Last year I grew tomatoes. I thought I knew what I was doing, but actually I was clueless! My vines reached gigantic proportions, which shocked me. But upon reflection I realised that previously I'd only grown a couple of tomatoes, in pots. Well, technically they were my son's tomato plants, given to him by a generous friend. When he neglected them, I gave them a little attention. Turns out, two tomatoes in pots does not a tomato expert make!

But, I did learn a lot last year! I planted 38 plants in January (late, but I planted them anyway because a friend gave them to me). Another friend, viewing my baby plants all prettily tied to far-too-short stakes innocently asked "So, are you going to pinch out the laterals?" Ummmmmm.......laterals?? A little reading later, yes, pinching out laterals is a good idea. So I did. Sort of. Haphazardly. Those things grow inches every time you turn your back! One day they're so tiny they're barely there - so you figure you'll wait until next week when they're big enough to actually pinch. Next week they're the size of a small tree.....

We ended up building a plastic-house over the top of the tomato patch (that midnight adventure described HERE), and I did end up with tomatoes - I was still picking them in July. I didn't really know how to train them, so they ended up with a complex array of tying-up attempts as I struggled to keep them tidy and off the floor.

So, this year, I'm going to grow lots of tomatoes. And I'm going to diligently train them, and make them follow all the rules of good tomato plants. My tomatoes are going to be terrific. And tidy. Because I said so! LOL <Insert manically grinning emoticon>

Ok, being more serious now. Ahem. <Clears throat and assumes school-marmish demeanor>

I'm sure by this far into this blog article you're all aware I'm totally an expert tomato grower, and therefore are waiting with baited breath for me to impart all the wisdom of the great tomato oracles so you can grow terrific tomatoes too.

Well, an expert I may not be, but truth is, doing things wrong is often a great way to learn - it tends to send one to the books and real experts so you can figure out what to do better, and having that practical experience under your belt (even the messy, untidy, of dubious success type experiences) makes you better prepared to understand what they're really saying and apply it next time! (Which is why my 2013 gardening motto is "Just do it!")

So, I shall lay out for you what tomatoes I'm growing this season, how and where. And what the "rules" are.

We eat a lot of tomatoes and tomato-based foods in our house. We like 'em fresh in season, and we like 'em any other way all year long. I have in the past bought a lot of tomato sauce, canned tomatoes etc, but have come to realise more and more that store-bought tomato sauces contain a lot of not-so-nice ingredients, plus they're packaged in plastic bottles. Plastic should not be in contact with food, especially acid food like tomatoes. And tin cans are lined with a plastic coating (because otherwise the food would react with the tin) which is high in BPA (one of the serious nasties of the plastic world - just look it up!). Unfortunately, non-BPA alternatives are not actually better for us. And acid foods like tomatoes cause BPA to leech into the food at a much higher rate. Fredrick Vom Saal, an expert endocrinologist at the University of Missouri, who studies the effects of BPA, will not personally eat canned tomatoes. Ever.

Besides, it's always much better, cheaper and tastier to grow your own! Despite my own ineptitude last year, I managed to harvest 35kg of tomatoes at a time of the year when they cost $10-$12/kg in the shops. Even after spending almost $300 to build the plastic house (which has since given me even more returns as a propagation house), I came out ahead. And they tasted soooooo good!

Call me boring, but I like my tomatoes red. Of course there are some gorgeous looking heirloom tomatoes of many colours out there, but I'm not quite ready to try them just yet. The varieties I'm growing this year are:

*Money-maker (8 plants) - a nice all-rounder, good in sandwiches etc

*Cocktail (10 plants) - small and tasty - great for the kids and salads

*Silvery Fir Tree - a Russian heirloom (4 plants) - I've had this pack of seeds in my seed box for a while so figured out I may as well give them a go. What are they like? Red. Beyond that, I'm pretty clueless.

*Roma (48 ish plants) - a good bottling tomato, and I plan to do lots of that!

*Sweet 100 (1 plant) - because I got it cheap at a market

*Russian Red (1 plant) - because I got it cheap at the same market

*Tiny Tim (15 plants I think) - it sounded cute. And turns out it's a true dwarf, only growing about 30-40 cm high with lots of tiny wee tomatoes. Perfect to snack on in the garden or for the kids to help themselves to, so hopefully I can (mostly) keep them away from my main tomato crop.

Apart from the two market buys, all my tomatoes have been raised from seed in my plastic house. I wasn't too impressed with the silvery fir - the seedlings are a lot weaker, and I ended up discarding a number of them. All seeds were sown in accordance with the moon calendar.

My tomatoes are being grown outdoors this year, in the main garden beds of my vege garden. I have 3 beds I'm setting aside specifically for tomatoes, and one that will be half planted in tomatoes.

To stake or not to stake - the vital tomato growing question which engenders endless debate and opinions! I spend some time thinking about that this year. I liked the idea of tomato cages, but the cost is prohibitive. You don't HAVE to stake tomatoes - you can just let them sprawl, and they reputedly produce more tomatoes that way. But it's messy, difficult to harvest, and creates a bit of a harbour for slugs and snails, which are a big problem in my garden. Using a permanent fence or trellis system to train the vines along is another option, one which I'm seriously considering for the future, but not possible in my existing beds for this year.

The other thing one needs to know about tomatoes: they come in two sorts - determinate and indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes only grow to a certain height, and then more or less stop. Roma and Tiny Tim are both determinate types. Indeterminates (most modern tomatoes) are also called "vining tomatoes" - they send out long shoots and keep growing and growing. The determinates are the ones often not staked by growers, but after some thought and research I decided that I would stake my Romas. The Tiny Tims will be the only tomatoes I don't stake this year.

I have planted one bed of tomatoes so far - in setting it up for my Moneymaker, Cocktail and Silvery Fir tomatoes, I first set up a frame-work of metal re-bar stakes, pushed quite deeply into the ground, and tied to a horizontal frame 1.5-2m above the bed. This is a good, solid set up. But it's not without price. Of course, I can re-use those stakes for a number of years (and will) and rebar is useful for so many things in the garden! But I can't afford to set up 3 beds that way this year, so for my two beds of Romas I will be creating the top horizontal framing, and then using a system of growing them up strings instead of stakes. This should work well for the Romas, especially as they are not as heavy as some of the other varieties.

Growing up strings is done by waiting until the tomatoes are about 30cm high, then pinching off the bottom two leaves. A length of twine is tied with a reef knot where the leaves were removed, and the other end is tied to an overhead support. Some sag is left in the twine. As the plant grows, the twine is twisted around the stems for support. I'll be using natural jute twine - I think it looks better, plus it can be composted at the end of the season.

My two market-whim tomatoes are each staked at the end of the extra bed, and the Tiny Tims will be planted out between them next month. These are running down the length of one half of the bed - the rest of the bed is planted in parsley and silverbeet.

1. Thou shalt remove laterals. Most tomatoes do best when grown up a single main stem, which is staked or supported. A tomato plant will naturally send out many lateral shoots (one from each of the points were a leaf grows off the main stem). Pinching out the laterals keeps the plant tidier and more manageable, and keeps it's energy focussed where you want it - on forming flowers and then fruit. I won't be pinching laterals on my Tiny Tims, but will on all the others. My experience last year made me realise how essential it is to be diligent about this, so I plan to be attending to it once or twice a week without fail!

2. Thou shalt support the tomato plant. As discussed above, I'm using stakes and suspended twine to train my plants up. Regularly tying them to the stakes, or twisting the twine about them, is essential. I'll do this when I check for laterals.

3. Thou shalt remove lower leaves. Early in the process, I take off the lower leaves. You don't want any leaves drooping down and touching the ground as that can increase the chances of pests and disease. Also, keeping good airflow around the plants is important to reduce the likelihood of fungal disease. Later, as the fruits are maturing, it's also common practice to remove more leaves so that the sun reaches and ripens the tomatoes.

4. Thou shalt limit the number of trusses on each plant. A truss is a cluster of fruit (tomatoes) that grows where the set of flowers was. Many experts advise that if you limit the plant to 4 or 5 trusses, it will produce better, bigger tomatoes. If you allow it to keep setting trusses after that, they will diminish in quality and size.

5. Thou shalt pinch out the top of the plant. When the plant has set 4-5 good trusses, I will remove the top shoot to stop it growing further. That way the plant can concentrate it's energy on developing those trusses. Plus it means I'm not going to be tangled in endless lengthy vines I would need a huge scaffolding to continue training  up!

6. Thou shalt feed the plants. Tomatoes are very hungry plants, and need lots of good sustenance if they are to remain healthy and produce good fruit. Feeding begins by good soil preparation, incorporating lots of compost or aged manure. Then at planting time, I place a mixture of dolomite, gypsum, blood and bone, Neem and sheep pellets under each plant. Last year I used fish heads, chopped bananas and crushed egg shells. Tomatoes need lots of calcium - so not only did I put dolomite under the roots, I've also sprinkled crushed eggshells around the plants on top of the soil. Side dressings during the growing season of such things as blood and bone, tomato food, compost, manure teas and sulphate of potash help to keep plants strong and healthy.

7. Thou shalt supply plenty of water. Tomatoes need a lot of water, and a plant that wilts due to lack of water becomes weaker and more prone to problems. If rainfall is low, water regularly, as well as doing all you can to conserve moisture in the soil.

8. Thou shalt protect the soil. Bare soil is bad! It loses moisture and nutrients and leads to all sorts of problems. This year I'm under-planting my tomatoes to create a "living mulch" - the bed planted so far is under-planted with dwarf beans. Being a legume, they will also fix nitrogen into the soil, feeding the tomatoes. Look up tomato companion plants and select something low-growing and suitable, preferably something you can also eat as a bonus crop. I will be trying summer savory in another bed. Mulching with straw or similar is also a good way to protect the soil. One of the beds that is being prepared for my tomatoes is currently sown in buckwheat as a cover crop - shortly I will pull the buckwheat and lay it on the soil where it will serve as a mulch and soil improver. And the perfect mulch? An inch or two of good compost!

9. Thou shalt be diligent to prevent or deal with pests and diseases. I grow everything organically, so don't use any chemical sprays etc. But there are plenty of organic ways to protect your tomato crop. I'm growing marigolds around the outside of the beds, as they deter many pests. Feeding your plants and keeping good airflow helps to keep them healthy - a healthy plant is naturally disease resistant. Removing and destroying any diseased plants or plant leaves is sound practice. Encouraging beneficial insects such as parasitic wasps and ladybirds is a very good idea - providing plenty of suitable flowers and habitat in your garden is the way to do that. They will control a variety of pests such as aphids. Home-made sprays can be used. Spraying with a "compost tea" can be extremely beneficial. (For excellent info on the making and using of compost, read Mike McGrath's Book of Compost). Some growers swear by Liquid Copper painted on when laterals are removed to prevent disease. Others insert a piece of copper wire through the stem of the plant to provide protection. I shall try one or the other, or both. Last year I had a huge problem with leaf-roller caterpillars. Regularly checking for and squashing any caterpillars helps. Neem sprays are useful for this and a variety of pests (as is neem granules in the soil). Encouraging natural predators is helpful too. Slugs and snails love tomato plants - removing their habitats (hiding places) is a main weapon against them. Night-time slug/snail hunts are very helpful. I do occasionally resort to the use of a less-harmful (to pets) snail pellet such as Quash. And lastly, covering the crop with bird netting to keep the birds from eating all your hard-earned fruit is a must in my book!

10. Thou shalt encourage pollination. Good pollination means a nice full truss of tomatoes. Poor pollination means much fewer tomatoes. Tomatoes are self-fertile; they are able to pollinate themselves in the right conditions. The flowers face downwards, and pollination occurs when the pollen falls upon the stamen. Wind is what generally causes pollination in the open field, though bees are helpful. In fact, apparently the buzz of a passing bumblebee's wings is just the right frequency to cause pollen to drop and pollinate the flower. In a greenhouse situation, where there are no wind or bees, it is common practice to use an electric toothbrush to stimulate pollination. The toothbrush apparently vibrates at just the right frequency too - the vibrating shaft (brush head removed) touched to the stems of the plant on or near the flower sets does the job. I did this last year in my greenhouse, and saw an obvious increase in pollination. But in the outdoors, your main focus will be on ensuring good air flow and encouraging bees to buzz around - again, providing plenty of flowers will do the trick. If you are noticing poor pollination (eg only one or two tomatoes setting in a truss) it might be time to pull out an old electric toothbrush!

So, that's the theory. As with most food growing, time will tell! I'll keep you posted on my (hopefully) terrific tomatoes! Of course, no matter how diligent or expert one is as a gardener, some things are simply beyond our control. As any gardener knows, some years certain plants just don't do well. So in the end, all I can do is do my best, and leave the rest in the hands of God. God willing, I hope to grow terrific tomatoes this year!

We have two dogs, a big one and a little one, both of whom cause occasional problems in the garden. For some time, I've wanted to build a fence that would keep the dogs out of the garden, as well as create an attractive
boundary/entrance to the vege garden area, giving it better definition. The narrowest point between a caravan and out building is the place I wanted to put it - but the distance across was still close to 7 metres. To create a fence with arch and gate over that length can cost a lot of $$$! Plus I wanted an edged raised garden along both sides of the fence. This ended up costing me $179, even though I used a lot of free materials.  But, it's an important part of the "infrastructure" of my garden.  Here's how I created the finished set up you see above....

Materials:
2x 2.7m 100x100 posts = $35.53
1x 3m 100x100 post, cut in half to make one end post and top of arch = $18.63
1 sheet 4.65x1.97m steel mesh = $38.36
1 waratah, repurposed from a defunct fence = free
3 branches trimmed from trees = free
Bricks to surround garden, from Freecycle = free
Slats to make gate, left over from free materials collected from local building company for son's woodworking projects = free
1/2 Pottle of screws to put together gate: $4.99
Nails & fencing staples: $8.00
Butterfly catch for two way opening: $22.14
Gudgeon hinges and plates: $33.98
Screws and washers: $5.38
5 wheelbarrow loads purchased compost = $12
Total cost: $179
Note: materials were collected bit by bit as I was able. If I hadn't scored the free concrete bricks, I would have used something else to edge the garden - eg driftwood, bricks from an old chimney, etc. The really pricey part of this project was the hinges, latches and fittings for the gate. This could have been done in other ways, but I was very specific in what I needed, especially as I need to be able to walk easily through the gate in both directions carrying heavy baskets of washing.

First steps:

I decided where I wanted the garden bed to go and marked it out. My daughter dug up this strip and removed the turf (to make creation of actual beds easier later when the fence is in). Basically a strip was dug up from the location of each tall post out to each side, leaving the lawn as-is through what will be the gateway.

Two upright posts were dug in, so they are 2 metres above ground, and 70cm underneath. Spirit level essential to get them straight!

The 3 metre post was cut in half, and one half was used to form the top of the arch. The other is the post for the far end of the fence on the low side. I chose to make one side high, and the other low, so that a climber could be trained up the high side, and so that from the dining/living room I could still look out over the low side and see into the garden - that way I can enjoy the view, and also catch any intruding chickens in the act before they do too much damage!

The single sheet of reinforcing mesh was used to make the trellis of the fences - after cutting 2.2 metres of it to make the high side (put up with fencing staples), the rest of it was cut in half and the offcuts put together to make the low-side fence, joined in the middle.

A waratah (metal fence post) was used behind the join so the pieces could be wired to it for stability. A length of the reinforcing mesh that was cut off was tidied up and then used like a wire, bent over the top of the post that forms the arch, and attached with fencing staples on both sides of the upright posts.

The tops of both fences, as well as in front of the waratah, are finished off with branches pruned from some trees on our property, giving it a more finished, rustic appearance, as well as adding rigidity to the trellising.

A simple gate was made by laying two slats down parallel to each other, then laying the other slats over the top, using an extra slat to measure the spaces. They are all screwed to the rear slats top and bottom. Then, to give it stability and keep it square, a third slat is placed diagonally at the back, with it's corners cut to fit, and screwed in place.

The gate is mounted on gudgeons with a butterfly latch. The latch is designed to close over a metal pipe type gate, so my husband found a short piece of metal pipe, cut a slit in it, and fitted it over the end slat in the right place.

The gate opens in either direction.

Unfortunately it took my clever retired sled dog all of two days to figure out how to open the gate, so I'm going to need to add a sliding bolt to the back of it to close it securely at night, but during the day this works great. She only opens it at night, as she knows she's not supposed to, and then either opens the next gate to go out into the paddock, or rummages in my compost bins.

Next was creating the raised beds along the fences. Because our lawns are full of couch grass and creeping buttercup, I find the only way to restrain them from creeping into and filling new garden beds is a physical barrier a few inches down into the soil. So these beds are made by digging a trench, then standing concrete bricks on their ends side by side to form the sides of the bed, half in the ground and half above. This side was curved at one end to meet up with the edge of a building and work around plants in an existing garden, and on the other side, the edge of a pallet bed forms one part of the raised garden edge. Compost was mixed with the dug soil, and this first bed is planted with a climbing thornless Banksia rose, some impatiens flowers (this bed is shaded in the afternoon), a paper cascade daisy, and later I added some parsley.

The bed along the lower fence, planted with gherkins and marigolds, celery and cosmos, plus nasturtiums and alyssum.

I'm really please with how this project turned out!  

Looking back at last month's photos (1st Oct), I can't believe how much things have grown or changed!! But then, this is spring, and everything is now growing at a rapid rate (especially the weeds and grass!). Next month's pics are sure to be even more astonishing. Meanwhile, let's take a wander around my garden as it was on the 1st of November....I've got lots of new ideas going on!

The main vege beds - lots of brassicas in flower, which the bees are LOVING, along with the flowers of the lavender, chives, strawberries, raspberries and boysenberries.

Coming to the end of the brassicas now, though there are still some good things to eat! Because I was not yet ready to plant anything new in this bed, I let some of the brassicas flower. The purple cauliflower in particular produced huge flower stems. I won't be saving the seed from them though, as I've decided the purple cauliflowers take up WAY too much space for the food they produce, and we just don't like them enough to justify it.

The front part of this bed has been cleared of all but a few of the lettuces which had gone to seed - I've left one of each variety, staked for support, at the back to produce seed. The spring onions around the edges are flowering; I've left these for the bees as well as seed, plus with spring onions when they flower, the plants go right ahead and produce new spring onions off the same base, which they are already doing.

I've planted the middle with beetroot seedlings, and left the chickweed that is growing across the front of the bed to add to salads.

The back half of this bed contains leeks. I've learned two things about leeks - they take AGES to grow to maturity, and in certain conditions they bolt easily, making the leek almost useless. Unfortunately, most of these are bolting - I'm going to harvest them for stock and plant new ones elsewhere, in a location they can become a perpetual crop as per the excellent explanation I found HERE

At the beginning of last month, this bed was covered in a mulch of lawn clippings. Now the back half is planted in broad beans, with alternating rows of spinach (they benefit from each other's shade). In the front half are three zucchini I planted out despite the risk of late frost - figuring if we didn't get one I'm ahead of the game, and if we did, I'd simply replace them. There are also three bok choy plants, just to see if they do ok or bolt. All of these are inside cut off plastic bottles to provide some wind protection when they were planted as we've had two months of howling gales almost non-stop. Time to remove those now that the weather has settled and the plants have outgrown them.

There is also a solitary broccoli seedling in the corner - more about that in a minute.

The broadbean rows have a wooden batten in the ground at each end, with string running the width of the bead and around both sides of the stakes, with multiple layers of the same. This provides some excellent support for the broad beans, which grow up between a line of string on each side. As they get taller, I add more string higher up the stakes.

This bed has been sown in a cover crop of buckwheat. I've never done that before, but the theory is that the plants will be flowering within 4 weeks of sowing, the bees love the flowers, and at that point it can also be pulled or cut and laid on the surface as an instant mulch. I'm wanting this bed for tomatoes soon, so we'll see how it goes. When this photo was taken, it was 12 days from sowing.

The strawberry bed now has the hoops and netting over it, and is beginning to produce lovely, luscious berries. The chives are also looking particularly magnificent! Frequent comments from visitors include "WOW, look at the SIZE of those strawberries" or "Wow, look at those chives!!" Something about this combination is working really well!

Since the garlic I planted in 3/4 of this bed isn't much use, but there are cloves in the ground still, when I scored a pack of free broccoli seedlings I decided to plant them in here, strictly as an experiment to see what happens with the white butterflies begin doing their thing (I've seen a few flitting around). One plant I put in the other bed with the broad beans, as a control.  The rest of the garlic is doing well.

The silverbeet and even the celery (which I molly-coddled under cover all winter and only planted out in Sept) are all going to seed. There are some peas doing ok, but much smaller than the ones in my other pea bed, and a couple of very large leeks that are going to seed. I think I'm going to leave the leeks and one silverbeet to produce seeds - everything else will be cleared out to make room for tomatoes.

There are a few small cabbages still growing along the front, but most of this bed is past it's prime and will also be cleared for tomatoes. I'm going to leave one broccoli plant in to produce seed. One thing that has astounded me is the sheer side of the purple cauliflower stems and root systems (at left in photo). When I pulled these babies up (a couple of days after taking this photo) I just about broke both a spade and a garden fork trying to lift them - and half the soil in the bed wanted to come with them! The stems are so thick my fingers don't meet (by a long shot) when I wrap a hand around them!

Brussel sprouts would have to be my major flop-crop this year! They bolted too fat to produce many useable sprouts, though the parsley underneath is looking good. I'm going to clear this bed and turn it over to one of my daughters to grow things in this summer.

Peas are looking good now that I've vanquished the snails! As soon as they are done, I'll be moving the rosemary at the front of the bed and turning this bed over to another daughter to grow veges in.

Carrots looking good - and still needing thinning. I keep saying I'm going to do it....

Raspberries and boysenberries are looking really great - and the first of the raspberries are ripening! I'm going to need to get a frame and some bird netting over these asap!

I've planted one of these tyres with cosmos, phacelia and zinnias - flowers for the bees and insects. I've under-sown the blackberry with some buckwheat too.

The red currant was getting really battered by strong southerly winds, so my husband helped me put up protection in the form of a spare piece of plywood, wired to two steel rods (rebar) inserted in the ground. No more broken stems - yay! The tyres have been mulched in sheep's wool from our sheep, and the bees are loving the lavender!

I finished digging over the potato patch, and it has been planted in chitted (sprouted) certified seed potatoes. There are four long rows, two each side of the boards I put down the middle. The boards are so I can walk down the middle without compressing the soil too much. Each spud had the following put under it:
1 heaped TBSP Neem Tree granules
1 level TBSP Gypsum
1 tsp Rok Solid
1 tsp blood & bone
handful sheep pellets

Because I was planting out 50 seed potatoes, rather than try to measure the above out as I planted each one, I got 50 paper cups from the $2 shop, lined them up on my table, and measured Neem into each one, then Gypsum and so on. When planting, it was a simple matter of dump a cup in the trench, stir in a little, then pop a spud on top. The cups are stored away in the shed to be used for similar garden projects, or to be used as mini-plant pots.

I put down my first pallet bed at the beginning of the month - this is laid on thick cardboard (for weed suppression) then filled with a mix of compost and old rotted down sawdust. I've planted it with leaf lettuce for salads. The location is next to a building that provides some afternoon shade - should be perfect for the lettuce which don't like it too hot.

Pallet beds are good for shallow-rooted crops. The wooden slats help to minimise weeds, shade the soil, and retain moisture.

In the last week of October, my daughter laid out and filled two more pallets, ready for planting in November

I've been wanting to put up a fence to keep the dogs out of the vege gardens for some time, and right at the end of Oct my darling daughter did most of the work erecting this, due to a shoulder injury that was preventing me doing much heavy work. It's perfect - just how I imagined! I will write a separate post about exactly how we constructed it. One side is high so I can plant a climber there; the other side is low so that looking out from our dining/living room I can still see across into the garden area, and if any livestock get into the yard I'll be able to see them too. Next plan is to build raised beds along the base of both sides.

This area here just behind the fence I'm planning to dig over and plant with yacons and who knows what else?

The newly created (last month) bed with feijoas in it has been underplanted in flowers for the bees (and to conserve moisture) - zinnia, phacelia and cosmos

With help from two of my teens, we've constructed a triple-bay compost bin set up out of free pallets. The middle one will remain empty until the grapes are harvested from behind it, so I can step into that bay and reach the vines. The bin on the left has partially-done compost I turned into it from the pile that was beside it. The one on the right is just in the process of being filled.

A lovely brew! Horse manure in a porous sack is suspended from a wooden batten in a barrel of water. Every time I walk past I use one end of the batten to lift and lower the "tea bag" in the water. It's quickly developing into a lovely, nutritious brew for the garden.

The bicycle rims you can just see the edge of are part of a pile I'm collecting to use to make various trellises. My son had collected a lot of bikes he used to make other projects, fix things etc. When it was time to clear the remaining junk I asked to keep the wheel rims.

Two worm bins set up - the new on top of the old. Compost, manure tea, and vermicast - three excellent ways to feed my soil!

A temporary fence made from pallets prevents the dogs from getting in from the other end of the garden by the greenhouse. When we rebuild a glasshouse instead, a more permanent fence will be put in. Meanwhile, the middle pallet swings like a gate, hinged on a waratah.

The greenhouse is choka with seedlings ready to be planted out this month (the picture shows less than half of them!)

I want to dig a large bed along the fence behind the washing lines. The fence shades it for most of the day, but I reckon there's lots of things I can plant along there!

My husband and I recently added wire to the top of the fences to keep the chickens out of the yard. Yay, no more chicken invaders. Well, except for this ONE....but that's another story!

And this area here....part of it is wet and low-lying; I'd like to dig a pond there. The rest of it...I have lots of ideas! I wonder what it will look like by next month's photos?? Lawn's are seriously over-rated, and I don't need any in my food garden area!

My awesome kids have collected 18 trailer loads of sawdust/horse manure from a stables so far - it's composting down on the front lawn. I haven't had time to do any work in this area yet - coming up as soon as I get the bulk of the prep and planting done in the back yard.

I scored a load of brand-new concrete bricks off of Freecycle last week - how cool is that? Got lots of ideas........watch this space!

Found this gorgeous wee bird-seed feeder at Pak 'n Save for less than $6 - couldn't resist. Wonder how long it will take the birds to figure out there's free food?

What do YOU have going on in your garden this month?

In October I harvested 31.454 kg of food, bringing the year to date total to
686.873 kg! October's harvest included:
11.47 kg of mixed brassicas - purple cauli, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale and cabbage
649g strawberries
5.6 kg silverbeet
4.846 kg beetroot
7.212 kg lettuce
44g spring onions
and small amounts of parsley, chives, etc.

Recently I gave two public talks entitled "Grow Your Own Food - Gardening on a Shoestring Budget." I have now uploaded a copy of the power point presentation I used, along with the detailed hand-out booklet, which you may find useful. To download them, go to my Freebies page. If you have any questions about anything in the slides or hand-out, leave a comment here.