Wow - the months are flying by! In early March, I sprained my ankle very badly, and for several days couldn't get outside at all. The rest of the month has involved moving slowly. Even now, almost a month later, there is still pain and swelling (yes it was xrayed, no it wasn't broken). I guess I just haven't taken time to rest as much as I should. But then it's harvest and preserving time - and also a busy month of visitors, weddings and more. We finally got some rain from 17-19th March - the first since early Feb. Everything immediately greened up and grew (especially the weeds!) Haven't had time yet for mowing or weedeatering (my ankle isn't up to it yet anyhow), so these pics are very "in the raw." But hey, I'm a real person with a busy life - this blog is about being honest that I, and my garden, are not "perfect" but still productive.
The Yacons outside my bathroom seem to be growing well. I planted some calendula seedlings in front of them. I've had a real problem with the dogs digging in the right hand end of the bed, and they'd started to get right in around the roots of the right hand plant. So before we went away for Easter, I had my son empty a bag of pinecones over that end of the bed as I'd seen a picture of a garden bed where the pinecones were used as much to keep dogs off beds. It's worked a treat - no more digging! I really must get in under that plant with a bucket of soil and sawdust though, to cover back up the partially exposed roots. My friend who gave me these plants is very excited to see what they produce, and has made me promise she can be present when I did them up.
The corn is in full flower and the cobs are swelling! Everyone is examining the cobs and licking their lips in anticipation of the first sweetcorn dripping in butter. While the middle bed remains the biggest and strongest, the second bed looks almost as tall now it's flowering, while the third is still obviously stunted in size by comparison. For more details on my corn experiment, see HERE.
My daughter's flower bed is still doing pretty well, though the flowers are fading a bit. I really must plant way more flowers in the garden, for the sake of the bumblebees who've done most of my pollinating, if nothing else! It's so easy to concentrate on food crops, but the flowers are very much needed too.
My tomato plants have been very vigorous - if I turn my back for a day or too, they're shooting out more strong laterals. This pic was taken just after I pruned and tied them once again. The stakes I have used were way too short, but I couldn't afford big ones when I planted these, so used what I had. This photo doesn't really show their size well.
Some of the tomatoes at the back of the patch. The nights are getting colder - I'm thinking I should quickly figure out a way to cover the patch and extend the growing season or frosts will be upon us before I get any tomatoes. Yes, I could do some things with green tomatoes, but I really do prefer my 'matas red!
These are my main garden beds. You may have noticed if you've looked at the Feb garden photos, that 5 of these beds are brand new! The frames for them were made by my husband last year, according to my design, but they've been stacked up out of the way. Now they're down and in the process of being filled with a mixture of sawdust/calf manure (got free by my son) and compost, and planting. Here's the part I'm really excited about - you'll notice that three of the beds have frames over them, and one has a cover on the frame. White cabbage butterfly is an extreme menace here - if I plant any brassicas they are instantly vigorously attacked. But, I needed to get them planted for winter veges before it gets too cold for any real growth. So I came up with a plan...after drawing various options and pricing them, my husband and I decided to make hoops from cheap 100mm steel rod, supported by stakes of rough-sawn 2x2, then cover with netting or whatever we can get our hands on cheap. The one that is covered so far, has a cover made from various net curtains I found by scouring op shops, and sewing them together. It won't last forever, but sufficient shadecloth is out of our budget reach right now, and it's enabled me to get planting. The hoop frames reach 1.5m high - seems like a lot, but in discussion with a mega-vege-growing neighbour, this was decided on because brussel sprouts, broccoli etc can easily reach over a metre high.
An update on the four original raised beds at the back of this photo:
1) Still filled with berry canes - need pruning and moving to the new berry cage I'm hoping we can build soon.
2) Full of kumera vines, plus a couple of leafing lettuce, and the kale I cut the tops off of have grown back vigorously. I'll cut them again as soon as the butterflies die out for the winter, and then let them regrow.
3) Carrots are doing really well!
4) Dwarf beans are still producing, though tops of the plants are dying off. For details on the competition between the experimental rows planted with and against the moon calendar, see HERE.
The 8 newer garden beds:
1) Back half is planted with peas, which are coming to an end. The chives I popped in there are doing well! The front is planted with freckle lettuce, much of which is starting to go to seed (it's heirloom, so I'm going to let some of it seed and save the seeds) and a row of yellow dwarf beans which are still producing vigorously
2) The maori corn I planted far too late is starting to flower - if it produces anything I'll probably use some for tasting, and keep the rest for seed for next year. With the corn are also peas which are doing pretty well, and in the front half are more carrots, which are growing well.
3) The beetroot that was in here has all been harvested. There remains a few silverbeet plants, a couple of leeks and a small tomato, all of which were left-over seedlings I shoved in there for want of anywhere else. This is now a bed with a frame over it, so I may either just use the silverbeet, or move it, so I can fill this bed with brassicas
4) The covered bed - planted in brassicas - see below.
5) Has hoops and has been laid out for square-foot planting of brassicss, but not yet planted due to lack of a cover. Meanwhile the brassica seedlings intended for this and the other not-yet-covered bed have been potted up and kept under protection so they can keep growing until I can plant them either with covers, or after the butterflies have died out.
6) Fully planted in beetroot last Friday night, half of it by torchlight before we left for a wedding out of town Sat morning.
7) Partly planted in leek seedlings by my friend who was housesitting for the weekend. Will plant more leeks and some onions in here.
8) Still waiting for last of compost etc to be added. Will probably plant in garlic.
An update on the four original raised beds at the back of this photo:
1) Still filled with berry canes - need pruning and moving to the new berry cage I'm hoping we can build soon.
2) Full of kumera vines, plus a couple of leafing lettuce, and the kale I cut the tops off of have grown back vigorously. I'll cut them again as soon as the butterflies die out for the winter, and then let them regrow.
3) Carrots are doing really well!
4) Dwarf beans are still producing, though tops of the plants are dying off. For details on the competition between the experimental rows planted with and against the moon calendar, see HERE.
The 8 newer garden beds:
1) Back half is planted with peas, which are coming to an end. The chives I popped in there are doing well! The front is planted with freckle lettuce, much of which is starting to go to seed (it's heirloom, so I'm going to let some of it seed and save the seeds) and a row of yellow dwarf beans which are still producing vigorously
2) The maori corn I planted far too late is starting to flower - if it produces anything I'll probably use some for tasting, and keep the rest for seed for next year. With the corn are also peas which are doing pretty well, and in the front half are more carrots, which are growing well.
3) The beetroot that was in here has all been harvested. There remains a few silverbeet plants, a couple of leeks and a small tomato, all of which were left-over seedlings I shoved in there for want of anywhere else. This is now a bed with a frame over it, so I may either just use the silverbeet, or move it, so I can fill this bed with brassicas
4) The covered bed - planted in brassicas - see below.
5) Has hoops and has been laid out for square-foot planting of brassicss, but not yet planted due to lack of a cover. Meanwhile the brassica seedlings intended for this and the other not-yet-covered bed have been potted up and kept under protection so they can keep growing until I can plant them either with covers, or after the butterflies have died out.
6) Fully planted in beetroot last Friday night, half of it by torchlight before we left for a wedding out of town Sat morning.
7) Partly planted in leek seedlings by my friend who was housesitting for the weekend. Will plant more leeks and some onions in here.
8) Still waiting for last of compost etc to be added. Will probably plant in garlic.
When I first started planting the brassicas in here, according to normal spacing recommendations, my husband was watching and let out a big sigh "All that work for a dozen plants." That night I thought about it some more, and decided to use the square foot method as it lets me fit more plants in, and gives me a better planting guide. So I got out with a ball of cotton yarn, a ruler and gun stapler, and laid out a grid over the bed. I then moved a few of the already planted seedlings and added some more. Looking at this photo, the row on the right is brussel sprouts, the next one is broccoli, the next is white cauliflower in this half and purple cauli in the back half, and the left hand row is buk choy (Asian cabbage), which can be planted 4 to a square.
We're actually planning to add two more hoops in between the three already up, but time for planting was running out and this needed done.
We're actually planning to add two more hoops in between the three already up, but time for planting was running out and this needed done.
Another pic of the covered bed, and the one next to it waiting for covers. Looks a bit like a covered wagon, huh?
I won this wee seed-raising house thing last year in a garden competition - it had a plastic zippered cover. But the plastic broke down quickly in the sun, and besides, it tended to get way too hot in there in summer. I've kept the frame and shelves and use it for seedlings - when I moved my brassicas here, I found a net curtain at the op-shop that had two layers - I cut the seam open at the bottom and it slipped over the frame like a big netting pillow case. TAKE THAT you nasty white butterflies! In there right now are trays on the top shelf with leafing lettuce, celery and leek seedlings, and the other shelves are filled with potted-up broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts.
I used these plastic boxes to start the brassica etc seeds in trays, but with it being summer, they were sometimes getting a bit hot. Because I was going to a conference earlier in March, and not wanting my kids to forget to let the heat out of them (and not being able to leave the lids off due to those butterflies) I moved the trays to the shelves pictured above. But once I potted them all up, there wasn't enough room on the shelves - so the bins are now filled with pots of cauliflower and buk choy, and tucked right under the grapevine where it's cooler for now. They're like self-contained mini-greenhouses. Now I have found some more net curtains, I'll soon replace the lids with filled netting covers and then I can move them back out into the sun.
The "herb garden" is growing steadily, though pretty overrun with the run-away tomato plants at the back, tangled with the pumpkin vine that decided to grow up the fence, both of which are completely shading a cucumber vine, and a passionfruit vine. Ah well, a lot of those will be gone soon. The parsley is doing well, and the oregano, thyme and lemon balm is growing steadily. My baby lemon and lime trees are looking good too.
The comfrey continues to get bigger and bigger. I wonder if it's presence will deter the codling moth that likes to attack the apples. We lived on an organic property once that had a huge orchard - there was comfrey growing under most of the trees, and no codling moth. I don't know if that was coincidence or not.....
My pumpkin vines suddenly developed a bad case of powdery mildew, after we started getting heavy dew. I did lots of reading online - most sites said it would affect the taste and keep-ability of the pumpkins, and to treat by removing the worst affected leaves and spraying the rest with a mixture of neem and baking soda etc. I did that (practically denuding my other patch in the chicken pen), but afterwards friends told me they get this every year towards the end of the season, and it doesn't seem to make any difference, so they don't treat it. Sigh. Well, the spray doesn't seem to have made much difference, so we'll see how the fruit turn out - some of them are certainly getting pretty big!
The zucchini's are still flowering and producing well - though the plants are starting to look a bit tired. I really need to pick more again though - some are getting pretty big. But knowing we were going away over Easter, I figured it was better to leave them on the plant where they may get big but would remain fresh, then pick them and have them break down before I could do anything with them. We've had over 82 kgs of zucchini so far this year, from a total of 16 plants. Plenty to eat fresh, make pickle, dehydrate, give away, and freeze. Wow, imagine if I'd planted them in spring, instead of at Christmas?!
The orangeberries are growing slowly. I wonder how many years it will before I get fruit from them?
The lettuce and silverbeet I planted behind the zucchini are finally getting some growth, despite all the onslaughts from chickens who come looking for breakfast first thing in the morning, and find this patch first.
Carrots are getting bigger - I really need to get in under them and add some more mulch as the tops are sticking out. Sweet juicy carrots from your own garden - hard to beat! Did you know the carrot greens taste a lot like carrot too, and are even higher in nutrients than the carrot themselves? Can be eaten raw, steamed, added to stir-fries, or dried and used as a herb or to make tea.
Carrots can be left in the ground over winter and pulled as needed. Frosts just make them sweeter.
Carrots can be left in the ground over winter and pulled as needed. Frosts just make them sweeter.
The small patch of pumpkins in the front yard which were planted way late with seedlings given to me by a friend have small fruit on them. Not sure how big they'll get. Actually, these pumpkins have an odd mixture of colors and shapes - I have a feeling the seed they were raised from came from pumpkins that had been cross-pollinated. I'm glad I'm wasn't relying on seedlings from this batch for my main pumpkin crop.
The flowers of zucchini and pumpkin are large and beautiful - very attractive to bees, and also edible. They are a delicacy in some places, and popular at markets apparently. I didn't pick any to eat this year - I was too keen on leaving them for the bees. Next year perhaps I'll make more of a point of picking some of the excess male flowers and try them dipped in batter and fried.
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