Saturday, December 31, 2011

First day of a new year!

The weather is lovely and after a marathon pruning session 2 days ago, there is so much more light coming into the patch. The sunflowers are finally seeing the sun (which is helpful if you are a sunflower!), the raspberries are getting some more light and the cucumbers continue to climb to the sky.....

It is amazing how mild the weather has been so far this summer. There have been very few really hot days, only one storm with hail (so far! I am NOT tempting fate here.), but it has been warm enough for things to get on with their growing. So today we have a selection of pics from the patch on the first day of 2012


Serendipity!

my Delbard rose


my coloured carrots...... yum!
today's harvest

my raspberries escaped their enclosure and now run freely under the peach tree!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

what's new in the patch?

I have been waiting for my new seeds to pop up and a few days ago, they did just that. I have been planting seeds in egg cartons, that way, there is really no transplant shock at all when they go into the garden. All I do is separate the carton into its 12 sections and the whole lot goes into the soil in the patch. By the time the cardboard has decomposed, the roots of the seedling are ready to go exploring.

As it is summer, I keep a ready supply of lettuce, spring onions and cucumber..... I am most proud of the spring onions as they are seeds I saved from the flower head of the previous crop..... yah!

cucumbers, lettuce and spring onion seedlings

Meanwhile, there are some other interesting things in my seedling nursery.....

seedling nursery
I have some micro basil, some slow bolt corriander and some mini tomato bushes, each with one single fruit on it...... how cute......

how cute..... wonder how big they will grow when I plant them in the patch?

Friday, December 16, 2011

today in the patch





My alliums are finally opening. They have been struggling along for months now, emerging as tiny fragile single stems. Now they are almost a metre tall and the ball of fluff is about to explode

ref: the-grazer.blogspot.com


Ultimately, they should look like this:

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tiger , Tiger

I found Number Three in the foliage this afternoon...actually, it was the cat nip, so he was in 7th Heaven!



yesterday, he found the cane sugar bale..... what a life!

today in the patch

rain and storms have been threatening all day, but so far, the weather has held out and the patch has had a chance to dry out. everything continues to bloom and harvest is getting closer by the day. I was surproised to see a lovely bloom of Woburn Abbey this morning:

Woburn Abbey

I added some more labels to my patch this morning too.....

I love the furry carrots tops behind the label....
almost a metre tall now.... keep going baby!
climbing Blue Lake beans






Sunday, December 11, 2011

introducing the team

No patch is without a dedicated team - a team that puts their heart and soul into weeding, turning, planting, harvesting and composting. This is continuous work that happens in all weather and requires blood, sweat and tears. So, without further ado, here is the team behind the Tamborine patch:

One...

Two.....

and..... Three

As you can see, they are hard at work and keen to keep the patch producing yummy food for the Mistress of the House!

Friday, December 9, 2011

xmas wish list

Dear Santa

This year I really want some worms. In fact, I want 1000 worms to put in a worm farm. So Santa, please bring me a worm farm with worms this Xmas.....




something I prepared earlier

I have been pondering my previous post about plant labels. There are certainly some wonderfully creative people out there who are doing wonderfully creative things. So I thought I would have a go. Recently a wonderfully creative friend of mine got me into beading... well, the bug has well and truly caught and I have combined both my passions.... beading and gardening.

"eggies" these are my little Asian eggplants...... round balls of yum



my chocolate capsicum..... notice my little choc capsicum on the bead string?


cherry tomatoes... these guys self seed every year and supply me with kilos of free toms


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

what does 2 days of rain look like?

well......


verdant and getting verdant-er.........notice the tomato spilling over the edge of the planter!



my corn... otherwise known as TRIFFIDS! They have doubled since Monday!


good enough to eat



I have been following Sonya's permaculture blog for some time now and I was thrilled to see her extend into handmade soaps. Now, they are for sale and they look amazing. Perhaps one day soon, i will get up to Eudlo to look for myself! For now, I will keep up to date with her newest blog.

http://www.ishbarnsoap.com.au/index.php

Green Ginger
macadamia ginger.... soap!


the best tropical fruit cake



Pineapple and Banana Cake
2 med bananas, mashed
1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple (save juice)
1 1/4 cup caster sugar
1 2/3 cup self-raising flour
2 tspn ground cinnamon
2/3 cup oil (try rice bran oil)
1/4 cup pineapple juice (from the can of crushed pineapple)
2 organic free range eggs

icing:
250 g cream cheese
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
fresh fruit to decorate (eg mango, pawpaw, pineapple

destructions: Preheat oven to 180. Line 23cm round baking tin with paper. Place bananas, pineapple and sugar in large bowl. Add sifted flour and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Whisk oil, pineapple juice and eggs together and add to banana mixture. Stir till combined and smooth. Pour into prepared timn. Abooth surface and bake 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.. Leave in tin for 10 mins then turn out on wire rack to cool.

icing: beat cream cheese and icing sugar with electric beaters till smooth.


ref: family oven.com
assembly: cut cake in half horizontally. Spread 1/3 of the icing mixture on bottom of the cake. Spread remainder on top and arrange the fresh tropical fruit to suit.

note: this cake will keep up to 4 days in airtight container. Refrigerate during hot weather

(ref: The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook, 2004)

gift from the garden

This year, the Japanese maple tree that is near my patch lost a large branch and after I dried it out, I thought I would put it to good use. I have a few Xmas decorations that I have collected from my travels over the last few years. They get a little lost on the tradition tree, so they get their own tree this year.

decorations from all corners of the globe

Have a cool Yule

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

labels, tags and signs


I am going to make a much more concerted effort to label where I plant my seeds and at the same time, add some colour to the patch. So, I am on the look out for cute, interesting or utlilitarian-with-a-twist plant labels.... here is what I have found so far..... and to all you garden bloggers out there... YOU ROCK!

http://www.allsopgarden.com/original-garden-tools/plant-tags/

http://littlegreenfingers.typepad.com/little_green_fingers/2009/03/making-child-friendly-plant-labels.html

http://ghostmyst.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-make-rustic-plant-labels.html

http://gardenhistorygirl.blogspot.com/2009/05/garden-history-image-of-weekvictorian.html


Summer 2012

the patch
we got off to a great Spring/Summer season this year. It was warm and dry which resulted in a bumper rose season and good cropping of my summer seedlings. Regular watering was required as there was not enough rain. Now the rain has arrived - as well as the cold - and I can hear the veges drinking it all up. So I have got my Blue Lake beans in the blue tub as an experiment as I want to keep the soiled conditioned after a crop of kipfler potatoes. I planted plenty of bok choy, but am having some problems with white cabbage butterfly and so I think it might be too warm now for theses little boks. Rather than start spraying (organic sprays, of course) I will just plant other options, or maybe plant amongst the marigolds

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Globe artichokes

This is my new experiment.... a long term experiment as globe artichokes can take up to 2 years to produce fruit. They are perennial and need minimal care. Word around town is that homegrown and marinated artichokes are far better than anything purchased.

So... what is the deal? Peter Cundall explains

artichoke flower - it is a form of thistle.


the silver foliage results in spectaculr colour and form in a winter patch
POTASH! is the key.... lots of potash can result in fuit within a year........ yah!!!! Me get me some potash. This stuff is also good for poppies. If their stems are too weak and flop over, it is a sign they need potash.

Icelandic poppies

Sunday, March 6, 2011

marigolds

Not only do they keep insects away from your vege, but they are also a nitrogen fixer for the soil. Used as a green manure crop, marigolds fix nemetode infestations - as Jerry Colby-Williams discusses.....

fields and fields and fields......
But not only are they yellow and orange, they come in other colours too and really add punch to the vege patch!

am growing the yellow, orange and white... need to try the red.
DurangoGao red marigold - French marigold variety

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Green Manure

Permacutlure Pathways is a great blog site. I often check out their site to see what they are up to. Located in a zone similar to my own, it is handy to see if the crew is experiencing the same difficulties or succeses as I am.

This posting about Green manures is excellent... after returing from a long holiday to a rain soaked disaster area, I will use green manure crops as a living mulch to protect and feed the soil while I am away.

Read their post here

the changing sun and pickles

It is clear now that the sun is on her march across the sky. Parts of the patch are spending increasing time in the shade and this will impact on planting schedules and locations. Not all of the patch is in sun during winter. Some beds are in almost constant shade and this renders them useless for some planting. However, it is a good time to plant some winter green manure crops in preparation for the bursting season of spring.
the seasons of the sun
After spending time in the cold European winter, I can more readily appreciate the winter season here. I can still grow and harvest all through winter and I am beginning to think it is a more productive time than summer as we don't have the rain and humidity. This winter I will aim to plant enough veg to experiment with pickling. Jamie Oliver and Maggie Beer have some fabulous pickling recipes and I have plenty of glass jars waiting to be filled.
jars of pickles..... would look good in my cupboard

resurection


After a summer of almost continual rainfall, my vege patch succummed to weeds and soil compaction - again. This has been drought breaking weather and it will be a challenge to manage the new weather pattern. Already, I am thinking summer will be a fallow time in my patch - a time to plant green manure and let the weather have its wicked way.

I removed many bags of weeds and creeper vine that had invaded the patch. Suprisingly, it didn't take long to get back to the bones and a handful of well rotted chicken manure and dolomite lime was all that was needed to get the soil back into action. The carrots I sowed before leaving on my 5 week holiday managed to survive the rain, and the rebel tomato gang sprouted again. The eggplants and bell cucumber survived and although a little sad looking, hopefully they will perk up on the 'drugs' I gave them.

Conscious of crop rotation, I have planted for early autumn - lettuce, spring onions, parsely, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. I have also planted blue cornflowers, gerberas and stocks in an effort to get some winter colour in the patch.
blue cornflower