Came back from my holiday and almost everything is looking pretty good - I harvested 3 eggplants (now have to figure what to do with them), heaps of small long capsicums, 1 green zebra tomato, angled luffa seeds and red okra seeds.
We finally got our chickens, but the house and pen are too small so Ash will have to build something more suitable before they grow to full size.
…
Continue
Added by Donna on December 20, 2009 at 5:05pm —
2 Comments
Well the infrastructure Manager still hasn't built the chook pen yet, but has randomly decided to enlarge one of my beds and build a frame for pumpkins to grow over and provide shade. He also decided we need a water tank so has been busy digging and leveling for a slab... I keep telling him the chook pen is at the top of the list, maybe he will listen soon.
…
Continue
Added by Donna on November 19, 2009 at 3:26pm —
6 Comments
I have just harvested my Elephant Garlic that was initially planted in May (still have some left in the garden planted in July) and am pretty happy with the results.
As the photos show, there was a large variety of sizes of bulbs which will now be hung in the laundry (outside) for about two weeks to dry for storage -…
Continue
Added by Donna on November 11, 2009 at 9:00am —
3 Comments
It has been awhile since I got out into the garden and I only have one bed planted and growing at the moment. In saying that it is *very* planted and has heaps in it because it was the only bed ready when the seedlings came up! There is red okra starting to flower, angled luffa (last two seeds so hopefully get some this time!), rockmelon with two babies, stars & moon watermelon, black carrots, corn with cobs starting to show silk and snake beans starting to flower and a couple of kohl rabi t…
Continue
Added by Donna on October 30, 2009 at 4:08pm —
7 Comments
I have just used lucerne mulch for the first time on my raised beds, instead of the fine sugar cane mulch. There were three reasons:
1. Price - I was paying $12.50 for sugar cane and the lucerne was $10.00
2. Nutrients - Lucerne is supposed to be better for the soil
3. Water Retention - The sugar cane was a solid mat and the beds were really dry underneath
The lucerne is very different to the sugar cane, there are long stalks and lots of little green bits covering the dirt. It goes a lot furthe…
Continue
Added by Donna on October 30, 2009 at 3:00pm —
13 Comments
Well Gardenate.com finally got me off my bottom this weekend, I have planted seeds in an old concrete tub at the back door with hessian over it to keep it moist...hopefully. While a lot of them were supposed to be planted direct I decided to try it this way so I don't forget to water them if they are randomly scattered in different gardens.
I planted celeraic, carrot, cucumber, eggplant, globe artichokes, kohl rabi, lettuce, luffa (my last two seeds of angled luffa - hopefully get something to…
Continue
Added by Donna on August 16, 2009 at 5:42pm —
1 Comment
Finally hosted a Garden Visit, should have done it months ago - it was such a good motivator to get things ready in the garden!
My husband (the 'Infrastructure Manager') concreted up the side of the house enclosing the already existing gardens and screwed second hand tin to to the fence before filling it with free green mulch sourced from a nice local tree lopper. This meant that we didn't have to dig up the grass and are hoping that the nitrogen draw down kills it, then it will be ready for pl…
Continue
Added by Donna on July 22, 2009 at 9:22am —
No Comments
Well finally got back into the garden and sorted out most of the mess. I didn't plant any seeds before my holiday as I thought everything would die - hindsight is a wonderful thing, the rain would have had everything thriving.
Finally gave up on the pumpkins, the vines were all over the lawn and looked really untidy with grass growing through them and I wanted the beds back for this seasons planting! I think we got about fourteen pumpkins, although a few are quite small and may not be ripe. Thi…
Continue
Added by Donna on June 8, 2009 at 9:34am —
3 Comments
It Worked! I planted peanuts to see how they would grow in our climate and I had success - they grew through our summer and nothing attacked them, although the last few weeks they have had a few rusty sort of spots on the leaves.
As soon as the soil temperature was warm enough to germinate them I planted them direct into a veggie garden. Only three plants came up but they spread quite a bit so it was just as well. As with all off my veggie gardens there was a layer of cane mulch and the nuts we…
Continue
Added by Donna on June 7, 2009 at 7:12pm —
1 Comment
There seems to be an influx of new active members and my old method of keeping up to date doesn't seem to be working as well! I used to check the Main page every couple of days and was able to see anything new, but recently I have missed some things due to all the fantastic extra activity.
I know that I can subscribe/ follow Groups that I am a member or co-ordinator of by clicking the link on the top right hand of the Group or in individual forum posts clicking the link at the bottom of the pag…
Continue
Added by Donna on May 7, 2009 at 9:16am —
2 Comments
I have just cleared out two of the garden beds and added a barrow of compost to each one, will start planting for autumn this weekend. Haven't quite decided what to plant first - if you've seen my seed collection you'd understand why ;) Probably will go for some mustard greens/ lettuce/ tomato/ kohlrabi/ radish/ silverbeet/ beetroot/ bush bean in these first beds and try and do succession planting of same in the other beds soon.
I bought some elephant garlic from Green Harvest as it is supposed…
Continue
Added by Donna on March 24, 2009 at 1:03pm —
5 Comments
Summer has continued to challenge my newly established gardens, fruit flies and fungus abound!
Okra and corn have been the big winners so far, all I have to do is plant them and give them minimal water and they have been thriving. The cob sizes on the corn are not huge but certainly edible and it may just be the variety (F1 baby/ pop/ sweet corn). I have just purchased two new corn varieties that are both OP so will be planting them out now along with snake beans I bought to grow up them.…
Continue
Added by Donna on January 12, 2009 at 10:50am —
3 Comments
Well, after a few summer/ humidity teething problems things are starting to grow again and hopefully it won't be long until we get some good meals from the garden. In saying that silverbeet has been a huge winner for us, we can have at least two good meals a week from our plants and have been for ages. Ashley's rogue cherry tomato is still alive well after my purebreds have failed and we have a good amount of baby lettuce again.
My herb garden is truly a permaculture design with everything comp…
Continue
Added by Donna on December 7, 2008 at 2:00pm —
1 Comment
Bne Seed Saver Newsletter 02.pdfI hope this email finds everyone well. Welcome to the second edition of the Brisbane Seed Savers Newsletter.
Please feel free to reply with any requests for content or contributions for this newsletter. Always remember, this is a specialised local group who are all interested in not only saving seed…
Continue
Added by Donna on November 5, 2008 at 7:28pm —
8 Comments
I have been having a shocking time with tomatoes recently - not only did I have most of my fruit split (attracting some sort of fungus), then most of them have been 'stung' or something similar. One had a black & yellow caterpillar that I must get around to identifying... Some sort of random cherry tomato from my compost sprouted in the grass near a garden so hubby put bricks around it without weeding it, and staked it up. The interloper has done beautifully and has NO problems while my heir…
Continue
Added by Donna on November 3, 2008 at 8:08pm —
No Comments
Before I discovered (and embraced) Heirloom seeds I had already purchased a number from general shops and these are marked as such. The main supplier I now use is Diggers although there are some from Green Harvest as well.
Basil, Lettuce Leaf
Basil, Ornamental
Beetroot, Crimson Globe (general)
Broccoli (de Cicco)
Broccoli, Green Sprouting (general)
Cabbage, Earliball (general)
Californian Poppy, Milkmaid - Flower
Capsicum (mixed Italian Fryers) Heirloom
Carrot - All Year (general)
Carrot mini…
Continue
Added by Donna on October 14, 2008 at 8:50pm —
No Comments
I first decided in June to start growing my own fruit and vegetables in earnest it has been a huge five months but I am starting to feel that I know enough to realise that I will never know it all! But I do feel a lot more comfortable just knowing how many resources are out there to help me on what has become a fantastic journey.
Initially I thought that sharing a percentage of my crops with the pests was all part of the 'organic' way of doing things. Now I am learning that there are many thing…
Continue
Added by Donna on October 14, 2008 at 8:25pm —
1 Comment
Bne Seed Saver Newsletter 01.pdfHi All
I hope this email finds everyone well. Welcome to the very first edition of the Brisbane Seed Savers Newsletter. Eagerly anticipated, it is finally ready!
Please feel free to reply with any requests for content or contributions for this newsletter. Always remember, this is a specialised l…
Continue
Added by Donna on October 13, 2008 at 7:34pm —
No Comments
MEMBERSHIP FORM.doc
The basic aim for Brisbane Seed Savers is to save Heirloom and Heritage (or in fact any other non hybrid variety) seeds for varieties of vegetables and fruit that are suitable for this area. While doing this, members can share their experiences and pass on their knowledge in order to help others realise the many benefits…
Continue
Added by Donna on September 25, 2008 at 1:05pm —
No Comments
I have always been a fan of fruit trees and nearly everywhere I have ever lived I have planted at least a couple. When we moved back to Australia five years ago, we bought a house in Jacobs Well and I had about $150 to spend on fruit trees. I bought five from a local nursery - Mango, Peach, Nectarine, Mandarin and White Mulberry. During the next three years I discovered 'The Fruit Tree Man' who sells fruit trees cheaply at the Beenleigh markets and added numerous more.
We left that house three…
Continue
Added by Donna on September 18, 2008 at 8:09pm —
2 Comments
