Well am I back or not? The answer remains to be seen. I have finally finished uni and am finding I have slightly more time to garden, read etc. All those things that normal people do. It is spring and I have very little time left to get my summer vegetable garden going. Have to get DH to help me drag the baths so I can refill them and give them a solid drink.
I have now turned half my back lawn into a flower bed. Well it was going to be a flower bed, I threw heaps of seeds on the no-dig garden I had made and waited for them to come up. Many have grown but out of the compost which I used in the no-dig I seem to have things such as pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes and maybe beans. I used pea-straw for the straw in the no-dig garden and I have lots and lots of little pea plants growing, which I am happy because I know they actually get pretty flowers. I don't have photos at the moment, but I will pop out and take some soon. I have been really lucky that after I made that garden we have been have regular, if light rain which has helped.
Oh in the new flower garden I have also planted rhubarb and globe artichokes and I'm planning to put herbs as well when I get organised.
That will do for now, but fingers crossed everybody that I start posting more regularly again.
Saturday 3 November 2007
Thursday 7 June 2007
General thoughts
Time is getting away from me, I have lots of blogs in draft form, which I'm not ready to post yet, but I don't ever seem to have time to sit down and write them properly and add in the photos etc. Too busy writing assignments and stuff I suppose. Not much is happening in the garden at the moment, I've got some cyclamens going in my bedroom now and I will post more about them soon. Two weekends ago I replanted some plants, my first real attempt at this, and I feel like I"m starting to get my head around it. What was particularly special was replanting my Nana's African violets, that will be a post soon too.
Tonight was special, I'm about to make omelettes for tea and I went to the garden and pick a leek, silver beet and parsley for my omelettes. The leek was the first I've picked, my mum told me to cut it off at ground level and it will grow again. So that is what I did, I hope it grows. If the leeks do go well, I will plant more next year as I love them and have a lovely leek and chickpea soup I would love to make with my own leeks. The silver beet is a dream, it grows with very little love and attention and every time I get a craving for green veges I go and pick some and steam it, to have with my dinner. No more rotting veges in the fridge.
Early autumn I got very excited and planted broccoli, Brussel sprouts and mini cabbage. They all got eaten by caterpillars and with my busy schedule I gave up on them and decided to do it next year. But some have come back, but now I have no idea what they are. Hopefully they will grow and I will find out.
Better go and cook those leeks and DH is starting to look hungry.
Tonight was special, I'm about to make omelettes for tea and I went to the garden and pick a leek, silver beet and parsley for my omelettes. The leek was the first I've picked, my mum told me to cut it off at ground level and it will grow again. So that is what I did, I hope it grows. If the leeks do go well, I will plant more next year as I love them and have a lovely leek and chickpea soup I would love to make with my own leeks. The silver beet is a dream, it grows with very little love and attention and every time I get a craving for green veges I go and pick some and steam it, to have with my dinner. No more rotting veges in the fridge.
Early autumn I got very excited and planted broccoli, Brussel sprouts and mini cabbage. They all got eaten by caterpillars and with my busy schedule I gave up on them and decided to do it next year. But some have come back, but now I have no idea what they are. Hopefully they will grow and I will find out.
Better go and cook those leeks and DH is starting to look hungry.
Monday 28 May 2007
Spathiphyllum
After my last post I decided to do a search and find out exactly what is a Spathiphyllum. I search in google and found this link to Wikipedia entry. As soon as a saw the picture, my mind went "Oohh, one of those." So now I know that it is called a Spathiphyllum.
Are you a green thumb gardener?
On Stuarts page, he had put links to some older posts, one on African Violets I will post about soon, but I thought this little quiz gave an interesting outlook on where I'm at on the scale of becoming a green thumb gardener.
Are you a green thumb gardener?
So you've been pottering around with a couple of plants, got your hands dirty in a bag of potting mix and even removed the odd snail that was molesting your cabbages. Does that make you a green thumb gardener?
Let me paint a couple of scenarios for you and see how you fair.
1. You visit a friend's house and notice that their spathiphyllum is wilting on the window sill. Do you;
a). Immediately grab a container of water and pour it onto the plant
b). Point out to your friend that their plant is not as healthy as it could be
c). Mourn over the loss of another indoor plant
d). Type "Spathiphyllum" into Google to see what it is
As much as I would like to chose something higher, I would not be game to comment to a friend and I certainly wouldn't water it for them. OK I admit it, I'm off to actaually search to find out was a "Spathiphyllum" is on google. Make that a D. :(
2. You have heard that composting is a great way to recycle your garden refuse. Do you;
a). Build your own compost bins and start filling it with garden waste
b). Head to your local hardware store and purchase a manufactured compost bin
c). Feel bad when you put the next lot of garden waste in the garbage bin
d). Wonder if it's okay to put some of the kid's toys in the compost
I'm so excited, that's exactly what I did. OK maybe lining a few bricks up (I didn't use mortor or anything) is not quite building. But it is working, I love my compost.
3. There is a gardening fair coming up on the weekend. Do you;
a). Schedule your weekend around attending it
b). Phone your neighbour to see if they're interested
c). Stay at home thinking that it would have been a great idea to go
d). Buy tickets to the football
And if you are me, travel 3 hours to sydney, stay in a hotel and wander around for two whole days. Yes I was in heaven at the ABC gardening expo last year and I am waiting with baited breath for this years. That reminds me, have to book the hotel.
4. Your friend has just purchased a "Wollemi Pine" and invites you to come and help plant it. Do you;
a). Drop everything and rush over - even if you had to wake the baby
b). Try and schedule a better time during the week
c). Tell them that you intend buying your own Wollemi Pine and you'll check there's out next time you're visiting
d). Type "Wollemi Pine" into Google to see what it is
Especially because they are cool. But also because I'm still earning how to plant trees and it would be a great learning experience. Now I just have to find a friend who would buy a wollemi pine. Oh and a baby.
5. You find some snails in the garden eating your lettuces. Do you;
a). Instinctively know how to eliminate them organically
b). Pick each one off by hand
c). Reach for the Bayer snail pellets
d). Remove the lettuces because you think they're a weed
Time consuming I know, but is there a better way. Better go and search on google :), so I know how to instinctively eliminate them organically.
6. As you flick through the channels on your TV you come across a gardening show. Do you;
a). Make yourself a herbal tea and cancel every other appointment to watch it
b). Make sure nothing else is on the other channels
c). Note the time and channel so you can watch it next week
d). Write a letter of complaint to the broadcasting tribunal
I will watch most gardening shows, I also marked C, because I would want to know so I can watch it next week and the week after. My favourite show will always be Gardening Australia on the ABC, and I'm slowly teaching my husband that 6:30 on Saturday is quiet time in our house.
7. Your children get inspired to garden and want to help you. Do you;
a). Find creative ways to educate them about gardening
b). Give them a packet of seeds to plant
c). Get them to pull out all the weeds in the veggie patch
d). Give them your gardening tools and go and watch TV
Let's be honest here, I would definitely try and find creative ways to get them involved in garden, such as the ideas given the Gardening Australia magazine each month. But I would also get them to plant seeds and plants in the garden, and yes I would get them to help me in the vegetable garden. Now I just need to get myself some kids, maybe I could steal some nieces and nephews sometime.
So how did I go I got A= 5/7 B=1/7 and C=1/7 Does that equate to an A or a B. I think at the moment I'm more a B, but with time I hope to become an A, which equals a Green Thumb Gardener. I'll let you know when I get there.
If you ended up with all (a)'s then you can call yourself a Green Thumb Gardener. If you mostly answered (b) then people may suspect you have tinges of green on your thumbs and if you answered (c) for most of the scenarios then you are likely to be classified as a weekend gardener.
However, if you found that all the (d) responses were resonating with you, (as hard as it is to say this) gardening may not be your forte.
Are you a green thumb gardener?
So you've been pottering around with a couple of plants, got your hands dirty in a bag of potting mix and even removed the odd snail that was molesting your cabbages. Does that make you a green thumb gardener?
Let me paint a couple of scenarios for you and see how you fair.
1. You visit a friend's house and notice that their spathiphyllum is wilting on the window sill. Do you;
a). Immediately grab a container of water and pour it onto the plant
b). Point out to your friend that their plant is not as healthy as it could be
c). Mourn over the loss of another indoor plant
d). Type "Spathiphyllum" into Google to see what it is
As much as I would like to chose something higher, I would not be game to comment to a friend and I certainly wouldn't water it for them. OK I admit it, I'm off to actaually search to find out was a "Spathiphyllum" is on google. Make that a D. :(
2. You have heard that composting is a great way to recycle your garden refuse. Do you;
a). Build your own compost bins and start filling it with garden waste
b). Head to your local hardware store and purchase a manufactured compost bin
c). Feel bad when you put the next lot of garden waste in the garbage bin
d). Wonder if it's okay to put some of the kid's toys in the compost
I'm so excited, that's exactly what I did. OK maybe lining a few bricks up (I didn't use mortor or anything) is not quite building. But it is working, I love my compost.
3. There is a gardening fair coming up on the weekend. Do you;
a). Schedule your weekend around attending it
b). Phone your neighbour to see if they're interested
c). Stay at home thinking that it would have been a great idea to go
d). Buy tickets to the football
And if you are me, travel 3 hours to sydney, stay in a hotel and wander around for two whole days. Yes I was in heaven at the ABC gardening expo last year and I am waiting with baited breath for this years. That reminds me, have to book the hotel.
4. Your friend has just purchased a "Wollemi Pine" and invites you to come and help plant it. Do you;
a). Drop everything and rush over - even if you had to wake the baby
b). Try and schedule a better time during the week
c). Tell them that you intend buying your own Wollemi Pine and you'll check there's out next time you're visiting
d). Type "Wollemi Pine" into Google to see what it is
Especially because they are cool. But also because I'm still earning how to plant trees and it would be a great learning experience. Now I just have to find a friend who would buy a wollemi pine. Oh and a baby.
5. You find some snails in the garden eating your lettuces. Do you;
a). Instinctively know how to eliminate them organically
b). Pick each one off by hand
c). Reach for the Bayer snail pellets
d). Remove the lettuces because you think they're a weed
Time consuming I know, but is there a better way. Better go and search on google :), so I know how to instinctively eliminate them organically.
6. As you flick through the channels on your TV you come across a gardening show. Do you;
a). Make yourself a herbal tea and cancel every other appointment to watch it
b). Make sure nothing else is on the other channels
c). Note the time and channel so you can watch it next week
d). Write a letter of complaint to the broadcasting tribunal
I will watch most gardening shows, I also marked C, because I would want to know so I can watch it next week and the week after. My favourite show will always be Gardening Australia on the ABC, and I'm slowly teaching my husband that 6:30 on Saturday is quiet time in our house.
7. Your children get inspired to garden and want to help you. Do you;
a). Find creative ways to educate them about gardening
b). Give them a packet of seeds to plant
c). Get them to pull out all the weeds in the veggie patch
d). Give them your gardening tools and go and watch TV
Let's be honest here, I would definitely try and find creative ways to get them involved in garden, such as the ideas given the Gardening Australia magazine each month. But I would also get them to plant seeds and plants in the garden, and yes I would get them to help me in the vegetable garden. Now I just need to get myself some kids, maybe I could steal some nieces and nephews sometime.
So how did I go I got A= 5/7 B=1/7 and C=1/7 Does that equate to an A or a B. I think at the moment I'm more a B, but with time I hope to become an A, which equals a Green Thumb Gardener. I'll let you know when I get there.
If you ended up with all (a)'s then you can call yourself a Green Thumb Gardener. If you mostly answered (b) then people may suspect you have tinges of green on your thumbs and if you answered (c) for most of the scenarios then you are likely to be classified as a weekend gardener.
However, if you found that all the (d) responses were resonating with you, (as hard as it is to say this) gardening may not be your forte.
Sunday 27 May 2007
Green Thumb Sunday -Flowers
When I went for a walk in my garden this afternoon, I was surprised at the number of flowers in my garden. I'm not really a flower person, my husband commented the other day, that I'm really only interested in plants I can eat. Not completely true, but close.Near by garden pond, there is the pineapple sage with its pretty red flowers.
Also near the pond is this flower. I think the plant is called savoury, but I'm not sure. I love it's daisy like flowers.
Then there is the potato vine. I know I should prune it, but I do love the constant white flowers.
I really must begin cutting flowers and bring them inside occasionally.
Saturday 26 May 2007
Saturday Musings _ Things to do
Well now I'm suddenly back into gardening, there are so many projects I'm considering.
Big Gardens
I would love to start turning the back lawn into gardens, but I think that is going to have to wait awhile. Our lawn is on very bad soil at the moment. Very compacted, But I'm planning on doing these tests soon to see just how bad the soil actually is. Very bad is my guess. I think that I will have to use a no-dig style garden over every section of the lawn, so help build up suitable soil for gardening.
The lawn is basically divided into three sections, (see the photos below) I have different plans for each section, but there are reasons, why I can't get started on them yet.
Here is a photo of the whole lawn from the back step. Please excuse the rubbish and such in the garden, I'm slowly getting better about keeping a tidy garden.
The three sections are viewed from this point.
1) The first section is the one closest to the house. The vegetable baths, drain onto this section of the lawn, (when I'm watering). For this section I would like to create a cottage style garden with lots of daisys, bulbs and other stuff I haven't discovered yet. The problem with this section is it is held up using a retaining wall, which I'm pretty sure I will need to raise so I can build up the soil using my favourite no-dig style.
2) The second section is under the clothes line, it will also need the retaining wall built up and I suspect this will be the last garden to be developed. My plan at the moment is to have a sandy style garden with mostly low ground cover and plants that have low water needs. I am planning to keep the clothes line, as much as it is ugly.
3) The third section which runs along the back fence. At the moment there is a metre strip with a pine log style border. (Which I hate by the way). We have just had the privet cut out, but there is still a lilac and a few low fleshy plants. I don't really know what they are, but maybe one day I will take photos and see if anyone can identify them. My plan for this garden is a natural habitat garden with mainly natives. I had hoped to get this garden planted this year, but it is not going to happen. I didn't get the no-dig soil set up early enough, and now it is time to plant the plants and I haven't killed of the lawn etc. I did consider starting the no-dig part now, so I could plant in spring. But I suspect with level four water restrictions on the way , I'm better waiting and planting next Autumn. I'm sure I'll survive the wait, and it gives me plenty of time to plan.
So that is the lawn projects, which are long term goals.
But what about short term projects?
African Violets
I inherited these two African Violets off my Nana, they are in pots that I made for her one christmas. But I think they are due to be re-potted, so I am in the middle of learning how to do this. All a bit scary. I promise I will do it one day. At least I now know that you can buy special potting mix for African Violets.
Inside plants
I went for a walk through our local nursery today and boy did I start drooling. I was mainly looking for indoor plants for our bedroom and the master bathroom. For the bedroom I think I'm going to get cyclamen as mentioned in an early post and these miniature bamboo ferny things, which will match the bamboo in the courtyard.
For the main bathroom I saw lots of wonderful plants, some trailing ones and the maidenhair fern looked so beautiful and delicate.
Vegetable garden
The vegetable garden is still going, but I do need to plan some more plantings. I want to plant more silver-beet and rainbow chard, which is being eaten all most every night some weeks. As I mentioned early in the Rhubarb post I am planning to set up a perennial vegetable garden down the back of the garden. I'm thinking about planting rhubarb, raspberries, aspargas and artichokes at the moment. I'm still going to plant in baths, but this time I am going to try putting sand and gravel down before I place the baths. I am hoping this will stop some of the weeds growing up around the baths.
So there are some of the projects I need to get started. I might start by looking into where I can buy sand and gravel for the perennial vegetable garden and potting mix for the African Violets.
Big Gardens
I would love to start turning the back lawn into gardens, but I think that is going to have to wait awhile. Our lawn is on very bad soil at the moment. Very compacted, But I'm planning on doing these tests soon to see just how bad the soil actually is. Very bad is my guess. I think that I will have to use a no-dig style garden over every section of the lawn, so help build up suitable soil for gardening.
The lawn is basically divided into three sections, (see the photos below) I have different plans for each section, but there are reasons, why I can't get started on them yet.
Here is a photo of the whole lawn from the back step. Please excuse the rubbish and such in the garden, I'm slowly getting better about keeping a tidy garden.
The three sections are viewed from this point.
1) The first section is the one closest to the house. The vegetable baths, drain onto this section of the lawn, (when I'm watering). For this section I would like to create a cottage style garden with lots of daisys, bulbs and other stuff I haven't discovered yet. The problem with this section is it is held up using a retaining wall, which I'm pretty sure I will need to raise so I can build up the soil using my favourite no-dig style.
2) The second section is under the clothes line, it will also need the retaining wall built up and I suspect this will be the last garden to be developed. My plan at the moment is to have a sandy style garden with mostly low ground cover and plants that have low water needs. I am planning to keep the clothes line, as much as it is ugly.
3) The third section which runs along the back fence. At the moment there is a metre strip with a pine log style border. (Which I hate by the way). We have just had the privet cut out, but there is still a lilac and a few low fleshy plants. I don't really know what they are, but maybe one day I will take photos and see if anyone can identify them. My plan for this garden is a natural habitat garden with mainly natives. I had hoped to get this garden planted this year, but it is not going to happen. I didn't get the no-dig soil set up early enough, and now it is time to plant the plants and I haven't killed of the lawn etc. I did consider starting the no-dig part now, so I could plant in spring. But I suspect with level four water restrictions on the way , I'm better waiting and planting next Autumn. I'm sure I'll survive the wait, and it gives me plenty of time to plan.
So that is the lawn projects, which are long term goals.
But what about short term projects?
African Violets
I inherited these two African Violets off my Nana, they are in pots that I made for her one christmas. But I think they are due to be re-potted, so I am in the middle of learning how to do this. All a bit scary. I promise I will do it one day. At least I now know that you can buy special potting mix for African Violets.
Inside plants
I went for a walk through our local nursery today and boy did I start drooling. I was mainly looking for indoor plants for our bedroom and the master bathroom. For the bedroom I think I'm going to get cyclamen as mentioned in an early post and these miniature bamboo ferny things, which will match the bamboo in the courtyard.
For the main bathroom I saw lots of wonderful plants, some trailing ones and the maidenhair fern looked so beautiful and delicate.
Vegetable garden
The vegetable garden is still going, but I do need to plan some more plantings. I want to plant more silver-beet and rainbow chard, which is being eaten all most every night some weeks. As I mentioned early in the Rhubarb post I am planning to set up a perennial vegetable garden down the back of the garden. I'm thinking about planting rhubarb, raspberries, aspargas and artichokes at the moment. I'm still going to plant in baths, but this time I am going to try putting sand and gravel down before I place the baths. I am hoping this will stop some of the weeds growing up around the baths.
So there are some of the projects I need to get started. I might start by looking into where I can buy sand and gravel for the perennial vegetable garden and potting mix for the African Violets.
Sunday 20 May 2007
Rhubarb
Saturday 19 May 2007
Photo Hunter - cooking
Today we pulled out our walk-in pantry and over the next few weeks we are going to make a laundry. But on our dining room table I ended up with all the things I use on a weekly to monthly basis to cook.
So to me all the things in this photo are the basis of all my cooking.
Friday 18 May 2007
Herb Spiral
Accidently made this post, might as well finish it. Dad has still not arrived. Very typical of him. Safely I can say that as he refuses to read my blog because he considers it a diary, which to him is very personal.
Any hoo back to the herb spiral.
While waiting for Dear Dad, I've been wandering around all the blogs down the side of my page. At sturts page I found this post about a herb-spiral
I won't post a picture, because I don't have his permisson. But it looks like a really cool way to grow herbs.
Got to rush, car just pulled into the drive way.
Any hoo back to the herb spiral.
While waiting for Dear Dad, I've been wandering around all the blogs down the side of my page. At sturts page I found this post about a herb-spiral
I won't post a picture, because I don't have his permisson. But it looks like a really cool way to grow herbs.
Got to rush, car just pulled into the drive way.
cyclamens
It is a rainy Friday afternoon in Canberra and I'm waiting for my Dad to arrive for a visit. There is no point in me starting anything too productive, so I thought I would blog.
At the moment I have a beautiful pink cyclamen sitting on my kitchen bench between the sink and on the window. I orginally brought it for the bedroom, but I haven't found a suitable pot yet, and to be quite honest I think I would miss it now if I removed it from the kitchen bench. I just love it. I love the look of the flowers; they are so delicate looking, but somehow sturdy at the same time. But I also love the leaves, the colour and shape are so distinctive. I'm starting to think, that cyclamens are going to become a favourite of mine. My plan at the moment is to buy a couple, and put them in nice pots and rotate them between the bedroom and the courtyard. I have read that cyclamens do much better as house-plants if they get sometime outside in the cool night air. I haven't managed to take a photo of the cyclamen, my mum has taken the camera on holiday. But I have searched for some on the net.
This is very similar to the one on my kitchen bench, but mine is smaller
I searched the Gardening Australia website and found this factsheet the photo below is from the factsheet. That is a lot of cyclamen.
At the moment I have a beautiful pink cyclamen sitting on my kitchen bench between the sink and on the window. I orginally brought it for the bedroom, but I haven't found a suitable pot yet, and to be quite honest I think I would miss it now if I removed it from the kitchen bench. I just love it. I love the look of the flowers; they are so delicate looking, but somehow sturdy at the same time. But I also love the leaves, the colour and shape are so distinctive. I'm starting to think, that cyclamens are going to become a favourite of mine. My plan at the moment is to buy a couple, and put them in nice pots and rotate them between the bedroom and the courtyard. I have read that cyclamens do much better as house-plants if they get sometime outside in the cool night air. I haven't managed to take a photo of the cyclamen, my mum has taken the camera on holiday. But I have searched for some on the net.
This is very similar to the one on my kitchen bench, but mine is smaller
I searched the Gardening Australia website and found this factsheet the photo below is from the factsheet. That is a lot of cyclamen.
Sunday 13 May 2007
Mouthfuls of Heaven
Following in the Steps of Nigella Lawson - One Saucy Bite At A Time
Here is the blog that has got me back into my blog, my garden and cooking.
The recipes are yum, and I'm loving reading what has been cooked each week. Love you Bells. Thanks again
Here is the blog that has got me back into my blog, my garden and cooking.
The recipes are yum, and I'm loving reading what has been cooked each week. Love you Bells. Thanks again
Green Thumb Sunday
JoinWell after a long break, a friend has inspired me to get back into my blog. Life has been a bit up and down recently, and the garden has been plodding along without much help from me. I've watered and I harvested most vegetables and stuff, but that was all. No new plants at all. For today's Green Thumb Sunday, I thought I would show some photos I took of my miniature harvest. We loved all the tomatos and I was so proud and happy to eat my own sweet corn. We also had lots of fun pulling up all the potatoes.
Sunday 4 February 2007
Green Thumb Sunday
Join
After confusing marigolds and geraniums over the years, I've just discovered that I like geraniums. Though my mum tells me they are not called geraniums any more. I brought three different coloured geraniums for the window box outside my kitchen window. This is one of them.
Thursday 1 February 2007
Wednesday 31 January 2007
Garden Update
I was just checking the lemon tree and it looks like its finally given up on trying to reproduce. For the first time since I planted it last autumn it has put out new leaves, instead of flowers. Must make sure I give it a good fertilize this weekend. The tomatoes could also do with a fertilize. The rosemary in the lemon tree pot needs to be cut back. I think this weekend I will cut it right back, some I I will use in a roast, I might freeze a heap and try and strike cuttings from the rest. With me luck with that.
Everything else in the garden is going well, I went for a walk this morning while I watered. Both the normal mint and Vietnamese mint and going overboard, in particular the Vietnamese mint, it needs cutting back too. I suppose I could freeze it too. There are more flowers on the cucumber, and one cucumber ready to eat, must make a Greek salad tonight to go with the quiche. The corn is still growing, but a worry that it is not getting enough water, but there is not much I can do about that. There are lots of watermelons in the watermelon patch. Basil is finally taking off, after the second batch I planted; don’t know what I did wrong. The tomatoes in the bath and doing better than the pots, but the hanging cherry tomatoes, near the back door are also doing really well. It is everyone’s habit to pick one or too as they walk past and have a little snack. Spinach to be eaten might have spinach pasta later this week.
I have just realised that because tomorrow is the 1st after today was the 31st we get two watering days in a row, so I think I will try and fertilize tomorrow morning after they have all had a good drink today.
The camomile in the herb garden has had beautiful flowers for weeks now and are just starting to die off, but the feverfew has come into flower with similar shaped and coloured flowers, the flowers are just a bit bigger.
I picked a heap of cherry tomatoes for breakfast, but realised I don’t have bread for toast, I think there are dried biscuits so I might use those. I love having fresh produce for our meals, I’m really beginning to understand the concepts of eating what is in season.
Everything else in the garden is going well, I went for a walk this morning while I watered. Both the normal mint and Vietnamese mint and going overboard, in particular the Vietnamese mint, it needs cutting back too. I suppose I could freeze it too. There are more flowers on the cucumber, and one cucumber ready to eat, must make a Greek salad tonight to go with the quiche. The corn is still growing, but a worry that it is not getting enough water, but there is not much I can do about that. There are lots of watermelons in the watermelon patch. Basil is finally taking off, after the second batch I planted; don’t know what I did wrong. The tomatoes in the bath and doing better than the pots, but the hanging cherry tomatoes, near the back door are also doing really well. It is everyone’s habit to pick one or too as they walk past and have a little snack. Spinach to be eaten might have spinach pasta later this week.
I have just realised that because tomorrow is the 1st after today was the 31st we get two watering days in a row, so I think I will try and fertilize tomorrow morning after they have all had a good drink today.
The camomile in the herb garden has had beautiful flowers for weeks now and are just starting to die off, but the feverfew has come into flower with similar shaped and coloured flowers, the flowers are just a bit bigger.
I picked a heap of cherry tomatoes for breakfast, but realised I don’t have bread for toast, I think there are dried biscuits so I might use those. I love having fresh produce for our meals, I’m really beginning to understand the concepts of eating what is in season.
Monday 29 January 2007
6 weird things about me
I have been tagged by Carol and have been thinking about it for awhile. When asked Miki said there is nothing weird about me, but I think he might be biased.
1) I never wear a watch, because if I do the battery goes flat in about a week.
2) I like to listen to heavy doom music like Anathema sometimes. But I also listen to classical music, jazz and folk to name a few.
3) I married my first serious boyfriend
Ok this is getting hard now
4) I'm married, but I still live with my mum. Well Ok, she lives with me in a granny flat, but I still think that counts as weird.
5) I don't wear makeup or jewelery (Other than wedding ring).
6) I'm obsessed with "shining my sink", thanks to flylady.
That is six weird things.
I forgot to tag people, so i'm adding it in now. I tag sweetpea
1) I never wear a watch, because if I do the battery goes flat in about a week.
2) I like to listen to heavy doom music like Anathema sometimes. But I also listen to classical music, jazz and folk to name a few.
3) I married my first serious boyfriend
Ok this is getting hard now
4) I'm married, but I still live with my mum. Well Ok, she lives with me in a granny flat, but I still think that counts as weird.
5) I don't wear makeup or jewelery (Other than wedding ring).
6) I'm obsessed with "shining my sink", thanks to flylady.
That is six weird things.
I forgot to tag people, so i'm adding it in now. I tag sweetpea
Sunday 28 January 2007
Saturday 27 January 2007
Silver
When I read that Silver was this weeks photo hunt, my first thought was my wedding ring, which I think of as silver, but it is really white gold, so that didn't count. And then I thought of this
But that's not silver I hear you cry, thats wood. She mustn't know anything. But wait a minute let me open it. This box is a very precious gift from my Nana.
See this is my Nana's silver cutlery set. I love this set, and I open it on an inregulary basis just to look and touch. Some of it needs a polish, but these one's don't.
They are very shiny and I love the way the catch the light.
I wish I was brave enough to use it, but I haven't yet. Maybe one day, I will have a proper dinner party and use these, and the special tea set she gave me.
Friday 26 January 2007
New books
Yesterday I had several appointments and with an hour and a bit between them, somehow I ended up in a secondhand bookshop. I can't imagine how that happened, but luck was with me and I found a couple of very interesting books.
The first was "The country diary of an Edwardian Lady" by Edith Holden. The cover looked really interesting and when I started flicking though it, I realised it really was a diary from 1906. Very quickly I realised how close this was to being a 1906 version of a blog and I just had to buy it.
The first discovery got me excited and I kept digging :lol: and suddenly I found a bible that I had never expected to find. "Esther deans' gardening book: growing without digging"
Ether Dean created the idea of no-dig gardening which I have been using to create my gardens in the baths. The book is amazing and I now have a much better understanding of how to make the gardeners and the science and process behind the steps. For more information on Esther Dean and no-dig gardening try Gardening Australia which is how I originally learned about it.
I was very excited and kept looking. I found two small paperbacks about gardening with Australian Natives. Grow Native: Creating an Australian Bush Garden by Bill Molyneux and The Native Plant expert by John Mason. Grow Native, in particular looked interesting as a book to help me plan and develop the native local garden at the back of my yard. The funny thing was when I visited my mum to show her my purchases I was telling her about the books and my description was "I got a fairly heavy text book type on native plants and gardens." at which point she interrupted with "Bill Molneux, I've got that book." But I guess I needed to buy my own copy, as I flipped through it again I realised it was signed by the author which is pretty cool.
So that I was impulse buys for yesterday, but I have spent a lot of time since scanning, flipping and reading them all.
To all the Australians out there, I hope you have had a good Australia Day.
The first was "The country diary of an Edwardian Lady" by Edith Holden. The cover looked really interesting and when I started flicking though it, I realised it really was a diary from 1906. Very quickly I realised how close this was to being a 1906 version of a blog and I just had to buy it.
The first discovery got me excited and I kept digging :lol: and suddenly I found a bible that I had never expected to find. "Esther deans' gardening book: growing without digging"
Ether Dean created the idea of no-dig gardening which I have been using to create my gardens in the baths. The book is amazing and I now have a much better understanding of how to make the gardeners and the science and process behind the steps. For more information on Esther Dean and no-dig gardening try Gardening Australia which is how I originally learned about it.
I was very excited and kept looking. I found two small paperbacks about gardening with Australian Natives. Grow Native: Creating an Australian Bush Garden by Bill Molyneux and The Native Plant expert by John Mason. Grow Native, in particular looked interesting as a book to help me plan and develop the native local garden at the back of my yard. The funny thing was when I visited my mum to show her my purchases I was telling her about the books and my description was "I got a fairly heavy text book type on native plants and gardens." at which point she interrupted with "Bill Molneux, I've got that book." But I guess I needed to buy my own copy, as I flipped through it again I realised it was signed by the author which is pretty cool.
So that I was impulse buys for yesterday, but I have spent a lot of time since scanning, flipping and reading them all.
To all the Australians out there, I hope you have had a good Australia Day.
Wednesday 24 January 2007
Awhile ago Carol over at May Dreams Gardens made this post about plants that you planted and are now not part of your garden. This has encouraged me to go back to my photo journal about the pond garden to see what I planted that has survived and see if I can work out why.
The first one that jumped out at me was "the blob"(scientifically known as scleranthus uniflorus), this is a plant that has been in every family garden since I was a kid. I decided to plant one, but it died fairly quickly. I planted another one, but it died too. Thus I have given up. I still don't know why it didn't grow, but the back of the tag says "plant in very well dreained, gritty soil." and I now I'm wondering if it got too much water. I might try again in the new native garden.
The other plant that has "disappeared" is a Pratia Puberula - Alpine Pratia. The back of the label says "thrives in moist to wet soil". I can't decide if this died because the dogs walked on it to get to the lemongrass which they love eating, or wether I didn't get the water right. I don't think I'll try this again.
The first one that jumped out at me was "the blob"(scientifically known as scleranthus uniflorus), this is a plant that has been in every family garden since I was a kid. I decided to plant one, but it died fairly quickly. I planted another one, but it died too. Thus I have given up. I still don't know why it didn't grow, but the back of the tag says "plant in very well dreained, gritty soil." and I now I'm wondering if it got too much water. I might try again in the new native garden.
The other plant that has "disappeared" is a Pratia Puberula - Alpine Pratia. The back of the label says "thrives in moist to wet soil". I can't decide if this died because the dogs walked on it to get to the lemongrass which they love eating, or wether I didn't get the water right. I don't think I'll try this again.
Tuesday 23 January 2007
Watermelon
Well I finally gave in and picked my first watermelon. Think now it was probably not fully ripe but it was very exciting. It has lots and lots of seeds, but it does taste like watermelon.
Here is the outside of the watermelon after I sliced it
Here is the inside of the watermelon
Here is the outside of the watermelon after I sliced it
Here is the inside of the watermelon
Planning 2007
Well last night I sat down and looked at my gardening scrapbook calendar. In the “what to do in January” section was make a plan for the year. So that’s what I’m doing.
What do I want to achieve is 2007 in the garden.
I want my vegetable garden to become a more constant ongoing project, rather than just starting again in spring. Ways to do that are:
• Plant my Brassicas now
• Buy more baths and get dad to help me attach the axels.
• Fertilise my plants on regular basis.
• Plan what I need to plant in advance
• Use more seeds rather than seedlings
I want to get my native garden at the backyard established
• Plan
• Set up soil. I was going to use no-dig again,
• Put in structures
• Chose plants
Skills and Habitats I would like to develop or improve
• Dead-heading flowers
• Fertilising plants (How often and What to use)
• Growing things from seeds
Other things to work on over the year for longer term goals:
I would like to start caring for and extending the garden at the front of the house.
Plant bulbs in the back and front lawn
Start planning to turn the back lawn into two separate gardens.
Start building a mini-orchard along the fence.
In relation to this I have been thinking about ways to improve the vegetable garden.
What worked well?
The baths and the watering system within the baths
Corn, beans, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes all grew well in the baths.
The Chillies did well in pots and I would do that again.
The zucchini and pumpkin did well in the small child's pools.
I think the potatoes are doing OK, but I would try for something deeper next year.
Things I would change
Next year I would like to have two baths of tomatos rather than the pots, the pots dry out to quickly and it was only in the pots that I got blossom-end rot.
The capsicum plants really need to be in a bath, so I might consider 1 bath for the capiscums or putting them in with the tomatoes.
I think I could plant the tomato plants earlier next year, in particular the tub bush tomatoes.
The grape tomatoes are yummy when fully ripe, but they are very messy and hard to stake.
I'm still not sure if I will grow watermelon again, but if I do I won't go as many seeds and aim for a a few large plants rather than lots competing. I would also put the cucumbers with the watermelon, rather than with the zucchini.
Things I'd like to grow in the vegetable garden next year that I didn't this year.
I'd like to plan to grow butternut pumpkin's rather than the golden nuggets.
I'd like to try the roma tomatoes in the bath, rather than pots.
Beetroot
Garlic and onions
Broadbeans
Brussel sprouts
Broccoli
BRING ON 2007
What do I want to achieve is 2007 in the garden.
I want my vegetable garden to become a more constant ongoing project, rather than just starting again in spring. Ways to do that are:
• Plant my Brassicas now
• Buy more baths and get dad to help me attach the axels.
• Fertilise my plants on regular basis.
• Plan what I need to plant in advance
• Use more seeds rather than seedlings
I want to get my native garden at the backyard established
• Plan
• Set up soil. I was going to use no-dig again,
• Put in structures
• Chose plants
Skills and Habitats I would like to develop or improve
• Dead-heading flowers
• Fertilising plants (How often and What to use)
• Growing things from seeds
Other things to work on over the year for longer term goals:
I would like to start caring for and extending the garden at the front of the house.
Plant bulbs in the back and front lawn
Start planning to turn the back lawn into two separate gardens.
Start building a mini-orchard along the fence.
In relation to this I have been thinking about ways to improve the vegetable garden.
What worked well?
The baths and the watering system within the baths
Corn, beans, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes all grew well in the baths.
The Chillies did well in pots and I would do that again.
The zucchini and pumpkin did well in the small child's pools.
I think the potatoes are doing OK, but I would try for something deeper next year.
Things I would change
Next year I would like to have two baths of tomatos rather than the pots, the pots dry out to quickly and it was only in the pots that I got blossom-end rot.
The capsicum plants really need to be in a bath, so I might consider 1 bath for the capiscums or putting them in with the tomatoes.
I think I could plant the tomato plants earlier next year, in particular the tub bush tomatoes.
The grape tomatoes are yummy when fully ripe, but they are very messy and hard to stake.
I'm still not sure if I will grow watermelon again, but if I do I won't go as many seeds and aim for a a few large plants rather than lots competing. I would also put the cucumbers with the watermelon, rather than with the zucchini.
Things I'd like to grow in the vegetable garden next year that I didn't this year.
I'd like to plan to grow butternut pumpkin's rather than the golden nuggets.
I'd like to try the roma tomatoes in the bath, rather than pots.
Beetroot
Garlic and onions
Broadbeans
Brussel sprouts
Broccoli
BRING ON 2007
Sunday 21 January 2007
Green Thumb Sunday
Join
I thought photos of pretty flowers were in order this week. I've only just got into flowers, but I brought 10 pots of summer flowers. But now I have a problem, I don't actually know what these flowers are, even though I love them. They are in all sorts of colours, dark purple, white, pink and light purple
Updated to say according to comments, I now think that is is a petunia
Saturday 20 January 2007
Photo Hunter - Wild
I tried to take some photos of wild parrots in my garden, but they flew away.
So instead I took some photos of my "wild" pumpkin plant. I certainly didn't plant this pumpkin as seeds or as seedlings. I think it must have grown from seeds in the compost. As the photo shows it even has a pumpkin on it.
Wednesday 17 January 2007
Tuesday 16 January 2007
Scribble Sunday - Idea
Gardening is all about ideas, planning, thinking, reviewing, planning and inventing and imagining. I think that is partly why I enjoy it so much, it gives me a way to be creative that allows mistakes, changes and is very long term.
At the moment I have lots of ideas about my native bush garden I want to plant at the back of the yard. But at the moment it is just imagination, ideas and planning, but eventually over many many months and years it will be a solid form of my ideas.
The other way ideas are important in gardening is fixing problems. One of my roma tomatoes in a pot has some kind of disease. Oh dear a problem, which needs some ideas to fix it.
Research told me what the disease was and what caused it. That funny looking stuff on the end of the tomato was blossom rot and it is caused by "erratic watering". Well I know my watering has been pretty good, but we had several really really hot days, the 3rd most hot day in history in Canberra, apparently. Well I suspect that the hot weather was enough to cause the pot to dry out and cause the disease.
What could I do about it?
I didn't read much, but I got the feeling once it has started on a tomato it is not going to stop. In the end my "idea" for this year was to pick all the "bad" and "damaged" tomatoes off the plant so it can put it's energy into ripening the "good" tomatoes. To help with the watering problem I've taken to soaking the pot in the dog's pool. (Jess my dog is NOT happy about that, but we all have to make sacrifices occasionally.
OK so I've kind of solved the problem for this year, but what "ideas" can I think of to prevent it from happening next year.
Idea 1) I could just not growing any roma tomatoes, but hey I like them and I want at least one. That idea, not good enough.
Idea 2) What about growing the roma tomatoes in one of the baths? Yep that might work, that idea has potential.
So I begin to realise that being a gardener is about constantly having ideas, trying them out and seeing if they work. I don't know that I have reached a full solution to my blossom rot problem, but I'll keep thinking about ideas until I plant next November. I just have to remember to think about this problem, when I am planting next year. (It's called learning from your mistakes)
At the moment I have lots of ideas about my native bush garden I want to plant at the back of the yard. But at the moment it is just imagination, ideas and planning, but eventually over many many months and years it will be a solid form of my ideas.
The other way ideas are important in gardening is fixing problems. One of my roma tomatoes in a pot has some kind of disease. Oh dear a problem, which needs some ideas to fix it.
Research told me what the disease was and what caused it. That funny looking stuff on the end of the tomato was blossom rot and it is caused by "erratic watering". Well I know my watering has been pretty good, but we had several really really hot days, the 3rd most hot day in history in Canberra, apparently. Well I suspect that the hot weather was enough to cause the pot to dry out and cause the disease.
What could I do about it?
I didn't read much, but I got the feeling once it has started on a tomato it is not going to stop. In the end my "idea" for this year was to pick all the "bad" and "damaged" tomatoes off the plant so it can put it's energy into ripening the "good" tomatoes. To help with the watering problem I've taken to soaking the pot in the dog's pool. (Jess my dog is NOT happy about that, but we all have to make sacrifices occasionally.
OK so I've kind of solved the problem for this year, but what "ideas" can I think of to prevent it from happening next year.
Idea 1) I could just not growing any roma tomatoes, but hey I like them and I want at least one. That idea, not good enough.
Idea 2) What about growing the roma tomatoes in one of the baths? Yep that might work, that idea has potential.
So I begin to realise that being a gardener is about constantly having ideas, trying them out and seeing if they work. I don't know that I have reached a full solution to my blossom rot problem, but I'll keep thinking about ideas until I plant next November. I just have to remember to think about this problem, when I am planting next year. (It's called learning from your mistakes)
Monday 15 January 2007
Photo Hunter
I am coming to this a bit late, but I thought I would join in and do last week's technology idea before getting into this weeks.
The technology one really inspired me because originally I started thinking about old technology and I was going to use the photo of my grandfather's barometer which I have just inherited.
But it got me thinking about how I garden and how my grandparents gardened. I also asked myself why I garden compared to why they might have gardened. I know both grandfathers and my grandmother on my mothers side were all "gardeners" and I'm sure all different. My Pa was all about food, he had a large vegetable garden at all times and grew the most amazing tomatoes. My grandfather was very organized according to mum, he liked his garden's laid out carefully, while my grandmother was the opposite apparently . One of my favorite stories of my grandmother is that she would come home in her good shoes and clothes and end up gardening even before she got the front door open.
Any way to my photos, I thought I would include photos of gardening technology.
First the barometer, that I'm sure my grandfather used to predict the weather and help with his gardening.
Next a gardening fork that both my grandparents and I use/d
Finally my solar water pump which I use in my water features, I bet my grandmother would have loved it.
Sunday 14 January 2007
Green Thumb Sunday
Join
This is my first Green Thumb Sunday blog, I have been thinking all week about what I would use for the photo. I was thinking about a zucchini flower, or maybe one of my fuschias. But when I was wandering around my garden, I found this uncurling fern frond and I thought it looked so beautiful. I love that my ferns and doing better and what a wonderful way to start my green thumb sunday. I know the photo is not great, but it has got me inspired to read my camera instruction booklet more carefully, so I can do a better job next week.
Saturday 13 January 2007
My new courtyard.
Well it is not a new courtyard, but with all the new plants it feels like a new courtyard. This is the first garden that I have truly planned before buying and planting. Back in about November I suddenly realised how much I love sitting in the courtyard, and how much nicer again it would be if it was a garden, rather than a bare brick yard. Well instead of my usual rushing out and starting buying plants, I decided since it was such a small and unusual shape I would have to plan it carefully. The courtyard has the large heating unit for our central heating and earlier in the year, my mum had organised for her handyman to put in a trellis screen for us. It does a good job, but I decided that I really wanted to grow a climbing plant on it, but what? I spent time reading, talking and thinking about all the different plants I could have. I started really wanting a passionfruit, but then decided it might be a bit cold for it in Canberra. The I went through the options, potato vine (we’ve got 2 already and they do really well, safe option.) But we’ve already got 2 and I want something different. The family used to have a beach cottage called clematis cottage what if I grow clematis. I like that idea, but I really want a passionfruit. So I came full cycle back to the passionfruit, so guess what I planted a “Ned Kelly” black passionfruit today in a big brown ugly pot. My mum helped me plant it out and she insisted we put a lamb’s liver near the bottom of the pot. She says it’s important, don’t know why, but she’s usually right when it comes to gardening stuff. (Even if she’s not right about lots of other things, I know you’re reading this Queen of Misinformation). The courtyard is a triangle shape like below, the corner with the smily face, is the most difficult corner and I knew it needed a larger structural plant to fill it out. At first I thought I might have a fern tree, to go with the fern tree near the pond, but I didn’t think it would go well in a pot. So I decided I would give in to one of my longings and buy another lime tree, this time I would get a Tahitian lime for the fruit, after buying a kaffia lime last time. When I went to the garden nursery I was very excited to fine no Tahitian limes, but instead they had an Australian lime, so that now graces my courtyard.
The final key structural point of the garden was a largish rectangular window box along the wall with the star. I knew I wanted flowering plants in this and I have planted blushing butterflies, hot lips and a Christmas lily (which my nursery gave to me for free, because it was dying)
What else have I put in my courtyard? A large water pot with 2 goldfish, a pineapple guava (a thoughtful impulse buy) and a pot of black bamboo. The pineapple guava I saw in the nursery and my mum said they were nice. So I was thinking about buying one, when I saw an article about them in an old Gardening Australia magazine, that clinched the deal and off I trundled to buy one. The Bamboo Miki allowed me to buy as a Christmas tree and after it had served its job of guarding all the presents, he carefully carried it to the courtyard for me.
Photos
Here are the before and after photos of the tricky corner with the smily face. As you can see I have some pots for more planting. The brown pot is the same as I used the passion-fruit. I brought the pots because they were very cheap on special, thinking it was because they were ugly. When I got them home I realized that they were not only ugly, but very very heavy. It takes 2 people to lift them empty.
Here are the before and after photos of the other end of the courtyard with the trellis and the window box.
Last photos,
My passionfruit vine! Fingers crossed it survives and does well. The courtyard is very sheltered and doesn't seem to get frosty.
My fish, They are all hiding under an old teapot plunder than my mum gave me. The ugly green thing is a solar pump water fountain that is set into a fake lily pad. Hopefully it will look better when I add water weed from my mum.
So now I have the beginnings of my courtyard oasis.
The final key structural point of the garden was a largish rectangular window box along the wall with the star. I knew I wanted flowering plants in this and I have planted blushing butterflies, hot lips and a Christmas lily (which my nursery gave to me for free, because it was dying)
What else have I put in my courtyard? A large water pot with 2 goldfish, a pineapple guava (a thoughtful impulse buy) and a pot of black bamboo. The pineapple guava I saw in the nursery and my mum said they were nice. So I was thinking about buying one, when I saw an article about them in an old Gardening Australia magazine, that clinched the deal and off I trundled to buy one. The Bamboo Miki allowed me to buy as a Christmas tree and after it had served its job of guarding all the presents, he carefully carried it to the courtyard for me.
Photos
Here are the before and after photos of the tricky corner with the smily face. As you can see I have some pots for more planting. The brown pot is the same as I used the passion-fruit. I brought the pots because they were very cheap on special, thinking it was because they were ugly. When I got them home I realized that they were not only ugly, but very very heavy. It takes 2 people to lift them empty.
Here are the before and after photos of the other end of the courtyard with the trellis and the window box.
Last photos,
My passionfruit vine! Fingers crossed it survives and does well. The courtyard is very sheltered and doesn't seem to get frosty.
My fish, They are all hiding under an old teapot plunder than my mum gave me. The ugly green thing is a solar pump water fountain that is set into a fake lily pad. Hopefully it will look better when I add water weed from my mum.
So now I have the beginnings of my courtyard oasis.
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