Africanaussie

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I have been on a quest to grow consistently healthy happy microgreens.  During the wet season, anything I leave outside in the weather is going to flood, get attacked by bugs, fungus and all manner of other afflictions. I tried growing microgreens in the tray from MrFothergills, which only grow in water, no soil or soil type medium.  Standing water in the tropics is calling for disaster, attracting mosquito larvae at the drop of a hat.  I tried it again with coir seed raising mix, but I think in this climate I need drainage. MrFothergills kindly sent me a multi layered seed sprouter and I have been enjoying sprouts with regularity, but wanted more.... I purchased some different microgreen seeds from the seed collection, and tried them outside under the shade cloth, but it is already too hot and humid, but then I thought to try them in the greenhouse. and aha!  this may be the answer.   Loo...

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...

I try to cut everything way back at this time of year so that I dont get lots of leggy growth as the plants spurt forth with the approaching wet season.  Last year our wet season was very late in arriving and in fact, we did not get as much rain as usual. The mandevilla vine which shades the herb spiral has had a very severe haircut, which let in lots of light. I need to cut back the lady slipper orchid vine as it is too heavy for the tree it is clambering over - weeping tea tree.  It is looking so beautiful though that I am going to leave it a little longer.  No photo - it keeps turning sideways - does anyone else have that problem? Vegetables and Herbs  I am going to try to keep some greens growing until the very end of the dry season and in actual fact planted out a new supply.   Tatsoi has become my very favourite green, it survived with very little care while I was away, so I added a little more compost around the base of each plant.  The eggpl...

I harvested the remaining coffee beans this weekend - so they are out on trays drying.  Honey processing, so that means they still have a certain amount of the fruit attached as they dry.  The curly parsley is doing well in the wicking box.  I keep cutting the bigger stalks, and the plants keep producing more stalks.  I love to have plenty of parsley for salads, taboulli, soups, in fact a handful of parsley will improve just about anything. The other things that I have been having success with lately is microgreens.  I will do a separate post on them soon.  They deserve a post of their own.   Here I have radish and kale.  I also took a photo of the passion fruit forming from the center of the flower.  Isnt nature awesome? I am enjoying the slightly cooler weather and pretty regular rainfall.  

This month is all about seeds.  Connect with others at the Garden Share Collective. I must admit I am not always very good at saving seeds.  Last collective I showed a lovely photo of my bok choy flowering.  I have been keeping an eye on the seeds as they began to form, last weekend I looked for my little paper seed collecting bags, and then got distracted.  Ooops - now they seem to have scattered with the wind.  A lot of my seed saving is like that, and next year I will have bok choy coming up in that same spot. A while back there was a competition to grow oats and my grand kids got quite excited about it.  They are now ready to harvest (I think!)  I pulled out the plants and lay them over the compost, then cut most of the seed heads off.  the remainder of the plants went straight into the compost tumbler - lots of lovely greens (and probably a few seeds I missed!) The seeds are now in a paper bag pegged on the washing ling line under ...

Everywhere I look I see food forests being referred to as the way to go growing food in a small area.  I often have to put up a shade cloth to protect the delicate greens like lettuce.  I have toyed with the idea of planting a dwarf avocado, and growing lettuces and greens in the shade of the tree instead of putting up a shade cloth.  A couple of weeks ago I saw a grafted avocado which the market seller assured me was not going to grow too big for my little yard.  In a leap of faith I purchased it, pushing aside the memory of the 40ft tree that was growing in my back yard in Africa.  This weekend I added yet another shade cloth.  It is so hot and dry and the shade cloth helps to keep the plants cooler and they dont dry out as quickly. I had to prune back the long branches of the barbadoes cherry so that they didnt touch the shade cloth.  I have been mulching with my own compost instead of buying mulch, but at this rate if it doesnt rain soon I ...

A birthday present from MrFothergill !  Really you shouldn't have!  They didnt know it was to arrive just in time for my birthday, but I thought this gift of a sprouter, along with four packets of seeds was very timely - thank you!  I have been persisting with the microgreens, and eventually e-mailed them and suggested trialling a sprouter as I have the feeling that will work better in my climate. The microgreens have been very tasty, but dont grow very big, and the ones in water do attract  mosquitoes.  We had a prawn starter for my birthday dinner (the prawn shells are now buried in the veggie patch)  and I got the grand kids to help me pick some basil and watercress microgreens to sprinkle on the plates.  Greens! they ate them!  Now I wouldnt say it was a full serving of veggies, but the cuteness factor did play a part. For that reason alone it is worth trying sprouts and microgreens. I put a Tablespoon of seed in each layer - trying fenu...

The wet season has been making its presence known and over the weekend the roads were flooded, making us housebound.  I managed to do quite a bit of sewing, and then the whole house got a very good clean.  Good, now I dont need to feel guilty when the garden calls:)  First thing was to cut back some of the mandevilla vine which the franzipani has been trying to escape from.  I hope with all the extra light it will flower a bit more.  I was also pleased to see strawberry flowers - this is the first time I have grown strawberries.  I had two hanging pots and the one disintegrated in a heap after just a couple of months.  I think I might get some more pots that actually attach to the fence with nails - they seem to do better in this climate than the hanging baskets.  I think I might move them to a wooden fence out the front as well. My new seeds were calling to be planted, and with the sun making an appearance on Sunday afternoon I ventured ...

I am actually quite glad that this post was due because it got me out into the garden to tidy up and get ready for planting!  It was 34*C with high humidity.  I used mosquito repellent and sunscreen alternately as the sweat dripped.  HOT, HOT, HOT. It is a little early to be planting out for our dry season garden, but maybe I can hurry the wet season along. :) I have been unable to post photos so will post this without and add the photos first thing Monday morning - sorry about that! Done!  Check out The Garden Share Collective for more updates to veggie gardens around Australia. Harvesting The long green beans are quite prolific, and in fact I trimmed the vine back quite a bit to make it  more manageable which seems to have given it a new lease on life.  It looks straggly but you can find the beans easier.  I also have a winged bean vine that has volunteered and the loofas are going mad.   Galangal is taking over the back half of...