Tuesday 28 August 2012

Garden supervisor

Every now and then I get a little visitor to my garden. Meggs, my neighbours cat, loves to stop by and supervise my work in exchange for a cuddle or two. Here he is, busy approving the soil depth for the potatoes I planted on the weekend.


Sunday 26 August 2012

Growing Potatoes in Sacks

It's potato time! Although I've never grown potatoes before, I been reading quite a bit about them and have decided that this year I'm going to give them a go. There seem to be a number of methods out there, but I've decided to grow them in hessian (burlap) sacks. The soil in my garden bed is poor and too hard and full of clay to allow the potatoes to grow. Even if they did I'd never be able to find them. Some people suggest stacks of tires, but I worry about the toxic chemical leaching into the soil. I've also read that the lip of the tires fill with water and don't allow good draining. Then there were pots, or containers, but it seemed too hard to get the soil high enough. So - the sack it is.


A few weeks ago I picked up 10 large hessian sacks. These were originally used to hold coffee beans and have come fron both Brazil and PNG. They are quite large (about 1m wide when flat) and will hold a lot of soil. I rolled down the top and layered the bottom with a few sheets of newspaper to keep too much of the soil escaping out the bottom while still allowing drainage. Then filled the sack up with a good quality potting mix.


I've got two varieties to try. A 'Pink Fir' which I got from Diggers a couple of weeks ago and which is a little like a Kipfler. The other variety was called a 'Sapphire' and is a bit larger and a beautiful blue in the centre.



I've planted two seed potatoes in each sack, hoping they aren't too crowded. Now I just have to wait for the shoots to pop up. The beauty of the sack method, is as the shoots grow you just need to add more soil and slowly roll up the sides of the sack. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a nice big crop ready to eat!



Quick and Easy Polenta Lasagna


For dinner last night I wanted something wholesome, full of vegetables and really really easy. The fridge was full of vegetable that needed eating so I decided to pull together a polenta lasagna. This recipe uses polenta instead of pasta sheets making it vegetarian, gluten free and if you omit the cheese on top (or use a vegan cheese) it can also be vegan. I don't have exact amounts as it all depends on what you have available.

Polenta layers
Mix about 100g quick cooking polenta (i use the 1 or 2 minute varieties when im in a rush and don't want to spend 25 mins stirring!) with approx 400ml water and cook according to directions on packet. The amount of water will depend on the brand and how precooked it is. When all the water is absorbed, poor into the bottom of a baking dish (or two) and smooth out with a spatula. You want to get it as thin as possible and want it no more that 1cm high. Put in fridge to cool while you chop the vegies. If you have more time you can make two batches, or use two baking dishes the same size and make both at once.

Vegetables
Chop vegies as thin as you can get them. I tried for around 1mm thick.
Prepare a tomato sauce however you like it (onion, garlic, herbs all optional). I had some leftover in the fridge, but if you're short on time you can also use bottled tomato puree.



Putting it all together
Once the vegies are chopped get the polenta out of the fridge and tip out onto a tray or baking paper, being careful not to break it. Using the same baking dish, layer the tomato sauce and vegetable. If you have enough for two layers of polenta add the first one in the middle of the layering process and add the other at the end. I only had enough for one polenta layer so I used this for the top.



Finishing
Add a little more tomato sauce on the top polenta layer, add some grated cheese, and cook at about 180 degrees for around 45 mins to an hour. When done, a skewer should push through the vegetables easily.

 I made two and put one in the freezer for one of those nights I dont have time to cook.






Saturday 25 August 2012

A plantable postcard

Last week while getting a coffee, I noticed an interesting free postcard in the Avant card display.


 I was initially attracted by the colours and thought it could be something to add to the collection of postcards brightening up my desk at work. When I picked it up though, I noticed it was made of recycled paper and full of tiny seeds.  Looking closely, they are apparently lemon scented bottlebrush (callistemon citrinus). I don't normally plant native shrubs in the garden mostly because there isn't the room. However, the front of the property has a number of natives and if this grows I can add it to them and hopefully attract more birds and bees.


Following the instructions on the card I soaked it for a few minutes to let the paper soften while I got a small pot ready.

The card fell apart as soon as I picked it up, so rather than trying to lay it flat I rubbed it into the potting mix and spread the seeds around.


Now I'll just have to wait and see if it grow!


An (almost) spring morning


I woke this morning to sunshine streaming through my windows and a perfectly blue sky. This seems to rarely happen on a weekend so I was quickly up, dressed and out the back door into the garden. For the first time in months I was able to sit outside in the sunshine for breakfast - mixed berry porridge with maple syrup and coffee. It was also lovely and warm and I soon peeled off my jumper and soaked up some Vitamin D while I was at it.


Then it was onto a few garden jobs. First of the list was the lawn. You might remember a few weeks back I put down some Kikuyu seeds to try and get the grass looking a bit better. I had initially been really hesitant to use a self-repairing variety as I was worried it would take over the garden. So far it is looking great and has really thickened up and filled in a lot of the gaps. It has grown really long with all this rain so I've cut it right back. One of the challenges (or benefits) of a tiny garden is that it is too small to mow. The patch of grass is about 1m wide and 3m long, so big enough for lying in the sunshine and adding a bit of green to the garden, but not for much else. When I initially planted it I bought a pair of clippers that have worked really well. The man in the hardware shop thought I was completely nuts when I said what I wanted them for, but it really has its benefits. It only takes me about 10 mins to do the whole lawn, and also is a good opportunity to get down close to it and pull up the clover and other weeds as I go.


Next, I had a look around the garden and checked on how everything was going. The sweetpeas are getting bigger and are appearing on almost all of the plants now. The vines themselves are still quite small and I suspect I should have pinched off the first flowers to promote growth first.



Last winter I planted some freesia's around the garden but didn't see a single flower out of them. This morning when I went outside I noticed this beautiful purple one growing next to some kale in the vegetable patch. It must have slept all last winter and decided to wait until this year to come out.


The lemon tree is showing some amazing growth with new leaves popping up all over it. I was also surprised to see there are tiny flowers sprouting out of the branches. Hopefully I get at least one lemon this year!


While admiring the beautiful orange of this succulent flower I discovered it is covered in little bugs which I suspect are aphids. They look a little like baby grasshoppers but are much too small. I've heard just spraying with water is one way to get rid of them, but I'm open to any other suggestions!


Finally, after embarking on a few other projects which I'll talk about later, I gave the whole garden a good water with some Seasol. By this time the sky was clouding over and the sun had long gone, so I was quite happy to head back inside and close off the fishy seaweed smell!



Friday 24 August 2012

And the winner is...

It's always exciting to watch seeds begin to germinate. I've been watching my little pots eagerly, waiting to see just when the seedlings would begin to emerge. On Wednesday there were signs of the first bean beginning to show beneath the soil and by today there were four little bean seedlings just waiting to push through the soil. The surprise winner however, was the rocket which, much like its name, shot up overnight. He's only about 2mm tall at this stage, so I almost missed him when watering this morning, and is still wearing his little seed cap as a hat.




Saturday 18 August 2012

Starting with seeds

It's mid-August and here in Melbourne it's still cold and wintery, but I am itching to start getting my spring garden going. Most years I leave it too late, and by the time the plants have grown big enough and are starting to flower, the hot temperatures tend to kill everything. My other problem is that everything tends to ripen at once, so I'll have a few weeks of vegetables and nothing for the rest of the year.

This year, I am thinking of doing things differently and plan to plant several crops, each about a month apart. While it's still too cold outside to get things growing in the garden, I've decided to start the first batch of seedlings early and keep them inside until they are strong enough and the weather is warm enough to move outdoors. I'll only plant a few of each variety and if they don't grow then I've not really lost anything and will know what not to do next year!

The other benefits of starting seedlings inside is that:
a) They are free from the pests that usually get to young seedlings
b) They are out of the wind (I've had seed trays blow away in the past)
c) I can water them daily without having to go out into the cold
d) Out of the wind they are less likely to dry out
e) Having them in my living room means they'll get a lot more attention, I can see how they're progressing each day, and if I'm feeling lonely I can have a chat with them :-)

I started with 4 seed trays and filled them with some seed raising mix. Amazingly, they managed to fit perfectly on a square tray I had lying around, so I don't have to worry about any water dripping onto the floor.


Round one seedlings include:
- Cherry tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Dwarf beans
- Climbing beans
- Coriander
- Spinach
- Basil
- Rocket

These will now sit by my back door, hopefully receiving enough light and water without getting too cold. I also picked up the perfect watering accessory last weekend at The Diggers Club - it turns any water bottle into a gentle watering can, exactly what i need for watering seedlings!


Gardening is cheaper than therapy


Friday 17 August 2012

A not so tiny garden


Last weekend I was lucky enough to get out of Melbourne for a morning bushwalking with friends. We planned a three hour walk through the Lerderderg State Park near Blackwood, about a 90 mins drive out of Melbourne. The trail circled around, mostly following along the Lerderderg River. It was a lovely way to spend the morning, despite the occasional drizzle and flooded paths. 

Lush undergrowth and stunning trees in the Lerderderg Gorge.

A winking log cheered us up when we were starting to get tired.

Mid-way through the walk the path came right down the gorge to the river. Despite looking tiny in this photo, it was actually quite wide.
At times the path itself turned into a muddy creek!

The walk started and finished at the Garden of St Erth, a stunning sandstone cottage that was built in 1860 and is now surrounded by historic gardens and housing a plant nursery and cafe. It is also home to the Diggers club, an organisations that has been running since 1978. Along with running the Garden of St Erth, and another in Heronswood, they have a huge mail order nursery that specialises in rare, organic and heirloom varieties of seeds and plants. 

After the walk, we had a well deserved coffee and flourless orange cake in the cafe before wandering around the gardens and the shop. 

 Daffodils are just starting to come out in the lawns surrounding the main building.

A display of garden beds that appear to be awaiting spring plantings, but if you look closely in the background there is a patch of broad beans just waiting to be picked. If only I had the space for a garden like this! I'm looking forward to coming back in a couple of months when the garden is at its spring best.

The Diggers club have a huge collection of organic seeds as well as a nursery full of fruit trees, vegetable seedings, herbs, bulbs, flowers and native plants. While it was tempting to bring home everything in the shop, my lack of cash on hand meant I left with a bag of Pink Fir potatoes, and a packet of five colour silverbeet and siberian tomato seeds. The potatoes are supposed to be similar to Kipfler and are described as having a rich nutty flavour. They have a huge variety on offer, and I'll be placing an order online in no time!

Sunday 12 August 2012

Wet weather

I've not spent much time in the garden this week - actually I've barely been out the back door. It has been wet and miserable most of the week and have only been home when its dark outside. I'm really looking forward to the days getting longer so I can sit outside after work. 

There is still a lot of progress in the garden however. The sweetpeas are in flower, and are starting to form pods. I am, however, starting to suspect they might actually be snowpeas. Either way, I'm getting excited about being able to pick them straight off the vine in a few weeks time. 



 The kale is getting bigger and bigger - It's almost time to start making green smoothies with some of it!


The garlic is really taking off and has almost doubles in size over the last two weeks. I've got it growing in 3 pots, two over in a sunny part of the garden and one in a more shaded area. Interestingly the one with less sunlight has barely grown at all so I've moved it across to the other side of the garden.


The succulents are also growing well. These two were transplanted from another local garden, and the ones below are going crazy!



I've also got lots of silverbeet, both in green and purple - again almost ready to join the kale in a green smoothie.


Finally, the spring onions, red russian kale and purple silverbeet are growing happily in their new homes.