Tag Archives: vegetable garden

Vertical Elements

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We have ongoing plans for the garden but the wheels turn fairly slowly here as everything carefully considered.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to reposition a couple of the small raised garden beds which we bought early last year. This is all part of the grand plan to have defined pathways and sections of the garden rather than a wide open space.

They now run north/south rather than east/west. You can see the old positions by the patches of dirt in the foreground of the photo.

I had also seen somewhere online that people had used reinforcing mesh to create an archway between 2 raised garden beds. So, yesterday we purchased one large piece of mesh from the hardware which was delivered in the afternoon and we set to work on our plan.

This is the second one we built and I am hoping to use it to grow climbing beans. There is a tomato in the bed on the left and spinach on the right-hand side.

The first one we did is a bit more difficult to see because of the background. It is high enough to allow clearance for the shed door (not regulation height) to open. I have planted a couple of cucumber seedlings close to the arch in the garden bed on the right. There are also capsicums in that bed. The box in the foreground is onions and the lettuce is thriving on the other side with coriander in pots nearby.

We also have cauliflower, strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb in other spots not shown in the photos.

It is great to have some permanent vertical structures in the garden which are both decorative and functional.

Winter Weather

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It is technically still autumn but the weather has been feeling distinctly like winter the past few days.

We have had a couple of frosty mornings. This was the view of the paddock across the road yesterday.

There was a light frost on our back lawn, too. You can see the promise of a glorious sunny day though.

Meanwhile, we have planted some seedlings.

Cauliflower

And some spinach. They are tiny but will hopefully survive.

As if we cannot get enough winter weather here, we are off to northern Europe for Christmas and possibly a white Christmas. Even though it is almost 7 months until we leave, it is a good time to be considering what clothes and shoes we will need.

I bought this jacket in the snow gear sale at Aldi yesterday. It will get some use here during the winter but it is primarily for our trip.

Today we were walking in the main street of our small town when a display in the window of a boutique caught my eye. It was an absolutely perfect coat. I am now completely ready for winter in both hemispheres.

If only it would rain…………I would be happy. Stay safe wherever you are and whatever the weather.

Pruning and Planting

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We have plenty of plans for developing various aspects of the garden further but in the meantime we are pleased with the parts which are established.

GMan recently participated in a one-day workshop on pruning techniques and more particularly, the benefits of summer pruning of fruit trees. He has since purchased some new equipment and yesterday he applied his newly-acquired knowledge and pruned our 3 espaliered fruit trees. There are 2 Nashi pears and a nectarine.

Meanwhile, I have planted a punnet of pea seedlings.

The summer garden continues with tomatoes and zucchinis ripening and ready to pick every day or so.

I have at least a dozen packs of grated zucchini in the freezer which I can use to make zucchini quiche throughout the year. Of course, we have had fried tomato and zucchini as a side dish with plenty of meals recently.

The tomatoes have been especially prolific. I used 6kg to make sauce and there is more than enough to eat with almost every meal. There is nothing like the flavour of homegrown tomatoes.

This is what is on a rack on the kitchen bench at the moment as I constantly use some then add more from what I harvest almost every day.

Work and Play

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The title sums up our day.

This morning we spent a couple of hours in the backyard. My first job was to remove the old cauliflower plants that remained after I had harvested the cauliflower during the past week. The garden bed will rest until it is time to plant summer crops such as zucchini, tomatoes and basil.

Meanwhile, GMan mowed the pocket handkerchief patch of lawn and then started on disassembling some timber lattice that has weathered badly and deteriorated significantly. It currently provides a division and some screening between the main area of the backyard and the clothesline which is in the far corner. We are planning to slightly realign the framework and change the overall style. I do not have any photos to share at this stage but there will be more details and photos once the reconstruction gets underway.

After lunch we had some slightly more frivolous plans. We headed to Bendigo to admire the mass plantings of tulips in the public gardens in the middle of the city. There were lots of people enjoying the colourful displays on a pleasant spring afternoon.

Here is a selection of photos.

The tulips were definitely the star of the show but by no means the only attraction in the gardens.

Inside the conservatory.

The exterior of the conservatory which was built in 1897.

Our next stop was a nearby hotel where we enjoyed a couple of hours listening to a local band.

A most productive and enjoyable Sunday.

Patience Pays Off

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This afternoon GMan was weeding in the garden and he removed the cover from the raised bed where I planted some cauliflower seedlings months ago. They have had no attention and amazingly we found one ready to pick.

There are about 4 or 5 others which are a bit smaller but will be ready to harvest before too long.

Meanwhile, the chard continues to produce enough to pick. Here is what I picked this afternoon and it will be used for dinner.

We arrived home yesterday after being away for a few days. We went to see our football team play in the first of the finals and it was a very disappointing outing as they were thoroughly outplayed. They do have one more chance this weekend. I am hopeful but not confident. Our other engagement was a difficult one as we gathered with many others to farewell a friend who had died much too young after a courageous battle with cancer.

Out of respect for everyone involved there are no photographs.

However, here is a sweet reminder of the joy of little things.

Flowers and Food

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Late autumn is well and truly upon us and in fact the apparent temperature at 7am this morning was -0.3C. This is the first time I have seen it dip below 0C this year. However, it is beautiful and sunny with a forecast maximum of 18C today so it seemed like a good time to head out to the garden and get stuck into some jobs.

First up was planting the sweet peas which I had nurtured from seed. They had been outdoors overnight for the past couple of weeks to acclimatise and harden off before planting.

There was a fish pond in the back garden when we moved here last year. Actually, our first year anniversary in this house was last Friday. Anyway, the fish pond has been dismantled and the area is going to be a herb garden. However, I have seconded a strip at the back for the sweet peas. The main reason is because there is a paling fence with chicken wire on the inside which will be a perfect trellis for the sweet peas.

Next were the lettuce seedlings which had come up self-sown from some plants that went to seed last year. I have about 30 of varying sizes. I will keep some and plan to sell some punnets of lettuce seedlings at the next LETS market.

Last weekend I bought a large pot containing several rhubarb crowns from LETS. I divided them today and added to the single rhubarb plant which I have had for several months. This bed will hopefully become an abundance of rhubarb in time.

Finally, the brassica seedlings seem to be almost doubling in size overnight. I have now covered this bed with fine netting to keep the would-be predators away.

I am happy with what I achieved in a couple of hours this morning and look forward to reaping the rewards of food to eat and beautiful flowers in the coming months.

Getting Growing

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We have reaped the rewards of a few fruit and vegetables that were already planted when we arrived here. Lemons and raspberries have been prolific as well as some beans and chard. I recently harvested the garlic that I had planted early in the winter and we are picking lettuce for summer salads.

In the past few days we have taken some more steps to increase the amount and range of produce that we grow.

This citrus tree was languishing rather sadly in amongst some other plants behind the fish pond. GMan rescued it a few weeks ago and potted it in an old plastic bucket as an interim measure. It seems to be coming good. We believe that it may be a lime tree.

When we were in Melbourne yesterday we bought 4 large green plastic pots for the princely sum of $9 each. So the as yet unidentified citrus is now repotted and placed on the north-facing terrace outside the sewing room.

Another pot now holds a relatively advanced Roma tomato plant which we also bought last week. It is at the other end of the terrace.

Our other purchase was two raised garden beds which we have placed just inside the front fence for the time being. The landscaping at the front may change once the driveway entrance is eventually relocated but we decided that we really needed a bit more growing space now. These have been planted out with zucchini seedlings in one and eggplant in the other.

All of these plantings are in a mix of garden soil and organic compost which we sourced from a local supplier in Castlemaine. We have also topped up the raised beds in the back garden and planted out tomato and basil seedlings.

The remainder of the soil will be used to turn the disused fish pond area into a herb garden. More on that another day.

Garden Update

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It is nearly two weeks since my last post and I could make the excuse that I have been busy but that is not true. I have been well occupied and juggling a few different aspects and I have simply not felt enthused to write. However, I am back with a few blog post ideas buzzing around in my head so I hope there will not be quite such a hiatus in the foreseeable future.

Today I want to show off some of the progress we have made in the garden. As always, it is small steps.

The weather is slightly warmer, or perhaps ‘less cold’ would be a better description. Either way, the bulbs and spring blossom are in full swing.

I did not plant these daffodil bulbs until early June so they were a little later than many of the bulbs around our town which are almost finished. I am enjoying their sunny faces which are just beyond our back terrace.

While much of the blossom around town is ornamental, I am very excited by the flowers on our espaliered nectarine tree. If every one of those becomes fruit……….Yummo, in a few months time. I will keep my fingers crossed.

A couple of months ago we cleared out the remnants of last summer’s crops and I planted some garlic as well as cauliflower and red cabbage seedlings. I hastily covered them with some fine netting to protect them from any bugs.

Yesterday was a glorious spring day bathed in blue skies and sunshine so we spent a few hours out in the garden. The seedlings had grown enough that I really needed to create a better frame for the netting. I sourced some thin metal roads that we had salvaged from an old clothes airer and some irrigation piping that had been left by the previous owners and managed to create the perfect framework for the netting.

Here is a closer look.

Cabbages and garlic.

Cauliflower.

Some flat leaf parsley which GMan salvaged and repotted about a month ago.

Until next time.

Where Did I Go?

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If you were paying careful attention to my last blog post (27th August) you would have noticed that I mentioned that we were about to go away on holidays.

Well, we certainly did and were away for just over 3 weeks before returning home on Sunday. It was a road trip though our home state of Queensland which you can read about on my other blog, Somewhere, Anywhere if you are interested.

There will be plenty of new content coming up soon but meanwhile, here are a couple of images that greeted us upon our return.

We had housesitters staying in our home so that the chickens and gardens would be maintained. Quite aside from the housesitters, the growing conditions must have been simply perfect. This is the haul I picked from the garden on Sunday afternoon.

In December last year we had some Himalayan Ash trees removed. These are classified as an environmental weed in south east Queensland – please refer to the link for details. Naturally, we were keen to revegetate the area as quickly as possibly and have planted a mixed selection of native shrubs and small trees.

It is barely 9 months since these were planted but this callistemon is already putting on a spectacular spring show.

Cold Frame Completed

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Following on from this post.  We retrieved our jigsaw on Tuesday and were able to cut the polycarbonate sheeting for the final step of the cold frame.

Once the pieces of polycarbonate sheeting were cut to size, it was relatively easy to screw them to the timber frame.  The only thing left to do was to fill the post holes and level the ground.

Finished and ready for use.  You may be able to see the tray of basil seedlings near the left-hand end of the structure.

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Another view of the cold frame as part of the wider vegetable garden layout.

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Since our winters are really quite mild, this is really only necessary for overnight protection.  I will need to make sure I open it up everyday or otherwise the basil will be cooked by the end of the week.