Garden Update - March 2017

Well, here we are, March is over and the first month of autumn has gone, but March was a very warm month and it has only been over the last week that the weather has finally started to cool down. 

As I expected pickings from the garden have been small, both in size and quantity.

The only two eggplants I've had so far this season with three each of Honeybee and Principe Borghese tomatoes.

Surprisingly over the last two weeks the eggplant has really picked up and has doubled in size, it is covered in flowers so I am hopeful of a few more fruit before the colder weather arrives.

One thing that wasn't small in size was the rockmelon.

It weighed 2.2kgs, and was sweet, juicy and delicious.

I thought it was going to be the only one for this year, but as you know the garden is always full of surprises.

  I hope it matures quickly.

There are also two watermelon slowly growing in the garden as well, one is nearly ready to pick,

the other was a relative late comer so I'm not sure it will mature in time.

The pumpkins are getting closer to being ready to be picked every day. I can't wait to cut this one open to see what's inside. This was a volunteer plant that popped up in the garden, and although it looks a bit like a Queensland Blue I have never grown them or bought them so I have no idea what it is.

Looking forward to lot of pumpkin soup this winter made from these beauties.


Readers will remember this photo of a tomato flower from last month's blog post, I have since found out that it is a fairly uncommon condition called fascination. The cause of fascination is unknown, but it is harmless to plants and it doesn't spread to infect other plants.

This is the resulting tomato fruit.

It looks weird, but it tasted just like a normal tomato.

One last photo to finish this post, my orange tree is once again playing host to the caterpillar of the Citrus Swallowtail butterfly, and hopefully I will be lucky enough to watch them hatch again.

Photo taken October 2015

Well that's it for this month, hopefully my blogging mojo will come back soon and I will blog a little more often, if not I will see you next month. 

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A Week In The Garden

There hasn't been a lot to do in the garden of late, this time of the year the garden pretty much looks after itself, providing of course there is enough rain and this winter there has been plenty.

I started a garden journal a few months ago to help me keep track of what happens in the garden, what chores need to be done, when I fertilised, pruning etc. It has taken me a while to find what works best for me and that is just making daily notes, even if it's just to note the temperature and how much it rained that day. It will be good to have a record to look back on next year. 

This post is a bit of a catch up post as I didn't do one last week. It isn't a day by day as I don't want to bore you with the weather report for every day over the last two weeks.

July 21st

I fertilised the broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, kale and garlic. The first peas appeared on the Dwarf Blue Bantam.

July 23rd

The lettuce and pak choi seeds have sprouted.

July 24th

 The first pea pods have developed on the Early Crop Massey.

July 27th

I spotted the first flowers on the Purple Podded peas, only two flowers, but lots of buds. The flowers are lovely. 

July 30th

The Nantes carrot seeds sprouted today.

July 31st

The Chantenay carrot seeds and broad bean seeds have sprouted,  I am especially excited about the broad beans as this is my first time growing them.

I was extremely happy to find today that the cauliflowers have formed heads, some are further along than others which is fine because I really don't need 13 cauliflower all being ready at the same time.

 A caterpillar has grown fat munching on the leaves of one of the cauliflowers, there is only one so I'm not going to worry about it.

I found six caterpillars of the White Cabbage butterfly today, most of which were on one tiny Curly Kale plant. I can't believe that it is the end of July and I am still finding these little buggers on my brassicas. Next year I think I will leave the nets on as they have done quite a lot of damage to my plants this winter.

And that brings us to the end of July, can you believe how quickly this year is flying by. I've only just begun to really enjoy winter and it will be over in just a few weeks.

What's been happening in your garden this week?

I will be back next Monday with another garden update, see you then.

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The Garden in August

When I moved into my current home in March 2009, the first thing I wanted to do was get a vegetable garden established. The only usable land was located right down the far left hand corner of the property, not the ideal location for it, but it was the only space that wasn't covered in concrete. The lady who originally owned the house was a tennis coach and although the house sits on a 1/4 acre block, most of the backyard is taken up by a tennis court. 

My back yard, lovely isn't it?

It wasn't much to look at that first year, the soil (for want of a better word) was like talcum powder, and the water didn't soak in, it just ran off, but I still managed to grow some wonderful vegetables. 

April 2009

The garden looks a bit different today, the giant compost/rubbish bin is gone, as are the tiles, and barrow loads of manure, as well as a lot of home made compost have improved the soil, it's also gotten bigger, and now measures 9.2 metres long (30 feet) x 5.5 metres wide (18 feet) in total. I've tried a few different layouts over the years but in the end kept it simple with seven beds either side of a central path. The beds themselves are different lengths but are all 2.1 metres wide.

The vegie patch now

To make it more attractive to beneficial insects I'm in the process of making an insect hotel, I've installed a bird bath (which is already attracting a lot of attention) and there is a shallow dish of water on top of the insect hotel for the bees and butterflies. I've planted two salvias, "Joan" and "Hot Lips", a Marguerite daisy in the pot you can see on the right hand side. I moved my two small plum trees into the garden to shade the bird bath and the insect hotel, and when the ground is warm enough one the rear beds will be sown with a mix of flower seeds, dill and coriander.

I still have to put up a new fence and arbour, finish the insect hotel, and when the winter vegetable are finally finished, dig in more compost and mulch the beds ready for summer planting.  So that's my garden, not the prettiest, and not always the tidiest, and despite the constant attacks by aphids, white fly, caterpillars and a multitude of other pests, and weather that isn't always ideal, I love it, it is my favourite place to be.

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This and That

Ominous looking hail storm clouds that thankfully passed over.

Flower head of the artichoke thistle that grows wild in uncultivated paddocks.

Baby Noisy Miners waiting to be feed.

We are lucky enough to have a family of Blue Tongue lizards make our yard their home, this one paid a visit while I was watering the garden one afternoon. 

A caterpillar of Phalaenoides glycinae or Grapevine moth feasting on my grapevine.

Another caterpillar, this one is the caterpillar of Spilosoma glatignyi or Black and White Tiger Moth. We were inundated with them this year, they even came into the house.

And lastly, a glorious sunset on the night of the red moon.

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