I will pop and eat.
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I've probably forgotten a bunch of things, or will discover more as I continue to weed and clear beds for new season planting, but as you can see, my garden has an abundance of food and other useful products, even though I've neglected it for most of the year! There are really only three things I wish would not grow in my garden - couch grass, creeping buttercup and convolvulus - the rest all have their uses! (Ok, I can use mown couch for compost, but still, I'd rather be without it!)
I'm very thankful for my edible garden, it's natural resilience, and all it's determined efforts that feed me and my family!
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What's Flowering Now - November

12/11/2016

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This month's round up of what's currently flowering in my garden. My garden is humming with bees of all kinds - honeybees, bumblebees, wool carder bees, and various natives, as well as other beneficial insects and pollinators. I'm slowly weeding and planting, and have just put in some flowering annuals, but most of what's currently flowering is still perennials or self-sown plants, or those that I planted last season. Let's take a look at what's flowering now (and a few that flowered since my October round up, but have now just finished).....
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Leptospermum "Outrageous" - I brought this gorgeous plant last season but have only just planted it. One day it will be a big, beautiful screen hiding my feed and rubbish bins.
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Foxglove - self sown and the first one I've seen on my property. I plan to cut and bin the flowering stems before they set seed and spread everywhere, but meanwhile the bumblebees are loving them.
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Lemon-scented geranium
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Borage - self sown. Bees love them and the flowers are pretty on a salad. Good companion to strawberries, but watch out - they tend to take over!
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Phacelia - self sown. Bees LOVE this stuff!
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Osteospermum - grown from a cutting given to me by a local gardener. Spreads to form a low-growing thicket. Hardy and shade tolerant.
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Common thyme
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A bed full of broad beans, a self-sown radish, and some other flowers surrounding - closeups below
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Broadbeans
Right: corn cockle. Once upon a time, found wild in cornfields but thanks to modern agriculture is now extinct in the wild. I love them!
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Self-sown radish. I'm waiting for the seed pods, which if picked young are tender edibles.
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Coxes Orange apple tree - the last of my apples still blooming
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Pink geranium. I have red ones flowering too
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Chives - I have at least 4 patches of chives around the garden. Bees love the flowers, and I love this herb in just about everything!
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The first of the Granny's Bonnets I planted last year have started flowering amidst the lavendar which is still going strong (and positively BUZZING!)
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Tiny pink Soapwort flowers; it will flower all summer
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First of the tea roses (above) and carpet roses (right)
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Blooming buttercup. 'nuf said!
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Strawberries - home grown always tastes better!
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Spring onion - bees love all onion family flowers, especially bumble bees
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The short lives but lovely azalea blossoms are already starting to fade.
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First flowers on self-sown nasturtiums. I'm planning to pull all self sown ones this year as I want to have the clumping variety instead of these trailing (takeover everything) ones. I've grown clumping nasturtium before, but it turns out when it cross pollinates with the trailling ones, all future offspring are trailing.
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White clover
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Boysenberries
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Self-sown pansies and violas have popped up here and there. When things naturally grow, it's a good indication of the right time to plant similar or related plants.
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Blackcurrants are flowering - the red currants have already set fruit as they come on earlier.
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Dandelion
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English daisies are popping up in the lawn. Daisy chain, anyone?
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Common sage - determinedly popping up in the midst of an overgrown tangle of couch!
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Red clover
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Raspberries
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Self-sown Calendula in all colours is around my garden. Going to grow lots more on purpose this year - we use it a lot to make wonderful healing salves.
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Polyanthus in various colours
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Capeweed. Bees love it, spreads easily. Easy to pull out.
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Fumitory - weed. One of two wild herbs my neighbour used to cure himself of a lingering Giardia infection
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My lemon, lime and orange trees are all putting forth buds that are about to burst into blossom!
That's it for this month's flower round up. What's flowering in YOUR garden?
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The Pollination and Cross-pollination of Corn Varieties

8/11/2016

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PicturePopcorn - 3 varieties crossed - see below
Corn (be that sweetcorn, popcorn, or flour corn) is wind pollinated, rather than pollinated by insects. For this reason, it is advisable to plant corn in blocks rather that rows, at least 4 plants across, so that when the wind blows the pollen about, it increases the chance of good pollination occurring.

We are also told to be careful about planting different varieties close together or at the same time, due to the effects of cross-pollination. I'll cover this in more detail in a moment. But first, let's quickly cover the basics of corn pollination for those unfamiliar with it.

How corn is pollinated

Why do we grow corn in the home garden? For the cobs, of course. (A farmer growing it for silage cares less about the cobs, because he's going to put the entire plant through the harvester/shredder and turn it into silage, but for gardeners, it's all about the cob.) In order to get good cobs, though, we need good pollination.
A mature corn plant has two parts of most interest to us in the discussion - the tassels (right), which form at the top of the plant and are where the pollen grains are produced, and the silks (below), which hang from the end of the forming cob, or ear, and which must be pollinated by the pollen. The design is that the pollen will fall downwards with the aid of gravity, and float around a bit with the aid of wind, and come into contact with the silks, pollinating them.
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Did you know that each strand of silk is attached to one potential kernel of corn? If the silk is pollinated, that kernel will plump up. If not, it won't. This is why poorly pollinated cobs will have many missing kernels, while well pollinated ones will have lovely rows of fat kernels all around the cob.
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A gardener can aid pollination by picking tassels off the top of the plant and wiping them over the silks, or by gently shaking the plants to encourage the drop of pollen.
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F1 Hybrid sweetcorn - uniform colour
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Heirloom Rainbow Inca sweetcorn - open pollinated

Cross-pollination of corn

When one variety of corn is pollinated by pollen from another variety, this is called cross-pollination.

With other species of vegetables, let's say pumpkins, where cross pollination happens easily - in the case of pumpkins when bees visiting the flowers are carrying pollen from other related varieties -  cross-pollination is not of concern to the pumpkin grower if he's only wanting to grow and eat the pumpkins, which will be unaffected, but IS of concern if he's wanting to save seeds from those pumpkins to grow the next year. That is because the seeds that form inside the pumpkins as a result of pollination will carry the DNA of both that plant and the one it was pollinated by, which if it's a different variety means the pumpkins grown from those seeds will not be true to type, and may turn out to be quite different from what the grower wants, even inedible.

However, for plants where pollination produces seed and it's the seed we eat, as in this case corn, then cross pollination by different varieties can affect the "vegetable" itself, as it is the seed we want and eat. (Technically, corn is a grain, not a vegetable). That is, the kernels on the cob are in fact the plant's seeds, and we want them to be true-to-type. If, for example, a sweetcorn plant is pollinated by a popcorn plant, the popcorn will be fine, but the sweetcorn will be have drier, tougher kernels and potentially not be nice to eat. Generally, the tougher/drier types of corn tend to be dominant over the sweetcorn types.

So, to avoid this occurring, gardeners have 3 main choices:
1) Grow only one variety each season
2) Stagger planting so that each different type flowers at different times - this usually means planting 4-6 weeks apart. Further precaution would be to remove any remaining tassels from the first variety before the second one's silks emerge (by with time the first one should have been well pollinated - you could wipe the removed tassels across it's own silks for good measure)
3) Isolate by distance - but since corn pollen can float in the air for huge distances, this is usually impractical in the home garden, though isolating by means of a large structure may help - eg planting one variety on one side of the house, and a different one on the other.

If you don't take any of these measures and grow more than one variety at the same time, then you risk having results different then you hoped for - eg tough sweetcorn. At least that's the theory. I have heard some gardeners say they've grown popcorn and sweetcorn next to each other, and the sweetcorn was fine. However, the science of it says that the sweetcorn, of cross pollinated by the popcorn, will be tougher. Here's the scientific explanation for those who want deeper understanding:

The proper development of corn kernels requires double fertilization — that is, two sperm (carried in the pollen) are required to fertilize an ovule. One of the sperm fertilizes the egg within the ovule, which becomes the plant embryo. The other sperm fuses with other nuclei in the ovule to become the endosperm of the seed, which will develop into a food source for the developing plant. The endosperm makes up the majority of a corn kernel, which is why the genetics of the pollen source matter so much. In contrast, there is very little endosperm in the seeds of other garden plants, which instead put all of their resources into developing the cotyledons (seed leaves). (1)

All of the alleles responsible for sweet corn are recessive, so it must be isolated from other corn, such as field corn and popcorn, that release pollen at the same time; the endosperm develops from genes from both parents, and heterozygous kernels will be tough and starchy. (2). Allele = one member of gene pair, such as will be found in the egg or sperm of a mammal, or the pollen or ovule of a plant. Heterozygous = having two different alleles for the same gene (usually one is dominant and the other is recessive).

But crossing colours can be fun....

On the other hand, deliberately allowing different coloured corn of the same type (eg both popcorn or both sweetcorn) to cross pollinate can result in some interesting and fun results. In this case, though, the results of the cross won't be immediately obvious. This is because the science for this part is a little different:

The outer coat of the corn kernel is called the pericarp, and the pericarp is where the colour is - eg you can have yellow popcorn or red popcorn, but if you pop them both, the insides of each are white - the colour is only in the pericarp, or hull. The colour of the pericarp is determined only by the genetics of the mother (female plant part, ie ear). This means that the cobs resulting from the immediate cross will be coloured according to the genetics of the plant on which it is growing, but the cobs on plants grown from seeds saved from those are carrying the genetics from both parents and so can show variety.

Let me show you that in practical reality.....
The year before last, I grew three varieties of popcorn - strawberry/crimson (saved from my previous crop), mini-black (gifted by a Hamilton grower), and yellow (purchased from Kings Seeds). I grew a fair number of each plant, all in the same bed, because I didn't care if they crossed, since all popcorn is popcorn, regardless of colour. At the end of that season, I harvested the popcorn. I had cobs of each of the three distinct colours - a few of those cobs are shown to the right.

Last season I chose not to plant any popcorn, as I had plenty stored up and didn't have space in the garden. However, I did notice that some self-sown popcorn was growing next to where the bed of it had been the previous season. Nothing unusual in that; I'd left the popcorn to dry on the plants and had been busy and was slow to getting around to harvesting - some of the cobs were dropping seed before I did so, and I rather expected a few popcorn "weeds." I noticed this particular plant that popped up had red tassels like the strawberry popcorn does, but not the black or yellow ones, so I thought in passing it would produce more strawberry cobs, and then forgot all about it. I never got around to picking it at the end of summer, and eventually the plant died down, and the cobs shed their seed into the grass, or so I thought.

Today I was weeding that patch, and found the two cobs still mostly intact, though the end kernels were all sprouting. Here's what they look like (right): Pretty!
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3 varieties of popcorn grown side by side - result, 3 distinct colours
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Next generation of popcorn, grown from a kernel of the above (probably a strawberry cob)
Now, if I were to grow a patch of corn using the kernels from these mixed-colour cobs, what colour would the offspring cobs be? Well, that depends.....on which kernel the plant comes from and the genes it contains, along with the genes of the pollen that pollinates it's silks. Remember your high school genetics:
Parents 1 & 2  has two genes for colour - one dominant and one recessive shown as Pp.
Pp crosses with Pp
Possible offspring are:
PP, Pp, Pp and pp
One has two dominant genes, two have one dominant and one recessive, and one has two recessive genes. In theory, 3 of the offspring will be the dominant colour, and one will be the recessive colour.
But in my corn it gets more complicated - there are three colours here, and each colour kernel potentially has a number of different combinations. And of course it will depend which colours are actually dominant. And which plant's pollen pollinates each one.
So, I actually wasn't going to grow popcorn this year, but this is just too much interesting fun to pass up! I will update on the results in autumn!

Leave a comment to share your corn cross pollination experiences!

So, what are YOUR experiences with corn cross pollinating? Have you had tough sweetcorn due to also growing popcorn or flour corn varieties? Or do you believe there was no effect? Have you specifically bred for colour? How did that turn out? Leave a comment so others can learn from your experiences too!
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What's Flowering Now - October

4/10/2016

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A quick whip-round with the camera to see what's flowering in my garden at the moment. Flowering plants are not only pretty, but essential for attracting and feeding bees and other beneficial insects.
Last month was bee awareness month, with people counting bees, being encouraged to plant wildflowers and so on. Bees and other pollinators are very important for good production; some crops will not produce without them. My garden has been very neglected for most of this year, due to a multitude of things going on, I'm just starting to work on it once again.

So, anything that is flowering now is either a perennial, a weed, a vegetable that's gone to seed, or self-sown! Let's take a look at what's out there....
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Dead-nettle; a common weed with herbal uses, the bees love it.
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Flowering early in the spring, ornamental quince is pretty but unproductive. This one grows wild in the hedgerow bordering our section.
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My blueberries are just starting to flower - I saw a bumblebee visit this flower just before I snapped the pic.
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Broccoli - after harvesting the main heads and eating lots of side shoots, I left later shoots to flower for the bees - they LOVE brassica flowers! Small birds also love the dried seed pods, if you leave them that long. There have been a series of flowers since about June, always buzzing with bees.
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Self-sown calendula in various shades are dotted around the garden.
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Spring onions - all onion family flowers are great for bees.
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Common thyme
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My trellised Banksia rose is just starting to bloom. The fragrance is delicate but wonderful!
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White alyssum - I actually just hauled out a couple of wheelbarrow loads of this as it was swamping my carpet roses, but it will grow back. Very vigorous.
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This camellia is in full flower, though my other two aren't even close.
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Buddleia - aka Butterfly bush - we have a long row of these trees with lots of Monarchs visiting
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Arum lillies
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This unidentified native (?) tree is flowering
The pears are just about to burst into flower, and the apples won't be far behind. Meanwhile, I have a number of flower seedlings growing in the greenhouse.

If I keep on top of the garden for the next year, it will be interesting to see what is flowering next October and compare!
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Dandelion, Catsears and the like. A gorgeous finch is taking advantage of the seeds. Dandelions are a valuable source of pollen for bees early in the season
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*Real* quince - this large tree is now covered in blossoms and bears loads of fruit each year.
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Self-sown borage
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Self-sown broad beans. Flowers are very popular with bees from about Sept onwards.
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White alpine strawberries seem to flower year-round
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Mizuna in a pot is flowering.
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Rosemary - in need of a prune, but providing flowers for the bees most of the year. I have three rosemary plants.
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Stella cherry
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Lavender - due for a prune!
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Polyanthus
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Petunias
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An ancient kowhai in the paddock
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Buttercup - boo-hiss!
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Damson plum, grown from a sucker. Hoping for fruit this year
What flowers are in your garden now? What are you planting? To see some pics of 10 flowering plants that were attracting lots of bees and beneficials in my garden one January, as well as a list of what else was flowering, click HERE. It might give you some ideas of what to plant now for summer flowers!
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April - What to Plant or Sow

2/4/2016

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Autumn is well upon us, but it's not too late to plant crops for winter eating. Some things, like brassicas, should mostly have been planted by now, and be fairly well established, though there are a few that are worth trying now. But this is the perfect time to plant those crops that prefer the cooler months. You might also try putting in some more brassicas, but until you know if that works in your garden, don't count on them as a major winter crop if planting now.

The following is my list of what I can sow/plant in my garden in April. Where you live may have different conditions, but this could be a good starting point for you to investigate or experiment to see what does well in your garden when planted in April.

Keep in mind, for a lot of plants growth slows to almost a complete halt once the daylight length gets below 10 hours a day. So it's important to get plants established enough before winter to provide edibles over winter, when new growth isn't really happening.  

Leafy Greens

Cavolo nero (Tuscan Kale)
Endive
Chinese cabbage
Bok choy/pak choi
Leaf lettuce- all varieties
Choho
Mitzuna
Corn salad
Lamb's quarters
Spinach
Kale
Mizuna
Rocket
Parcel
Silverbeet
Red mustard
Red sorrel

Root Veges

Carrots
Radish
Beetroot
Swedes
Turnips

Herbs

Parsley (seedlings)
Sage
Coriander
Chervil
Dill


Legumes

Broad Beans
Peas

Other Vegetables

Broccoli - sprouting
Celery
Celeriac
Florence Fennel
Leeks (seedlings)
Zucchini - greenhouse only
Asparagus (crowns)
Artichokes
Kohl rabi (seedlings)
Rhubarb (crowns)
Spring onions

Flowers

Daffodils and other spring bulbs
Poppies
Sweet peas
Cinerarias
Primulas
Phacelia
Lupins
Calendula
Cornflowers

Get Ready For...

Some folk plant allium plants from April onwards. I prefer to wait a bit later. But at least be thinking about and have on hand the following ready to plant (my preferred planting times in brackets): Shallots (May-August), Garlic (May-July), Egyptian Walking Onions (May-August), Onion seed (June/July).

Key Tasks This Month:

There's a lot to do in the garden in April! Apart from preparing beds and sowing or planting the above, some of the key tasks might include:
  • Clearing away spent plants and weeds
  • Spreading compost/manure/mulch on beds
  • Covering beds that will not be used over winter with thick mulch and/or a light-excluder such as old carpet or black plastic
  • Harvesting and preserving/storing produce - in my garden that's mainly pumpkins, watermelons, quince, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, beetroot, spaghetti squash, nasturtiums, some late berries & grapes, marrows, late sweetcorn and chestnuts
  • Collecting and drying seeds from flowers and herbs
  • Cutting and drying herbs (if you wish - I don't generally bother as there are plenty of fresh herbs available in the garden all year round).
  • Pruning away spent raspberry canes and bramble vines (blackberry/boysenberry)
  • Making compost piles  - as much as you can!
  • Prune and mulch citrus - and feed if in warmer areas (not down south)
  • Sharpening up the pruning tools and making a list of what needs pruning when - pruning done at the right time, a lot of it in winter, sets plants and trees up for good producing next season.
So, happy April gardening! What will you be planting?
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Confession: I Have an Attitude Problem.....

29/3/2016

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I like growing food. I believe passionately that home grown is best - free of nasty chemicals, and as fresh as it gets, plus growing your own is a way of being less reliant on *the system*. But I have a problem. And today it occurred to me there is a parallel in the housekeeping word. Are you familiar with the 3 Sisters - Mt Washmore, Mt Drymore and Mt Foldmore? I've always found it easy (if never ending!) to wash dirty laundry and hang it out to dry, then bring it in. But the folding and putting away stage is something many of us put off - and the pile grows and grows.

In the garden, I find I like growing things. I don't mind looking after them. I don't mind harvesting, but it's the next stage that is my problem....IF I harvest things and bring them in, then I have to DO something with them. Unfortunately, unlike clean laundry, harvested produce can't just sit in a pile for weeks until I get around to it...it will deteriorate, in some cases quickly and messily, if not properly stored or processed. It's not like I don't know how - I spent years storing or preserving every bit of fresh produce I could get my hands on to feed my growing family - and I derived a great deal of satisfaction from it. But these days I just seem to have an attitude problem - an "I don't wanna" attitude. Maybe it's because my family is fast growing up and doesn't go through as much food as they used to. Maybe it's because our diets have become more complicated due to health issues and food sensitivities. Maybe it's just being too busy. I know part of the problem is after I process the food I have to find somewhere to PUT it - always a major challenge in this little old house with minimal storage.
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But when I see all the wonderful produce we are blessed with, I feel guilty for my attitude! I know I should be grateful (and I am!) to have room to grow and fresh produce available. Processing, serving, or storing it is just a part of that.

So I need to overcome this attitude problem. Anyone have any practical suggestions? My favourite fantasy at the moment is to find some lovely person/couple who wants to live in, process all my produce and take part in the chores, in return for food and board. Or maybe someone who wants to live out, come and help a couple of days a week, in return for a share of the food. Or to find seeds for magical plants that deliver themselves pre-packaged ready to store on shelves that they grow themselves. Or just to put my big-girl britches on, find a few extra hours in the day, and get everything done. Not sure which of the above is the biggest fantasy! ;-)
Meanwhile, I did roll up my sleeves enough today to go and pick a few things. (See photo above - the marrows were harvested a while ago but have been sitting in a wheelbarrow waiting for me to deal with them. The rest was picked today). Now to get the wild venison roast rolled up in bacon and into the oven while I go deal with everything I've harvested so far......(see captions below photos for details)
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Left: Honey and Pearl Sweetcorn. Middle: Purple, Golden & French dwarf beans. Right: A few pears and apples
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The first watermelon I've picked. Some last cucumbers. A few of the wild tomatoes. The container under them is full of dried clary sage seed heads, which I need to separate out. A big basket of fennel seeds - great for making a tea for digestion issues, or to use in various dishes.
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Two Buttercup squash off one vine I grew up a ladder. A container of Echinacea seed heads. Some of the marrows I will store - one of them is for seed for next year.
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Spaghetti squash - there are a few more on the last vine. Not as many as last year; I planted them very late.
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These 6 pumpkins are all from one self-sown vine that popped up in the middle of my garlic patch (from my home-made compost no doubt). I left it to grow since I had not done well planting actual plants this year. Best producer of the lot this season!
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Two Queensland Blue Pumpkins. There's one more out on a section of vine that isn't quite done. First year growing these. Not overly impressed with production, but then it hasn't been a great season for curcubits. Total of 3 fruit from two plants.
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More marrows - I harvested everything left when the plants all suddenly collectively died, overcome by powdery mildew as they usually are late in the season. Three of the plants, though, have now suddenly put out new leaves and have baby fruit on them. Might be some fresh zucchini in my near future!
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Bunching Shallots

11/2/2016

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Another lovely little allium I grow in my garden that is super easy care are bunching shallots. I don't know their proper variety name, as my first ones were given to me as bulblets by a friend, and I was simply told they were "bunching shallots." Mine are red-skinned and have a pinkish-tinge to the flesh.
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Each year in late winter/early spring, I plant some bulblets in a row wherever I have space, saved from the previous year's crop. I bury them up to the neck in the prepared garden beds. When preparing my garden beds I usually add a spreading of compost, perhaps a sprinkling of rock dust and sheep pellets, and a fresh layer of woodchip mulch. I don't do anything special in addition to this for the shallots.

They sprout fine green leaves - similar to large chives in appearance. As the season progresses, the plant will develop a rosette of small shallot bulbs, held together at the bases. Mine usually number between 3 and 7 in a bunch. The bulbs tend to develop on or close to the soil surface - by the time the greens have died off completely, there is an easy to lift bunch of shallots just sitting there waiting.

After letting the harvested bulbs sit in a tray for a few days, I clean them up by removing a layer or so of the outer "skins" and trimming the roots, separating the bulbs at the same time. I then lay them out on a fresh tray, and leave them to finish drying somewhere cool and airy. I put the tray up on some blocks to ensure air flow underneath. They store pretty well - though best kept in cool, low humidity conditions. If only I had a root cellar!
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Shallots are well worth growing - start with a few bulblets purchased or from friends, and then build up your numbers by saving a few more each year to plant.
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