Vegetables

As you know I grow most of my veggie garden from seed.  That can be a slow and frustrating process, but when it works, can be so very rewarding. I do like growing greens in broccoli boxes as it keeps them contained and the soil seems to stay moist.  I had a bunch of black seeded lettuce seedlings, and potted them up fairly close together into a broccoli box, filled with potting soil mixed with five in one, and they did very well, I will buy those seeds again.  My little wicking bed of mint just keeps going, through drought and wet.

One thing I added this year was a little greenhouse, and I think that has made all the difference.  I often read on the seed packets that certain seeds need to be planted in situ, but I struggle with that - I am often not able to water the garden as I leave in the dark and often arrive home in the dark.  The greenhouse has been a huge asset because the plants in there stay warm and moist with a spray of water a couple of times a week.
I had some little seedlings of beetroot, silverbeet and broccoli raab just bursting out of the ground when a bandicoot found its way into the garden...  I tried supporting the little plants back up again, but they have struggled.  I am not sure if I should just raise seedlings since the greenhouse does give the plants a better chance of surviving. How important is it to\plant seeds directly?  I am going to try again with seedlings raised in the greenhouse and see if that makes a difference. Of course keeping out the bandicoots will help as well.  we set up our trap and then re-locate them far away(and find and block the hole in the fence where they got through in the first place!)  This area has been good for greens as there is a bit of shade form the barbados cherry.  I had ginger growing here last wet season, but this year I think I will do sweet potato here and have the shoots climbing up the fence for easy harvesting.




We had quite a chilly start to winter, and the tomatoes did not start out with abandon, but are now doing better. Lots of volunteer cherry tomatoes have popped up everywhere and every day we get enough to add to our salads.  I have a few yellow cherry tomatoes plants and those are all in pots.
Cherry tomatoes volunteered in the mulberry tree pot and I staked them up into a teepee.  One huge advantage is that the birds now cannot find the ripening mulberries - yeah!


This area is starting to be cleared as the winter veggies die off.  I am thinking I will grow ginger in this area.  Sweet potato are starting to pop up as I grew them here last year, but those will be moved to the fence bed.  

The moringa in the herb spiral grew straight up and started flowering.  I was interested to see what the pods looked like, and tasted, but I have not seen any pods so will chop it off down to the first outward branch so the leaves are easier to harvest and it provides some nice leafy shade. 

Comments

  1. I have actually had some success with raising seeds this year. I have a couple of zucchini seedlings jumping out of the little pots but we have a hot weekend coming up so I am reluctant to plant them out but will need to soon. The lettuce and cucumber have made an appearance too. Normally I have zero success rate with seeds :-(

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    1. I am so glad to hear that Nanna chel. I always feel I have achieved something amazing when I grow something from seed. Yes they do struggle if you re-plant when the weather is hot. I have been known to put an umbrella over newly planted seedlings ....

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  2. your garden is looking delicious!
    mine is so dry & crunchy atm, we desperately need rain, we are on level 3 water restrictions, my poor garden was used to recieving a good soaking once a week, which i think is much better than trying to hand water every other day, am losing quite a lot, coriander has struggled to get a start, think i'll plant geraniums & be done with it lol
    thanx for sharing

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    1. Hi Selina,
      yes we are also dry and even have watering restrictions level 2. Level 3 is quite severe, would it help to set up a bit of shade? Luckily I dont have any grass. Hope you get some rain soon.

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  3. I struggle with planting seeds in situ, too. Since I have my temporary greenhouse, I've had much better luck starting the seedlings and then transplanting them out. I don't grow many vegetables, though I know I should. Wildlife can be a real pain sometimes, too. Your garden is wonderful!

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    1. Oh Karen,
      when I look at the size of your garden I am totally amazed at what you achieve. It seems that the greenhouse is a great idea everywhere - I dont know why I took so long to get one.

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  4. I think this coming growing season is going to be a struggle. So hot and little rain seems to be about. I get frustrated to growing from seeds, so I mix it up and buy some seedlings and plant some seeds. Mostly it ends up being ok, but I am dreading this summer, my tank is already dry and my little baby plants need that water to get established. Fingers crossed we get some rain and the gardens all over can thrive :)

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Hi Clarissa, thanks for commenting, I love your blog - so many interesting recipes there, and you seem to grow much the same type of plants as me even though you are in NSW. Actually I like to throw some seeds out around the seedlings, so that I have a continuous crop. They somehow seem a bit protected by the bigger plants too. We had a bit of rain at the beginning of the week and the garden already looks so much better. Hope you get some too.

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  6. You have an abundance of lovely food growing in your garden:) Here, it is so dry and getting very hot already (mid 30Cs forecast for early next week) and so I've really scaled back my veg patch. We are also having bandicoot blues here, the wildlife coming in now because it's so dry, tell-tale drill holes everywhere! Meg:)

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    1. Bandicoot blues - I love that! (In fact I wish I didn't have them!) some years are like that - you just do what you can. In the very hot season I find growing sprouts and microgreens is the way to go.

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  7. Muitos vegetais, que serão bem úteis deduzo! Feliz semana. Cumprimentos.

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    1. Not as many as your parents brought you! Sometimes we struggle, but gardening is always fun!

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