A Different Kind of Harvest

As well as harvesting fruit and vege for the dinner table I love nothing more than to pop out into the garden and pick a few gems for display around the home. 

thai basil - often referred to by the
children as the 'bee' plant

With the winter chills on their way, less time may be spent by me outside, but I will always make time to duck out and pick something from the garden to brighten up the house.

A pair of secateurs and gloves (essential for cutting roses) are always within easy reach plus an array of quirky vases - this old copper oil can would have to be one my all time favourites!

native sweet pea bush

Roses would have to be the all time classic indoor cut flower. They are also are very needy, but I am happy to spend 10 minutes a week to 'de-head' and prune back 'water shoots'. Hubby takes care of all the fertilsing and spraying for pests (using white-oil).

He also reminds me every Valentines Day how he gives me roses everyday of the year (aahhh.....blushing).

Sick Avocado Tree

sad state of affairs

Well today was cold and bleak (even in Queensland terms), but I’ve been putting off doing something with the sick avocado for months, so no chance of relaxing inside a nice warm house.

Not sure why, but the avocado tree has basically been dying since we got it about 1 year ago, possibly lack of water. I am a believer in that you don’t plant stuff with the intention of watering it for the rest of you life - plants need to be planted in a naturally “good spot”.

For example if a tree or plant needs a moist spot; most people have a moist spot somewhere on their property that is just a naturally green area – easily identified and visa versa for dry or shady. So today was the day for the avo tree, see the pic - it is a sad state of affairs! I have had success in the past transplanting citrus trees with similar symptoms. If a plant is sick don’t just watch it die - move it!

 

So, I dug a hole in new position - naturally moistish spot in full sun - added water crystals and a slow release fertilizer, threw the soil in then watered it in well with trace elements and seaweed juice, topped with some mulch hay.

Watch this space for the progress – it will be few months as these are tropical trees that need heat to grow, not days like today! 

a barrier was required to stop the
'girls' scratching the mulch away!

Planting Beans

Yep, today was another day where I think what can I plant and what’s going on in the garden? The last lot of beans that I planted in top paddock are about 2 inches high, so time to plant more.

The crop just before that is just starting to flower. Beans are funny, they’re easy to grow but sometimes they die easy as well. They can die so fast that even with a daily inspection you don’t see it coming and it makes me wild! So I plant for succession and in case of failure! Even with this approach you’re still ahead, you’ll be eating fresh and cheap veges at your convenience. Water the beans once and no more water until after they sprout. Another golden rule - large seeds only need water at planting; they draw enough moisture from surrounding soil.

Most of the time I try to remember to cast a bit of agricultural lime over the ground prior to planting even though my soil is pretty neutral, it’s some “old timer” theory, anyway it works and is cheap as chips as well. Today I planted some climbing snow peas in a different spot with some stakes to climb, see how they go as the soil tends to be generally dry in this spot.

stakes for climbing snow peas
(newly scattered ag lime in vacant row behind ready to plant)

Making Great Green Juice

Now some may think this is extreme (grandma would), but making a good healthy juice from your vege patch is good for you and good for your pocket > saving money by making your own juice. I always try and use cloudy apple juice (as used here) or milk as a base, about 250ml will do the job, then grab one good size silverbeet leaf and half a small cucumber. Take most of the hard white stuff from the silverbeet leaf then throw it and the cucumber into the blender with the juice (I sometimes put an egg, frozen banana and a bit of honey in as well for protein hit and sweetness). Blend on high for a minute, then another couple of minutes on medium speed.

Drink green then feel good about yourself! Remember raw veges are best for your body.

Chooks not laying eggs?

Yep, this was us just a week ago. Then we were 1 egg, then 2 and 3 all in about a week, when we got 4 eggs from our 5 chooks I nearly laid an egg myself with excitement.!

Then this afternoon when I went down to the chookhouse to feed and let them out for free range, checked the nest, and... 5 eggs! So after a rough few months we have finally made it in life - 100% production - we're there...  at the pinnacle of chicken raising life!

4yo loves to collect the eggs - especially now he needs a bucket to carry them!

So, what did we change to get eggs? We wondered allot and we questioned allot, I even threatened them suckers with a dam pot and jar of 'chicken tonight'. Not that I could eat them but I really was thinking of knocking the suckers off their perch.

2 or 3 of them were definitely molting, loss of feathers was obvious but not severe as some people suggest and only lasted a few weeks. They are about 18mths old, so should still have some lay in them yet.

We changed the food about 1 month ago from a cheap pellet food (I am cheap skate on everything!) to a mixed grain. About 1 week after the change to grain at they started laying again. Who knows, was it the food? I tend to think about 70% correct as more protein and other goodies in there. Having a science background, my brain needs logic to function so I reckon in this case it's simple; if you want more from the body than just to survive, give it more quality fuel, same goes with building muscle etc in people or overcoming an illness.

The weather is getting colder and days shorter but this has obviously had nothing to do with it. Or we're just lucky - I'll go with that that!

(30% of me believes they are back on the lay due to threat of being
teamed up with a jar of 'Chicken Tonight')

Planting Broccoli Seed

It's starting to cool off a bit more everyday now so I reckon time for some more broccoli. I planted the last lot a bit early and the caterpillars punished me for it - but they don't like the cold weather so much. Because I have a bit of room in the top plot, I am going to plant the seeds direct into the ground. To try and guarantee myself of a good planting I might sow some seeds into a tray as well that way if I lose some I can replace with some from the tray... well thats the plan!

broc - direct sow

So once the days get like now – around sub 10 degree mornings and mid 20 days broccoli, coriander and parsley love it!

Prepare the ground so that where the seed will lay has good texture - fairly loose and crumby. Pretty simple science, the small sprout needs to push its way out so don’t make it too hard work for them.

When you lay the seed in the furrow that you make grab a handful of dirt from outside the furrow break it up as you cover up the seeds with same handful. Rule of thumb....most seeds like to planted 3 times as deep as the seeds diameter so for stuff like broccoli and carrot this isn’t very deep.

I figure that a light dusting of soil, then when you water it in she’s covered up enough. When was the last time you drove past a farmers paddock and seen him out with a ruler getting all serious with how much dirt was over the seed .... arrrgh can’t say I’ve ever seen that (not that I hang around any farms either I suppose – although I do watch landline on telly, that counts doesn't it!).

Citrus Trees

It has been a month or so since I have done anything to the fruit trees apart from inspections a few times a week for grubs, scale leaf curl and new fruit!

So time for some white oil, this works a treat as a semi-regular spray every few weeks to take care of most nasties, except for the grubs. I also like to give some potash liquid and trace elements at least once per season (ie 4 times a year).

It has been a great season for the citrus with loads of fruit on these tress that are only 2 years in the ground. I never thought I would have my own lemon or lime tree with so much fruit! But it’s great to have it at our disposal now. Self-sufficient in lemons and limes plus I think there is a good few oranges on as well.

limes - great to use now

oranges - will ripen in winter

lemons begging to be picked

Kitchen Time

I love cooking and preparing meals with the food we grow. Tonight for instance, spinach and feta pies where on the menu.

With the chickens back on the lay, eggs are suddenly back on the menu! Our youngest has been so excited after weeks with no eggs to finally go and collect - a ritual he did almost hourly today! Oh yes, very exciting for a 4yo to be collecting these oh so precious things.

So the old english spinach has been begging to be picked for weeks - time for some pies.

home grown spinach, eggs, mint & lemon

Donna Hay had the perfect recipe, just also calling for some filo, feta and seasoning! 30 minutes later - hey presto, some gorgeous pies served up with salad for a scrumptuous dinner. 4yo was pretty impressed with egg pies too, not at all deterred by all that green stuff!

plated up - a rainbow of colours

As it turned out today's plate count exceeded our average with spinach, lemon, mint, eggs, cucumber, lettuce and carrots all from the ol rusty possum garden! Gotta love that!

Coriander and Parsley Seed

Today in the garden I planted coriander and parsley...

the ole 3 prong rake is the best

Arrhh... Coriander my favourite! I secretly reckon I’m the coriander king, now this stuff is simple – well I think so, but so many crew that I talk to say they can’t grow it at all. It is very, very basic, make sure soil has good crumb and is moist - dark damp (technical term for when soil looks moist you know when you wet soil it goes a darker colour – that’s it! Or when you grab a handful and squeeze it; it feels moist and cool, yep you’re onto it!).

 

coriander seed collected from
last season

Now, run your garden fork through the soil to create furrows or just mess the soil up. Then get your seeds if you have made a row, drop them in randomly about 1 – 2 cm apart. Or if you’re like me, don’t get too technical just scatter them on top of your messed up soil. Then get handfuls of dirt and scatter over the area, remember 3 times seed thickness layer of dirt, so not too deep or else they will never emerge.



 
Pat the seeds with your palms when done and then water them in. In about 1 week it should look like a field of green! Keep these small seeds moist during germination but not wet.

always pat down the seed after
applying a top layer of dirt

YUM....I can taste it already!

Note: The same theories apply to parsley seed!

same deal for the parsely seed -
again seed stock collected from last crop

mature contenential parsley currently growing

Ol' Rusty Possum

Having thought about embarking on sharing our gardening stories for months, today was the day I sought out blogging ‘101’ help from ol’mate Bruce.

Today in the garden I ….

After cutting down the lawn a little lower yesterday, I made use of the clippings that I threw into a pile in the top paddock (aka 5m x 10m patch of re-claimed yard). I like to refer to it as the top paddock, makes me feel big time!

So this morning between cups of coffee, I turned over a few metres of dirt and sprinkled a fine layer of clippings over the top so they would dry out in the daytime sun. In the coming days I will add a layer of lime and chook poo (from our girls of course) to boost the soil in preparation for a crop. As we are heading into Winter, most likely the crop will be broccoli or a root vege.

Key points I always think about: Most crops will take 3 months from seed to stove. 2^nd key point, soil temperature – if soil temp isn’t optimum, you will never strike your seeds. 3rdly, my old Yates Garden Guide is a handy companion for seed germination temps. No, I don’t get out with the thermometer, but if I feel the soil, is it cold to touch?

More little lettuce -
Welcome to the world!

Freshly ploughed row in 'top paddock'

Lettuce just showing their heads
(planted 6 days ago) GREAT!

The lettuce and roses both had a little inspection today checking for critters that shouldn’t be there. This is almost done daily anyhow between us. If I do nothing else, this little inspection is a great way of keeping things in check.

Oh tomorrow I will talk about planting coriander and parsley the time and temperature is perrrrfect!