Autumn 2010
A misguided effort to grow trees in raised beds with veggies around them. Trees planted too late and not tended properly, and only a halfhearted effort to look after veg. But some welcome successes: parsley, basil, lettuce, rocket and golden shallots in one bed. Eggplants in another bed, protected from animals that destroyed last year's crop just as the eggplant recipes were getting looked over in excited anticipation. And oriental shallots and mixed herbs in another bed. From these, rocket seeds were harvested (coals to Newcastle - seeds remain in a paper bag, while selfsown rocket is filling that bed and much of the ground around it!) and shallot bulbs separated and kept aside for replanting.
Autumn harvest, clockwise from top: basil and parsley, eggplant, shallots, mixed perennial herbs.
July 2010
Currently picking: silver beet, rocket, parsley, various herbs
Currently growing: broccoli, shallots, globe artichokes (2nd season)
Seedlings planted: savoy cabbage seedlings
Seeds sprouted: broad beans from (saved) seed
Problems being monitored:
- slugs on broccoli - beer in saucer attracted and drowned one. The rest (teetotallers?) were discovered lurking in a huddle under the lovely straw mulch. Now dead.
- caterpillers on broccoli - now derris dusted
New veg garden layout is being designed, and basic outline and position has just been marked. Will be based around five beds radiating out within a 7m-diameter circle, partially bounded by a curved path 80cm path, the whole thing bounded by a taller windproofing fence to the south and a lower windproofing fence with mesh for climbers around outer, northern side. Will investigate trees to potentially provide shelter and part shade, but in the meantime will have a structure built to support shade cloth as needed.
August 2010
Currently picking: broccoli, silver beet, rocket, parsley, various herbs
Currently growing: broad beans, shallots, globe artichokes (2nd season)
Seedlings planted: red cabbage, leeks, savoy cabbage
Seeds sprouted: self-sown rocket
Problems being monitored:
Slugs on brassicas (pick off, or if becomes severe again may need to use derris dust)- Frost (may need to protect potatoes once sprouted)
- Water penetration (rainfall steady, but existing straw mulch was adjusted as it seemed too deep in some areas, being a barrier to rain penetration)
- Broccoli heads smaller than last year, Could consider whether due to variety (can't recall! just 'broccoli' from nursery), conditions (rainfall only?) or crop rotation (following nitrogen-fixing peas, perhaps promoting leaf growth over head formation) - however, is a continual picking variety, so still happy enough with likely crop.
Other cultivation notes:
Seasol seaweed solution used to aid strength of new plants and growth of existing ones. - Companion planting principles observed when filling beds, eg leeks with rocket/parsley/silverbeet but not with broadbeans.
- Crop rotation principles observed where practical, eg silverbeets followed nitrogen-fixing broad beans
broccoli (top) and globe artichokes (bottom) growing well in veg patch, though only 4 of last year's 6 artichokes have resprouted, and some broccoli plants were initially lost to slugs.
Diggers order sent off 18/8. For the veg garden (and it's protective surrounds) there's:
- Chinese quince
- Persimmon fuyu
- Avocado Bacon
- Japanese climbing cucumber seeds
- Diggers prizewinner pumpkin seeds
- Diggers sunshine sunflower seeds
- Ecofungicide
- Companion planting chart
September 2010
Currently picking: broccoli, silver beet, rocket, parsley, various herbs
Currently growing: broad beans, shallots, globe artichokes (2nd season), red cabbage, leeks, savoy cabbage
Broccoli is giving steady harvest of new shoots after initial small, loose heads. So that first disappointment is more than made up for by subsequent harvesting. Surely they're almost over?
The biggest challenge at the moment is to not start planting more - the plan being to redesign and rebuild beds.
10 September
After recent rains, rocket is going nuts! Note appeal to bees.
Herbs are flourishing. Mint flourishing too well! As the runners moving in on the chives and oregano below attest. But as this bed is going to be unmade, there's no real worry about that. Instead, I need to start moving herbs to pots and/or to new positions.
And the other discovery: the nashi is still alive! Not that it looks terribly healthy. Or is growing where I would now want it. But looks like I'll need to factor a nashi relocation into new veg bed plans.
Borage seeds from Diggers and saved Oriental shallot seeds from last year have been planted around the edge of those beds (will see how they go, as I don't usually have much success - or take much care - growing from seed). If they grow, the shallots, being members of the garlic family, should provide a bit of a deterrent to aphids, and the borage will hopefully grow high and moderate the west sun a little.
October 2010
Help! I seem to have stuffed up and deleted this page and the version I've managed to recover is not up to date. Sigh. Take deep breath. Thank god for veggies that just keep growing regardless! And for photos.
And the other discovery: the nashi is still alive! Not that it looks terribly healthy. Or is growing where I would now want it. But looks like I'll need to factor a nashi relocation into new veg bed plans.Chris has been busy creating corrie surrounds for the two to-be-espaliered apple trees (a Jonathan and a Pink Lady) and these have been filled with a mix of the bought-in soil and mushroom compost. The corrie is resting on a small trench filled with scoria for drainage, with a couple of scoria-filled 'outlets' leading away from it.
Borage seeds from Diggers and saved Oriental shallot seeds from last year have been planted around the edge of those beds (will see how they go, as I don't usually have much success - or take much care - growing from seed). If they grow, the shallots, being members of the garlic family, should provide a bit of a deterrent to aphids, and the borage will hopefully grow high and moderate the west sun a little.
Will have a go starting some herbs at the base of these 'planters' to complement the lemon thyme and prostrate rosemary that have survived OK here over last few years, despite being overrun at times by weeds (especially oxalis) and periodically eaten back by rabbits. Being lazy, have started by trying a few runners of mint pushed into about two inches of the composty soil laid over some newspaper (to try and suppress the weeds/grass below). This is towards the south/back, where water is expected to drain. Facing north and west, would like to use herbs that make spring growth after dying back in winter, so that early spring sun can reach these planters, with lusher growth by summer and autumn to shade them. Based on the habit of existing plants in the herb 'garden', sage and lemon balm seem the likeliest.
October 2010
Help! I seem to have stuffed up and deleted this page and the version I've managed to recover is not up to date. Sigh. Take deep breath. Thank god for veggies that just keep growing regardless! And for photos.
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| veg beds looking up slope, mint and other herbs (front), cabbage, broccoli, shallots (middle left), silver beet (middle right), broad beans (second from back), parsley, rocket, leeks, cabbages (back) |
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| Here's the new curcurbit bed taking shape. Exposed position should be OK, particularly as the roos and rabbits in the past have avoided these plants. Plan is for ground-spreading pumpkins to fill space below line, and cucumbers to be given a frame up the slope behind. Not sure where that leaves zucchini, but I couldn't help adding some! |
November 2010
Currently picking: silver beet (on the way out), globe artichokes, broad beans, savoy cabbage, parsley, various herbs (chives)
Currently growing: shallots, red cabbage, leeks, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, cucumber, herbs, borage
Seedlings planted: savoy cabbage
Seeds planted: climbing beans (have given up hopes of them sprouting)
Problems being monitored:
- broad beans knocked about in recent storms, and some blackening of small pods and holeyness in leaves
- holes in cabbage leaves, but not significant given how big cabbages are now, so not worrying
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| the happy gardener surrounded by flourishing artichokes and broad beans |
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| new herb beds with benefit of rain, showing transplanted herbs doing well, lemon balm, sage and mint (l-r) around base of corrie, and chives inside it |
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| three of the four established beds, with (l-r) broad beans, silver beet, and cabbages peaking |
and the fourth bed with overgrown parsley and rocket removed, existing leeks and cabbages exposed, and new lettuce seedlings and beans seeds planted (these over the carcass of the rabbit killed by Bella!) |
Finished/removed: silver beet, parsley
Currently picking: globe artichokes, broad beans, savoy cabbage, red cabbage, cos lettuce, various herbs (chives)
Currently growing: shallots, leeks, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, cucumber, coral/mignonette lettuce, herbs, borage
Seedlings planted: savoy cabbage, bush beans, watermelon, chillis
Seeds sprouted: radish
Problems being monitored: cabbage moth caterpillars on cabbages, insect (caterpillar?) damage eating at chilli leaves
Lettuces coming along in Bed 6.
Cabbages flourishing in Bed 3- overflowing their bed. Ready for first to be picked.
Picking broad beans (most of them in Bed 4, but these pictured are from the orchard).January 2011
Finished/removed: broad beans, artichokes
Seed harvested: broad beans
Currently picking: savoy cabbage, red cabbage, cos lettuce, zucchini, rocket, shallotsCurrently growing: leeks, coral/mignonette lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, radishes, chillis
Seedlings planted: endive, silver beet
Seedlings failing/failed: bush beans, watermelon, some cucumber
Problems being monitored: watering/shading for extreme heat days
Surveying the veg beds, which are now much more extensive, they now include:
Six circular beds in main area, between clothesline and tank/shed, boundered at far side by artichoke 'hedge' and numbered from front left, including ...
... at front, Bed 1 to be converted from herbs and Bed 2 for veg ...
... behind that Beds 3 and 4 ...
Bed 4 newly replanted with cucumber, endive and silver beet after pulling broad beans... and behind that, at back corner of veg area, beds 5 and 6 ...
Bed 6 beside tank, currently including savoy cabbages, leeks, cos lettuce, chilli seedlings, and rocket (in flower)
... moving round back of area to cucurbit bed under rear of clothes line ...
looking back from west to east, this shows the western end of the bed, with flourishing zucchini in flower and starting to fruit, and pumpking starting to creep under the clothes line beyond... mixed herb, greens and low-growing veg bed on house side of clothesline bordering its access path ...
shown here is a portion of the circular planting of mixed green/purple mignonetter lettuces with seedgrown radishes... and herb bed at front east corner, closest to house, backing onto the lattice with espaliered apples that separates veg area from 'backyard'.
Two views of new herb bed, now flourishing. Picture below shows effectiveness of borage to create a sun-softening screen in front of the espaliered apple, and shade against corrie planter surround provided by bushy perennial herbs including lemon balm and sage. Taller growing herbs dill and bay have also been planted here.
April 2011
Finished/removed: artichokes, cabbages, early lettuces, broad beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, eggplants, shallots, potatoes
Currently picking: herbs, including new parsley; lettuces (last of second plantings); radishes, both red and white; tomatoes, roma, grape, and others; silver beet (new plantings); leeds; chilis (several kinds); zucchini (several kinds); endive
Currently growing: broccoli, new red cabbages, chinese cabbages, new leeks. rocket (selfsown)
Currently growing: broccoli, new red cabbages, chinese cabbages, new leeks. rocket (selfsown)
Overview of veg area in early autum, including herbs beds at left, cucurbits around clothes line, and some of the raised circular beds behind wind-protection fence are visible at left.
An autumn of picking, picking and more picking. Things now winding down, and admittedly a somewhat halfhearted attempt to establish next lot of crops, given we won't be around past July. Some things not so successful, others exceeded all hopes, but together showed the wisdom of repeat and varied plantings. Slugs and later cabbage moths were rampant - efforts to control them a bit desultory, as general abundance encouraged a live and let live approach. Keep recalling Jamie Oliver's organic cabbage grower, who explains that he 'shares' his produce! In particular ...
Little joy from pumpkins and cucumbers - many seedlings didn't establish, and crop was small on those plants that survived. Used Lisa's trick of nursery trays to hold developing pumpkins off the ground, with success.Not bad from zucchini - grew several different varieties, and got to know the patterns and benefits of each (need to check labels to record findings properly). Not huge crops - and some zucchini fed the slugs before I got to them - but the positive side was that pickings kept good pace with the family's ability and willingness to eat them. No more the horror 'Summer of the Zucchini Glut' that still has Chris and Lydia groaning!
Lettuces - red coral lettuces consistently grew slowly, small, and shot early. But others from mixed punnets did well, and endive was almost too healthy (need to explore recipes for using curly endive).
Before and after rain: Bed 4 with silver beet, endive, leeks and cucumber a few weeks apart (and as new seedlings earlier on page)
Beans and peas - whatever I tried didn't work. At best one or two plants survived.
Eggplant/tomatoes - in round bed, did OK but a lot of bugs got into them, and fruit often collapsed before it could be picked - by picking select unaffected fruit early and ripening on windowsill, still got some decent produce. Didn't try too hard to 'fix' problems here, because ...
Tomatoes at back - nurtured along in this fairly exposed spot while seedlings - kept up watering and mulching and weed removal. Rewarded with three productive plants - one a bit troubled with blossom-end rot and bugs, and not so large or productive, but two others - a grape tomato and another (need to check, pretty heartshaped fruits for the main) - did amazingly. Whole family got used to snacking on handfuls of fresh picked grape tomatoes, and they're still going. Sweet as ...
Chillis - not all plants survived, but those that did kicked along and have good yields of jalapenos and hot thin chillis.
Radishes - grew really well from seed, both red long radishes and white radishes.
Cabbages - attracted caterpillars and cabbage moth, but kept growing and still gave usable leaves. Broccoli - seedlings planted too early - got the brunt of cabbage moths - and a bit smothered by some silver beets - and later zucchini - in the same bed.
Herbs - doing well and continuing to expand - vietnamese mint and lemon grass (now much bigger than in this photo) have been added.
2011/2012 Maintenance
Apart from herb beds, this area is mainly annual veg, so there is not much maintenance but attention to veg plantings can be timeconsuming depending on what's growing.
Current circular veg beds include silverbeet (pkcing, still growing), broad beans (recently planted), and cabbage, leeks and rocket growing. These beds would benefit from a green manure crop (clover, broad beans etc) being planted at some point and dug in, as well as attention to crop rotation and companion planting.
Raised bed behind clothes line is not currently planted. Due to problems with invasive weeds (oxalis and grass runners) this bed should probably be sheet mulched before replanting, and is best for fairly vigorous plants. They need to be low-growing so as to not interfere with laundry on line. Zucchinis and pumpkins were ideal in this bed previously. Adding edging to the bed could inhibit the invaders a little too. This bed was initially built up with compost from the tumbler, and more could be added.
The apples at edge of this area are being espaliered. Winter pruning/tying has just been done. Keep an eye on new branches developing and prune out any that don't follow the establishing pattern, and tie any that do to the trellis. The apples are (left) a Jonathan and (right) a Pink Lady. The apples are underplanted with some daffodils as well as chives, and borage has self-seeded from previous year. It's fine to retain these. Borage can be cut when stems get too tall or straggly, and are excellent added to compost tumbler. Weekly watering during growing season should be enough unless drying out during extra warm weather. Can fertilise with diluted worm-farm liquid.
The herbs beside main path are perennials (Vietnamese mint, oregano, marjoram, bay, sage, lemon balm, chives, thyme, lemon thyme) except for parsley and lots of selfsown borage. Regular picking for use is good as pruning! Straggly stems can be cut back as they die off, espcially on sage and lemon balm. Some snowdrops and jonquils are growing throughout these beds - fine to retain.
Second herb bed is mainly pennyroyal, spearmint and mint. Keep an eye on these spreading beyond this area, though the concrete paths should stop them getting out of hand. If mints can be kept from spreading back towards trellis, that area could be used for annual veg as well.
Grass and weeds growing around veg beds are generally left, but can be cut back (I use shears - no room for a mower) in summer if out of hand or drying and becoming a fire hazard. Grass and weeds can go in compost or on veg beds as mulch. Lemon balm and rocket have both selfseeded in this area between beds, which is fine. Watch for mint spreading into this area and pull it out.
Artichokes are starting to regrow - cut back at end of season when drying off, but leave undisturbed in ground to regrow another year.
The three fruit trees around edge, inside windbarrier, are (from house end), a quince, persimmon and avocado. In spring, pull grass/weeds around their planting mounds, and use composting mulch to stifle too much weed/grass growth through the growing season. Water as needed, direct into mounds using the plant tubes to get water below mulch. Keep an eye out for any animal damage (none has occured so far) in case these plants need mesh guards put around them. No need to prune these at this point. Note that the avocado is struggling to grow in our conditions - it could be covered for protection if harsh frosts are expected.
In a heatwave (especially if not able to water), it can be shaded using the large piece of shadecloth provided (recycled pool cover), which can be draped over fence and stakes. Water beds as needed (when plants show stress and/or soil dry below surface. Mulch with pea straw, grass clippings, compost or other organic material - ideally a mixture or varying layers. Can be fertilised with dilute worm-farm liquid.
