Growing things, in general.

[wayno86]

hey all..

we've got a herb garden on the deck with some sage, coriander, basil, parsley..

fruit and vegie patch in the backyard, corn, tomatoes, strawberries, lemon tree.. more coming soon

I planted a few different varieties of chilli seeds (red savina, chiltepin, jalapenos, thai baby chilli) about 3 weeks ago but nothing has happened yet.. i also have bhut jolokia seeds, but i dont wanna waste em

 

and of course the secret garden under the house

 

[Auntynorm]

G'day Troops.

 

Here's a pic of my herb bed. From L to R, in the big pot, parsley. It grew form last years seed. Sage, in flower, with lemon verbena in front. One of last years chilli, then golden oregano. Then a pink flowering rosemary and some lemon thyme. In the other large pot is the best mint I've ever tried. I got it from my old uncle Ian, who passed away this year, a world champ gardener. In the green house I have another 3 large pots with chives, garlic chives and my latest, coriander. I've gone nuts cooking asian food. I've been eating a lot of asian soups lately, very easy and delicious. And the fat dog, Kelly. I love her.

 

 

I'll post some pics of the vegie garden when things get a bit of a wriggle on down there.

Edited November 7, 2011 by Auntynorm

[aeshai]

advance warning: please forgive my ranting, i'm high

 

so i've improved my nooby gardening skills a little. bought some raised vegie beds and some new seedlings. (too lazy to germinate from seed). i wonder why my weed plants are going so well, but my tomatoes and other attempts just go limp. duh, probly cause they are weeds..

 

norm, your herbs are gorgeous. i'm a designer who likes accuracy and clean lines. it's hard to wrap my head around the plants, just doing what they want in some fascinating but random (to me) way. it also freaks me out! wonder if this is pscychological....

[smashed1]

hi there i got a couple tommatos going in 90 % compost want be useing much ferts , see how they go

 

 

got some bonsia going for a few years , there bodgy im not that good but there fun , need repoting soon !! an a good prune , lost a couple to

 

 

Edited November 7, 2011 by smashed1

[Auntynorm]

G'day Troops.

 

G'day Aeshai.

 

I too like clean lines on things, this is probably from being around boats, most of my working life. A pretty boat always will tug at the heart strings, till the day they cart me away. With the herb plot I've sorta let it run amok, A distorted version of permaculture, the survival of the fittest. The ones that survive seem to do well. By the way the plot faces East. My favourite gardening aspect. Everything that I place in this aspect nearly always gets a good go on, and produces well. It would be good, if I could email the scent from the rosemary and lemon thyme, it is very nice. A friends daughter often raids my herbs and lemon tree as she is a chef at a spa resort at Daylesford. She says they are some of the best she can get hold of, this makes me happy that some other people can enjoy them too. So they are always being pruned and this encourages growth. I've never used any nutes on the bed since I started it about 3 years ago. Then I put some horse manure in the soil, and a handful of lime, and blood and bone.

 

G'day Smasho.

 

Your tomatoes look nice and happy. They should do well. Nothing like a fresh picked, vine ripened tomato. They are always sweet as honey. Mine are only starting to take off a bit, so they have a lot of catching up to do. This weather has been bizzare, hot, cold , wet, dry, humid and everything else about 4 times a day. I like bonsai. Though I don't have any. One day. I love orchids and am just starting to build a collection down here. I had a hell of a lot up north, but gave them away, as I didn't think they would survive down in the cold. But I've found out otherwise, big time.

 

This is my lemon tree, it's chocka and zillions of flowers. I sit, sometimes, on the swing seat and serenade the dog and chooks with my guitar playing and singing. They run away, even Cheryl chook.

 

 

:guitar:

Edited November 8, 2011 by Auntynorm

[smashed1]

hi norm , repoted the lil ones thought i show you's what i use , only use the spoon to get it out , then i just rake out the roots n crap soil , then chop the hanging roots off haha ,

 

fix the pot u[p ready nwith a mound in the middle helps the soil get in the root ball in the middle , then get the nitting needle an push the soil up unmder all roiund fill lil more soil , soak it , done in 8 mins , told ya's im a bodgy .

 

ow got in pic of me tree orcid , pinch'd off the lady behind wen i was doing her lawn couple years ago,, fix'd all them pesky slugs n snails in the green house ,

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2011 by smashed1

[Auntynorm]

G'day Troops.

 

I'm going to use the surplus of lemons I have, to make preserved lemons. I looked up the method of how to make them and it seems quite easy. These I will sell at the local market. I will buy some 1 ltr snap seal jars and away we go. You can flavour them with all sorts of things, so I'm going to use some home grown bird's eye chilli, to add a bit of zing to some of them.

 

G'day Smasho.

 

Yes, I would say you solved the slug and snail problem. The orchid looks like a dendrobium, and Australian native. I can't be sure though.

 

 

:guitar:

[Auntynorm]

G'day Troops.

 

The corn I planted has not germinated anywhere like it should. This may be due to several factors, some being, crook seed, a cold snap we had when everything went bad, bodgy growing skills etc. Whatever the cause, don't matter. I replanted the patch today with fresh seed, in an attempt to have some up soon. I took the first feed of rhubarb to my mum on the weekend from this years growth, it's powering. Both the chooks are not laying now, they must be moulting, I suppose. I'm after a grape vine this week, to plant along the drive, as there is a strip of good soil there. It needs to be turned over a bit, but is full of organic matter. A dose of lime and blood and bone should get things rolling there.

 

:guitar:

[louise]

Corn seed is prone to rotting Norm, especially if it rains between planting and the shoots breaking through the surface. Not too late to replant though, I usually chuck a sheet of tin over the corn bed if it looks like raining after sowing.

 

I decided to have a go at growing a lilac bush as a miniature (bonsai)... six years later my root cutting is starting to look the business with the surface roots at least (nebari) and there are plenty of new bud sites from which to choose secondary branches next spring.

 

It would have been a lot faster to buy a root grafted plant from a nursery but I wanted to do it from scratch. Over the next few years I will wire the primary branches, select secondary branches and soak off the root ball to begin downsizing the pot. Another 14 years and it should be recognisable as a bonsai.

 

[aeshai]

my veggie beds. trying to plant in families, so i can rotate the beds.