Replacing murdered seedlings

Sigh....

Well the birds, sun, and snails alike just won't give me a break!

I had to let some go and not even bother with replanting them. The uncharacteristic random boiling days fried a bunch of seedlings and my corn salad. That mache being fried, will leave a hole in my heart. Seriously my FAVOURITE green, the stems are tender and delicious. I love love love it so so much. I will definitely plant a huge crop. It is a magnet for leaf miner, but so is milk thistle so I purposely grow that too (the birds like the flower heads too!). So I did replant some later that I felt would be worth it.

Ok, I replanted the last lot of "Spring" seeds, even though summer is at our door. The last tomatoes and another cotton plant.

I bought lots of ornamentals from bunnings. It was the best fun. I'd love to create terrariums as a job in all seriousness. I did spot green zebra at bunnings, and they didn't lie on the internet when they said they produce the biggest crop. I'm super impressed!!!!

I looked into permiculture recently and I'm excited to work some things into my garden.

I feel this year everything is growing at half speed. I'm super anxious about it too.

Repotted the blueberries, thyme, got a caper bush, ...

I do hope my seedlings make it.

We will get cherries this year for the first time!

my beetroot and greens

my flowers

my beets, white and red, the white might be swiss chard...

spirooli veggies, nothing but the lemon from my garden.

brussel sprouts leaves are perfect for round wraps!

dog loves chroming the southern wormwood and so do i!

my daikon! Flowers and greens (not olives).

my dried stevia for sweetness! It came up after winter! YAY I should repot it thought it hates the sand.

my greens serves with a croquette.

yup, this was a bit ago but still.

daikons, they were all woody :(

Also Green Radish seed pods are edible?!  Spicey! Who knew!?

kale taller than I, only took 2 years!

native stingless bee

my daikon spirooli gluten free "pasta"

I think it looks like a Dr Zeus character! LOL

My entire carrot harvest so far.

I love a fresh cardboard pathway!

lentil bud

 

Yes I take screen cap photos from my instagram. :p I'm lazy, what can i say?!

 only got 2 poppies

 Sorry neighbours, no doubt you'll get borage popping up in your yard! 

 Kale went Ape this season!

This is how i weed.

SPRING HUSTLE

OH the hustle and bustle of spring!


I mad rushed planted seeds, waited a fortnight, realized barely any sprouted, and repeat. I like to plant them early, and also some late, just getting a range of "ages" to extend harvest and ensure germination if the weather is being weird.

Got my tomatoes in, gooseberries...etc

I really hoped to get capsicum this year, didn't happen, so i ran out of seed and gave up!

Birds attacked half of my seedlings and i had to replant!

The best seedling pots is newspaper THROUGH AND THROUGH.

Also I'm over Kale. LESSON LEARNED only 2 max of each kind of kale, you don't even like Kale anyway! (except as "pizza" chips)

 Did some weeding too...some plucking, some digging for this nasty heart shaped leaf rhizome one, and some smothering with cardboard:

I have seen an influx of a native bee here: They love the radish flowers and the cornflower so I may continue to plant cornflower (thought I haven't actively this year). Don't really want to dedicate too much to a plant that has 1 purpose, though it is edible I did NOT enjoy it so instead of being edible and bee attracting it is just one. (petals are tough and has barely any flavour). But it is pretty and my nephew loves it. So I wont pull out the existing one.

LOVED the watermelon radish. Tasted ok. Low calorie and so so pretty! I am trying to seed some, the flower is above, root below.

We are being run by these bunching onions. They are more like spring onions or even chives. A bit hopeless barely a bulb, not even worth it!!! I think I'll pull the lot out, slowly eating them, and then I will have some planted in a sandy area. ATM they are in almost every pot plant and just all over the place, it's excessive and I'd rather plant something else there.

I'm excited for some first time plants:
crimson forest onions, Salad burnet, Summer savoury (less spicy than the winter kind), brahmi, yacon, gooseberries, Oca / New Zealand Yam, strawberry spinach, winged bean (looks not promising), nigella (fail), black salsify, sage, toothache plant, dark opal basil, ...

Repeats: purple king bean, ...

Yummy Greens (non bitter)

Hi!

I harvested 2 watermelon radishes today! (snails took a bite, but still ok!)

Also received the pepino-melon cuttings in the male, i refreshed the cut diagonally at the bottom and put in season water for a few weeks as this makes the most vigorous roots asap and then i'll plant out in a fortnight or so.

So I'm super fussy, I enjoy bland, but delicious foods- and bitter, pungent, peppery greens disgust me and make me feel sick! So i've compiled a list of delicious tasting greens so you don't have to do what i did- and plant things that are actually bitter and you don't want to even eat! Wasting valuable retail space in the small garden!


Light Green Leaves - It's pretty universal for a nice buttery light flavour, seldom bitter (unless the plant has bolted).

Darker leaves - more at risk for bitter flavour


YUM ALWAYS (Unless bolted)
Tom Thumb - Super Buttery lettuce- nice compact shape means you can fit 12 to a shoebox and harvest outer few leaves of each twice a week! *the leaf shape makes for difficult cleaning
Tom Thumb x Baby green oak/Tango - I'm not sure the variety crossbreed i have here, but it's equally nice as tom thumb *The leaf shape makes for difficult cleaning
Mache/Corn salad - Grainy/floury texture, but creamy flavour, very delicious and mild *Can fold when cleaning
Mushroom Plant/ Rungia Klossi - Taste exactly like mushrooms! *delicate and can snap when harsh cleaning

YUM WHEN YOUNG (and not bolted)
Rocket - I pick these when young as the kick hasn't kicked in yet, extremely peppery when mature, a lovely nutty flavour when young! Something with a bit of taste! *pretty tough leaf
Kales- Tend to be palatable only when young- otherwise a salute is in order. Mind you, not the best taste at all, a tolerable bitterness and tender. Like spinach. Very good when very young, otherwise they make great chips. I tried rolling dinosaur kale and it was so fibrous i couldn't chew it despite cooking. May steer clear of those ones. Red russian makes a decent chip. Curly makes a better chip. *stem can snap when washing and repels water.
Spinach - can get bitter when not young, a strong not so pleasant flavour, unless very young.
Broccoli - These are ok when young. They do taste like a kale and broccoli hybrid.
Red Veined Sorrel - These were sour and lemony and already quite fibrous in a bad way on their own, but mixed as a garnish, you can't notice. I will always grow this for garnish alone. The appearance makes any dish look 100x healthier and more appealing! It's a truly strikingly beautiful edible.

YUCK ALWAYS
Nasturtium - Pungent, akin to capers. I hate it- because i hate capers! If you like capers however, tuck in you'll love it. Peppery. The seeds have KICK! *repels water
Black Mustard - I am pretty sure it was this plant that had the most bitter leaves i've ever tried, i had to spit it out- unless it was a rocket leaf. They look very similar.

I'd have to say that my "yum always" and rocket are the greens i'll always grow- i do still grow nasturtiums because my mother is obsessed (I personally HATE HATE it, to me it smells like chook poo if you leave it to wilt in your pocket for a day....).

CARE of YUMS:
Mushroom plant- hates wet feet, being dry, and super hot days. It constantly wilted even in a shady spot. I think a pot, with a water reservoir is how to go with this one. Wasn't the happiest with frost but made it.
Tom Thumb- super easy to care for, ensure you mulch around it or else cleaning will be annoying. I am growing butterhead to get a leave shape i can roll and stuff, and will be easier to clean and just as tasty! (lets see how it goes!) They take to tranplanting REALLY well. Shade may slow bolting.
Mache- Delicious, very slow growing, slow to bolt. Frost hardy. Great plant.
Rocket - Bolts super fast, leaves are so small in a pot, in ground the leaves are huge and thick. We grow a hybrid with radish, so this makes for a stronger kick. Is a shame when it gets bitter however.
Kales- They grow well in the ground, but do wilt when dry.
Sorrel - Super slow to grow, just as well it's a garnish. Otherwise hardy even through frosts.

Getting Ready for Spring!

So I planted my first batch of spring seeds a few days ago as the weather seems to be warmer and the fruit trees are starting to blossom!

Dill
thyme
lettuce leaf basil
sage
walbergia
parcel
yellow stuffed tomatoes
tigerella
black salsify
butter crunch
vulgaris cress (natural dead end crop)
mesclun
grande rapid lettuce
heirloom variety tomatoes
black nightshade
nasturtium (edible flower, whole plant actually)
capsicum heirloom varieties
upland cress
rocket
sunflowers (giant russian)


stupice (good for low sun)
green tigerella tomatoes (big yield)
lucerne sequel (green manure)
crimson forest onions
indigo rose tomatoes
winged beans (entirely edible)
salad burnet (tastes a bit like cucumber apparently.)
yellow and red pear tomatoes
summer savoury (peppery)
snow white tomatoes
pepino (melon pear)

I think I should invest in a patio tomato plant also...



My new batch of seeds arrived in the mail- i think i still have a few more to arrive- and my pepino cuttings!

I emptied out some pots. Harvesting the bolted rocket, and bitter black mustard, and giving up on the basil i attempted to overwinter. One basil DID overwinter, in the tiniest pot. I dunno how but it did! So that will have a head start this year, i will collect seeds from it- perhaps its genetically hardy!(then it died...at the very end!)

I have 1 overwintered capsicum which is only now in late August showing signs of distress- but the hot weather is soon among us! (also dried up in a hidden spot)

I will do a lasagna pot method. Newspaper in the bottom, then layers of egg shells and banana peel mainly and other scraps, and newspaper. Then a handful of worms, and mostly done compost for the top layer. This will hopefully set the tomatoes up- which I intend to plant in there.

I repotted some strawberry runners into a vertical bottle garden also.

Took many hours- but not much to show. All in a days work!

Newspaper Biodegradable Pots - Free and easy!

First get some newspaper and fold in half, rolling along a jar and folding the bottom so it forms a pot. Repeat. Many times.

Then put in a tub, fill with soil and place seeds in. Water with compost tea until you have about 1cm of water remaining at the bottom to ensure seeds wont dry out. You may need to water regularly until the roots reach the water.

Once seedlings are big enough, plant pot and all! you can unfold or rip the bottom and top, as leaving newspaper above the surface can wick out water- drying the plant out. If you want you CAN remove and compost the paper but this is great for plants that hate translating from root shock so that's kind of the purpose to leave it there! So easy and quick and free!

Spring is Near

I have decided to be smart this spring and only plant foods that work well in my garden (read- make a decent harvest) and that I or a family member loves to eat. Here are my lists:

NEW/ YET TO BE PLANTED:
Black Salsify
Summer Savoury
Salad Burnet
Asparagus Winged Pea
lucerne (green manure)
Parcel
Toothache Plant
Tiger Nut (chufa)
crimson forest onion
tomatoes- stupice, snow white, yellow pear, green zebra, ...


SUCESSFUL & REPEAT:
Mouse melon (didn't get any mildew or wilting, lots of produce! Delicious)
Borage (already self seeded)
Vermicompost Tower, (doing very well)
Australian yellow stuffing (or another yellow, like snow white-gotta keep the birds and harlequins away)
Lemon
Basil (will focus on producing more)
Lentil- as a cover crop!
Mushoom Herb (Only a few small harvests, but DELICIOUS)
Grape Leaves (Plenty, yum! but half got a black mould, birds ate grapes)
Southern Wormwood (LOVE the scent and tea, barely making it past winter...)
Parsley (more than we will ever need, but it's lovely!)
Nasturtium (2 plants were not enough! Mother loved it, so did leaf miners, bees had a taste, will plant about 4+ next time, hopefully more colours)
Olive Tree (Plenty for canning!)
Purple Broccoli (last year made half our needs, this year nothing yet despite planting double. Keeping 1 for bee flowers)
Sunchoke (delicious roasted, made a nice amount)
Chinese Celery (HEAPS- too much, good in soups. Might dig up some, seriously too much, but attracts lots of carpet beetles and crab spiders and such beneficial insects like hover flies)
Rocket (Bolted fast, need to keep making resows of it.)

OK I'LL KEEP IT:
Stevia (only if it overwinters, here's hoping!) IT DID!
Olive Plant (leaving it in, it's ok to eat, wont die anyway!)
Apricot (WAY too much! I personally would graft the nectarine to this and heavily prune because too much shade and i'm not even fond of the tart stone fruit it produces but my parents disagree)
Oregano (I'll keep it but i don't remember harvesting it because it seemed wooly)
Pineapple sage (flowers are nice, leaves not so much, will keep because it is thriving)
Compost Heap (didn't break down much but was ok, made for some efficacious dark chunky soil.)

SWAPS:
Roman Chamomile (swapping for some noble chamomile)
Other Kales (Curly, Red russian)- it's just not really worth watering as no one likes the taste, maybe a handful instead of a handful of each kind, I'd rather plant cover crops.

Roots. Turnips (1) (They just don't produce in a pot, i'll try in ground - worked!)

Tom Thumb Lettuce (12 were just enough, delish! and grew well, will try a straight leafed butterhead this time for ease of washing and larger size)

Tigerella (might try get some pale ones because the birds beat us to most of our red ones!- also truss style for more harvest)

FAIL AND 2ND ATTEMPT (COS I WANT TO): 
Strawberry Spinach (heat killed it)
Capsicum (seedlings are now about 1.5 years old by spring, they never died in winter, nor did they take off in spring weirdly enough, stayed 5cm tall for 6+ months, only at 20cm now!)- died at the end of winter, i forgot to water them and they were in a shady spot.
Nigella - still haven't managed to germinate ONE! :(
Dark Opal Basil (1. Colour)
Sweet Max Corn (3 and 3 mini ones - I planted too late)
Sunflowers (only in full sun! and Early! Also gotta keep the harlequins away)
Dill - (I HAVE to because we have a vine and love making dolmades!!!)
Snow Peas (the birds will not let out, they can't grow! :'( so yummy though )
Purple King Bean (didn't fruit much because planted late, but nice and colourful!)
Silver Beet (birds wont stop munching new growth, father likes it in soup)
Tomatoes (many succumbed to blossom end rot. Need one that needs less water, also green-white-orange so birds don't get them)
Mints (only to deter rodents really...and occasional use for fish or beverages)
Strawberry (Now that the mother plant is older it is putting out an outrageous amount of flowers! Hopefully this year is the year! Low pollination rate though)
Boisenberry (Few handfuls, hate it but mother loves it)
Persimmon (2- but it was young)
Nectarine (growing because mother loves it, the fruit is usually inferior)
Fig (1, birds took the rest, also in shade, hopefully this year it reaches above the roof)
Marrow - Just 1 plant. The only cucurbit I will try (other than mouse melon) in a pot with reservoir.
Chives- to flower

WAITING FOR HARVEST:
Mangle Wurtzel 
Hamberg Parsley
Lady Fingers Carrot
White River globe onion
Various root veggies

-----------Not Planting:

NOT WORTH IT: 
Chia (barely survived and made 1tsp seeds)
Pigface
Valerian (I hear it smells like socks)
Amaranth (Not yummy and too much effort/shade inducing)
Perino (WAY too small to warrant watering)
Dinosaur Kale (hate the taste, once they die, no more!)
Cornflower - (they are a nice flower, bees don't care for it, neither do I)
Black Nightshade (they produce but are scary to eat)
Georgia Southern Collard - Basically like eating a broccoli leaf, not really worth the space

NOPE. MADE LITTLE/NO HARVEST DUE TO DISEASE: 
Marrow (1 fruit) - but will plant 1 in a pot with reservoir and treat mildew early
Zucchini (3 fruit)

NOPE, MADE LITTLE/NO HARVEST DUE TO CONDITIONS: 
Rosella (too late, died)
Eggplant (not enough sun or water)
Mimosa (finally grew to a decent size but wet feet and cold weather killed it. Pretty happy to give up on this or use it as a novelty if i can be bothered)
Watermelon (2 out of 3 plants made 1 viable fruit)

Winter Chores Time!

Due to buildings and trees my yard gets ALMOST NO direct sunlight all Winter!!! 

So sad! Maybe 2-3 hours if it's a good place. As a result everything is extremely stunted, half the peas didn't sprout...it's a bit horrible really.

Kale seedlings in biodegradable newspaper cups growing...and time to transplant the last of them!

Brassica Patch

 I added another 2 tight rows in the Kale patch, Brussel Sprouts (red and green)

left to right: Curly Scotch Kale, Red Russian Kale, Green Brussel Sprouts, Red Brussel Sprouts, Purple Early Sprouting Broccoli. And on a separate bed nearby on the right is Georgia Southern Collard, and at the back horizontally is Dino Kale. I also transplanted (white river?) onions, manglewurtzel or mangold, a beet, an amaranth?, and turnip. The carrot and hamburg parsley are just starting to sprout.

I had so many seedlings I had to squeeze in a few out of the neat rows (my garden is volunteers everywhere so I don't mind the mess, I do see it confuses pests if you clump the same plant in multiple areas, they will leave a patch unscathed!), and my dad also stuck two curly kales from before in a random spot in the middle slightly ruining my rows that I made today- so I had to bow the rows slightly to accommodate them instead of moving them. I also had 2 close together when I thought one seedling will die because I snapped the roots or whatever.

Today's harvest

And this is about half of ....no, a quarter of what I could have harvested today. So, I'm still getting a good batch of greens, edible flowers and such which is good, and some lovely root vegetables are well past ready too that I will have to pull asap (and some even have bolted with flowers so I'll eat the flowers instead!)! This portion will last my family over a week, and by next week there will be more to pick too! I have a bunch of hybrid rocket/radish, it grows pink stems, tastes super spicy. Half have started to bolt- no idea why. Some leaves are now bitter- it's like a lucky dip! I'm loving the Mache! But my favourite lettuce is still tom thumb! So buttery. Mache is creamy and slightly gritty, or grainy in texture- but still tender and beautiful, nice and bland. Arugula- BABY arugula is brilliantly flavoured without too much spice. Might need to pull out the rocket in the barrel as it's tall and bolting, but could wait till spring planting.

I tidied up some plants that died off for the winter and re-arranged my pot plants- tossing out a bunch of baby snails, sowed some upland cress, and put out the seedlings that were BEGGING to be repotted/transplanted. Those chores had been waiting for months! The weather combined with my hatred of cold, LIFE, and lots of work prevented me from doing it earlier!

I only have a few chores left to do and some seed saving- I doubt it will take over 3 hours, and then I can rest until the BIG SPRING chore list rolls around!!! I will likely get around to it....next weekend or a weekday if work is quiet.

Remaining Chores by spring:
- repot strawberry runners (in 2Lt bottles, because, why not)
- pull out mints, cut into a controllable size, return to pot.
- plant out 2 remaining red russian kales that I forgot to today
- harvest the mini shallots. Almost all of them, we have way too many it's impractical how they are taking over the place
- ensure repotted parsley is alive, (IT IS!) if not make a new one (need one under cover for when we need parsley but don't want to walk in the rain. I tore this ones roots but it was in the lawn so it was being weedy anyway)
- harvest rocket in veggie patch
- plant peas if it's not too late
- plant alfalfa and lucerne etc green manure, when time comes!
- remove Weedlings (yes, weedlings) in pots
- collect lettuce seeds, thai basil seeds, chia seeds and any other plant that is seeding currently.
- check on cress seedlings -1 germinated so far...
- water mushroom plant thoroughly
- plant a new batch of mixed lettuce and arugula as the rocket has bolted and gone bitter
- trim back the chinese celery to ensure my onion seedlings / brussel won't be choked
- remulch pots with grass clippings as soon as lawn is mowed- as i ran out this time, especially strawberries!
- repot beetroot/ruby chard seedlings (I'm pretty sure they are beetroot but I didn't label them...)
- collect a tray of compost, fill 2 together, and fill another full of food
- spread collected vermi-compost all over veggie patch- once mixing with dry clay = full strength doesn't work well I've found. Or mix in water in a bucket and pour all over the place mixing frequently- give them heaps of newspaper to un-bog their vermi-compost and add "soil wetter" properties
- top up pots with soil after harvest, they have sunken so much they are shading the plants
- net up lettuce and etc
- put lots of worms with chamomile pot
- plant nasturtium in side of blue barrel
- harvest jerusalem artichokes
- harvest sunflower seeds

Lots of volunteer borage popping about all over the place, I can see how if I didn't plant this in pots it would be a weedy issue here. The bees adore borage, so much that I think they ignore everything else, so I feel like I owe them quite a few plants of this, it's the only plant I nibble from the garden. So delish! The bees also loved the broccoli so I'm going to leave a head to continue on all year, I still have last years one but I cut it down to a lower sprout because it was getting too tall and in my way shading stuff.

I learned that plants entirely sheltered from wind REALLY are these weak soft fragile floppy things. It's crazy!!! I read it once but I didn't believe it...All plants are now free from their "mouse cage-turned greenhouse" prison. Hope frost doesn't get them now...I'm anxious to see which plants will overwinter and survive- that would rock my world if they all do! only 1 basil still surviving and 1 capsicum is at the stubs stage, lets see if it springs back in spring (must be why they call it spring!)!

Anyway, that's it for now!