Doing our bit for Sustainable September

Our tiny Almond tree has about nine flowers on it, perhaps we will be able to double our crop of two almonds from last year!

Today we have harvested lots of Spinach and Kale, giving some away, cooking some and blanching and freezing the rest. Transplanted tiny Lettuce seedlings and planted some more seeds, including Capsicums.

We have realized that Andy had been planting some of the seeds too deep, not realizing that each plant likes to be planted at a certain depth, we live and learn.

 The Chinese Date/Jujube finally has some leaves sprouting, we have been told we will even get fruit from it this year- fingers crossed.

The Pomegranate and the Persimmon are now covered in leaves, they both have such elegant forms and leaf shapes they are lovely to look at.

The garden just outside the front door is doing well, here you can see Carrots, Coriander, Basil, Sage, Thyme and Capers. Once the Carrots are finished we plan to add more herbs that way they will be close to a door and easy to use for cooking.

WA Update 15th August 2010

We are growing Snow Peas up the old pool fence and they have just started flowering, cannot wait until we have some to eat.

The Everlasting Daisies are looking blooming marvelous out the front, though they do seem to have enveloped  the Fig Tree!

Pulled all the  Purple Dragon Carrots out today and planted  Cylindra Beetroot and  Darwin and Cos Lettuce, The Perennial Spinach and kale are still flourishing.

The little garden we put beside the front porch is now doing well, the Basil is large and bushy and so is the Purple Sage, in the front you can see more carrots and our first Coriander grown from seed.

Have now cleared out two of the volunteer tomato bushes and planted Borlotti beans and Massey Gem peas which will hopefully grow up the fence. Have also planted some more Thyme and Oregano which will be a ground cover. Watered everything in with a seaweed mixture and added lots of shredded scrap paper and the contents of our new Bokashi bucket to the compost heap.

36 kilos of Produce and Purple Dragon Carrots

Just a few of the items that we are growing, here you can see Purple Dragon Carrots, Tomatoes, Chives, Spinach,  Capsicums and Spring Onions. 

Could not resist taking a photo from another angle, the carrots are interesting as they are an heirloom variety with a purple skin and are orange on the inside.

Upload Monday 21st June 2010

Yesterday we traveled out into the countryside to visit the property of a colleague who is growing Jujube/Chinese Date trees. There are not many growers of these trees yet in Australia, but they are described as being perfect for our conditions. We had a lovely time learning about the trees and also got lots of tips on pruning deciduous trees and had a very relaxing walk around the property. Above is a picture of fungus nestled in the fallen leaves in the bushland area.

 

The Pomegranate Tree has also now been planted, and soon we will plant the Jujube and Persimmon Trees that we bought yesterday. These tress will be grown in quite a small space, hopefully will provide fruit and summer shade, but will be kept compact so that they stay manageable.

We are now also extending the front No Dig garden and using sand from the tree holes and recycled pavers, there will be a central path to make access easier. You can see the Perpetual Spinach, Dwarf Kale, Japanese Turnips, Carrots and Capsicums to the right. In the back ground are the Pineapple Fejoas, and a very small Almond tree,  which one day will be a hedge.

In the front of this garden you can also see the volunteer Rocket plants, we love volunteers.

Update 6th June 2010

Here is our entire apple crop this year, we chopped it up between three of us and enjoyed it, but have now planted the Apple trees in the garden in the hopes of getting more fruit.

We have put them in the large no dig garden in the back yard as it is actually too deep and a nuisance to reach for vegetables and herbs. So it will be better to have something that does not need picking all of the time and that we can espalier across the fence.

The Orange Tree in a pot still has three oranges on and as you can see they are ripening nicely, we are looking forward to tasting them soon.

As you can see the volunteer Tomato plants are still doing really well, though a tad difficult to pick. The Lemon Grass has grown a great deal, as has the Wormwood bush.

Also out the back and along the newly extended pool garden the transplanted Chives are doing well, as is the Marshmallow plant. The Stevia bush is really struggling so I have chopped it right back, but the Snow Pea seeds  have sprouted and I have now attached some wire to the fence posts which will hopefully make their task of climbing easier.

We have now extended the new front herb garden so the edge of the column and planted carrots in there.The Perennial Basil is now doing really well, though the Lemon Basil is struggling.

One of the Lillypilly bushes has now been planted and we are hoping to be able to hedge it as it grows, as it is so small it will be a while before we need to do that.

Update 27th May 2010

We have now mulched the garden beds and i have added a Mexican Tarragon to the new herb garden at the front door.

The No Dig garden  at the front is progressing very well, the large leaves are Japanese Turnips -Hakurei, we had not realized until we harvested one today that the leaves and the root are edible, making it a very useful plant. The leaves taste like Cos Lettuce and can be used in salads or cooked in stir frys etc( which we did tonight). The white root is sweet and crispy and also tasted delicious raw and in the stir fry.

The other plants that are growing well are the Carrots, Perennial Spinach and Dwarf Kale, all grown from seed, which is great.The Nasturtiums are also filling in any gaps and continuing to self seed all over the place. We put those in salads and Risottos too and they are great companion plants.

Update

Another lovely day in the garden, we have the tank set up now so I am using that to water the plants.
I have moved some very tough plants down the side, and they seem to be surviving, fingers crossed.

As well we have planted the Mango Tree aswe were able to pull down some of the old pool fence as a new one has been put in.

The seedlings in the front garden appear to be going well with plenty of Perpetual Spinach, Dwarf Kale and Turnips coming up, hopefully the carrots will succeed too.We have put some Wormwood cutting in the trenches to deter pests.

 And finally we have planted a hanging bag of Strawberries and herbs, so it will be interesting to see how well this works, these are all plants propagated from the garden.

Planting Fruit Trees and Tidying Up

We have decided that it would be better to plant some of the fruit trees that we have in pots. That way they will produce more food, some shade and habitat. Deciding what could go out on the nature strip took a while, it is a tough position, so we finally settled on The Loquat and Fig Trees to start with. Using compost that we had made the, old pavers for edges digging began.

It looks so easy when it is all done, but it was a huge job as the grass is so thick, Andy was terrific doing it! He also scattered some of the Everlasting Daisy seeds around the bottom, so hopefully they will come up.

The other job that needed doing was the No Dig Garden out the front, so we pulled out all the old plants and lots of weeds and added compost, manure and worm castings. The we planted carrot seeds, Japanese Turnip seeds, Perpetual Spinach seeds and Dwarf Kale seeds. As well i transplanted some Spinach, Strawberries and a Marogold from the old wheelbarrow garden, it was time for that to go.

As you can see we have some fruit on one of the Pineapple Guavas, and the Pineapple Top under Mat's window is still hanging in!