Spring plantings and seedlings

We had a very productive day in the garden today - the first in a little while in fact. Firstly, Alfie and I went to the gardening shop to pick up some seedlings, particularly capsicum and basil, the purple kind too. We found some nice looking yellow button squash too while we were there. After our last zucchini effort though, I'm a little sceptical about squash, but willing to give them another go.

Capsicum and purple basil seedlings.

Also got some aged manure and sugar cane mulch and dosed the garden up, including the lovely looking tomatoes that came up from the compost - I just love these sort of visitors :o)

The lemon and lime also got a dose, plus the olive trees, papaya and guava. The lime and lemon got a good prune too - both have a number of flowers as well, so here's hoping for some fruit this year - although may still be a bit young, but we will see.

Simon also made a narrow bed on the outside of our boundary (to the vacant lot behind us) and transplanted some tomatoes and put in some of the purple basil seedlings as companions. He also popped a couple of the yellow button squash in the middle just to see how they go.

Boundary garden bed with tomatoes, basil and yellow button squash.

Now all we need is to monitor for bugs and nasties, and, more importantly, water regularly!

Happy gardening!

TLC for our tomatoes

We look like having a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, starting with our Beefsteak variety. Also growing are Romas and Gross Lisse varities plus numerous compost-derived specimens - all doing fabulously!

However, we've had a lot of blossom end rot plus fruit worm through them - the Romas have taken the biggest hit by the looks. Given their hybrid background the compost tomatoes are the least affected. We've done a big clean out and given the toms a dose of calcium nitrate in liquid form, hoping to remedy the remainder of the crop, which is looking decidedly healthier after two weeks of TLC! :o) Next year we will need to dose the soil more with gardening lime I think - not enough in ourno-dig bed it seems. Might also be worth tracking down some powdered or pulverised rock minerals to provide more trace elements.

Beefsteak tomatoes with fruitworm.

In the other bed, our second planting of dwarf beans and the purple king beans are coming to an end - the warmer drier weather has meant a smaller crop, but my affection for them has not diminished in the slightest!

Purple King Beans in flower.

The cucumbers are flowering with little cucumbers on the way as well. Our corn is growing taller everyday too - we love corn, but again will need to keep an eye out for fruitworm as I've heard they love corn.

Burpless cucumber in flower.

The Perth weather is surely getting hotter and the days longer, so we are being more rigorous with watering and regularity is the key. A regular dose of liquid seaweed (or fish) emulsion seems to push the vegies along nicely too. A dose every fortnight seems to be having a positive effect.

So, bring on Summer and happy gardening!

October Update

Excuse me but where is October going??? We've had a busy month - some of it in the garden and the remainder dealing with life generally I suppose!

We scored some half wine barrels from our dear friend Phil and now have a lovely Eureka lemon and a Tahitian Lime - both doing well. A third barrel will support one of our Ficus trees and provide some much needed shade in the Summer heat.



We've planted another lot of dwarf beans after our success with the first lot (still going if getting a little woody!), and the purple king beans have lovely purple flowers heralding the impendng arrival of purple beans! The garlic are drying out and due to be pulled up very shortly.



A question mark over the carrots and beetroot at present - slowed down in their growth and seem to be affected by the little bit of heat we've had so far, especially the beetroot - will keep an eye on these and check the water is getting to them...

Tomatoes are flowering very well (see pic above) and the passionfruit vines are on a race to see which one will make it to the roofline first! The strawberries in the hanging baskets have lots of flowers and some green fruit already - will top them up with some seasol solution.



We have done a heap of pottting as well - some natives and annuals for colour and coverage. It helps in bringing some colour to the back patio which is concrete (and hot in summer!).

Finally, the grapevine is fast covering the new white frame and Simon added a swing to entice the kids to the sandpit space a little more. Hoping to get enough coverage as the weather warms up. Next big job is to put up the lattice along the boundary and get some covering vines going to futher provide some summer relief (you'll see the old lattice behind the grapevine in the photo below...)!



All ticking along nicely :o)

Happy gardening!

Garden efficiencies and cycles: seed propagation

Having had our no-dig garden now for some five months, we are beginning to get into a bit of a cycle: fennel made way for garlic (planted earlier and now quite large) and new seed plantings of Swiss Rainbow Chard and parsley. The snow peas have virtually finished (with some saved for seeds), just as the dwarf beans began to take off. With the beans in full tilt we planted some purple runner beans from seed (using teepee style sticks over fennel for support and bug protection), and beetroot and carrot seeds, plus some coriander seedlings (sown during Winter).

It's great to see cycles in action side-by-side simultaneously in the one small space - an ongoing cycle of life!

Past...

Present...

Future...!

I'm also becoming more aware of the need to be efficient in the garden, not just with precious resources such as water, but with seeds and seedlings, and fertilisers too. I've been researching and reminding myself of ways to store and propagate seed from brocolli, peas and beans, and have struck various herbs like rosemary and marjoram. We've also propogated some green tomato ('Zebra') seeds - hoping they'll germinate!

Being efficient and effective with fertilisers and composting is also important - so far we have one compost bin, but ideally could use two or even three (being about 80 litres in volume), to spread the benefits further and more regularly, and minimise the need for buying compost. Others have been successful at growing compost, mulches, and green manures, as is key to permaculture practices. So our peas and beans can be turned into the ground once harvest is finished, and the fennel leaves bulk out the compost heap too. As the lemongrass kicks in that can provide some mulch/compost.

I'm beginning to see the real benefits of the no-dig approach as well - the soil is really friable and free-draining and the plants seem to grow more vigorously. It's easy to beef up a zone after one crop in preparation for another as well - although due to our small-sized garden this seems more intensive to do!

And finally, our new limestone raised garden bed now has some tomatoes planted - the big Aussie Grosse Lisse, Roma, and Beefsteak varieties! Bring on Summer (and Spring has just begun)!

Happy gardening!