Garden Share Collective - December 2014

Hello!  So it's the start of December and Summer here in Melbourne and time for another little look around the garden for the Garden Share Collective over on Lizzie's blog.  I haven't joined in for a few months as there was very little going on in the garden except for a whole lot of neglect!  

But during November I have started to reclaim the veggie patch and have planted out some Summer things.

Sticking to Lizzie's format:

Planting : During November I planted zuchinis, capsicums, carrots and lettuces.

Harvesting : We have been eating spinach, rhubarb and broad beans from the garden 

plus herbs and lettuce.

To do : Still need to continue weeding out beds and planting beans, beetroot, tomatoes, sweetcorn, lettuce, cucumbers and pumpkins.  Keep up with watering, it is really starting to dry out around here.

Like a little tour of what's going on in the Littlewoollie backyard?.....

......these are some of the beds I have cleared for summer planting, must get onto planting out now before it get s too late.....

......rhubarb still has good stems on it although starting to look a bit dried out.....

.....capsicums looking good, if small........

...... carrot patch, I am growing baby carrots and the round variety, I liked them for roasting last year. The cages are to stop the chooks and cats scratching this area up, seems to be working, there are a lot of tomato seedlings coming up in here too, I should transplant them and see what we get, I grew lots of different tomatoes here last year.....

.....zucchinis starting to take off....

 .......English spinach has been good, just starting to go to seed now, must try and find the pack of this seed, the leaves are huge and very tender, think I'll grow this again next year......

......this shot and the top one are carrot flowers, I think they are some heirloom varieties, different colours, white and purple I think, so I am letting them go to seed, hopefully I will be able to save my own seed for next year......

..........random potatoes coming up in the garden boxes, they don't seem to mind all the kikuya that is growing there too! .....

.....mandarins, I think they are past their best, probably dry inside.....

.....drying off the broad beans to save seed for next year....

.....and finally my parsley patch going wild, it is lovely and green though so I am leaving it for now...

How is your garden growing, are you eating much from it at the moment?

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Garden Share Collective - September 2014

Hello! 

Well, we are into the second day of September so it is time for another Garden Share Collective post, I missed the August one, so am going to do a garden update even if my vegie patch is not doing much at the moment.  

Springtime is lovely around here, I always forget how many bulbs are in the garden and get a very pleasant surprise when everything starts flowering, we have plenty of jonquils and daffodils, iris and freesia are starting to open, and my pots of hyacinths are looking gorgeous ( sorry no pics of them tonight, I will dedicate a post to them soon I think!). 

I have started a big mulching program for the front garden. 

It feels like I haven't done a lot in the veggie patch recently, but thinking back there is more going on than I realised!  I have started weeding each veggie bed ready for planting Summer things, and have bought some interesting seed to try this year.  (Beetroots and collards)

Kept feeding and watering the broad beans, they are looking good, with lots of flowers.

I have been down to the Community Garden a few times this month, and there is a lot of different veggies  growing down there at the moment, it puts my garden to shame! 

Planting:  I sowed English spinach and snow peas, and planted out golden shallots.

Harvesting: Rhubarb, lettuce, potatoes, spring onions, lemons, limes, mandarins, lots of flowers.

To do : Sow seeds of tomatoes, beans, carrots and lettuce.  

Plant potatoes. 

Prepare an area for sweetcorn. 

Sow sunflowers, zinnias. 

Mulch and weed all the beds ready for tomatoes.

Here are a few snaps from my garden at the moment. 

......someone left the gate open and the chooks had a nice time pecking around the big garden, Franklin watched on from a safe distance........

So how is your garden growing this month?

Garden Share Collective July 2014

Broadbeans doing ok.

Hello.  It's time for this month's garden update.

 I'm joining in with Lizzie over at Strayed from the Table and all the other gardeners who take part in the Garden Share Collective.

This month I have planted snow peas but little else. I have tried to do a bit of weeding as the grasses are growing very quickly, but really have not been very successful.  There are a lot of jobs to do, even though it is Winter.  We are not harvesting much due to my very late planting of everything, just some lettuces ready to eat at the moment.I haven't got much else to say about the garden at the moment, I am finding it all a bit depressing really, very time I look out the window I see so much potential, but there is just so much to do, I tend to procrastinate and do nothing!  And all the seeds I planted in my hot house ended up not growing well at all, they germinated, then just sat as mini plants for ages, I don't think they are going to thrive. Sad and disappointing.

Anyway here is a little visual tour of our garden at the moment:

......some of my veggie beds in the frosty morning light......

.......the huge salvia adds some nice touches of welcome colour to all the winter green.....

.........citrus time........we have mandarins.....

.....limes........

.......and lemons, think I might add a ruby red grapefruit or a blood orange this year.......

.......lettuces are going ok.....

........so is the rhubarb, I actually thought this had died over summer, so am very happy to see it looking so good......

...........the over grown  front garden, I am thinking of just filling this bed with rhubarb as it is quite a lush plant and fills up the space .  There are also about 50 tulips in this bed, I wonder if they will come up again.........

.........I have planted a little row of white lavender along our front path, hoping to feed the bees in summer......

...........even though we are in the middle of Winter there are signs that Spring is not really that far away, bulbs are starting to shoot through the mulch all through the garden, can't wait for all the beautiful flowers to come.........

So once again I say I must get my act together and stop neglecting the garden, I know it could be beautiful and far mote productive if only I put the time and effort in.  Hopefully I'll have lots more to share next month!

How is your garden growing?

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Garden Share Collective - June 2014

....broadbeans, protected from the chooks and rabbits ......

 Hello.

It's the first day of Winter here and time for another garden update, linking up with everyone over at The Garden Share Collective at Lizzie's place.  

Planting: Broad beans, snow peas, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, kale

Harvesting: green capsicums, lettuce, limes, lemons, garlic chives

To do: general garden clean up, lots of weeding!!, plant out rest of seedlings from hothouse, make a cutting garden for spring flowers.

  

.......a few late capsicums are hanging on......

.....I have pulled out all the old tomatoes and have these wire cylinders all over the place, think I will use them to grow peas up.

.....self sown lettuces coming up in the wine barrel garden, love that!

.....the lime tree is producing well, lots of limes for my fav vodka and soda :)

Generally, my garden is feeling quite wild and out of control, the grass is very long and needs a good mow, garden beds are choked with weeds, and last years mulch has broken down and needs replenishing.

I could go on, but I think that is enough to tackle for one person!!

How is your garden growing this month?

Garden Share update April 2014

A rainy morning in the garden....

Hi there! 

It's time for an update of another month of food growing action with 

Lizzie's Garden Share Collective, congratulations to Lizzie and Roy on the safe arrival of their gorgeous daughter!

Harvest:  Ummmm, not a lot out of my garden this month, I'm paying the price for dropping my gardening bundle earlier in the year, there are the last of the tomatoes, a few green capsicums, and some new lettuce but that's about it!  Hoping for better returns later in the year.

....things are looking quite messy in the garden at the moment....

lots of empty spaces waiting for plants.....

.....these finished tomatoes are  ready to go to the chooks....

....last months planting of seedlings starting to take off, might need a liquid feed to get them growing a bit faster....

Planting:

This month I have sown lots of seeds into pots in the hot house, they are just starting to come up now.

I have sown broad beans, 3 different broccoli, chinese cabbage, cabbage, pakchoy, kale, silver beet, Australian Yellow leaf lettuce, a mixed lettuce, cauliflower, and snow peas.

.....here are the snow peas just starting to push through, I like to sow them in punnets and then plant the whole punnet out as a module, kind of like station sowing.  I have a problem with pigeons eating the seed if I direct sow and I find this works really well.

 .....baby broccoli and cabbages....

....these little paper pots can be planted straight into the ground so no transplant shock for these babies.....I used to use these for all my seedlings, but am at the end of my stock of pots so am trying some in plastic pots as well this year.

Things to do in May:  

#Pull out finished tomatoes and prep bed for winter things, probably broad beans .

#Keep feeding and watering the seedlings.

#Plant all flowering bulbs

#Continue garden clean up, weeding and cutting back over grown shrubs

#Direct sow some beetroot, spinach and late carrots.

#Make climbing frames for peas.

How has your garden been growing lately?

Garden Share Collective February 2014

 Hello.

It is time for an update of the food garden for the Garden Share Collective, and how it's coping with the hot weather we have had this Summer.  

Well, it isn't looking great at the moment, I am keeping the water up to things that are looking like they will give a worthwhile crop, but am letting some things tough it out with lesser amounts of water.

Planting: During January I have not really planted anything new at all!

Harvesting: We are harvesting lots of beans at the moment, plus some potatoes that came up in random spots. We have also had lots of zucchini, some coriander before it bolted and the end of the carrots.

To Do During February :I will be trying to keep the tomatoes well watered as they are growing strongly and have quite a few tomatoes forming already ( I planted them quite late this year), also want to keep the pumpkins, beans and melons well watered as they are looking promising too.  I'm also going to keep an eye on the sweetcorn, as it is nearly ready to harvest and I don't want caterpillars to attack.

:I am thinking a sowing of salad greens, beetroot, spring onions and carrots would be good this month, so need to clear a couple of beds that have become weedy.

:I need to give the tomatoes a liquid feed.

:I need to keep on top of the mowing and whipper snipping!

......Pumpkins wilting in the midday sun....

 ....Rattlesnake beans growing well...

 ....sweetcorn nearly ready to pick, Yum!......

 ....my tomatoes are looking good, but no ripe fruit yet.....

 .....much of the garden looks like this Im afraid, too many scorching days.....

 ...... potatoes seem to like this spot though!

How is your garden growing?