May 2016 Blog Posts (11)

Hi Everyone.

Well I've had a very busy weekend.  My kids went to titration comp (chemistry thing) this weekend and it was very exciting as we placed first and second!!! Completely unexpected as this was the first time our school had entered, multiple equipment disasters occurred on the day  but the kids were champions.  That pretty much took up my Saturday so I didn't have as much time as I'd like gardening this weekend. However, the cooler days means you actually get more gardening…

This year I have tried growing Green Zebra tomatoes for the first time with good success. The above plant was also a departure from my usual practice of starting from seed. Although I did start the parent plant from seed, but this plant was started from a thinning out of leaders which I did to produce a tall original plant, devoid of lower growth. So as the original plant was…

Hi everyone,

I've had 3 very busy weekends away from my garden and boy have I missed it.  I spent the whole weekend in the garden and enjoyed every minute but there were lots of maintainancy jobs to get done.  Harvested lots of paw paws, banana's and honey.  Normally I only take one comb but my bees have been making some funky shaped comb so I removed two of the worst and straightened a couple to hopefully sort the problem…

Kombucha making has been popular for a long time. I call it my "old hippy" drink though I've personally been making it for just a few years. I find it really helps my dicky tum and it's a very pleasant form of hydration. The K I make is reasonably fizzy but as I dilute it down in water I add it to a bottle of aerated water using the Soda Stream. Looks like beer when I'm finished.

I tried milk Kefir but it upset my stomach - made a good cream cheese with it though. Phil makes some nice…

Oh I was going to tell you about my worms.Squirmy little buggers always under foot. No matter where I dig in my fingers there they are. Poor souls. Wriggling in the dirt, heading off...well, wherever worms go. 

Fat too. The sort of worm that makes a man proud of his labours. I can see it now: the epitaph. 'He grew good worms.'

'How do I do it?' you ask...Let me explain.

First up you build a sort of sand castle....…

Pests come in all shapes and forms. Obviously the bigger they are the more damage they can do, but often it is easier to keep out the larger than the smaller. The larger pests, wallabies, possums, rats birds, etc. need a barrier to stop them from doing damage which is not always easy to erect, but once you have them in place are usually effective.

As I garden in a lot of above ground containers, (old baths, laundry tubs, sacks, etc.), it stops some of the access that normal garden…

Late at night, I sneak downstairs into the garage.   It’s fairly isolated so I can turn the light on.  I creep across the carpet (yes, my garage is carpeted) and check the young quails.  Occasionally, they’ll need water or food, but usually by night they are asleep.  Then I look in the other, smaller box.  My special little mate usually gives me a chirp.  It has no use of one leg and the other appears only partly useful. 

I’ll pick him up and help him drink some water.  I check there…

I have had two tree stumps ground down and am left with two heaps of mulch. I am wondering what is the best way of using them, they are very fine so am not sure if they are good to put directly on the garden. Would it be best to compost them first?

Hi guys,

My son said to me today that it was only 4 weeks till winter and I went to explain that no, we were still in the middle of Autumn when I realised that DESPITE the still really hot weather, it is actually the last month of Autumn!!! What the??? No wonder I'm having such trouble in the garden. 

I have FINALLY got some spinach to germinate, don't ask me how as I swear the days have not dropped below 25.  I have just transplanted it into a wicking bed today but it may not…

UPDATED INFORMATION ON THE EXPERIMENT WITH THESE PLANTS HAS BEEN ADDED BELOW.

Collard greens are one of the oldest members of the cabbage family and date back to prehistoric times. They have been used in cooking for centuries.

Thanks to Christa for this very informative LINK.…