Just had a quick look to survey the damage. More grass in the veggie patch than in the lawn. And it’s full of little black things. Look like dirt specks, but squash red and goopie all over your hands.

Silverbeet – desperately needs eating.
Pak choy has gone to seed. Would it still be eatable?
Picked two cucumbers (from the runt seedling, which is now 6 foot high).
One tomatoe has lost two branch ‘cause hubby didn’t stake it.
Broccoli, cauli and cabbage all have heaps of leaves (and heaps of holes :-( but no sign of heads.
One sugar snap pea has peas (think they’ll be gone by the time we leave this morning). One snow pea is dead. Didn’t check the others.
Lots of potatoes. I only planted three spuds, but I’ve got about 9 plants. Some only a couple of inches high; others about 2 foot. I guess I’ve got more than one shoot from each spud; should I just cover up all but the tallest?
Lots of carrots but no sign of tops (they need thinning pretty badly)
A heap of raddishes from my scattered ‘dead’ seeds.
Didn’t check the beetroot.
And a watermelon; which seems to be the only plant that’s come up from the plantings I did before I left.

I hope Wednesday is not as hot as today (predicating 33°C here). I think I need to spend a whole day in the garden.

Think my watering system has fallen over. I’ll have to fix that too.

Lots of potatoes. I only planted three spuds, but I’ve got about 9 plants. Some only a couple of inches high; others about 2 foot. I guess I’ve got more than one shoot from each spud; should I just cover up all but the tallest?
———
yes we missed you terribly – but since we are all in and out a lot – no harm done LOL
difficult spud question – whack on as much mulch/compost as you can IMHO.
in my experience the low ones will grow thru’ the mulch – altho’ just how much you can cover them is debatable.
i have covered some of my spud shoots above 100mm in loose mulch and they still come thru’.
good luck.
pssst – piccies when you get a chance.

Should have some piccies Widnisday, although I try to remember to photo the cucies and beetroot before making salad tonight (in about 5 minutes).

Did a little bit of weeding on my way out and in this morning. Staked the stray pea in the beetroot/carrot patch and one tomato. Just two minutes here, two minutes there.

Pulled a radish for hubby. I don’t like them at all, and these ones should probably have been pulled about 3 weeks ago. He thought they were weeds (and they do look and feel very weedy).

No more peas big enough for dinner tonight :( Think I underestimated how many pea plants you can get through ;) I only planted one a month (had 6 when we left, think I might have 2 now). I think I could easily plant 6 a month and be happy with the crop. The pea the Girl & I ate on our way out this morning was delish.

What would be the little black, squishable specks in the my grass (weed) and various veg plants?

Part of my dinner for tonight :-)))

SueBk said:

Part of my dinner for tonight :-)))

Sweet:D

Lucky1 said:

SueBk said:

Part of my dinner for tonight :-)))

Sweet:D

It was very sweet. I didn’t peel the beetroot ‘cause it was small, but I think I will next time. The skin was quite bitter, but the flesh was lovely and sweet.

The cucumber was lovely too. Now … remind me … what’s the trick to remove the spikes? I forgot all about them until I picked them with bare hands! Ouch!! I used the back of a spoon … is that right? I’m sure my Nan did something like that?

Garden photos:

From the top:
Carrots & beetroot
Potato cage waiting to be topped up (now done)
My ‘dead seed’ collection. Think they’re all radishes.
Silverbeet in the foreground; cucumbers climbing top right; peas top left
Silverbeet and flowering/seeding pak choy to the left; cucumbers to the right; basil in the background; brassicas behind the cucu.
Same shot
Top patch (spuds, carrots, beets, raddishes )
The Girl observing a spider on a tomato bush. These are self seeders that I didn’t expect to survive, but one has fruit. The silverbeet is a bit lower ground than where she is, but you can see the size.

looks good.

Tastes good too ;-)

Tastes good too ;-)

Hmmm, not sure why the last post happened twice. A couple more for you.

I thinned out the carrots and these are the pickings. Don’t think I’ll bother peeling them LOL. And my garlic died while I was away. The bulbs are obviously quite small, but we’ll see how it goes anyway. I planted them rather late.

The Girl observing a spider on a tomato bush. These are self seeders that I didn’t expect to survive, but one has fruit. The silverbeet is a bit lower ground than where she is, but you can see the size.
——-
you have an apprentice – well done.
your garden grows very quickly – you must be pleased with the produce.

pepe said:

The Girl observing a spider on a tomato bush. These are self seeders that I didn’t expect to survive, but one has fruit. The silverbeet is a bit lower ground than where she is, but you can see the size.
——-
you have an apprentice – well done.
your garden grows very quickly – you must be pleased with the produce.

Pleased? An understatement. The most I’ve produced from a veggie garden before is a couple of tomatoes. To get half a dozen different things, all eatable, all sweet and beautiful is a real thrill.

I bought myself a seeder today. Looks like an overgrown syringe, for planting tiny seeds in a fine line. And some more seeds – beans, lettuce, spring onions (on tape). And some new secatears. Got two different types; one’s like a pair of scissors.

Haven’t planted anything today ‘cause it was hot. Should get out there now before the sun sets properly.

Been thinking about silverbeet for tonight. I’ve been thinking “should I pick it now, or closer to dinner”. LOL. Then I realised regardless of when I pick it, it’ll be at least a week younger than anything I’ve bought!

Gosh Sue, how productive is your garden! You have done really well and I can tell how much you’re enjoying the whole excercise ! Good Onya!!

Sue, you garden is looking FAB TAB:D

Well done…

orchid40 said:

Gosh Sue, how productive is your garden! You have done really well and I can tell how much you’re enjoying the whole excercise ! Good Onya!!

I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Bit of a turn up for the books, ‘cause I never used to like gardening. Hot, sweaty, dirty – not my scene. But I love this fresh stuff on the dinner plate. I’m even trying to work out how to hide silverbeet in my meals. I don’t like SB at all, but there’s heaps of it, the others tell me its lovely (for SB), and its good for you (particularly us anemics).

Do you recon I could put it in pasta instead of spinach? For spinach pasta you gentle steam the cut up spinach, add it to the egg & flour, and mix as normal. Would silverbeet work do you think?

SueBk said:

Do you recon I could put it in pasta instead of spinach? For spinach pasta you gentle steam the cut up spinach, add it to the egg & flour, and mix as normal. Would silverbeet work do you think?

you can substitute silverbeet for spinach in any recipe. personally I love silverbeet :)

The Man cut my 2nd industrial bin in half. I was given two and originally planned to turn one into a water storage tank; but I needed another garden bed more. The bottom halves, which have drainage holes but are enclosed I’m using/going to use for storage of mulch and garden soil/potting mix. ‘Cause our soils are so depleted I need to buy stuff for pots and also for the top layer of my no-digs.

The new bed is next to my current one (which grows beets and carrots). I’ve no-digged it, but need the top layer of growing material. I’m thinking of just grabbing a couple of bags of el-cheapo potting mix. It’s not like it needs to be super nutrious with everything else that’s involved. If I wait for The Man to take the trailer to get the better quality stuff I wont’ get it ‘til next Saturday.

Yesterday I bought some punnets of cucubit seedlings; ‘cause I figured its just a bit late to start with seeds. Unfortunately all the punnets come in packs of four. Haven’t a clue what I’m going to do with four pumpkins, four zucchinis and four rockmelons! I guess I should just plant two of each, but I hate throwing away perfectly good plants. I did think maybe I could just bung the extras into “frog corner” and if they grow they grow, and if they don’t they don’t.

(Frog corner is a corner of the yard that I’ve plan to put a frog pond in, one day. There’s nothing there at the moment, and cucubit vines wouldn’t be in the way of anything ‘cause we rarely walk around that way.)

This is a half of an industrial bin:

The Man got home early enough to go to the landscapers and get me a trailer load of potting mix. I’ve spent a pleasant hour or so pottering about.

I put my top layer to the new no dig container, and planted out 2 each of jap pumpkin, rockmelon and zucchini (one yellow, one green).

I trimmed the silverbeet. Some lower leaves were falling over, so I feed the piggles. They’re loving this garden thing :-) Last week they got the pak choy. It went to seed before we had any of it. I didn’t give them the seeds ‘cause I don’t know if they’re okay to eat or not. Figure they probably are – but can you imagine the strife I’d be in if I poisoned The Girl’s pets?

I notice my lettuce have come up. FINALLY! This is the 3rd packet I’ve planted. No sign of the toms, spring onion or capsicum that I planted at the same time.

Tomorrow I will play with various pots I have lieing about and build a strawberry garden. I picked up a punnet of 10 on the weekend. The 10 were $12 and a single plant was $4.

The Man is asking for help preparing dinner. Goodness gracious. You’d think I could be dispensible one a night week.

Warning – lots of obsessive photos :)) But also some questions for the wise ones.

Butterfly – friend or foe?

Parsley and chives (struggling in the back)


Oregano, basil and rosemary. Seem to have picked up a prostrate rosemary. I don’t mind.

Mint (suffering from lack of water while I was away) and new dill (for my tartare sauce)

Bubbie new tomatoes

Bubbie new beans

Tomato turning yellow. Seemed to happen very suddenly. I have fertilised since, but then it rained and I’m wondering if it might have simply leached out before it could be sucked up. Any thoughts?

Bubbie lettuce. Rather more successful a planting than I was expecting.

New cucurbit patch. Two each of pumpkin, rockmelon and zucchini. The spares are still in their seedling pots. Not sure what to do with them. Tempted to build a small no-dig under the clothes line and bung them in there. And see what’s what in a couple of months.

Strawberry tower. Two levels is a tower, right?

Hi SueBK, how do your cucurbits go in a tub like that?

I have no idea were i was going to plant mine but if your method works then i’l be buying a tub or making up a box of some sort.

Rook

I’m not sure. This is my first year growing a (successful) veggie garden. I’m growing carrots & beets in a 2nd tub. They’re doing okay. The no-dig subsides a fair bit, which affects how much sun the plants get. Probably more of an issue for my root veggies than the cucubits. I’m thinking of pulling my beets and topping up one side of the tub. Once the carrots are ready to pull, I’ll top up the other side too.

The cucurbit tub is sitting on a ‘dead’ garden bed. There’s a fair amount of room outside the tub for them to trail about the place. (I might be overtly optimistic about how much room they need LOL). The zuc’s I’ll grow up the supports, like cucumbers.

All an experiment at this stage.

SueBk said:

I’m not sure. This is my first year growing a (successful) veggie garden. I’m growing carrots & beets in a 2nd tub. They’re doing okay. The no-dig subsides a fair bit, which affects how much sun the plants get. Probably more of an issue for my root veggies than the cucubits. I’m thinking of pulling my beets and topping up one side of the tub. Once the carrots are ready to pull, I’ll top up the other side too.

The cucurbit tub is sitting on a ‘dead’ garden bed. There’s a fair amount of room outside the tub for them to trail about the place. (I might be overtly optimistic about how much room they need LOL). The zuc’s I’ll grow up the supports, like cucumbers.

All an experiment at this stage.

Well good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

Has anybody done this successfully before????????

Rook

the butterfly looks like a Cabbage White – the source of the green grubs that decimate your brassicas.

Love your strawberry tower :D

beautiful sue – i hope the family appreciates the fresh veges.
the white butterfly is the cabbage white moth – once you see it you have to spray the brassicas with Dipel.

bluegreen said:

the butterfly looks like a Cabbage White – the source of the green grubs that decimate your brassicas.

Love your strawberry tower :D

That was my fear. Guess I’ll dust. Maybe tomorrow. Supposed to rain / hail this afternoon. Starting to feel like a storm out there. Hot, windy, overcast.

It’s all looking very promising Sue, well done :)
I love your strawberry tower.