Apr 18

Salad Days

We have two raised garden boxes, with some seats attached, near the back of the house. They are very convenient and we normally grow herbs (and currently strawberries) in one box and various greens in the other. However, I cleaned the second box out a while ago and refilled it with some partially composted tree clippings and mulch. The box has been lying dormant for a little while now and I thought it was about time to replant it, but with what? Indecison gripped me like a vice and nothing happened!

Late today, just as it was starting to get a bit dark, I had a rush of blood to the head and went though my store of seeds. I had several packets of different types of lettuce, some mixed basil, rocket, bok choi that were close-to or well-past their best-by dates. Perfect, I thought, let’s put some of those in and re-establish a picking bed of greens close to the house.

 

It was starting to get darker as I grabbed a few things to finsh the job. I quickly dropped the seed packets in the bed and arranged them until I was happy with the layout.

But, how many should I plant? Well, since the seeds were getting a bit old I decided to go for broke and toss in the lot! I can thin them out if they germinate better than expected.

 

Once the decision was made, I just broadcast the seeds in the respective areas without bothering too much to keep them separated. After all, the idea is to grab handfuls of different things to put in the salad (with the exception of the Bok Choi).

 

 

The other thing I had to do was protect the bed from the birds. They love turning over the mulch searching for tasty critters and seedlings. They can easily destroy a newly planted bed in well under an hour. I found some leftover mouse mesh from a previous project in the shed which looked perfect. It only has to provide protection for a few weeks until the plants establish and then it can be rolled back up to be used again for something else. “Waste not, want not”, as my grandma used to say.

 

I don’t know why it took me so long to do such a simple but important job in the garden, but at least it’s done and we’ll be eating some more yummy homegrown salad in a few weeks.

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Apr 15

Where have all the olives gone?

Very disappointed to have virtually no olives this year and the few that are on the trees are being taken by the birds.

We have three trees of different varieties but we have only had one good crop from one of the trees last year. I preserved a lot of those and they were really nice.

This year the crop has been almost non-existent but I’m expecting a good crop on at least two of the trees next year. Many varieties seem to crop well every two years, although the two neighbours’ trees have produced very well for the last few years. Some varieties also take a few years to mature and the youngest tree is just coming into production. Hopefully next year we’ll get another bumper crop.

If you go along Maribynong road in Ascot Vale (not far from the Melbourne show grounds) you will notice that all the street trees are olive trees and they produce copious quantites of fruit, which the locals harvest.

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Apr 12

The Ginger vs the Pot!

I must admit, I love ginger, the smell, the taste and the look, from the tropical like fronds to the deformed looking roots (or hands). In stir fries, in jams, candied, even in chocolate! and of course in Ginger  Beer, it is a fantastic plant.

I had tried to grow it a couple of times with mixed results. So about two years ago, after a friend and I built a large greenhouse, I took the opportunity to take a sprouting piece in the cupboard to try again. I planted the hand in a pot and placed it in greenhouse and away it went. The following season it had grown enough to be repotted into two pots and to have enough to use some in the kitchen. Every so often we would just reach into a pot and retrieve a piece. However, a few weeks ago I noticed that one of the pots seemed to be leaking water everytime I tried to fill it. A closer examination revealed that the roots had grown so much they had split the pot!! Time for repotting methinks.

Here’s a quick photo record of repotting the Ginger. It was repotted into two new pots.

And safely back in its home in the greehouse next to the Avacado. Over winter I think I will consolidate all the ginger into a larger tub to give it more room to expand and so it is a bit easier to manage.

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Apr 12

Inspired!

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Gavin Webber and his family and getting a guided tour around his sustainable house complete with solar power, vegie garden, fruit trees, chooks and much more.

That’s not that remarkable, you might say, there are a few people around who have similar setups. Well that is (sort of) true. What IS remarkable is that they have turned their lives around over a very short period of time and have shown how easy it can be when you have the will and drive to do it.

Gavin is a self confessed “ordinary bloke” who had an epiphany while watching “An Inconvenient Truth”. This set him on the path to reduce his carbon footprint and make changes to his lifestyle to live in a more sustainable and planet friendly way. He and his family have acheived this without compromising their comfort and happiness. More than that, they have been documenting their transition on the very aptly named website,

The Greening of Gavin

It is a fabulous website and recently won the Alternative Technology Association Green blog award plus a few other online awards.

I took the opportunity to interview Gavin for my community radio show “The Good Earth” that airs live on 3WBC community radio on the first saturday of the month.

We had a great time, rambling on and discussing how he and his family have achieved so much in just a few short years. The interview will be aired in May and will be available on The Good Earth as well.

Gavin has fired me up to redouble my efforts just like many poeple who have met him or visited his website. Inspiring!

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon, the tour and the great chat over coffee. I have come away re-invigorated!

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Apr 11

Propagating

Propagating is both fun and cost saving. There are several different propagating techniques including grafting and layering, but the two I mostly use are planting seeds and taking cuttings.

Planting seeds is the most common way many gardeners propagate plants, usually by using commercial varieties of seeds. More and more gardeners are using seed saving techniques to gather the seeds from the plants in their own gardens (or nearby gardens) and use these seeds for next years plantings. There are many benefits of saving seeds including, preserving unusual or heritage plants, developing plants that have been acclimatised to your particular garden and, of course, saving money.

Cuttings are another easy way to propagate plants by taking small pieces of existing plants and placing in a suitable growing medium (usually a good potting mix or seed raising mix but this can vary according to the plant) and letting them develop roots. Once the roots have developed and the plant is growing and healthy you can plant it out in its final position. Depending on the plant you either use softwood (still green and pliable) or hardwood (brown and stiff) cuttings. Some plants, such as grapes, strike very easily and quickly while others may take weeks or months.

Sometimes you will get a very poor strike rate and many of the cuttings will not grow. Don’t let it get to you! Remember, all it cost you was a bit of time. I usually put in lots of cuttings at the same time and then just pick the strongest growing ones, that way you almost always get enough even if something goes wrong.

Shown here are examples of both seedlings and cuttings. The plants on the left are seedlings from a pomegranate in a nearby house that has very sweet fruits. In the centre are a number of grapevine cuttings from some new vines I planted earlier in the year and finally there is another seedling that I think is a custard apple, but I’m not sure. My mistake for not labelling them! Oh well, time will tell. 🙂

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