Winter Greens

OK, so remember those wicking garden beds I was putting in.......well, they were great over summer and have been even better over winter. The covers are actually pretty good at keeping the frost out and the warmth in.
 

We have had cut and come again lettuce pretty much all winter.......

 And for the first year I have grown valeriana or corn salad....It is really only getting a kick along now. I think I planted it a bit too late.......

 And this is something new.....miners lettuce. It is really nice to eat and has the same cut and come again characteristics that are so valuable in winter.......
 

Baby spinach has been crisp and sweet. I have just planted some more rows of seeds in the spaces. Its not too late to get a second crop of spinach in the ONC.

 Yummi. What a great selection for my green smoothies and salads each day!



 

and another thing

Two posts in one day. Who woulda thought.......

I grew some fat arse pumpkins down at the community garden this year. Slyly offered the Couragnaut one........then he had to carry it.

Another made it to the St John Vianney Primary School fete for a "guess how much this crazy pumpkin weighs" fund raising competition. That one took two humans to carry.

Another one is basking resplendent and on display in our front garden.  I noticed some little animal has been gnawing on it.....keep going buddy!

The other night over some drinks and a fire the gauntlet was laid down, the challenge was put out there......the Holder Community Garden is having a pumpkin growing competition next year.

Of course I intend to win.


So tell me, is $10 for a single super sized champion blood line pumpkin seed from parents who both topped 500kg too much to pay? 

I didn't think so.

Lacuna Sabbath

 Hooray. Today was a slothful devotional to the Lacuna Sabbath. I did manage to get out of my jammies by noon, but only barely. I did manage to finish a new crocheted beanie in delicious Noro Silk Garden yarn, a scrumptious indulgence.

Anyhoo, I know I have been tardy dear interwebs.........

So now for a quick update. Behold the first Austrian Oil Seed Pumpkin. Now, I am a FAN of the pepita......it is true and I was especially looking forward to seeing inside of this magical beast..........

On the PLUS side, these pepitas are HUGE and DELICIOUS. On the down side, many of them have already germinated........which is a bit weird. Any ideas? I did have the pumpkin showy-offily displayed on the warmth of the kitchen bench for a week or so....perhaps too much warmth?

 Another downer is that this is one TASTELESS pumpkin......but with really tough and bitter skin......the flesh is OK in an insipid overgrown squash hide it in a casserole or curry kind of way, but even me who is a signed up lover of pumpkin skin was pretty keen to steer clear of that yucki bitter stuff..........

Would I grow them again? That depends on whether the other pumpkins from this vine have better pepitas......fingers crossed.

I have discovered the delights and wonderfulness of GREEN SMOOTHIES.  Behold my breakfast, just before it gets whizzed........organic apple, pear and an assortment of greens from the garden. I love this stuff.

I am on the hunt for purslane......I am sure I have seen it growing in the garden and around the traps..... I am on a mission to identify and EAT as much as I can before the first frost........and have purchased some seeds from greenharvest so that if I grow it from scratch, I might better identify the stuff in the wild!

And I am thinking about chemicals. Dieldren to be exact, because I have a sneaky suspicion it is everywhere........Dieldren used to be sprayed around all over the place with gay abandon and strong government endorsement......just like DDT........anyhoo, Dieldren is something I regularly test compost for (mine and others) and let me tell you, even it you didn't put it in, it is there in the finished product, even if it is just a tiny whisper........it turns up in the most unlikely places..........

And if it was sprayed on your farm, or your garden, or your house, it is probably still there. In the soil. 


sheesh. Sometimes its better not to know these things!

Odds and Sods

This is cool. We have our first ever Actinidia Arguta "Issai" hardy (or "grape") kiwi fruit. Don't get too excited. It is really only half an inch long. This little vine had lots of flowers this year, but only one set. It is meant to be self fertile......but who knows. These little vines were available for just a very short time from Diggers a few years ago but I have not seen them since. If the little farm project comes off, I will need to take some cuttings from this little fella over winter, and a few of his friends......

There is a little back log of winter seedlings in the glass house waiting for space to become available down at the community garden. Now that sounds like we have a very productive thing going on down there, but that is not quite true. All that wonderful rain finished up the tomatoes who did not like having wet feet one bit at all. There is lots of cleaning up to do. I have discovered the autopots are super at getting seeds up. 

Here is something I haven't seen before on our Lisbon lemon tree - old and new season lemons all at once. Lisbons I think are good for our cold climate.....they do not really fruit all year, mostly in winter, but this year our lovely tree is proving us wrong. They make a biggish tree, and have big thorns, but it is a real old fashioned lemon on a cold hardy bush. This tree is looking a little yellow. I think I need to give her a big feed and add some Epsom salts for a good shot of magnesium.

Season of the Tomato

Hello world. It is the season of the tomato. It is. I wonder if 21 bottles of tomatoes will be enough.......

Wolf Peach Wednesday

OK, so did Mr Duck get tomatoes for his birthday, well yes he did. Actually we have been eating them all week - just a couple each day......and three this morning. Happy Birthday my Beloved Duck.

Other things are going well too. I am loving the new raised garden beds......my beans are not being eaten by ANYTHING this year.

The basil is happy happy.

Mr Apollo is BIG but still green. He has some friends now.

And here we have a WALL of Wolf Peaches.

And here is a lovely capsicum. Loving the greenhouse.

Here is another happy raised garden bed shot. We are having salads for lunch every day. Yum Yum.

Mr Apollo progress report

 Mr Apollo continues to get bigger. He is looking mighty fine I reckon. Last year I managed to get our first ripe tomato in time for Mr Duck's birthday on the 23rd of November.......I think that was a "swift". Anyhoo, things are tracking well for another first tomato birthday pressie.
 

Closely following are the cherry tomatoes.

 They are trying to make a break for it out the top of the greenhouse. You can see the all important automatic vent. If you are thinking of making a greenhouse purchase, I reckon these are an absolute must and well worth the extra expense.....the little piston is fill of some sort of oil that as it heats up, starts expanding and this forces the vent open. If the temperature drops the vent closes. It is magic. It also provides a nice place for bees and other pollinators to get in and out of the greenhouse. And this is good news for tomatoes which need some bee friend help.

 And here in the autopots are some other bits and pieces. I am really happy how these are going. The plants are thick and strong. I think I have finally cracked the whole greenhouse tomato thing.......(she said hopefully)

In other news, I am using the same VRM XLR8 products on my curcubit seedlings...... using a deep mulch system at the community garden means there are LOTS of slaters and things just itching to munch up anything that is a bit weak or susceptible to fungal problems.....so hopefully the XLR8 Ca will help to toughen them up a little......They look healthy, and seem to cope with direct sun and wind a lot better than other seedlings from past years so I am REALLY HAPPY. I think I might just need to wait until they each have 2 true leaves before putting them out......most have 1, so perhaps just another week or so........what do other folks do?

More on Micronutrients

Following on from my last post, I thought some of the other tomato obsessed folks out there might be interested in this nice link:

Colour pictures of mineral deficiencies in tomatoes





Now I truly rooly believe that healthy soil grows beautiful, healthy, perfect plants and fruits and veggies. Organic does NOT mean blemished and mottled - it may mean irregular and oddly shaped but not unhealthy looking. To me organic means BOLD and OUTRAGEOUS and HEALTHY and STRONG, and BUXOM. Now you can hide health problems with chemicals at least superficially, but the thing I love about organic veggies is that they never lie about the soil they come from. Its the same for caterpillars and other bugs.....if they are munching on your plants...then there is something not quite right with your soil health or your plant health....something is making those plants weak and susceptible to buggies whose sole job is to dismantle diseased or weak plants........unless your plant predator is a duck...they are very discerning and only eat the best, most healthy things........that's for sure.

I realised some time ago that rather than a veggie grower, I am a soil nurturer.....and the rest takes care of its self. My job is to love and nurture and coddle the soil.....and the plants I grow are the ultimate litmus test of what sort of job I am doing.......

Anyhoo, roominations over......

It is a bit early, but I pulled up a garlic just to see how things are progressing....these fellas have another 3 or 4 weeks left to get a bit bigger. Some of them are just starting to scape. I think they are going to be OK.

And here is some oregano drying in the dryer...well, my friend Eileen's dryer. 

Happy tomatoing everybody.

Tomato Mahal 2011

Well, tomatoes, eggplants and capsicums are IN and have survived two nights and a very cold below 4 degree night last night. Behold the Tomato Mahal 2011.  Yes I know, every year there is a new structure. But as we also know, tomatoes are VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS around here. So why the tunnel? Well, the community garden is just on the edge of a frost hollow. So, night time temperatures are always a couple of degrees cooler and that my friends means there is always a risk of frost.......AND, since the bush fires, the garden is exposed to the PARCHING ONCian westerly / north westerly winds. So the tunnels protect  my little babies from the frost and the wind.

I am particularly happy with the seedlings this year. The earlier ones look a bit longer (taller?) than one might like, but that is OK with marties because you can plant them very deep and they will shoot roots from the sides. I think there was a light issue while they were upstairs in the mezzanine level. I have been experimenting with a biological product from VRM the company I do some work for. I LOVE these guys. I LOVE learning about soil biology. It does my head in but I LOVE it. Anyway the product I have been using is called XLR8 Ca (link will download brochure) and it is especially designed to help make calcium available to plants. Which means they are tougher and hardier and stronger and less sappy and less irresistible to the 44578902987 insects pests and diseases that like to pounce on weak seedlings.

And lets face it, pretty much anything bad that happens to tomatoes (blossom end rot, fungus, wilt etc) happens because of problems with calcium deficiency or uptake issues. Well, Calcium and other micro-nutrient issues like Boron. Oh, and except for the strange affliction that suddenly comes upon one's tomato, pumpkin and eggplant seedlings especially when they are outside in the sun "hardening up" for which I think the technical term is "duckus proximinatus". Yep, that is BAD. But only seems to affect the plants on the edge of the benches.......

Now they are all in, I will start using VRMs  XLR8 P for phosphorous uptake, and possibly the nitrogen one as well, to help boost flowering and fruiting.

This poppy thought you might like to admire her........Poppies self sew down at the community garden. We have the most amazing colours. They pop up in the weirdest places but they are lovely. You just have to remember not to weed them all out when they are little.

And here are some vista bella apples. These are a very early variety.

Bragging Rights

Ok, I am trying not to be too smug here.....but here is the first tomato at duck herder central ripening on the vine. 

 Yup. In the glass house we have an apollo and a cherry tomato growing in large pots, sitting in a tray of water so they don't dry out. Being coddled and loved and fertilized and covered and double covered and well, here we are.

On the other side of the glass house we have tomatos slowly replacing auto pots of winter salad greens. The Auto pot system is great - only kind of hydroponics because you can grow the plants in soil rather than a non soil medium.

Meanwhile, the main tomato, eggplant and capsicum seedlings are hardening up outside.

Today is very windy - so they are being extra hardened up!

Just one more shot - of my lovely capsicum seedlings - these are "cherry time" - a small red cap. Everything looks very healthy. Growing veggies from seed is very rewarding. It also teaches you a LOT about soil and plant nutrition and soil biology and balance and health. It is all love.

Ruth Stout is my SUPERHERO

I have an old (1981) gardening book - it is called "Indolent Kitchen Gardening" by Libby Smith. It is all about continual deep mulching. I especially love it because it was written right here for the ONC. How cool is that? 

If you ever see this book in a second hand book shop - BUY IT. And if you are somehow connected to the Australian University Press, then get off your asses and do a reprint. I am just saying.

Anyway, I have a new gardening super hero role model guru goddess. Her name is Ruth Stout. She was born in 1884 I think. She is actually credited in the Indolent Kitchen Gardening book.  I love both of them, but Ruth more, because she was first, and the best, and the most righteous, and because they both managed to get the word "Indolent" into their book titles. I want to be just like Ruth Stout when I am still gardening at 98.

The book of Ruth's I have is called "Gardening Without Work - for the Aging, the Busy and the Indolent". Because I am all three, I believe this book was written just for me. But perhaps it has been written for you too.

Anyway, last week I took possession of 10 bales of lucerne hay and went crazy.  I am going to devote myself to her method down at the community garden for ever more. Amen.

There is a little documentary about Ruth - in two parts. 

Things are happening!

 Firstly, WELCOME Angel Peach flowers. Welcome.

And it is not just the Angel peach - everyone is getting into the act. Here we have the Duck Central orchard - well, part of it anyway. Like I always say, if you want a food forest, you don't need a lot of space, just a lot of trees! Just out of shot is a nectarine, three pears, then two flat peaches, then a peachcot, then another Angel peach, then an apricot, and then Mr Bacon.

  

So how IS Mr Bacon going? Well, lets just say that -8 frost was a little traumatic for him, but he is going to be OK! 

And look - we have wolf peach lift off. Ever since I found out that lycopersicum meant "wolf peach", I love them even more. Actually those front trays are eggplants....but anyway, this year I am growing:

Indeterminate:

• Marzano
• Black Russian
• Black Krim
• Wapsipicon Peach

Determinant:

•  Siberian
• Roma

Plus a few others from the Burkes Backyard winter tomato packet.

On the eggplant scence we have prosperosa and lunga - both from the Italian Gardener.
And in the capsicum department we have little topepo and  cherry time. These are both small, red, sweet ones that only get to about 5 cm.....which might work better in our short summer.

Down at the community garden I have something special - this is an elephant garlic that was given to me by my gardening buddy Anthony. It came from his nanna - Elizabeth Tibbet. She bought it with her when she moved to Australia from England many decades ago, and it has been divided every year and grown continuously since then. And now it is mine too!

Here is the rest of the garlic - this is all Glenlarge.

I like spring.

Lacuna Sabbath

 OK, so I am not just being a sook, back me up fellow ONCians - it was COLD this morning. There was still frost on the ground at 11:00am.


This cold weather makes me crave sweeties! So I hauled out the magic bread maker and knocked out some lovely organic spelt dough to make date & cinnamon scrolls. Mr Duck and I managed to get through quite a few of these today.

Once the sun comes out a nice place to dilly dally is in the glass house. Here are some salad veggies (and some native grass babies for some reason) going along nicely.

I like the autopots because they are an Australian invention - they don't require a pump and the plants can grow in soil or perlite or a combination or whatever. I have had them for a few years now. The reservoir for water/nutrient is actually outside the glass house, on the chook house.

So cute. Widdle lettuces.

And on the other side of the glass house are these little babies - baby sparrow grass. These are a year old. I hoicked them outside in the frost for a few weeks to get them to die back, thinned them out and given half to Sue next door. But back in the glass house they just started shooting again strait away. I think I will let them stay in the broccoli box for another season and plant them out next winter next to my main Sparrow Grass plot down at the community garden. They will be two year old crowns then. Growing asparagus from seed is easy and cheap - you just need some time and a place to keep your broccoli box where you wont let it dry out. These are a french variety. From the Italian Gardener.

Oh, so the raised garden bet project is progressing. I have taken Mr BVVFs advise and am turning this second bed into a PROPER wicking bed. Hopefully.

Here in the top left hand corner is what I hope will be the overflow pipe. The plan is to direct the overflow into the raspberries and golden kiwi fruit, and of course, Sue's plum tree next door.