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Elaine de Saxe
- Female
- Deception Bay, Queensland
- Australia
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Elaine de Saxe's Discussions
Elaine de Saxe's Events
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December Garden Visit
December 5, 2009 from 11am to 1pm – roma street parklands
Elaine de Saxe's Page
Latest Activity
Aah! Spaghetti Squash ... well now I've grown and eaten them but didn't recall their colour and shape when young. Right ... they need to be mature like Pumpkin or the spaghetti-like structure doesn't appear - or so I've heard. The SS is cooked/ste...
Thanks for the report and photos Florence :-) - great to see flourishing food gardens! The Daikon is but a babe ;-) I love them fresh with salt when they are about large finger size, after that they get too hot for this old chook. I found the 'rad...
Deterring grasshoppers! That'll be the day! Apart from "how high does it grow?" that was the most-asked question in the plant nurseries. Covering up, birds, secateurs/loppers, big boots ... that's about the extent of the weapons. Or, if the damage...
Get the powder Clay Breaker, not the liquid. I'm making the guess here that the powder will stay around longer for the plants to use where I can visualise the liquid stuff running away at a rate of knots ;-).
Gypsum supposedly doesn't change the soil pH where Dolomite (Lime plus Magnesium) does. With a lot of crops it probably doesn't matter but with some it will. Never looked into whether cukes and capsies are very fussy about pH. Donna - is there a p...
Gypsum is cheap stuff, Vanessa ... if you've got a few dollars to spare, it's the cheap solution to blossom end rot. It's probably more available at a produce store or hardware and it's very heavy for its size. Otherwise, if you've got some dried ...
Well, Vanessa, it's getting a bit hot for cabbage family. If you can make the spot a bit cooler with shadecloth they might hang on for a bit longer. One solution to damage by the Cabbage White Butterfly - apart from just growing in the cooler mont...
With a fruit tree I'd do as Donna suggests but with a short-term annual like a Zucchini, I'd be doing a rain dance and saying "thank you" to the goddess of melons!
The 'bolting' thing is with leaf crops eg lettuce or root crops eg beetroot and on...
Now I do, Donna! Today was 5000L tank instal day among other distractions ;-) OK so here is seed-in-pod and pod-and-seed.
http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/Roman-beans-with-parsley-and-garlic
750g of Roman (also called Dutch flat pole) beans
Elaine, Do you have a picture of the seed?
This was the only hit I got, and it wasn't mentioned in the seed saver manual.
http://www.uharvest.ca/zenstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21_28_51&products_id=241&zenid=ngp8c46146iqqses3u1n9nkm63
Whatever works! I use lots of recycled/reclaimed things ... all the items you see in the photos were cheapies. Bought at markets or the last-one-throw-out in the case of the greenhouse. Ice cream containers are very useful and I use a lot of them ...
Some pix in the mini-greenhouse - this was positioned in morning sun which was great in the winter. Closed the front door and the seedlings snug as ... but beware when the weather warms, I've already managed to cook some sprouts. Moved it since to...
You can pick the PawPaw anytime after it starts to yellow up. They still taste fine and you don't run the risk of someone beating you to it.
The purple flowered plant is a Vinca, leave it there, it's a benign entity and quite pretty!
Right gardeners ... some pix of a mystery bean.
It was grown by a commercial vege grower and he called it a 'Dutch Pole Bean'. Searching around I've not come across that name.
It's a vigorous vine with creamy/yellow flowers in bud and white flow...
Further thoughts ... label everything! Variety, date planted is very helpful to assess success ... keep a diary if you can, it's sometimes very useful.
Profile Information
- About me:
- Individual
- I am currently involved with the following community gardens and groups:
- Not currently involved.
- I am interested in:
- Compost gardening for vegetables. Alternate therapies and many new age topics.
- I can offer:
- Garden involvement, information
- About what I can offer:
- Garden involvement - not sure what that means but if it is a visit here then that's quite likely. I do have info to share.
- My contact details are:
- Deception Bay, Queensland
- I am looking for:
- Garden involvement, produce, services, information, events
Elaine de Saxe's Photos
Elaine de Saxe's Blog
Spudz at DBay
From 750g of seed potatoes plus a couple of Dutchies from a retailer, harvested 3.730g.
Planting in August is a tad too late in the heat ... next time I'd plant as soon as the eyes have developed. And I'd give them a tad more space, too. A 300L bed was a bit cramped. And I'd mix compost (if I have enough!) with the cane mulch and try and encourage some more tubers further up the stems.
The cane mulch plus the layers of 30 percent shade cloth I used to extend the bed depth allowed the tubers to… Continue
Planting in August is a tad too late in the heat ... next time I'd plant as soon as the eyes have developed. And I'd give them a tad more space, too. A 300L bed was a bit cramped. And I'd mix compost (if I have enough!) with the cane mulch and try and encourage some more tubers further up the stems.
The cane mulch plus the layers of 30 percent shade cloth I used to extend the bed depth allowed the tubers to… Continue
Posted on October 28, 2009 at 3:38pm — 2 Comments
Koalas existence is threatened in S.E. Qld - info and petition
Maybe not exactly garden-related but many of us will be keen conservationists.
Received a note from the Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association http://www.biepa.org via the CREEC mailing list. CREEC is Caboolture Regional Environmental Education Centre at Burpengary http://www.creec.org.au/.
The Redlands Council is concerned about the rate of tree-clearing in their area and the consequent threat to Koalas. The website http://www.redland.qld.gov.au/NewsEvents/PublicNotices/Pages/Koal… Continue
Received a note from the Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association http://www.biepa.org via the CREEC mailing list. CREEC is Caboolture Regional Environmental Education Centre at Burpengary http://www.creec.org.au/.
The Redlands Council is concerned about the rate of tree-clearing in their area and the consequent threat to Koalas. The website http://www.redland.qld.gov.au/NewsEvents/PublicNotices/Pages/Koal… Continue
Posted on June 29, 2009 at 2:19pm — 1 Comment
Comment Wall (12 comments)
- At 8:37pm on October 12, 2009,
Scarlett Patrick said… - thankyou so much Elaine! the seeds have arrived already - what a pretty card - much appreciated :D
SJP
- At 10:36am on October 7, 2009,
Pree said… - Hi Elaine
I'd love to meet up for a coffee. You're welcome to come over anytime and have coffee at our place as well. Sorry for the late reply, I'm just getting used to this networking site, and I didn't see your comment until now...
Pree
- At 7:10am on October 3, 2009,
Elaine de Saxe said…
- Hi Andrew ...
Winters in Brisbane are mild indeed, some frost in low places but that's all.
My bins are made from a kind of bubble-wrap on steroids, with air coming in from underneath via a pipe and cone.
Bokashi is a Japanese system of a mix of microbes who ferment the scraps, make some liquid on the way which can be broken down and watered into the soil. Then the pickled veges are composted before being used since by this time the collection has picked up heat-generating organisms. The whole lot breaks down quite quickly mostly but items like Avacado skins take forever and eggshells, however small also take a long time. I use shredded paper and sugarcane straw - getting enough browns has always been the limitation with composting. Plenty of gluggy stuff from the kitchen and garden.
However, reading your website it sounds like the compost should be finished in weeks although you don't say how many. Perhaps an indication would help because here am I thinking - what 4 weeks, 6 weeks? when it's more like 14 or 16 weeks or more.
I use a digital thermometer on a probe and am getting tops of 50 deg C but the heaps hold around mid-40s for a couple of weeks. The inventor of the Compost Oven reckons 80 deg C but I've got nowhere near that.
Best regards
Elaine
- At 8:37pm on October 2, 2009,
Andrew E Davenport said… - Hi Elaine,
Not sure how cold your winters are but during ours in the Uk nothing much happens in the way of compost making so 3 to 6 months is probably not too bad. To speed things up you can put extra insulation around the heaps such as straw but be careful not to cut off the air too much. Composting should really speed in the spring when fresh green materials become available again.Your right about nettle being essential and yarrow is vital too with the honey of course. What is Bokashi juice made from and are using that in your QR heaps? Do you find the Bokashi system works?
Kind Regards
Andrew
- At 5:18pm on October 2, 2009,
Andrew E Davenport said…
- Hi Elaine,
Nice to hear from you. I found the group through googling 'quick return compost'. I agree Miss Bruce was a great old gal and inspired a great number of people to make compost and 'give life back to the soil' as she put it. How did you get to hear about Miss Bruce? Did you ever get hold of a copy of her book? They do come up but can be quite expensive.
Has spring arrived yet in Brisbane? And have you tried making QR compost yet? I'm not sure if you can get the activator out there. I know another lady in Brisbane who managed to get some from a company called Sea Magic they only had limited quantaties but it may be worth getting in touch. You could of course make the activator for yourself providing you can get hold of the ritght herbs but there are substitutions that can be made.
Kind Regards
Andrew
- At 3:51pm on September 29, 2009,
Pree said…
- Thanks very much for your message Elaine! We live in North Lakes now, but used to live near your way in Redcliffe prior to that...
- At 7:40pm on August 26, 2009,
Scarlett Patrick said…
- Oh bother of course.
OK so I looked them up in the administrator section and sent them an email. I can't give their address out of course, but I told them you're chasing them. Cheers SJP
- At 3:49pm on August 14, 2009,
Scarlett Patrick said…
- thanks :)
she's gone
it happens intermittently
at least it wasn't unsavoury this time
cheers SJP
- At 6:25pm on June 28, 2009,
Florence said… - Thanks for sharing your experiences with compost today, and great to meet you in person ~
- At 5:57pm on June 28, 2009,
christopher zane hart said… - hi Elaine , thanks for both your company and talk today . It has added a most welcome extra dimension to the Garden Visits .
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