Lightening's Garden

Change of Appearance

2009-11-19T11:12:00.002+10:30

You may have noticed I have changed my blog theme here. The personalised one I had was lovely but was too hard for me to tweak and I was concerned about the slow loading time.

If you're reading this in a reader, I'd love you to stop by and take a look and let me know what you think.

Does this one load quicker or are people still having trouble?

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

2009-11-12T08:44:00.001+10:30

I seem to be having so much trouble with bugs in my garden. :(

Firstly, SLATERS!!!

I have even resorted to poison (which I hate!) and that hasn't seemed to have culled the growth cycle of these horrible things. They chew threw everything!!! I had no idea slaters could be a problem in the garden but they definitely are!!!! I keep finding them intertwined in the roots of my plants that's roots are being chewed. Not unless they are feeding on whatever it is that's eating the plants.

Anything I plant is getting munched to death by something. Even the parsley I planted

I tried transplanting some strawberry plants and they all died.

*SIGH*

I'm kinda ready to give up. Don't think I'm going to have much of a summer garden this year. :(

Summer Planting

2009-10-19T22:16:00.002+10:30

I finally got around to some summer planting today. My garden is going to be a little late this year with having been away. I haven't even had a chance to buy some seedlings to plant yet.

Other than a 50c parsley plant I purchased at the school festival. My parsley all died (hard to keep potted plants alive when you're away for 3 months).

While I was out in the garden, I transplanted a few strawberry plants and threw a few seeds in the ground, hoping for the best.

I planted:

* butternut pumpkins
* cucumbers
* zucchini
* beans

Plus I'm attempting to grow some tomato seeds in the window sill (not confident we'll get far).

I still plan to purchase some seedlings but figured it was worth making a start.

Now just keeping my fingers crossed some of them grow.

Last year I had that much trouble with slaters eating my seedlings. I'm hoping I don't have the same trouble this year but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And the ground is surprisingly dry for how much rain we had. Not a good sign.

Strawberries Galore

2009-09-12T10:01:00.002+09:30

Image via Wikipedia

Is there an abundance of strawberries around this year? Because everywhere we go we're finding Strawberries being sold cheaper and cheaper. Yesterday I saw 4 punnets for $2!!!! I've NEVER seen them that cheap!!!! We're almost at the point now where we can hardly keep up with eating them!!!!

I think this trip may well go down as the "strawberry trip". :)

Strawberry Farming

2009-08-28T19:13:00.005+09:30

I've always wanted to visit a strawberry farm and pick my own strawberries. All those rows and rows of strawberries are enough to make your mouth water!!!! So, now that we're visiting the sunshine coast, we've had a chance to visit a strawberry farm and pick our own strawberries. I'm so jealous though! Wish I could grow strawberries like this:

We noticed that the farm was using some kind of wrapped soil to grow the strawberries in. It keeps the strawberries clean but I'm guessing it also helps to keep the soil moist? Perhaps we'll try that. I guess our extreme temperatures don't help either.

Mmmm.....there is nothing like strawberries still warm from the plant:

The Lightening Plant

2009-07-26T16:10:00.003+09:30

I have seen this plant growing many places from the Whitsundays and above:

I have no idea what it's called but I've nicknamed it "The Lightening Plant" because it's PINK!!!!

How awesome would it be if I could grow this in my garden back home. I must ask someone what it is. Anyone know?

It's so pretty, isn't it? :)

Preparing the Garden For Rest

2009-06-29T09:06:00.006+09:30

Last week I finally got around to pulling up the remnants of the summer garden and spreading a nice thick layer of pea straw mulch over my beds so that they can have a nice little little rest while we're away. Hopefully, the straw will compost down and leave me with a lovely bed that's ready to produce well for the next summer garden I plant.

In the meantime, my compost bin is overflowing. I suck at making compost but I chucked it all in there anyway (yeah, I suck because I don't do the whole "layering" thing quite right) in the hopes that it'll break down over time (it has to eventually, right????).

Kev's Patch

2009-06-21T19:25:00.003+09:30

Bloggers around Australia are calling for the Prime Minister to start his own vegie garden. This has come about after much publicity about the Obama's planting a garden at the White House. Apparently the Queen has followed suit.

The things is, if he starts a vegie garden now, does he simply look like a "copy-cat". It would have been great if he'd started the big world "vegie patch" revolution. That ship has kind of sailed now though hasn't it?

Not that I think the idea of the PM starting a vegie patch is a bad one. Just that it shouldn't be for a political stunt. Not to mention the fact that he'd likely have to PAY to have it done.

Instead, why not put some of that cash he's been throwing around into a program that encourages home gardening? Perhaps a basic gardening course that gives all participants some free seeds/seedlings and other suppliesnto get started on their own garden?

There's no doubt that the home garden is making a comeback. I'm sure there are "political points" to be made in this area. I'm just not sure the PM growing his own garden will make that much difference.

Then again, I could be wrong.

What do you think?

* Image courtesy of Kev's Patch Blog

Final Pickings

2009-06-10T17:26:00.002+09:30

I've picked the last of my tomatoes. They're starting to be a bit soft because of the cold but are still quite tasty. I am absolutely ASTOUNDED to be picking tomatoes in JUNE!!!! Awesome!!!! We've had about 6 months worth of pickings from 1 planting of tomatoes. I can't really plant any earlier due to late frosts and it would seem from this year's experience that there isn't a lot of point in planting any later plants.

I did plant 2 varieties this year (okay, technically last year when I planted them but you know what I mean) but I think the Mighty Red did a lot better than the other variety (the name of which escapes me right now) so I think I'll try them again next summer.

The single zucchini plant I planted late has produced well and finally come to a halt.

I'm still picking lettuce and will continue to do so until I get around to mulching the garden before we go away (which I'd better hurry up and do given we leave in 3 weeks).

I'm going to miss the little surprises my garden brings me while we're away. :)

Self Sufficiency On a Plate

2009-05-19T17:09:00.003+09:30

I mentioned that the other night we were eating almost all food that we'd grown ourselves.

Here's a photograph of my plate:

Pumpkin, lettuce and tomato from the garden. Egg from our chooks and lamb chops from our own sheep. I did take the carrot off the plate for the photograph - it wasn't home grown (but was still yummy).

While this is still the exception rather than the norm, I was rather pleased with myself. :) It's all a step in the right direction and has me all enthused to get stuck into expanding the garden when we get back from our big trip.

Saved By The Garden

2009-05-16T17:09:00.003+09:30

There isn't all that much left of our summer garden and yet the dying plants are still valiantly producing fruit.

It seems to be slim pickings and high prices in the stores at the moment too. :(

So, I've been particularly thankful for the garden in the past few days. It's so handy being able to grab a few things for the evening meal.

Last night there was just enough silverbeet for a small serve each. Enough to help pad out the other vegetables (including pumpkin, also from the garden).

Tonight there is just enough lettuce (not too many have germinated) to add to our bbq along with homegrown tomato and homegrown pumpkin (on the bbq). Add to that our own eggs and our own lamb chops and there won't be too much of tonight's meal that we haven't produced ourselves. :)

Eventually that's where I'd like to get on a regular basis, rather than an occasional one.

But for now, I'm happy that the small bits I'm still gleaning from the garden are helping pad out our meals.

International Composting Awareness Week

2009-05-01T20:46:00.002+09:30

Image via Wikipedia

May 3rd to May 9th is International Composting Week.

I had no idea there was such a thing!!! It even includes a compost ball. Who'd a thought? I clicked on it thinking it was some newfangled way to make composting easier. LOL. Turns out it's a real live ball. You know, with food and stuff and tickets that are outside of my budget, even if I was close enough to attend!!!!

There's a big push to encourage composting to reduce landfill and the greenhouse gas emissions that are produced as a result of green waste rotting in landfill.

Most gardeners compost because of the value compost has for the garden. It's nice to think though that such a simple act is helping the environment.

Then again, there isn't much about home gardening that doesn't help the environment is there?

I love that the fresh produce from our yard has no food miles attached to it.

Not to mention the freshness and taste.

Anyway, there are heaps of interesting events being held as part of compost awareness week. Pity I live too far away to attend any of them. :(

To celebrate compost awareness week, it would be great if you could share your favourite composting tip.

Mine is:

Feed your scraps to the chooks and they'll kindly turn it into eggs for you.

LOL. I can't say that I've really mastered the other kind of composting yet. But I will keep trying. :)

So, all you wise gardeners out there, share with me your favourite composting tip in the comments section below. :)

Garden Update

2009-04-28T12:09:00.002+09:30

Picking:

1. Tomatoes

YUM!!!! So pleased with the crop we've gotten off of the few tomato plants we planted. The plants are starting to die off now but I've heard you can hang branches of green tomatoes so that they continue to ripen. Might try this as there are plenty of green tomatoes still on the bushes.

2. Zucchini

I wasn't going to grow zucchini this year but ended up throwing in a couple of seeds late. Only 1 grew into a plant but we're getting just the right amount of zucchini from it. Not a glut. Just enough for eating. Given I'm trying to reduce what is in my freezer before we go away, I'm not after a glut for freezing this year.

3. Butternut Pumpkin

After dying back in the heatwave we had, I wasn't expecting any pumpkins this year so I'm stoked to get any. I've just picked my first one (and made it into pumpkin soup today - YUM!) and there are 5 left to come. Counting these as bonus pumpkins really. :)

Finished:

1. Corn

Well, that finished ages ago actually. Next year I'm going back to the "sweetest" variety which has the variegated corn kernels (white and yellow). It did a lot better (although this year I did have a LOT of trouble with slaters eating out the roots of the corn).

2. Cucumber

I only managed to keep 1 cucumber plant alive this year so it was a bit disappointing. It did fruit well though but finished a little while ago.

3. Button Squash

The squash has just finished. It fruited well but the size of the fruit compared to the size of the plant makes it's overall yield not worth growing in the size garden I have.

Planting:

It is so weird not planting anything at the moment. There isn't really a lot of point planting when we're going to be away. I'm planning to heavily mulch the beds before we go and give both garden beds a "rest" over winter.

Strawberry Struggles

2009-04-03T09:56:00.002+10:30

Image via Wikipedia

I am just not winning with my strawberry plants. I get the occasional strawberry that isn't very large but for the most part I wouldn't say they are fruiting prolifically. :(

For a while I had some in pots on the front verandah but thought it might be too hot there in the summer (west side of the house) so I've moved them. Now I think they might be too shaded.

I'm not sure. Some people say they need light and others say they're a good shade plant. I know my mum used to grow heaps of them underneath the fruit trees and we often had an abundance.

What am I doing wrong? I need some help here!

Anyone got any strawberry growing tips for me?

Beautiful Butternuts

2009-03-21T10:00:00.002+10:30

Image via Wikipedia

I'm feeling so in awe of my Butternut Pumpkin plant of late. During the terrible series of heatwaves we had a while back it curled up it's toes and I really thought the 2 small pumpkins we got from it's earlier fruiting were all we were going to see.

However, the plant seems to have found a new lease on life and is booming away. Last night when I investigated, there are 6 healthy butternuts growing away with heaps of promise of pumpkin soup in the months to come!!!!

I love the way my garden constantly surprises me. Sometimes things don't grow or product fruit which can be disappointing but more often than not, I'm finding it surprises me in a more positive way and shows me the amazing resilience and determination to survive that many plants have.

Nature sure is an amazing thing!

Seed Saving : Cucumbers

2009-03-10T11:41:00.007+10:30

I have made my very first attempt at saving my own seeds. A couple of my cucumbers were left too long on the plant so I decided to give seed saving a go and see what happens. Of course, I won't know until next summer whether I've managed to save any viable seeds or not but you have to start somewhere.

I started out with an over-ripe cucumber and cut out all the seeds:

Then soaked them in water overnight:

I read somewhere (I only wish I could remember where - if it was your blog, let me know so I can give proper credit) that unviable seeds float on the top and you can scoop them off. That had me worried as most of my seeds floated to the top.

However, by the next day, there weren't nearly as many floating on the top:

Phew! I thought I had a dud cucumber on my hands there.

I scooped most of the seeds floating from the top and then dried those that were on the bottom on some paper towel. Now I just have to wait until next season to see if any of them work.

Mighty Red Tomatoes

2009-02-23T09:49:00.003+10:30

This is only my second year of attempting to grow tomatoes. Last year I grew Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes which both went okay but not brilliantly. The Roma's aren't very big and weren't as nice as I was expecting (when buying tomatoes I usually buy Roma's because they have the closest taste to home grown in my opinion). The cherry tomatoes grew well but with only Farmboy and I eating them, we didn't eat enough to really warrant growing them (and it's difficult to make use of the extras).

This year I decided to try a couple of different varieties. Mighty Red is one and the other I've already forgotten (the label is in the garden somewhere - buried in my jungle).

I have to say that I REALLY like the Mighty Red variety. Nice large tomatoes with a beautiful flavour. Not hard inside like some tomatoes can be. And the plants have produced a fabulous amount of fruit despite heavy winds knocking all my plants over (yes, they were staked but the stakes blew over too - obviously not heavy enough although the winds were particularly bad).

Things I have learnt:

* Pick the tomatoes when they've changed colour but not fully ripe. The ripen quickly and fully inside from this point and still have a wonderful taste. This way I seem to beat the bugs (or those that I haven't picked at this point have gotten eaten).

* Tomato plants go from being small and looking like they're never going to grow to being oversized bushes almost overnight. Good spacing is ESSENTIAL. I've done better with this this year than I did last year but it's still a bit of a jungle.

Things I'd like to do differently next year:

* A new type of staking.

Farmboy (my husband) has seen a neighbours set up where they use a type of wire mesh frame for their tomatoes. He has some in the she so he's going to set it up better for me next year.

* Plant my seedlings a little better spaced in time.

I planted out 2 punnets of tomatoes this year (each had 4 plants in them). I think in quantity that was about right (plenty enough to eat plus some for cooking and freezing) but I'd like to try planting them out about a month or so apart so that we get a longer harvest period. I think I"ll get about a 6 week harvest period from my plants so if I planted some around 6 weeks apart, I'll hopefully get a longer harvest period. Of course, it's always hard to tell what the weather will do. When the heat waves will hit and how long the season will go but I figure we just need to keep learning and trying different things and see how we go.

One thing I know for sure. Even if I decide to give up on this gardening caper, I'd always like to grow my own tomatoes. There really is NOTHING that compares with the taste of a homegrown tomato! :)

What Plants Are Withstanding The Heat?

2009-02-04T13:59:00.004+10:30

I started this post last week and with all the news of the bushfires, kind of ran out of puff to finish writing it. Now, I'm finding the need to try and focus on day to day life a little more. It's not that I want to be callous or uncaring about what is happening in Victoria. It's just that I'm finding it so upsetting that I need to try and focus on life (rather than death). If you've been affected by the fires, please accept my deepest sympathies. It's a tragedy that no-one in this country will ever forget.

*****

I'm really putting my garden through the paces at the moment. Not only has it had quite a nasty heatwave to withstand, we also went and left it for 4 days. 40+C heat without water for 4 days would make even the toughest plant want to curl up and die.

So, what plants survived such difficult conditions the best?

Corn

The corn was already looking quite damaged from the heatwave so I went ahead and picked most of it before we went away. 4 days without water in the heatwave seemed to finish it off. Obviously not one of the hardier plants to grow.

Tomatoes

Those on the top side of the bushes have some sun damage and the plants themselves fell over a little more (we've learnt a new technique for staking them which we will employ next summer). They're still fruiting well and all in all, I'm quite proud of my tomatoes (and enjoying the harvest - yum!)

Squash

The plants pretty much all lay over but the actual crop survived well. I think we're nearing the end of these but I'm more than happy with the yield.

Cucumber

The one cucumber plant that I actually managed to get to maturity is looking a little sad and hasn't fruited at all over the hot weather. We may not get anymore from it.

Pumpkin

I have a couple of butternut pumpkins growing on the vine which aren't looking all that crash hot. Time will tell. No more flowers have appeared but the vine itself looks healthy enough. Whether we'll get more from it remains to be seen.

Strawberries

I don't think my strawberries would have survived another hot day. They were so dry and parched even with lots of water. They're hanging in there though we did lose all the fruit that was on them when the heat wave started.

Beans

I have tried so hard to get beans to grow and finally had one seed reach a decent seedling size. It didn't survive the heatwave. :(

Zucchini

My one zucchini plant that has survived pest attack is still alive. Not very large yet though.

Parsley

The parsley is no more. I'll have to start again with that.

Shallots and Garlic Chives

I'm not sure anything will kill these. LOL. They are looking a little browned off on the tips but other than that, they look as healthy as always.

All in all, we're hanging in there. My garden this summer isn't quite as successful as it was last summer. But still worth doing I feel.

Are Home Grown Vegies Making a Comeback?

2009-01-27T15:01:00.002+10:30

Image by cogdogblog via FlickrIt seems that everyone I talk to these days is growing their own vegetables in the backyard. Makes me wonder if the humble backyard vegie garden is making a comeback? It certainly seems to be around these parts. I know many people are frustrated with the lack of fresh vegies available locally and the price we pay for what seems to be second grade quality fruit and veg.

Has anyone else noticed an increase in people growing their own gardens again or is it just out here in the country?

Green Button Squash

2009-01-15T21:55:00.003+10:30

Tonight we tried the first of the Green Button Squash that I tried growing for the first time this year. It went down pretty well with the kids for a "first time" vegetable.

I had some that were a little on the large side and even those were lovely.

Button Squash doesn't have a strong flavour to it although DH mentioned that it tasted a little like corn (I think the smaller ones had a sweeter, more buttery flavour to them).

I can see why they're so expensive to buy in the shops (not that I've ever come across the green ones but the yellow ones are always expensive). They take up quite a bit of room in the garden for what amount of fruit they produce.

Given I have a limited amount of space, I'm not sure if I'll grow them again or not. I'm torn between the fact that the whole family seemed to like them with the fact that I could produce quite a bit more if I grew zucchini in the same space.

Guess I'll decide later in the season (or maybe when planting comes around again).

First Summer Harvest

2009-01-05T15:00:00.002+10:30

We've popped home from the beach for a couple of days and I've been meandering through my garden.

SCORE!!!

6 cucumbers - a couple of them a little on the big side for lebanese cukes but they still taste nice.

My first harvest for this season.

In other garden news:

The tomato bushes have gone crazy in my absence but at least they're growing a nice amount of fruit. Will investigate them more closely tonight when it gets cooler.

The corn has taken off and gone from dwarf corn to nice tall ears. Not sure how much fruit is on them but there is some. The poor corn has taken such a battering from bugs that I'll just be pleased to see some of it come to maturation and bear fruit.

My 3rd attempt at planting beans and zucchini has again come to nothing. *sigh* I do love me some fresh beans too! :(

Never mind, you win some, you lose some.

Garden Therapy

2008-12-05T20:29:00.003+10:30

I've just been out in the garden snipping all the dead flowers from my rose bushes. It was just the therapy I needed after a rather hectic week. Next week is looking to be even busier so it was nice to take some slow time just snipping away and tidying things up before a party we have here on Monday.

Unfortunately we are still having trouble with slaters chewing away at the base of the sweetcorn plants. They keep tipping over. :( Pretty much all of my beans got chewed away and now they're attacking the sweetcorn. I think I'm going to have to resort to a bait of some kind. While I prefer to garden organically, I still think we're better off using a small amount of non-organic method than not succeeding in the garden at all.

I'll let you know how things go.

Garden Progress

2008-11-24T18:57:00.003+10:30

Sorry, no updated photographs just yet. But I did want to fill you in on what's happening in the garden.

COMPOST - looks to be a dud. Well, not a total dud but not as good as the last lot we got (from the same place). So much for a "no dig" garden. I'm getting heaps of weeds coming up, it doesn't seem to be holding water the way you'd expect compost to and it's full of slater bugs which keep eating my seedlings. :(

TOMATOES - All 8 of the seedlings have survived so far despite a few looking rather sick. One is booming away and the others are just taking their time.

CUCUMBERS - I have 1 left out of the 4 I planted. Bugs ate the others! Grrrrr!!!!!

SWEET CORN - After a slow start and a few casualties, the sweetcorn seems to be booming away.

GREEN SQUASH - Are booming away. Looking promising.

PUMPKIN - One plant got eaten, the other is surviving. We'll see if that remains to be the case.

BEANS - These came up beautifully from seed and got chomped down by bugs. There are 2 plants still surviving so far and I've planted another set of seeds in the hope that they might do a better job of surviving.

STRAWBERRIES - Are growing well. Only 1 plant is fruiting right now but I'm happy that the others are putting their energies into growing as bigger plants should bear more fruit right?

ZUCCHINI - I found a packet of zucchini seeds (I thought I'd bought some) and planted a couple of seeds. Nothing showing yet - hopefully they'll come up soon.

PARSLEY - I've read that parsley is hard to grow from seed but threw some more seeds in the pot (given the last lot came up alright). They seem to be coming up fine (although I did chuck plenty in there). This should give me parsley at alternating years. I'm hoping from here on in it will self seed and keep me in a supply of parsley. Assuming, of course, I don't forget to water it at some point and it dies.

GARLIC CHIVES - Are booming away, multiplying nicely. Do you need to thin garlic chives? I should look that up I guess.

All in all, despite some setbacks, I'm pretty happy with how things are looking. Another couple of weeks and the garden beds should be starting to look nicely filled out. At least, I hope so.

Compost

2008-11-19T15:26:00.003+10:30

I gave in to my compost woes and bought myself a compost bin from Cheap as Chips. I listened to all the "experts" that say you don't need to go and buy yourself some fancy bin in order to make compost successfully. But having tried our own "homemade" version for a while now with limited success, I felt the $25 investment was worth it.

It's a fairly simple set up. A metal frame with a heavy duty plastic bag style liner. You put the stuff in the top and it has a little trap door at the bottom where you can remove the compost when it's ready.

I'm not sure how long it will last but for $25, I decided it was worth a go. If nothing else, it will help me decide whether it's worthwhile investing in a commercial compost bin (as opposed to our homemade efforts).

It fits between my 2 garden beds which is perfect for adding waste from the garden and not far to walk from the kitchen either. With chooks, we don't have a lot of waste for composting but I plan to do a big "shred-up" soon with some paper from the office and that can go in there as well.

Yesterday, when I lifted the lid, it had a real "sweet" aroma to it. PERFECT!!!! I'm pretty sure that's what compost is supposed to smell like so I was pretty excited by that. :-)

It's only a small start toward my eventual goal of producing all our own compost on site but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Botanica Roses

2008-11-12T16:10:00.006+10:30

My sister in law gave me a Botanica standard rose one year for my birthday and I have been in love ever since. Right now they are in full bloom and bringing a smile to my face every time I see them.

I missed pruning them this year so they're a little bit straggly looking but beautiful nonetheless.

Despite not being looked after as well as we'd like, they always reward us with full blooms of flowers. I have them lining our short path to the front door and get quite a few comments from visitors on how beautiful they are.

Of course, my favourite time of the flowering is the bud. It's so full of the promise of tomorrow and seeing my budding flowers always fills my heart with hope for a brighter future.

Pity the thing wouldn't stay still enough to get a clear shot. It doesn't take much breeze to get them moving.

It would seem you fall in either the "love roses" or the "hate roses" camp from what I've experienced. I definitely fall in the "love roses" camp. How can you not love them???

What about you? Are you in the "Love Roses" or "Hate Roses" camp? Do you have a favourite?