2012 Wrap Up

Well it's been a hell of a year.

I started this blog in April but the real work started a little earlier; from constructing the garden beds, to removing the grass & top soil from the backyard where the beds ended up and getting rid of all the excess soil & grade; that was several trips to the Kimbriki Tip.

A big shout out to my husband for all his hard work and not complaining too much when I bring home another stray plant or five or another garden ornament. He's a trooper.

My family came over for a post Christmas dinner and I was really proud to be able to make a potato salad from potatoes I grew; will I grow the humble spud again, perhaps but not in a whole gardened for themselves, maybe a wire round on a smaller patch.

My green salad was also made from many a plant from my garden; carrots, radish, spinach, parsley, nasturtium flowers & by god corn, yep I grew corn and it was sweet right off the cob, no cooking required. I have to thank my dad for bringing lettuce from his own patch as well as spring onions.

I may not be self sufficient but I don't aim to be. Plus I am a keen juicer and could not grown enough to eat & juice as well in my yard. My aim is to reduce the amount of vegetable I have to buy. I get that I still buy fruit and a portion of my veg from the greengrocer, there are some things I just can not grow.

I have discovered that cabbage & broccoli are a no go in my patches, I can not keep up with the cabbage moth; but i have found something they love to eat and may grow so they eat it instead....Mustard, they love it so I'm thinking perhaps grow that and use it as a deterrent .

I relocated my curry plants form one of the beds to the front of the house in the courtyard near the rosemary, they are forming a nice hedge. The beetroot is growing a little quicker now and should be ready by late January.

The 2 Thai chilli I have in different beds are growing at different rates, the one that is getting the morning sun (about 6 hours) is outgrowing the one that gets afternoon sun (about 7 hours).

The strawberries are coming along, maybe for February, well see. My fist lot of sunflower have bloomed and are on the way out to becoming seeds for the birds and hopefully more plants.

That's all for 2012, Happy New Year & good gardening.

Having harvested my potato patch I got about 5-7KG of spud. They are sitting in the dark waiting to be used. They range from the tiny spud; about the size of a pea to a decent 500g. I have renewed the spud patch with compost & manure ready for replanting. Cucumbers, capsicum, leeks, purple carrots, lemon basil now take up the patch. I grabbed 3 corn cobs but unfortunately 2 of them had corn grub, but the 1 that was good tasted great. I didn’t even cook it, just shaved the kernels into a salad. I have new Sunflower’s sprouting to be planted just before Xmas. Once again I have planted the wrong beans. I want to grow small compact bushes, but I keep getting the wrong plants/seeds. Now I have planted long green beans but they are of the viny variety. I let my green coral lettuce go to seed and have collected what should be enough seeds to last a year. The dogbane I planted is working a treat, turns out it also helps to repel possums too. It has just started to flower and appears to be growing a lot each day.

Mint Mint Mint

I have gone mint crazy in any spare ground in the yard and not just because it smells so damn lovely. I have discovered that the local critters do not eat it. Critters my way are possums and their little fury friend the bandicoot. Don't get me wrong I love the local wildlife and even advocate on there behalf occasionally, but I don't wont them eating my produce. You ask What type of Mint! Spearmint, Peppermint, Moroccan Mint, Vietnamese Mint, Chocolate Mint (my favourite at the moment)they are just covering any open space which in turns stops the animals digging up my yard that is not wired off. It grows real quick, especially at the moment as it is very humid. The Chocolate mint is pretty hardy and even tolerates afternoon sun. However the Vietnamese Mint needs plenty of water, I have seen it used in a small pond as a water plant. I have mine in an old half barrel with some Golden Oregano, they seem happy together. Though I do find the odd little frog in yet every now and then (yeah for the environment go frog, Yuck a Frog says the scaredy cat girl gardener)

just a couple of photos before & after

When I first moved into my house I took a panoramic photo of the back yrad, well afew days ago I thought I should get another. Just a bit of a difference.

November Update

Let me start by saying Yes a new template has been applied.
My corn is now taller than me, I'm 5ft 4in. For a while there I thought it would ny grow, but know it grows  like bamboo. Hoping for a cob or two for Christmas.....fingers crossed.

My butter beans turned out to be broad beans extra large. Still waiting for there to be enough for me to harvest and blanch/freeze.

The perpetual spinach is living up to it's name, it is still going. Getting read to blanch/freeze some that as well.

I picked up some cheap beetroot seedling and planted them with my grown from seed beetroot; which will win the growth war only time will tell.

The Heartease is going so well, I bought another punnet of seedlings and have planted them around the back yard. Heres hoping the possums don't like them. On that note, the possums are leaving the chocolate mint alone. A win for me.

I succumbed to peer pressure from my husband an bought 1 strawberry plant, which for the safety of the plant I will grow in my greenhouse.

I am growing cuttings from my curry plant (the non edible one) and the summer/winter savoury is also propagating well.

October Update..a bit late

Well I missed my October update all together. So I will start off by updating the garden for then.

I accidentally dug up my first spud; it was bigger than 10 cent piece, a new potato is what I call it. Since then I have dug up 2 more spuds, also about the same size.

The leaves are starting to die off now and I would guess I will be making potato salad for Christmas Day. 

A few months ago my dad gave me plant and said it was "greek basil", thanks dad, that will go great in my herb bed. So in it went, I had been happily eating it in salads and was giving it a co-worker as well. I should have known something was up it had no flavour at all.

Then a few weeks ago my dad sent me a photo of his "greek basil" and I promptly sent him back a photo of mine (below). 

Turns out it is a Snap Dragon, it looks lovely against my corn & perennial basil.

It's not Greek Basil

Also being October it's Pumpkin carving time. I know I live in Australia and it is not widely celebrated but God damn it I love to CARVE PUMPKIN. I also think I am getting quite good at it. Before you say to yourself; does she grow the pumpkin. No I don't I buy them from Woolworth's 

Let the photo display begin

Authentic black cat 

the graveyard

September Update

The seeds I planted in tray last month; Coriander, Celery and lettuce; did not take. After checking the use by date on those seeds, I realised dad have given really old seeds. So a quick clean out of my seed tin and a trip to buy new seeds, planting got under way.

I redid the coriander only and ended up planting more pak choi, shallots, beetroot & cabbage. My perpetual spinach is thriving in all this sun. It is being picked daily. I have even had some of the broccoli (which turned out to be brocolini). I also planted Heartease (looks like a tiny pansy) edible flower, they just look lovely.

The corn seeds I planted are up and the corn seedlings previously planted are doing what corn do...growing.

It is getting close to ending the life of my sugar snap peas and seeing what I can get from the lower part for another couple of weeks.

The butter beans are getting there, they look good and healthy. I have added several lavender plants around the garden beds and the bees are loving it.

Update on Potatoes

Spuds are in and well under way now, planted on the 13th of July they are going leaps and bounds.

Photos show spuds at planting, at about 4 weeks and at 8 weeks.

There are about 20 plants so a

far and is getting quite deep with all the compost and sugar cane mulch. I will let them flower now.

Update on Citrus

After potting all 3 citrus from the ground, as they were dying my Lime/Kaffir Lime splitzer tree had a borer insect in the lime side, right at the base where it was grafted. Well no wonder it was not happy.

Solution, remove the limb and yes there was a borer insect, making it's way down further, I believe to the kaffir lime limb.

Problem no more and the kaffir lime is greening up wonderfully now. A costly exercise though as the plant was about $50 to buy.

My Mandarin has been eaten by Possums/Bandicoots. They stripped it of all and i mean all it's leaves and then went after the bark on the stem.

Solution, bird netting around the whole thing. Looks ugly but I hope it grows.

The lemon tree is the happiest of them all but still sad. Bring on spring

to help heal my poor citrus.

photos

Mandarin in Ground

Mandarin in pot

Mandarin all leaves eaten

Kaffir splitzer after borer portion removed

Kaffir/lime before borer

August Update

So with the sun of August trying desperately to sneak into our day more and more, some early spring planting was done.

I planted 6 Sweet corn seedlings, with another 6 seeds planted directly into the bed two weeks later. I think 12 corn should be enough for 2 people.
2 Thai Chili seedlings also planted and Pineapple Sage (YUM).

In seed trays I have Coriander, Sunflower, Celery, Lettuce & more Chantilly carrots planted direct into existing carrot rows.

I also planted some beetroot and Pak Choi that I had raised from seed.

A few weeks ago I placed 4 sunflower seeds into biodegradable seedling cups, once they were about 10 cm high, I planted into our front yard. With another 4 on the go, they will also be planted in the front of the house. How does not like a sunflower.

The seed potatoes planted last month have started to grow, first shoots/leaves started to come through in mid August, so this weekend gone, I loaded them up with organics and compost.

Now I will wait until more leaves appear and keep topping up with organics and compost. It may be taking up half a garden bed, but I know it will worth it.

The Hot house seems to be working really well. I have even put in a stray pot of leeks, will see what happens there.

The perpetual Spinach is being harvested on a daily basis, as well as the Sugar Snap Peas; I pick these while still quite young so they are more like snow peas.

July Update - Potatoes are IN

Thank you weather for a lovely SUNNY weekend, as such I prepared Garden Bed #2 for Potatoes (Pontiac).
First up I had to remove the Perpetual Spinach in Bed#2; it got relocated to Bed#1.
This is my first attempt at potatoes and I am very excited. I understand it will take a fair bit of time for them to grow and quite a bit of space, both of which I have.

Now I must confess that Bed#2 does not get as much sun as I would like in June/July and part of August, but more than enough to start the potatoe patch. There are 12 seed spud, which should be more than enough for two.

I also bought & erected a 4 Tier Glasshouse (made of plastic) from trusty old Bunnings.
I hope to raise a lot of seedlings and out of season items in the Glasshouse, I already have Pineapple Sage and Grapefruit Sage sitting pretty and keeping warm.

There is still a few carrots floating around Bed#1, but they should get eaten in the next few days. The next round of carrots are a long way off.

I also planted some red coral lettuce and more leeks, thanks to my dad. Who had waiting for me on my last visit a pot of lettuce & leeks seedlings.

Waiting for my COS lettuce to seed so I can collect and store for summer.

Brocoli & Cauliflower are coming along nicley.

Sugar Snap Peas are being picked on a daily basis. YUM. I have about 12 plants on the go.

I planted Broad Beans this weekend gone, they replaced the Butter Beans that I planted way to late in season.

Til next time

Recipe - Pickled Beetroot

Pickled Beetroot
I know it is not very original, but beetroot is easy to grow and easy to pickle.
This is for about a kilo of beets
You will need:-
750 grams (5-6) of beetroot
Water to cook beets

2 Cups White Vinegar
3/4 Cup White Sugar
2 Bay Leaves
12 Doz Peppercorns
3 - 4 Jars Glass (200-250ml) & lids

Cover beetroot (skin still on) with cold water and bring to boil.
Simmer for about 15-25 minutes depending on size of beets.
When a skewer goes through it is cooked.
Drain of water. Cool for 5-10 minutes. Then while still warm rub skin off.
It comes of quite easliy...Slice or Cut into preferred sizes; I baton them (strips) or cut into 1/4's.
Once cut place into sterilised jars (place clean jars in oven at 150C degrees for 20 minutes. If lids are metal also place in oven, if not boil for 5 minutes)

Pickle Liquid
Bring Vinegar, Sugar, Bay & Pepper to boil, simmer until sugar is dissolved.
Pour into jars of beetroot, place lid on.
Once cooled store in dark dry space.

They will be good to go in about 3-4 weeks.

Deterrent trial - UPDATE

Veggie Beds
Chili Spray
Result - the chilli spray worked well, however one good dewy morning or a light sprinkle of rain and the the chilli runs off. So this is more of a every 2nd day spray on solution. I sprayed it on anything that had poo on it, Pak Choi, Raddish, Lettuce etc.....Plausible. Ingrediants 4 birdseye chili (homegrown) blended with a tad of water to form a paste, pour boiling water (about 1 cup to chili) steep overnight, strain and pour into a sprayer ($2 shoppy job will do) spray.
I have also found the cold wet nights work well as a animal deterrent, Possums don't like the cold nor the Bandicoots. It appears they make quick work of food gathering on cold/wet nights.

Coffee Grounds
My dad told me about this one, good for snail & slugs. Sprinkle coffee grounds around leafy veg, the snails/slugs crawl over it and die from a caffine induced heart attack. I use this instead of beer. Also it makes good compost.

Possums and Bandicoots - deterrent trials

I have a real problem with Possums & Bandicoots, not in my veggie patches; I have fenced all these off, but in my gardens and lawns.

We have divided our backyard into a couple of different styles. We have a Cactus & Succulent area and a Tropical Garden/Rain Forest area as well as the veggie beds.

The front courtyard has lawn and is surrounded by a boundry garde

n bed (approx. 4m x 8m) I have planted an array of flowers in the edging, as well as a hedging plant in front of the Japanese Maple we planted not long after we moved in.

We have put a 10cm in depth Cream pebble's (size 20-40mm) down to give it a dry river bed look with a curvey line of gold Cowra river pebbles. It looked great, until the Bandicoots decided to see what was under them. Who thought they would do so much damage to pebbles. I thought they would be to heavy for them to move, but no.

The Tropical Garden/Rain Forest area has been mulched with Cy

press Mulch, which smells divine and looks great, until they the Bandicoots appear.

What I have tried to deter the critters!

******as I have a cat I have to be careful what I use as kitty needs to use the garden when nature calls******

Passionfruit Vine

Camphor - those little ones that you hang in your closet.

Result - made the yard smell nice, but did not work as a deterrent, FAIL.

Multicrop SCAT Bird & Animal Repellent.

Result - ate every leaf on the plant, FAIL.

Garden Beds (rainforest, cactus & courtyard)

Pine-O-Clean

Result - smelt nice and made me feel like I had at least sanitised the possum pee, FAIL.

Dynamic Lifter/Dyno Fert (Chicken poo pellets)

Result - fertilised garden only, FAIL

Chili Spray - homemade

Result - will let you know, I have only just made it and sprayed it on a few small areas in the gardens.

There are a few more things I can try and will if the chill does not work.

Soil, Compost & organics used for Veggie Beds

As previously noted, I used a total of 3 Tonne of Organic Dirt, delivered by my local Flower Power Nursery.

The soil where I live is quite clayey and if able to dig more than 30cm down I would know doubt hit and have hit sandstone. Good old Sydney sandstone.

So once the beds were made, I churned the dirt as best I could, to this I added Gypsum, a good few handfuls of chicken pellets (DynoFert) a couple of bags of mushroom compost, 1/2 a bag of cow manure and covered it with a good quantity (about 1 large garbage bag) of shredded paper (recycled from the office I work in).

I let this sit for a week then turned it, then I added the bought bulk dirt. To this I added yet another 2 bags of mushroom compost and another 1/2 bag of cow manure to the top and the good 'ol chicken pellets, I lightly mixed this into the top.

Give it a good water and the next day good to go for planting.

I have done this with all 3 beds, though with the smaller of the 3 beds I have led the mushroom compost only.

Cost of Gardens Beds

So the beds themselves were quite cheap.

Each sleeper cost $8 (we used 20) and about $20 in bolts in total. Hubby wanted to make sure it was not going anywhere, nails would have done. Also $7 on wooden pegs.

Screw them together straight and even to form a box. Do this again and lay one on top of the other and screw into small wooden stakes for extra support.

3 Tonne of organic dirt was delivered in total. 1 Tonne each for the two larger beds, 1 Tonne for the smaller bed and the rest just got mixed in the rest of the garden.

We have a slight slope in the backyard, so a little digging was required.

Planted to date - Garden Bed #2 & #3

So during April 2012 garden bed # 2 & # 3 have been set up and planted with Winter Veg.

Bed #2

Seed - none

Seedlings - Onions - Brown, Leeks, Garlic, Parsley, Lettuce, Perpetual Spinach & Pak Choi.

Bed #3

Seeds - Carrot, Cauliflower, Sugar Snap Peas & Butter Beans

Seedlings - Parsley, Brocoli, Cauliflower & Pak Choi.

I accidentally planted Cauliflower seeds instead of Cabbage. So there will be a lot of Cauliflower this year.

Photo of hubby planting bed # 2.

Now we have a rather bad pest problem and not the buggy kind. I live in an area where possum's and bandicoots rule supreme at night. So all my beds are surrounded by chicken wire. I simply role it around and wedge in with small wooden stakes, it is good an floppy so if they do try and climb it, well they will fall flat on there bums.

Since my veggies are all protected the possum's and bandicoots have decided to dig up our lawn, my cactus patch and the grasses we have planted. Oh and the rain forest garden we have set up.

As annoying as this is, constantly plugging up the holes they leave behind and ridding the yard of the smell of their pee, this tells me we have turned the gardens around from hard compacted, weed infested grass to almost weed free grass that looks very happy & the old soil to viable, worm enriched soils.

I do wish they would eat else where though.

Planted to date - Garden Bed #1

So all beds are now in and planted. I have three beds, all made of wood, there sizes are 1.8m x 1.8m x 400mm (2) & 1.8m x 1.8m x 200mm (1). I have given the very glamorous names of Garden Bed # 1, Garden Bed # 2, Garden Bed # 3, the order in which they were constructed.

My first bed went in in February and was planted with

Seedlings:- Lettuce - Mixed, Beetroot, Capsicum - Chocolate Beauty, Aubergine - Bianca Rosa

Seeds:- Chives, Carrots, Radish, Sugar Snap Peas

Plants I had & bought:- Birdseye Chili, Rosemary - Standard, Stevia, Curry Plant, Basil

Everything is growing along really well. Whilst waiting for it to grow and establish, my reward after watering and feeding it would be eating the radishes, which grow so quickly. It's a great teaser to what is too come.

I was able to start harvesting the lettuce and looked around to see what else i could pick for my first salad. Then I saw my beetroot. The leaves were tender enough to use in a salad so I picked a few and of course the radish. It was not by any means a huge salad from the garden, but a basic one.

Since then the only addition has been basil and sugar snap peas.

Photo's taken in 18th Feb at planting and at the end of March

Early days yet...

an old pot plant or two

More photo's of pot plants I have been dragging around for years, hoping one day to be able to use them.

Wondering if they would ever look glorious like they should. Hedging plants were my weakness. I don't even know what one lot are called, they are a lovely shade of light lime green that hedge, they are the ones in front. I have about 5 of those. Let me tell you after having them in pots for 10 years, I was just luckily they survived the last & final move.

The other three plants are Super Screen Pittosporum Golden Sheen, but more about my hedges later, there are 3 of those, they are the gangly taller plants.

For now a photo in their pots.

before photo of yard - June 2011

So this is the before photo of the backyard, taken around June 2011, as you can see the odd pot & ornament, a very bare yard indeed.

The back of the house goes out to a covered patio about 3 metres where a retaining wall creates, the yard.

A blank canvas would be a good term.