March 2nd, Our first Rockmelon

Mia has melons in Bed 4.

The first Delice de la Table Rockmelon is ready, it smells like heaven!  The absolutely brilliant thing about this melon is that there is no guessing about when the melon will be ripe. The skins are green, with dark green spots which gradually fade to light green and then when they are orange, it's eating time!

Actually, it's the 2nd melon, the insects got to the first one before we did. They got to this one too but only just.  Lesson: when it's orange, pick it.

We have about 6 or 7 more of these melons at various stages of ripeness, some are possibly 4 or 5 days off ripe.  Apparantly because of their thick skins, they keep well. I don't think that we will get to find that out, because apparantly they also taste gooooooood.   Tonight, after we cut and eat it, I'll update with a photo of the inside.

Here is an unripe melon...

This one is getting there....

Ahhhhhh

The Minnesota midgets rockmelons are just the cutest, they look like a traditional rockmelon, but they are the size of a baseball.  They don't appear to be ready yet, it's really hard to tell but they didn't pass the sniff test.

The Moon and Stars watermelon plant has grown one melon, it's still a baby at the moment.  The Sugar Baby Melon has grown nothing.

Spring Planting 1-2 November 2010

Finally got around to pulling out all the crap, layering up the beds with peastraw and cowpoo, and planting.  I have missed the mark a bit, planting should have been done at least a month ago, better late than never hey.
I've also sprayed the grass to extend the garden from the current beds 1-4, Herbs, Flowers and T, to add beds 5-7.  I'll also be spraying the grass around the fruit trees, couch really is a nightmare!  Any grass in future will be buffalo, it stops where it is told.

Planting done, all seeds from Diggers unless otherwise specified.  I chose lots of Heirloom mixes because that will give us more interesting discoveries, as well as variety without having to buy one packet of every single variety.

Bed One: Mia and Mum The middle is still compost, but I've chucked last years sawdust paths on it, and soon it will be ready to plant. It's currently inhabited by some kind of weird fly.  Around the edges we planted Bunnings Bok Choi seedlings, Heirloom Carrot Mix, and Heirloom Beetroot Mix seeds.

Bed Two: Connor. Still home to rather an impressive crop of garlic, some onions, leeks and self sown potatoes.  The half that was empty has had a number of Heirloom Zucchini Mix sown, on the basis that by the time they take over the bed, the garlic will be at the point of harvest.

Bed Three: Connor.  Golden Bantam Corn (35 seeds) planted, and 3 Lebanese Mini Muncher Cucumber seeds at the edge.

Bed Four: Mia. 2 of each of the following, Delice de la Table and Minnesota Midget Rockmelon, Moon and Stars and Sugar Baby Watermelon.  Around the edge we planted some Bunnings Iceberg Lettuce seedlings, and a few Bunnings red Petunia seedlings

Bed T(rellis): Mia.  Russian Giant and Yellow Pollenless Sunflowers and some Bunnings red Petunias.

Punnets sown:
Temptation Strawberries, Baby Cos Lettuce, Green Sprouting Brocolli, Evergreen Spring Onion,  Sweet Basil.

Peat Pots sown:
10 pots of Heirloom 5 Colour Mix Tomatoes, 5 pots of Heirloom Mix Eggplant, 5 pots of Heirloom Mix Pumpkin, 5 pots of Decorative Mix Gourds.

Herb Bed: Continental parsley sown
Flower Beds: Cream California Poppies, Ladybird Poppies and Eden Seeds Cosmos Temptation Mix.

Spring has Sprung in the Garden

The herb garden has burst into life, the parsley is going to seed and everything else has taken off.  Except the lemongrass, which did not survive the winter.

This is the only bed that has had action all winter, but again, suddenly it has burst to life, the garlic is huge, onions are growing, we've been harvesting brocolli and lettuce and the brussel sprouts are nearly ready.  Apparantly everything has been asleep over winter, I'll take that as evidence not to bother trying next year, but to plant about July-August in preperation for spring.

This stunning sight is the kale which I never did pick, but it went to seed and burst into beautiful bloom that I have not had the heart to pull up.

So summer is coming and planning for it is to begin in earnest, this weekend we will kill grass and plant seedlings.  In a couple of weeks we will build up existing beds, make new ones and start planting out.  The kids are taking charge of whole garden sections this year and planting what they want.  Should be fun!

Winter 2010

It is SO wet in the garden, and cold, very little is growing.  

The herb garden has parsley going wild, lemon grass dying and pretty much everything else is dormant.

Bed One: Unbelievably the capsicums and chillies have fruited all winter, although the fruit has got smaller as winter has gone on. The enormous plants in the front are beetroot, no idea what they are like under the soil, woody is my guess.

Bed Three: Current compost heap, a couple of self sown garlic plants, some silverbeet, beetroot and stunted celery.

Bed Four, previous compost heap, composting nicely, some overblown kale... pretty flowers though.

Bed Two: The one respectable bed in the garden, broccolli and brussel sprouts, lettuce, garlic, leek and onions.

The lemons were huge and dry, the apricot flowered before we pruned and sprayed it so I don't have high hopes for a good fruiting season.

April/May Garden Update

A couple of weeks ago I went and pulled out the last of the zucchini.
The pumpkins grew four really good sized pumpkins. I don't know the variety, but they are the ones with a high moisture content. Next year I'll try planting something like a butternut that has more solid flesh.  I've pulled the pumpkin plant out now, so we can actually mow around the garden.
Capsicums still producing, as are lettuces, silverbeet, beetroot and the bok choi? is nearly ready.

The celery got overwhelmed by the zucchini (note to self, next year put zucchini in it's own bed!)  But now it seems to be sprouting out the side

The melon is still fruiting, the large one in the picture was rotten inside because I left it too long, after picking the last one too early.   I think it's too cold now for the rest to mature.

Herbs:
The basil is going to seed, everything else is doing well. The mint is taking over the garden, I knew I should have listened to the little voice telling me to put it elsewhere!

Fruit trees:
Something ate the leaves off of the apricot.  The lemon is laden with fruit that is turning yellow.  I've fertilised both.

Seedlings:
Mia and I planted a bunch into punnets.  We left them too long and the slugs and portugese millipedes ate them.  So we dealt with those pests:

And replanted right into the garden:

I'm not so flash at planting seeds, I neeeeeeed a greenhouse or cloche.

So this is what the garden looks like right now:

Basil Harvest

We had heaps, mid April, I picked it and made lots of pesto to freeze. 

Oh dear. Picked too early

It had been munched by damn portugese millipedes a bit on the outside. But they didn't get past the skin. Perhaps that ought to have been a sign that it was not ready for picking.



Still a bit green but the orange bit was tasty. Post From Sandra's iPhone

Rockmelon?

It was hosting a massive number of portugese millipedes underneath, who I'm sure were eyeing it up for dinner.  Well I'm working right now on how to trap the little beasties, meantime I've lifted the melon up off the soil.

-- Post From Sandra's iPhone

Bean Harvest

I've been leaving them too long. They need to be picked before the beans can be seen in the pods, otherwise they are stringy and chewy, and everything that put me off beans as a child.
They are fruiting really well now, probably 10-15 beans a day.

6 March. Other growings.

Two this size!

One mystery fruit

Heaps of ripening peppers

Also...heaps of beans growing, beetroot still doing well. Bok Choy being eaten by caterpillars. Iceberg ok but being swamped by pumpkin. Celery coming along.
Herb garden growing well.



And this... Ok not garden but still pretty. Don't know why it's volcanoesque though.




- Post From Sandra's iPhone