Rebekahs Vegie garden

23 Sep '05 8:05 am

that many huh! You will be well fed.

You can email Moosey here by the way.

23 Sep '05 12:34 pm

Thanks Bex. I have already sent Moosey an Email.

Well the weeding got off to a good start this morning until the southerly wind ripped through so I packed it in for a few hours before returning.
'Nettle Valley' isn't quite as big as it was and thankfully I only got stung a few times.

Its amazing - there are plants growing between the weeds Laughing

7 Oct '05 8:37 pm

I pulled out my mature redishes (red robin) yesterday and gave half away to 2 ex co-workers. Both of them couldn't believe how large they were, and asked what/how I grew them so big so quickly.

I also thinned out my baby mesclun mix seedlings too and gave some away.
I picked some leaves tonight and made a sandwich along with the radish ... mmm....

8 Oct '05 8:20 pm

It was pouring down cats and dogs here this morning, and being my last day rostered off before another 10 days hard underpaid slog, I decided to make the most of the weather and rug up for a soggy/muddy morning out in the garden.

I weeded the stinging nettle froest and discovered some betroot was actually growing under it, however the beets were rather patchy.

My carrots dont seem to be doing well. I think the soil is holding too much moisture - mainly I think because I have my seeds in too early before the hot NW winds.

I pulled out the remains of my winter crop that my crook hens cleaned up.
My hens gave me a helping hand to "grub" the soil while I was turning it.
I then booted them out and watered the soil, leveled it out and put out my packets of tomato seeds with tags and started planting them all.

I got my red silverbeet and strawberry spinach seedlings planted out, and put my 2 artichoke seedlings outside too.
I'm not sure about this artichoke stuff. I've never grown it before but have plenty more seeds left to try again with. The 2 plants I put out to me dont seem 'healthy' and hearty enough, but they have been deprived several times of water while in their trays so thats the likely cause for them unhealthy look.

I tried planting some salasfy seeds outside, and put some fennel in the glasshosue just to test the waters. Both vegetables I've not tried growing before.

21 Oct '05 8:28 pm

I was in the garden this afternoon and grabbed these pictures:

Buttercrunch lettuce

Row of newly planted onions

Red Silverbeet

Strawberry Spinach

Big clump of Parsley

An Early Purple Kohlrabi bulb forming

Row of beetroot

21 Oct '05 9:07 pm

The last of the pictures:

My peas are flowering

Strawberries are flowering too

25 Nov '05 7:17 am

The garden is finally springing to life.

My mesclun mix went to seed quick, so thats been dealt to.

We've managed to have a couple meals off the peas already.

Strawberries are fruiting madly, and they're sooooo juicy and sweet. I wouldn't have expected that since they're planted in sand.

My strawberry spinach and silverbeet are quite small. They are planted in the new garden that was dug up in winter. The whole plant in general looks like a dwarf so I'm not too sure what to do with that yet. Might need some nitrogen I suspect?

Potatoes are nearly ready to go to flower so they'll be dug up soon and I'll put in another crop before it gets too late.

My pumpkins and zucchinis have their leaders out now which is great.

Not sure what the story is with my garlic yet. I'll dig one up later and see what is going on there.

My corn and beans that I planted out are sprouting, but I think I let the beans get too dry and their tops died off. I had the same problem last year in another part of the garden.

Tomatoes are flowering at last wohoo. I planted some seeds a little while ago direct into the soil and they're up a few inches now. They'll be late producers.

The beetroot is going to seed so they're ready to be dug out and bottled.

28 Nov '05 6:54 am

Go Rebekah! Very Happy

My garden has been late in starting this year due to other happenings so it really great to look at the pics of yours Wink

Are you planning any of the melons or peppers?

28 Nov '05 7:15 pm

I have seen some Sugar Baby(?) Watermelon seedlings in the local shops but I never had much success with them last year (although I hardly tried. I did a late transplant and they got shock and curled their toes up). I think it might be a bit late to get them started but will give them a go. I'll have a look around in the shop tomorrow and see what they have.

I've got 5 bell peppers in - brought plants. For some reason I've never had real success at getting seeds to strike - irrespective of how warm it is or at what time of the season... they just never do well for me. If they do strike, they get to around 3cm tall and stop growing!

I planted more beans and corn seeds the other day. I'm late at planting seeds out but if we have this massive drought thats been talked of, I think my growing season (fingers crossed) will be extended so I'll have more chance at getting my crop.

6 Dec '05 11:13 am

Nothing beats home grown vegetables!

My tomatoes dont seem to be doing too grand this season. I think its got a lot to do with the ground temperature since we've not had the hot consistant dry days to keep the soil warm.
My tallest tomato would be 50cm tall with little green tomatoes on it (needs to be strung up).
The tomatoe seeds I put in the ground - some struck and most didnt. Again, I think its due to the lack of warmth in the soil. So this morning I threw in more seeds (yes, late I know!) to see if things would do better now.

I planted out my Atlantic pumpkin seedlings this morning. They'd been sitting in their tray for too long and got a bit yellow and dry, so I left them soaking over night and planted out in moist rotting straw.
I also planted butternut, golden hubbard, kumi kumi, and queensland blue pumpkin seeds in the glasshouse. When they are a few weeks old I'll plant them out in their final reesting place.

I pulled out some carrots this morning. I'm leaving some in to collect seed from and use again next year, or if possible I'll get another crop in this season.