Veggie Garden Inspiration

We all love our vegetable garden to be productive that goes without saying, but is it possible to have a vegetable that is not only productive, but beautiful as well. Below are some ideas that just might help to achieve that.

First Impressions

Create a beautiful entrance to your vegetable garden with an arbour, gate and fence.

Source

Source unknown

Source unknown

Add A Focal Point With A Garden or Potting Shed

All gardeners need somewhere to store their plant pots, potting mix and gardening tools, but that doesn't mean that garden/potting sheds have to be boring boxes made of corrugated iron, they can be anything you want, pretty, whimsical or cottagey .

Source


Source

Source unknown

If you don't have enough room for a large shed what about a tool shed.

They can be simple,

An old dunny (outhouse) has been given a new purpose.
Source unknown

or extravagant,

Source unknown

or something in between.

Source unknown

Add Vertical Height

Whether you choose to DIY or to buy commercially made, an obelisk or a trellis can add some much needed vertical interest to a garden.

Source

Source

Source

Layout - Forget the Rectangle

Instead of laying out the veggie garden in rectangles try adding some curves.

Source

or maybe triangles.

Source

Visual Interest

Plant out blocks of colour with lettuce, kale, bok choi, or cabbages for some visual interest.

Source unknown

Source

Add Seating

You've put a lot of hard work into your garden so if you have the room why not create a seating area in the veggie garden, somewhere to have a cuppa or a glass of beer or wine and enjoy it.

Source

Source

Plant Flowers

Don't forget to plant flowers, they make all areas of a yard instantly beautiful.

Source unknown

Source

And when you've planted the flowers why not add a home for the busy pollinators in your garden.

I can just see this nestled in amongst the perennials growing in my insect garden.
Source unknown

So there you are, just a few ideas to inspire you to add some beauty to your vegetable garden or perhaps you already have, if so I'd love to hear about it.

Disclaimer: I try to give credit to the owners of all the images I use, sometimes this is not possible, those images where the source is unknown will be assumed to be in the public domain. If you are the owner of any of these images (source unknown) and would like them removed or credit added, please let me know

Read More

What's My Gardening Philosophy?

Welcome to this months Garden Share Collective, hosted by Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb and Krystie from A Fresh Legacy. This months theme is PHILOSOPHY.

My gardening philosophy is to keep things as simple and easy as possible by cutting down on the amount of work that I need to do in the garden, and only growing the vegetables that my family and I enjoy eating.

Growing vegetables can be hard work if you let it be, so here are a few things that I have found that have made it a little easier for me. 

Install a watering system - Watering (especially in summer) takes up a lot of a gardener's time, and I don't know anyone who enjoys standing out in the summer heat watering the gardens to keep plants alive, installing a water system not only cuts down on the amount of time you need to spend in the garden, it also cuts down on water wastage.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch - I cannot stress enough how important mulch is in the vegetable garden or any garden for that matter. It helps keep the soil cool, which creates a good environment for earthworms who in turn help break down the mulch which enriches the garden's soil. It helps to keep the  soil moist, which means less time spent watering, and it suppresses weed growth which is always a good thing. *Gardening Australia's Peter Cundall does advise against mulching onions as they need the warmth of the sun to swell and ripen. 

Invest in insect netting - If you don't like the idea of using pesticides in the veggie garden then you may want to buy yourself some of this, it will not only stop the White Cabbage butterfly laying her eggs on your brassica plants, but it will also prevent a myriad other insects devouring your vegetables. Old net curtains bought from your local op shop will work too, as long as it has a very fine weave.

Only grow what you like to eat - Those glossy purple eggplants might look delicious hanging on the plant, but if no-one eats them, they will only go to waste, the same goes for trying to grow veggies that aren't suited to your local growing conditions, so save yourself the time, money and stress, find out what your family likes and dislikes and do some research on your growing area before you plant anything. 

So, that's my gardening philosophy, I guess it's nothing new, but it works for me, and I hope you find some of it helpful.

Harvesting

Lots of peas, Oregon and Melting Mammoth snowpeas, Purple Podded, Telephone, Early Crop Massey, Blue Bantam and Sugar Snap peas. 

Oregon snowpeas.

Purple Podded peas.

Early Crop Massey and Blue Bantam peas

Harvesting them has been made considerably harder by an unexpected guest.

Mother Blackbird sitting on the nest she made amongst the Telephone pea vines.

And the eggs she is sitting on.

I harvested the last of the cauliflowers which was small but perfect.

Also in the picture is the last of the asparagus. They did not do as well this year as in previous years and I only picked enough for a couple of meals, it could have had something to do with all the rain we've had over the last few months, but I'm not really sure.

My only other harvest for this month wasn't edible, but it did make me very happy.

Sweet peas, so beautiful and their fragrance (especially the white ones) is divine.

 I had forgotten how much pleasure growing your own flowers can bring and I will be making sure that these won't be the last for the year.

Sowing

The last lot of seeds I sowed was in early August and not one seed germinated, I blame it on the seed raising mix I used, it was a lesser known brand and it dried out very quickly. I have since bought a better quality seed raising mix and on Tuesday I sowed not only this month's seeds, but last months as well. I won't bore you with the names of all of them, there was a lot, I just hope that they germinate this time. I also direct sowed five varieties of bean seed.

Things to do

Lots of waiting happening at the moment. Waiting for seeds to germinate, waiting for the seed pods to form on the broccoli plants, waiting for eggs to hatch and baby birds to fledge, and waiting for peas to finish their growing season, so there isn't a lot I can do in the garden at the moment. As soon as all that happens, I will be able to sow the corn, the pumpkins and the salad greens. I am growing tomatoes, capsicums, chillies in pots again this year, hopefully next year I will be able to start growing them back in the garden again, and as I've never had any luck growing cucumbers in the garden I will be growing them in pots as well. I need to get the chick peas in soon as they need quite a long growing season, hopefully that will happen this weekend.

That's it for this month's Garden Share Collective, If you'd like to know the gardening philosophy of other GSC members drop by Krystie or Kate's blog. See you next month.

Read More

Pea Update

The peas are coming on nicely now and over the next two weeks I am expecting a glut of Purple Podded peas,  

but for now I have to content myself with snow peas.

These are Oregon snow peas and after giving them another chance this year I have decided that they're just not for me. They aren't as sweet as Mammoth Melting, the peas develop very quickly and if you're not quick to pick them, you end up with podded peas instead of snow peas.

The Blue Bantam and Early Crop Massey (both podded peas) are doing OK, not producing massive amounts, but enough.

A combination of Blue Bantam and Early Crop Massey.

The Telephone pea vines are covered in flowers and pea pods and should  give a reasonable harvest and I'm hoping the Sugar snaps will too.

My favourite pea by far this year is not even of the edible variety, but their fragrance, and their lovely colours more than make up for it.

I didn't know that sweet peas came in white I will definitely be saving seeds for next year.

My biggest mistake, and one I won't be repeating next year, was planting the rows of peas too close together. They are now all tangled together and trying to separate them is a pain.

Read More

Repurpose - Reuse - Recycle

A monthly post to (hopefully) inspire you to look at old things in a new way.

All gardeners have them, they are a necessity in every garden, but what do you do with your hose when it is no longer usable. Below are a few ideas to help keep that old hose out of landfill and turn it into something useful or decorative around the garden.

Mark from Mark Kintzel Design turned his old hose into a door mat after the garbage collectors refused to take it.

Carla from Cosmo Girls Emporium used an old hose and turned it into an outdoor flower wreath.

Use a hose and some artificial leaves and add some whimsy to your front gate.

Source unknown

From HGTV comes a great idea for all of us veggie gardeners.

Kara from Kara Paslay Designs shared this photo on her blog showing how the Mattress Factory used hoses to create a little fence around their vegetable garden.

I don't now that anyone who would have enough different coloured hoses to do this, but what a great way to brighten up the wall of a shed or garage.

Bachman's Summer Idea House via Quirk Madame

And lastly, it might get a bit hot to sit on if left out in the sun, but I think a hose chair could be very comfortable.

Source - Pinterest

Disclaimer: I try to give credit to the owners of all the images I use, sometimes this is not possible, those images where the source is unknown will be assumed to be in the public domain. If you are the owner of any of these images (source unknown) and would like them removed or credit added, please let me know.

Read More

Seeds

Hello, and welcome to this month's Garden Share Collective, the theme this month is SEEDS.

Seeds, they are natures little power houses. Enclosed within each seed case is all that is needed for a new life to begin, from the tallest of trees to the tiniest of flowering plants it all starts with a seed. 

The largest plant seed belongs to the Coco de Mer, commonly known as the Sea Coconut, it weighs 18kg (40lbs) and is 30cm (12 inches) in length, when fully mature the palm tree which it grows into will be between 25 - 34 metres tall. At the other end of the scale the seeds of the epiphytic orchid which at 85 micrometres (1/300th an inch) is too small to be seen by the human eye. It's seeds are dispersed and carried on the wind coming to rest in the canopy of the rainforest trees where, over time they will sprout and form new orchids.

There's a kind of wonder in growing a plant from seed, you put a dry little capsule in some compost, keep it moist, and in a week or so up pops a tiny sprout that with care in time will provide food for your table. 

A tiny carrot seedling with its first set of true leaves.

I use seeds nearly all the time in my own garden,  they are cheap to buy and readily available in stores or online.

I am very excited to be trying out some new varieties this season.

 Once you start growing your own vegetables a good habit to get into is letting one of each of your favourite variety of plant go to seed, this way you won't need to buy seed the following season and you'll save money. 

Sunflower seeds collected from the only sunflower I managed to grow this year, but one is all I needed, I now have enough seeds for sowing next year.

I've never  seen so many flower buds on a lettuce before. These will eventually provide me with enough seeds for the next few years.

I would love to have picked this sprout of the Italian Sprouting broccoli, but I will let it flower and when it sets seed I will harvest them and keep them for next winter.

Growing from seed is not always the easiest of options, but it is the most rewarding. There is a great sense of personal satisfaction in knowing that you have been involved right from sowing to eating.

So why not give growing from seed a go, you still have time to go out and buy some seeds and get sowing. 

Harvesting

Broccoli

Cauliflower

A few peas

Parsley

Sowing

Tomatoes

Beetroot

Eggplant

Capsicum

Leeks

Shallots

Coriander

Thyme

Marigolds

Zinnia

Bergamot

Sunflowers

Alyssum

Things to do

Remove wnter vegetables as they finish

Add compost and fertiliser to each bed

Sow seeds for chickpeas and beans

That's it for this month's Garden Share Collective, if you would like to see what's been happening in other people's garden pop over and visit our GSC hosts Kyrstie at A Fresh Legacy or Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb. I will see you again for next month's Garden Share Collective where the topic will be PHILOSOPHY. That is going to take some thinking about.

Read More