Well the rain has disappeared for few days and we have a hint of the summer that is ahead. The organic gardener worked on a limestone wall yesterday and felt the heat of the sun for sure! Today we are several degrees warmer and almost clear blue skies as far as the eye can see!

Lawns Are Stirring

I fertilised the lawns this week since I was expecting the warmer days and the grass will take off very soon. I have also been busy weeding – getting them out before they set seed! This is more for preventing next years crop of weeds as tidying up the yard today.

We planted Sir Walter last year after I dug up our old fashioned buffalo lawn. The Sir Walter stays nice a green in the winter and needs less water in the summer. These are two useful features in Perth – our summers can be very hot and dry and of course water restrictions will be in force again this year. We actually had a sprinkler ban in winter this year – which seems odd but people actually forget to turn them off in the winter and so need reminders!

Still More Flowers

I checked the strelitzia yesterday and we now have two lovely flowers – the front yard is blooming and is so bright it almost shimmers with colour.

If you only had smell-o-vision! These smell unbelievable in the early morning and add to the many sweet smells of spring flowers.

Vegetables Going Strong

A few days ago I went through the garden with a knife and bagged up a large amount of parsley and Silver Beet. Most of this I gave away since we still have heaps left and just pick it as we need it. My friend Greg scored a big pile of carrots, turnips, Silver Beet since we are having a few days down south next week and I like the vegetables to be eaten fresh and hate storing it too long after harvest. His wife was delighted with the free organic vegetables.

We will have a few more feeds of winter vegetables for the next few weeks but after I return from the short holiday I will start preparing beds for the summer crops. Tomatoes, beetroot and lettuce rank high on that list. I wont need to plant many lettuce since they self seed all over the garden! I may just move a few seedlings to more convenient spots.

We had a few meals with the broccoli this week and it tasted yummy. I get out most mornings to check for snails since they are the major competitor for the broccoli. There will be a few more caterpillars this week I am sure with the heat improving so I may need to go get some pest oils ready but for now we are managing without them.

That’s it for this week!
Have a great week.

The Organic Gardener

In the Organic Garden This Week

Everything is thriving in the garden right now. The warm days with regular showers means amazing conditions – if you are a vegetable or a fruit tree!

For example the mulberry tree is in full leaf now and covered with yummy fruit!

The vegetables are racing along and we are enjoying carrots and brocollini and lots of spinach.
I expect to harvest 10 heads of brocolli this week so some lucky friends and relatives will be given a feed.

The Headless Carrot Man

It looks weird doesn’t it! A product of some scientific experiment! No! Just what happens when carrots find rocks or hard ground in their beds! I have a had a few deformed carrots this week and the lesson is to sift the soil in these beds a little better next time!

Anyway good for a laugh!

See you all next time!

Record Temperature for October

This is today’s harvest of organic broccoli! Why so much? I think the 38degrees on Saturday had something to do with it!
I had put up the covers on the bed so that the veges would not burn and that seems to have worked well. However the high temperatures push the growth of the broccoli heads forward and we had 7 or more ready in one go. Normally we can pace our harvest over a week or two but the extreme conditions brought it all on at once!

Never mind a few friends will be happy tonight since they have my excess for dinner!
I picked 1.5 kilos of broccoli altogether.

Oh yeah, a few carrots as well!

Fruit Trees are loving the Sunshine

That is a 10 litre bucket about half full of mulberries that we picked this afternoon and are currently turning into jam!
My dear wife had been preparing them for jam this afternoon and I did the last kilo an hour ago. We cut the little stems off the fruit to improve the jam. If you don’t the jam is a little crunchy – I actually don’t mind that but it is very smooth without the stems.

Seed Collection

I let my Bok Choy go to seed this winter and collected the dry pods as the plants died off. Today I removed crushed the dried pods and separated them from the seeds and now have plenty of organic seed for the next 12 months. I will also share a few with some of my friends who like to grow their own as well.

Preparing Seedlings For Next Crop

Last week I planted some beetroot, spring onion and tomato seeds. The tomatoes are heritage varieties and were great value and I hope to have an excess of tomatoes – which we will turn into sauce or paste and deep freeze. I hope to try drying this year as well, since the few I did last year were very yummy.

This is the fresh bed for the tomatoes and is full of manure, blood and bone and wetting agent.

Dinner Time

Just before I finish up I have ducked out for dinner and thought you might like to see what I am having – pork spare ribs on rice with prune and apple sauce with organic broccolini of course!

Have a good week!
The Organic Gardener

We are well into spring here in Perth and the organic garden is warming up and the soil is just right for preparation for summer crops.
Seeds are in the trays and germinating so the next step is to prepare the ground.

Step 1. Complete the Harvest of Winter Crops

I have picked the last of the turnips and onions and also found a few beetroot.
The organic Garlic are going well but no where near ready for harvest yet.

Step 2. Weed the Beds

With the extra rain this winter and spring I have actually had quite a lot of clover growing in the beds.

This has not been a problem since it fixes nitrogen in the soil and makes good compost too!
So I have weeded these all out and turned the soil over.

After all that the compost heap is looking huge.

Step 3. Add compost and Blood and Bone

Next is the addition of blood and bone and compost to revive the tired soils that have produced wonderful winter food like cauliflower and turnips.

I also add some germs – this are granulated bacteria that kick off the soil activity when you add them with the organic materials.

Step 4. Mulch the Beds

This year I am trying something new – cane sugar mulch!

Garden straw has become very expensive over the last few years so I have tried to find alternatives but most are just as expensive. I spotted this sugar cane mulch last week and though I would try it this summer. It comes in a compressed bale in a plastic bag so the bag covers 7 square meters at the depth I need. Very convenient and easy to handle.

We will see how this goes and I will report back next year.
I give it all a good watering – completely soaked and ready for the plants.

Step 5. Plant out the Seedlings

I have bought a few seedlings as well as grown my own to get things moving and to space out the plantings.
Today I have put in cucumber, yellow zucchini, egg plant (3 varieties), coriander (in tomato bed for pest control).

So there we go the crops are in and the only thing to do now is to keep an eye on the pests and keep the ground moist.

Now Keep that Dog Out

Now blood and bone has a nice smell if you are a dog and so if I don’t take precautions the red menace will be into the garden in a flash. This is why you can see the galvanised fence around each bed.

Here he is chewing his raw bone looking very happy. I can tell you he would also be thinking how that freshly dug garden bed will be a great place to bury this bone later today!

The black pipe is the recycled tyre material that I bury below the soil as an underground water system. The pipe weeps and effectively maintains good moisture levels with little evaporation.

Protect Seedlings From Heat

In Perth we can get some real scorchers even in spring so I prepare for the odd day by placing my beach umbrellas in each bed.
I have placed steel stakes deep in the bed and then tie the umbrella base to them. Top of the umbrella can be removed in very windy weather but usually I can just leave them down and tied.

This one is in the broccoli bed and last year enabled me to grow and pick the vegetable for almost the whole of summer!

Here it is in it’s full glory doing a great job protecting my dinner!

I actually have two stakes in some beds one for early summer and one for late summer. This can compensate for the changing tilt of the earth as the season moves on.

That’s it then all ready – now I just keep an eye out for bugs and deal with them as the weeks progress.

Have a great week and may you have success in your garden as well!

Spring Is Springing

Well not much happening in the organic garden this week, other than watching my seedlings grow. I have seen a surge in caterpillars so I have been picking them off and using a little pest oil as well.

Our weather is very spring! We have thunderstorms one day and then high temperatures the next! I have lost a couple of seedlings to the hot weather since I have been sick with the flu and so did not get out enough to check on the little ones!
This is why I usually plant more than I could hope to eat so no great problem so far with the losses.

The silverbeet is thriving and is soooo green!

The corn, cucumber, zucchini and eggplants are doing well – as are the onions!

I have planted lettuce between the corn rows since I will harvest them long before the corn block out the sunlight!

The tomato seedlings are coming along at last and I should be planting them out soon!

New Flowers

As the weeks move on into late spring the type of flowers around the yard starts to change some what. The bulbs are browning off now and the roses are racing ahead. A few of my newer plantings from last winter are now flowering and we are enjoying a few different splashes of colour.

Compost Heap

The compost heap has grown to huge proportions as I am pruning and thinning out all over the yard.

This is currently about 1.5m high and will settle down as the rot sets in! I will need to add some blood and bone and give it a good turnover when I feel better.

Meanwhile the sweet-potato are enjoying the boost of nutrients that they have access to near the base of the heap.

I also think that the mulberry tree is also benefiting from the heap since they are well know to seek out nutrition over quite large distances.

Fruit Trees Racing Along

My Pinkabelle Apple tree is flowering – exciting prospects of lot’s of apples this year!

Apricots are on the tree now! I will be watching keenly for any fruit fly – have found an organic bait to control them this year!

Still lot’s of mulberries!

My fig tree is loaded and carries so much fruit for such a young and little tree!

Fruit Fly Control

The organic bait and control is quite an easy product to use. I simply mix it as directed and spray over 1sm of fruit tree in the yard. This attracts and kills the fly for roughly 70sm of garden – so for me just one spray once a week or two should control all the fly problems – tomato to apricot tree!

A great way to control the pest without the toxic chemicals of the alternatives!

Of course basic garden hygiene is also important – all waste fruit should be composted quickly or given to the worms to reduce the chances of the fly getting into the yard. Infected fruit can infect the soil and then the fly is a major challenge for many years to come!

This post may seem a little out of time! You see my last post was to be published at the start of November but I got sick and was too ill to publish on time!
I have just got back to the keyboard today to find the unpublished post! However, this is no drama since it shows the dramatic growth over the last 4 weeks. You won’t believe the way my seedlings and seeds have rocketed into the world!

Anyway, here is the update for the first week of December – weather has been strange – some very hot days now and then, rain and thunderstorms and then some very mild and thoroughly amazing days – 23-27 degrees with a cool breeze…. the best of Perth’s climate!

Let’s start with the corn –

It is so thick and lush and I am delighted with it’s progress – could be the best we have ever grown!

The cucumbers are just about to start their mad rush up the fence and supply us with a dozen or so fruits a week!

We should be able to pick 6-7 by the next weekend!

Oh yeah here is one of the lettuce I planted in the corn bed between the rows – it clearly loves this location.

Here is one of the 8 or so eggplant I planted!

The Zucchini are also near bursting with fruit and by the weekend we will be picking 5-6 of those as well!

This is our first bunch of grapes growing up over the patio!

Also let us not forget the carrot seeds and leeks I planted in the refreshed bed.

The board is for me to step on so I don’t compact the bed – each garden bed has something for me to stand on without compacting the soil to encourage good root growth and water absorption when it rains.

Beetroot, eggplant and onions here are doing very nicely indeed!

Let me finish off with one of the many delicate flowers growing around the yard right now!

Have a great week – I can feel a stirfry coming up this weekend – zucchini, coriander, spinach, carrots……..

Heritage

You may recall me speaking about the decision I made this year to grow tomatoes from seed and particularly sow heritage varieties. Well here they are and doing very well thankyou!

That is self sown lettuce in the background – it’s like weeds at the moment!

Heating Up

The summer weather has been mixing it up a bit – cool days (24C) and hot days (38C) and lot’s of in between days as well!
I know that the summer is yet to really heat up so I am already seeing the problem of the high temperatures on the delicate plants. My umbrellas have been working but the winds are challenging some days so I have followed a friends example of building a shade over the top of the beds.

Shade Cloth

Today I have built my first shade over the two hottest beds – they get sun nearly all day so can get very dry unless I pour in more water. Water is restricted now in most cities and Perth is no different. The shading should cut down water loss and allow me to keep to my rostered days.

So here is the process I followed:

Some tall start pickets on the four corners and a brace across the ends and the middle.

I used old PVC to strut and support the posts and shade cloth. It’s light and cheap!

This is 50% shade cloth.

The cucumbers were a lot happier this afternoon so I believe we are on the right track!

Veges in the Garden This Week

Here is a quick update on the veges this week!

Apples are starting to grow!

Siamese Twin Cucumbers!

Eggplant

Zucchini

Spring Onion

The Corn Forest! Over 1.5m high now!

This weekend will be over 37C so that should a big test for my shades and I will let you know how it all performs!

Until next week, have a great week!

The Organic Gardener

Well the end of the year is upon us and it is amazing to thinking that in a very short time it will be 2010.

The garden has been a wonderful supply of fresh organic food this year – I have learnt many new things about the management of a home garden to produce food!
I hope what I have shared has brought useful ideas and encouragement to the many organic home gardeners out there – my encouragement to you is to keep at it and you will succeed!

Growing our own food will have a big impact on our carbon footprint and it is a very efficient way to contribute to the improvement of the environment. Home grown food, especially organic food saves the planet on so many fronts.

This Week In the Garden

So much is happening this week as we prepare for Xmas. I have huge plants growing in all the beds and I am very excited to see corn towering nearly 2 meters high, tomato plants starting to bud up and the cucumbers zucchinis loving the new shade cloth.
Beetroot in my sandwiches, lots of lettuce and the broccolini has proved to be a real bonus – even on the hottest days it has shown no signs of bolting or wilting!

As for the fruit – over 20 apples on the two dwarf trees so far, apricots starting to ripen and figs just delicious!
The pawpaw has shot away and is now nearly a metre tall! Bags of mulberries in the deep freeze – ready for cold winter afternoons next year! The grapes are filling up and getting fatter everyday!

I could go on, but I won’t! Here are a few shots from the yard to give you a feel for the bounty we have out there this week!

Lettuce, Tomato, Coriander bed. Garlic Too!

Eggplant, Beetroot and Onion Bed

Carrot, Capsicum and Beetroot Bed

The Corn Forrest!

Eggplant, cucumber and zucchini bed.

Moon Flower

2 years ago I was given a cutting from a “Moon Flower” and last year we had 1 flower. I was in Adelaide or Melbourne at the time and missed it but this year we have three flowers that have budded up and burst into life. I have searched the web for a picture like this one but no luck so anyone who can give me a botanical name please live a message here on the site.

I have taken shots over the two days and you can see the progression – we went out last night and came home to find the house full of this cinnamon scent and three enormous and dazzling flowers!

After all that glorious scent and wonderful flowers this is the way they look the next morning!

Merry Xmas everyone!!

The Organic Gardener

The organic home gardener is home after a nice break down south of the state.

Had lot’s of great food, most of it from my sisters garden. I have a few photos to share from the visit and these will show you some amazing results from her sunflower bed!
The other great opportunity was to eat lots of fresh apricots, peaches (white and orange flesh) and some plums (only managed to get one since they are a little later ripening).

Jon is around 6 foot so you can see how monstrous these flowers are!

Steve and Jon picking more ripe fruit.
The netting is to keep out the parrots and the odd green eye.

We are still eating the peaches here at home as well as some cherries I picked up at Mt Barker on the way back from the Albany holiday.

In the Organic Garden This Week

When I got home the garden was looking pretty good! The shade cloth covers had worked a treat and the plants were all very healthy and in fact very much bigger than before I left. The plants are thriving despite the many days over 35 degrees Celsius this month.

The corn is huge and the cobs are thickening up nicely and I check them every day just in case any are ready to eat!

There are tomatoes on the bushes now and so we can expect to start eating them next week. I thinned out the carrots and had a little feed – I cannot believe how well they are growing! The capsicums are doing well and the egg plants are very productive and I will soon be picking them daily.

Today I planted some more cucumber and lettuce which should be ready just as the other plants start to deteriorate.

Drive In Food Bars for Magpies

Lastly today I wish to share a video I took one day when we were admiring the sights from a look out in Albany. A family of Magpies was sitting on a rail in the car park and quite calmly inspected each car as it arrived and helped themselves to the bugs caught in the grilles of the cars.
What we most amazed by was that they al;ways walked to the front of the car each time – never the back of the car!

Anyway have a great week and happy new year!

The Organic Gardener

In The Organic Garden This Hot Summer Week

Well here we are past the mid point of January and several weeks of very warm weather with today being the second day in a row over 42 degrees celcius. Tomorrow promises to be around 37 and it might even rain – the first time in 57 days!

We have broken some records this month on the summer temperatures and rainfall front. Normally this spells disaster for the vegetable garden but this year I seem to have had a win! My plans and preparations have saved the day and I have suffered minimal losses in the garden. A few lettuce plants got fried, a few capsicums burnt but generally all is well.

This zucchini plant has a little stress (as seen by the white fungal infection which I will treat with milk)

Beetroot and spring onion doing fine under the shade cloth. Oh yeah, that’s Dill growing in the front there!

Tomatoes doing fine, little sun damage and nice and plump.

The eggplant are thriving and we are enjoying them on and off the BBQ!

The next round of Cucumbers doing very well and a few lettuce in between them and the broccolini.

Will pick our first ever grapes tomorrow if it rains other wise the next day it cools down.
The cloth is to cover them on the hottest days, otherwise they are raisins!

Picking and Preserving the Corn Crop

Last week we picked the first of the corn to have cooked on the BBQ for Margit’s birthday. Today I picked half of the remaining crop to preserve for eating in the winter months. It seems so far away right now, but warm buttered corn on a cold winters day is some fine comfort food! The following photos demonstrate the procedure for preserving them in the deep freezer.

A very successful crop of corn this year it was 42degrees when I took this photo – corn was quite happy!

A sharp broad knife makes cutting the corn much easier.

Strip the cobs of the leaves and the filaments.

Cut into convenient bite sized cobs.

I had a big pan of water coming to the boil and ready to go as I finished chopping. The corn goes in for 5-6 minutes only to just partially cook them. (This stops freezer burn)

This bucket has a little ice and cold water ready to cool the blanched corn cobbettes.

The corn is bagged in lots of 6 for a dinner serve, dated and placed in the freezer. There is some lovely organic beef and free range pork sitting next to them!

That’s it, all ready for the coming winter. The rest of the crop we will eat raw and BBQ – and also give a few away to some lucky neighbours and friends!

I wish the best for the rest of the week – we expect more hot weather in the mid-30′s this weekend so the heat is on in Perth!

Take care,
The Organic Gardener

Public holiday here in Perth and we are celebrating Australia Day. Watching the cricket, going to the beach, listening to the cricket on the radio and having a BBQ lunch are all traditional activities for today. Gardening will be low on the list for most people but I grab a little moment to harvest my dinner!

Clean Up Time

With the harvest of the corn over it is time to clean up a few beds in the garden and start preparing for the next round of plantings.

The compost heap is quite tall again and I may need to have a big turnover this week to get the heat going in the middle and check the moisture levels.

Veges To Eat This Week

Carrots, eggplant and broccolini are the main edibles this week. The carrots are just the thinnings from the carrot bed to encourage the growth of the larger carrots.

The bowl of fruit salad is for our breakfast!

Finally picked the grapes this week and they are so sweet.

The capsicum we pick as they ripen and we have had a few this week. The sunburnt ones are used for the dog – he loves capsicum with his dinner and has on occasion stolen them from the garden!

The eggplant are producing large numbers of fruit and even though I have picked 7 big eggs this week there are plenty more on the way!

Here are the cucumbers which are racing along now and should be producing fruit next week. We expect to pick some lettuce as well!

Apples and Pumpkins

The apples are progressing nicely and will have a good feed from the trees later in the year.

The pumpkin plant is sneaking around the garden and we look forward to some nice fruit.

Finally the Paw Paws are coming along nicely and it is quite impressive how quickly they can grow when the heat starts!

This plant is nearly 1.5metres tall having started at 15cm when planted from the pot.

The second one is rapidly out growing the pot and I will plant it at the end of the summer.

Anyway have a happy Australia Day my Aussie friends and may everyone else just have a great day as well!

The organic gardener.

The Seasons Are Changing

Yes I know it is not autumn yet but there has been a distinct change in the air this week. It is still warm but the nights are cooler and the mornings have more dew. I remember years ago being told by a local Noongar that his ancestors believed in nearly 6 periods or what we call seasons. One of the extra ones is the period we are in now. I can tell you that I have seen a change in the growth of the organic vegetables and fruit so something is going on!

Cherry Tomatos are away!

Lettuce and Beetroot are looking nice.

Cucumber!

Capsicum and Eggplant and some sweet Red Onions

Paw Paw

Just a quick shot of the Paw Paw tree I planted earlier this year.

Here is how it was and then….

this is now!

I have a second one ready to go in this Autumn once we get past the seriously hot days!

Have a great week!
The Organic Gardener

Autumn is here but not the rain! It is still very dry here in Perth and the Organic Gardener needs to keep on his toes if plants are to keep growing. This week saw a few cooler days and nights and a little moisture on the lawn on a couple of mornings! Heavens above I could almost say it was cool one morning – 12 degrees!

Anyway enough on the weather – can’t change it so have to live with it!

Next Months Crops Go in Now

The cooler days do allow me to get out and get the next set of seedlings in the ground and well established before the predicted 35 degrees on 3-4 days next week. I put in some more cucumber and beetroot as well as some leek.

The board is there for me to tread on when I check the seedlings or remove weeds – it spread my weight and minimises compression and compaction of the soil. It is hard enough for young plants to survive the weather without hard sod for their little baby roots to try to drill through.
A light fluffy soil structure allows better water penetration and access for air.

The last crop of lettuce did not fair too well thanks to the slaters and some seriously hot weather. Of the 12 seedlings I planted maybe 6 are left and likely to make it to the table.

I did a little thinning of the carrots this week and we had a nice feed for dinner last night. The carrots are proving quite successful this year despite the harsh temperatures. This encourages me to set up a few more larger scale carrot rows. They are largely pest free and need little attention other than thinning, feeding and a little water.

We are still getting a few of the last of the summer crops. Cherry toms and capsicum are still growing a little and the egg plant are thriving.

Garden Bed Renovation

I was eyeing off the broccolini patch this morning and thinking that they are past their best now and the cooler weather may be a good chance to dig over the bed and get some fresh manures and compost in there before the rains start.

I will possibly plant spinach, silverbeet and some turnip in the bed next since I cannot follow the broccolini with cauliflowers since they are of the same family of plants (brassicas). I may even sneak in a row of carrots since this bed is quite clean and I should get nice straight roots.

The cucumber may still give a few more fruit so I will wait another week before I start digging the bed over. Not that I really dig the beds much now – I usually top them up with a well mixed load of manures and compost, wetting agents and rock minerals.

The capsicums in that bed are now two years old so they are going for sure – I would be lucky to get another year of fruit from them.
Speaking of fruit here is the last fig for 2010 – I ate it straight after I took this little snap!

A New Toy err Tool

The Organic Gardener finally found time to get out and buy a new lawnmower this week for my landscaping business.

It’s a beauty and has a neat trick – turns grass into a fine mulch that can be pushed back into the lawn as you mow. This puts nutrients back into a lawn and helps keep the nutrients handy for the grass. What I like is that the 4 blades produce a fine cut that I can use in the compost heap. I also run the mower over shrub prunings and trimmings and it turns them into fine mulch as well which I then pick up by putting the catcher on after the mulcher has done it’s job.
The fine clippings are like dynamite in the compost heap and really get things moving a lot quicker.

This is the magic device that turns a regular mower into a mulching genie!

It is designed to fling the cuttings back around and into the blades for a second third or fourth cut!

Here is the back of the mower – normally the catcher is attached here and the cuttings exit!

With the insert in place the clippings go around for another chop before being thrown down into the lawn.

Weird Organic Vegetables

Let me finish this week with a couple of strange vegetables I picked!

Mr Eggplant Head

The Foetal Carrot Baby

Weather has calmed down a little now in Perth, around 27-30degrees C. Much nicer for growing seddlings and that is what I have been up to in the last week.

This lot are being hardened off in readiness for planting next week.

Winter Vegetables

I had a big day this weekend with ten bags of manure and compost to refresh two garden beds in readiness for Autumn planting.

I have put in a few broccoli, silverbeet and lettuce since it is cool enough to start a few winter vegies as well as the regular pickers.
Lettuce, beetroot and spring onions are what I consider regular pickers since we use them each day and a constant supply is handy. I am trying to get my carrots and leeks up to that level as well but they are a little slower growing so it will take me a while to get them up to the constant supply we would like.

Broccoli

Silverbeet

I will wait for the night temperatures to drop below 10degrees before I put in the cauliflowers and cold loving vegetables in!

We are now waiting for the apples to start ripening since both trees are carrying a good feed despite their small size. Patience is something you learn as a gardener!

Until next time.
Enjoy organic food whenever you can!

The organic garden has been trashed today by an enormous storm that has bashed through Perth.

Most plants have had leaves stripped off their branches, fruit trees lost fruit and everything will be bruised for sure if not already stripped of leaves!

The large stone was 25grams!

The dog is currently under the desk hiding from all the thunder and noise!

Hailstorm video

I have just returned to the city after a lovely week in the farmlands near the Porongurups. I was looking after my sisters farm since she had been flown to Perth for medical treatment. She is home now and much better – not that we actually know why she was ill. The medicos have drawn a blank for now and will test her some more next month!

I had a great time checking the cows each day for new calves and feeding the chickens after picking up the eggs!

I also weeded her garden and planted new veges for the winter.

She has several beds like this one and I planted out 4 of them to help her get started.

I also had a nibble on a few apples!

Home Again

This has been my main garden activity this last week since I had already planted out my autumn and winter crops. They have simply grown huge since I left!

Broccoli

Leeks and Carrots

We have been harvesting leeks, cucumber, carrots, egg plant, silver beet and lettuce as we need them or they are ready to eat!

Silverbeet after harvest.

First Apples

Here are the first three ripened Pinkabelles from our trees this year. We are so pleased since the hail storm hammered everything on the trees but we still get to eat them! The markings are the hail hits!
I proudly ate the first one at work yesterday – yummm!

I will be planting more fruit trees this winter – especially apples!

That’s it for now I have a large article to post next time about the tragic release of GM Canola to farmers in Western Australia. I feel very strongly against the use of GMO crops since we will lose control of our food supplies to the large companies to an even larger extent!

Western Australia is going to lose it’s clean and green status – a tragedy for all our farmers!

Until then, take care!
The Organic Gardener

Choice for Who

Sadly this month it became clear that the West is no longer to be GM free and has the current government and a small group of farmers to thank for it. Oh yeah we cannot dismiss the financial giants behind it all, the people who own the GM varieties – the large multinationals like Monsanto.

I am sitting in my sisters kitchen looking across the green fields to the cloud shrouded Porongurups. This area is a fine example of the clean green image people have of the WA agricultural industry. This image though is now to be tarnished with the release of the GMO genie, starting with Roundup Ready Canola.

I can read and hear on the radio politicians claiming that they are just giving people choice! I remember that type of rhetoric in the Howard years – private schools funded by public money – choice – health funds propped up by public money – choice! When a politicians says it’s about choice you know that they are in fact doing something that is the complete opposite for the public as a whole!

Protesters Rally

A rally in February on the steps of Parliament House highlighted the various opinions and sides to this story.
The Agricultural Region MLC Jim Chown spoke about the grain growers who would like the option of using GM. He also reminded us that GM foods are in our food chain already – eg “fried foods from commercial outlets have an 85% chance of being cooked in GM cotton seed oil.”

(Rallies started back in November 2009)

No Choice for Consumers

This highlights for me the whole principle of choice for those of us who wish to have food free of GM products. We don’t have a choice! When did you last see a sign in a fast food outlet that they are using GM oil products? Never! They know that a large percentage of their customers will go elsewhere if they knew that GM products were in use. So much for choice!

Supporters talk about choice for farmers and yet hide the products when they hit the consumer market. There will be no national consistent labelling of products to warn us of the presence of the GM materials – we will have no choice.

Clean Green Image

“WA has a clear marketing advantage over the rest of the world and we should not jeopardise this..” Melvin Hettner WA Farmers Blackwood Zone President

This decision removes the option for this state to advertise our agricultural products as Clean and Green. The actual numbers of farmers who will benefit from the GM varieties will be quite small since they are basically broad acre farmers. They produce large amounts of product with small labour inputs.

On the other hand the large number of small, labour intensive agricultural businesses will all lose their ability to claim they operate in a clean-green state since we won’t be. The GM genie will be loose and WA loses its GM free status.

Our international competitors will be glad to hear that! As for our major agricultural customers many of them have consumers very sensitive to the whole GM-free value. Do you think they will continue buying our agricultural products once GM varieties are in the food supply chain.

Consider what happened to the Canadian industry –
“During the past two years, WA exports to the European Union have increased significantly – largely on the back of Canada’s dramatic loss of its canola export market because it adopted GE canola. The Canadian experience stands as a glaring warning that GE contamination cannot be contained. Now, 90% of that country’s certified non-GE canola seed samples contain GE material.” GE Crops – Raising the Stakes

The whole GM varieties argument benefits a small group of farmers and the multi-nationals who are behind this not the average consumer.

Give Us Compensation

So if the whole issue of dangers from GMOs is over-rated then let’s see the people behind its implementation put their money where their mouth is. The Agricultural Department and the Seed Companies should support legislation to support non-GM farmers.

If they are so confident about the harmless nature of the GMOs then they have nothing to lose in guaranteeing compensation for farmers adversely affected by GM contamination of their crops.

I also believe there should be a fund setup to set aside money for research on the impact of these foods on consumers. Like the cigarette debate over the last 50 years it will be in the long term that the real impact of GMO will be felt and no one has done long-term studies.

Next week:

GM is it The New Asbestos

This is part 2 of my discussion of the release of GM Canola in Western Australia.

A New Asbestos

Let us remember the impact of asbestos on our society – this “wonderful material” was spread throughout our community from brake pads to insulation. Here we are many decades later and hundreds of people are sick and dead from this lethal product.
One of the major companies involved was so concerned at the costs they faced they left the country!

We should learn from this and protect consumers by setting in place legislation and protective measures to cover the possible long term side effects of GMO use. If the products are safe then the companies involved should not have any concerns since they will never have to pay out.

GM Canola is Not A Long Term Solution

“GM canola doesn’t become profitable until you get at least 1.4 tonnes per hectare yield.” Reported farmers Jamie and Jo Fowler “…only a small area of WA….where this technology is going to be potentially profitable.”

So once again a small group of farmers are initially to gain an advantage with these varieties. The rest of them will be struggling to make a profit from the variety (input costs will be higher since the seeds are licensed by multinationals) if they cannot produce high yields.

In the case of the Canola crops resistant to glyphosate – the canola may be resistant to the herbicide but also the weeds are developing resistance. This resistance is a huge problem in the US and Canada and undermines the whole point to developing the GM varieties in the case of this oil seed.

A Chemical Merry-Go-Round

I think it’s not too clever an idea to encourage the selection of pesticide resistant weeds in our farm regions when feral plants are already a major problem for agriculture as a whole.

Of course the Monsantos of the world will undoubtedly invent a new pesticide to deal with that, at a considerable cost to our farmers and consumers as a whole.

Finally, what stops the R2 Conola from becoming a pest. If it pops up in your backyard as a weed you won’t be able to drive down to your local hardware store and grab some glyphosate – it won’t work – remember it’s resistant to glyphosate!

But Wait They Have a Solution for You

Having said that though, I found an advert in the Farm weekly for a herbicide that is to be used to control Roundup Ready Canola(R2 Canola)!

So here we have an engineered product (R2 Canola) designed to resist a herbicide and then we need a different form of herbicide to control this GMO when it gets out of control. Mmmm I can see a pattern developing here – more and more dependence on chemicals. Yet I thought that the whole GMO thing was to reduce our need for chemicals?

It’s Not Hopeless

I signed petitions and gave my support where I could and so did many other West Australians – farmers and and consumers alike! Our politicians failed to pay attention – again!
This has not stopped me.

What can we do?

Well you could stop buying Canola oil that is not marked GM free! Buy organic.
Use olive oil, coconut and grapeseed oils for cooking.

Check your groceries – labels are not as good as they should be but if you see canola in the ingredients make a choice and buy the other brand that uses a different oil!

Go to the supermarkets website and tell them you don’t want GM products unlabelled in your shopping cart.
If enough of us do this they will start to think about where they source their oils!

Support the community groups trying to change the food labelling systems in this country.
Here is one review in progress now Review of Food Labelling Policy

Check out this website that gives a heap of resources to help you spot products you should be avoiding and ones you should support! True Food Guide

Grow your own veges and fruits as much as possible!
When you buy fruit and vege look for the local organic or locally grown products.

Until next time

The Organic Gardener

More information here – GM Genes Jumping “species barrier”
Health risks of GM food

Fruits of My Labour

Just a short update this weekend since I am very busy and the garden is largely looking after itself right now!
We are enjoying the cropping of some of our favourites this last week or so.

Marks are the hail hits!

The apples have nearly all ripened up and we have enjoyed more than 12 – which may not sound like much but after the hailstorm we are lucky to have them!

The eggplant have been a great success this summer and I am leaving the bushes in place – they are huge and fill all of one garden bed and half of another! My darling wife has treated us to some marvellous meals. Last weeks pizzas were magical with eggplant slices as a base on top of the tomato sauce.

Last night I cooked a roast beef dinner with our garden carrots and garlic. Today I had cold beef sandwiches with salad from the garden. The family and I are all enjoying the hard work I put in last month in preparing for this great growing season.

Three of the best apples.

Another Garden

I have actually been spending more time working in my daughters garden lately than my own. Although today I found time to plant bean seeds and English spinach.

I built her a raised garden bed using galvanised steel from an old shed for the walls. We also planted the Orange tree and dug the large hole for the passion fruit vine.
I bought the vine today on special at the markets for $5. I will be planting it tomorrow – mothers day.

I will put up the photos of the progress on the new garden later this month.

In the mean-time enjoy a few shots of the glorious roses I have managed to produce this month!

Finally we have rain in May! It has been so unbelievable that we have gone for so many days this May without rain.
I am happy to say that the garden has thrived despite the low rainfall since the days are warm and the nights drop a heavy dew quite often. I have been using the watering can for a few plants but most are getting by quite well with a water once a week.

I was so keen that I was out in my bare feet picking vegetables to eat and checking on my seeds – some beans are popping out of the soil and hopefully will get a move on after this lovely rain.

The Egg Plant have gone totally insane and I have 15 or so fruit growing at the moment despite the cooler weather and that fact that I have not watered them for two weeks!

Even the Cherry Tomatoes have managed to keep growing and we are picking them as they ripen.

As I finish off here the rain is falling again and it sounds quite heavy – great!

May the showers fall on your favourite patch of green this weekend too!

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

Growing organic vegetables is not just a one off part of life it is usually a reflection of a general attitude to having a lesser impact on the planet. I always strive to find ways to reduce my carbon footprint and reusing materials to make or perform other functions is part of that attitude.

When my daughter started plans for a new home it was evident that she would want some garden beds for vegetables – organic vegetables obviously! So we priced some commercial beds and found that we would be spending near $800 to achieve our aim of three raised garden beds. You can buy a lot of compost and seedlings etc for that sort of money and we had postponed the purchase until a few other household items were put in place.

An Old Shed

I was cleaning up around my home in preparation for the current winter storms when I saw the old steel sheets form the shed we salvaged from Jessica’s first home. I had a look for a moment and a plan started to form in my head.
I folded one of the sheets over and I could see that it was about the height of the beds we were planning to build. All I would have to do was join the sheets to make a square somehow and I would have a garden bed.

Well I thought it through and proceeded to convert three sheets into a bed. It worked!

So here is my procedure for turning three sheets of shed steel into a galvanised raised garden bed!

Step 1

Collect the sheets of steel and cut one in half. Now fold over each sheet so that the top two thirds is double skinned and the bottom single. Drill a couple of holes and pop rivet the sheets in this folded position.

Step 2

The next step is the only other cutting needed. Create two tabs on each end of the sheet and also remove the middle ridge between each tab.

Step 3

This is the tricky bit. You have to insert the tabs between the folded top half of the the short ends made earlier. Pop rivet the tabs and the end sheet together.

Step 4

Repeat the process for each side of the bed.

When you have all sides connected place the bed in the position you wish to grow your vegetables.

Step 5

You need to dig the bottom third of the sheets into the ground to give a solid support to the bed once you fill it with soil and compost.

Mix the soil with soil improver and compost (organic of course) until it is just below the top of the steel.
The levels will rise over time as you add more compost so don’t fill to the top!

We popped in some Capsicum we bought from a school plants sale and some bean seeds and broccoli are going in this weekend.

There you have it. Cost about $5 in rivets and $50 for the organic compost materials. Savings $650!

All we need to do now is sort out the reticulation for the summer! Next post will demonstrate how to set up these beds with drip irrigation.

Lovely weekend ahead of us – sunny and cool after a week of pleasant rain. You can always pick an organic gardener – they love the rain!

Just a little update this morning after picking some yummy organic vegetables and checking up on my broccoli. I have a garden to go to this morning to do some pruning but then we are off to my daughters home to finish off the reticulation on the new garden bed. I will be releasing some how-to in the next two weeks showing you how I made the beds.

Yummy Organic Vegetables

Cherry Tomatoes

One Of several Broccoli growing happily in the cool weather

The Beans are on the way !

Monday is family dinner day and we are watching this big beauty ripen and I will pick it just as it reaches perfection!
It is already the size of my head!

Have a great weekend! I will!

The Organic Home Gardener

Just a quick update on the weekends activity in the organic garden.

I have now harvested 2 large Broccoli so far this week and have the next one almost ready to go today! They have all grown rather large in the last few days since the weather has been perfect for the garden. I think I may make a broccoli cheese dish with the baby carrots I picked as well as the eggplant.

Why I am still picking eggplant defies the normal state of things since they should be going dormant by now but we have continued to pick some absolutely magnificent fruit from the bushes. I noticed at the markets yesterday that the large whole eggs go for $2 and the smaller fingerlings are at $5 or more a kilogram. Don’t ask me what you would pay for organic eggplants!

We had pizza last night with a layer of eggplant over the tomato sauce then sliced cherry toms from the garden as well – yummm!

Meanwhile the lettuce and other vegetables are growing very nicely as well and we just pick the salad vegetables and herbs as we need them. On Friday we picked a large amount of lettuce to give to friends from Jessica’s garden – she is now happily supplying her little family with fresh vegetables as well.

My lettuce are thriving!

Busy Long Weekend Gardening

Yesterday I planted two Japanese ornamental plums in Jess and Jon’s front yard and put in the drip irrigation system as well to keep the plants thriving come summer. We have nearly completed all the frontyard garden beds now and just need to get some more native plants – ground covers and flowering shrubs to finish off before I order the 4-5cubic meters of mulch we need.

I may take some rosemary cuttings to strike tomorrow to have ready for the backyard when we have put in the last 2 retaining walls. Jess wants rosemary hedges around her raised garden beds and I think that is a great idea – attracts bees for pollination and confuses some of the pests since the smell does not match what they see in the vege beds. This is just part of our total pest control strategy.

Until next time –

The Organic Home Gardener

After a week of very wintery weather we have had a couple of very nice sunny days to enjoy. Hopefully the extra warmth will spur the vegetables on to greater heights.

My organic beans and peas have been a little slow because of the cold so I hope that after today, a nice 20degrees, they will get a move on!

Despite the cold my seedlings are doing quite well and I will be sharing them with my daughter since her raised beds are ready now. There are carrots, beetroot and English spinach in the trays on top and spring onion and leeks on the bottom. We will be trading veges and fruit this year as we start production of fruit and veges from 10 raised garden beds between us and over 15 fruit trees.

Fruit still growing

The eggplant, lettuce and tomatoes are all going great and I swapped some eggplant today for a bag of organic oranges – yumm!

I have picked nearly 10 medium sized eggplant this week and many friends have shared in the yummy fruit of my labour – although they may be slowing down now as I can see quite a few leaves dropping off the plants now as the cold starts to bite. I am amazed that they have fruited and grown so well thru a very cold June.

Last night we had lasagne with the eggplant taking the place of the pasta in the dish and it was so yummy! In fact I am off to have some more soon since there was quite a big feed of leftovers!
I just had to share my yummy dinner – I ate all that lasagne too! Garfield does not stand a chance around me!

I gave away 4 lettuces today.

Spring Sprung Wrong

The amazing thing I spotted today is that the mulberry tree is actually sprouting fruit! Yes you read that right fruit is appearing on the tree! The seasons and the plants are all a little confused right now and will only get worse as the greenhouse issues start to kick in.

Saturday I hope to harvest the second growth of the broccoli – it has been some of the tastiest we have ever grown – how tasty?

Well a friend of mine had gone right off broccoli due to her pregnancy but my daughter convinced her to try “dads” organic broccoli. She did and loved it! That says it all!

Here is the last thought for today – is spring trying to sneak in early?

Until next time – enjoy the fruits of your garden whenever possible!

The Organic Home Gardener

Is This Winter

Well we are still waiting for rain in the last part of July here in Perth, we might get lucky next week. The weather is glorious otherwise, sunny days up to 20degrees at times just very cold in the mornings 2-4degrees. Great for the garden to a certain extent I have had to water a little since I have seedlings on the go but I have my little rainwater tank and use that with a watering can.

Not much else happening otherwise, just planning to remove a rather large gumtree that has become more of a nuisance than a help.
It was planted in the wrong place and is dropping large branches into the neighbours yard and they have little children so it is dangerous. This will be the third large tree we have removed because of the poor location. Trouble is they are very expensive to remove. Anyway we are working on that and should be taking action soon.

Baby turnips are off!

I transplanted a pile of self-seeded lettuce last week and they are away as well!

The Tomatoes are still growing and ripening.

Eggplant are struggling a little since it is too cold for them really – despite this I am picking 3-4 a week and they are very sweet.

These are the mature lettuce we can pick leaves as we need them and I do cut the whole plants for friends when we have too much.

As expected the leeks and the silverbeet are growing very well in this weather.

The problem Tree! Quotes range from $1650 to $1800!

Until next week – have a good one!
The Organic Backyard Gardener

Back From the Bush

Back from a little break in the bush visiting my family. Spent time on two different farms on at the Porongurups and Youngs Siding and loved every minute of it.
I planted some vege for my sister earlier in the year when she was ill in hospital and this weekend I took a few photos to show you how they have progressed.

Now that she is back on the farm the veges are proving very useful and yummy!

The potatoes are drying back and are probably ready for digging!

Another Organic Garden is Thriving

This morning I picked the following food for our family – enough to share with my daughter and her family as well.
We checked her garden today and found that the broccoli are growing nicely and will be ready in a week for sure!
The third bed is growing lettuce and spring onion – a few tomato plants are actually taking off and may produce fruit in early summer. Amazingly the new fruit trees are about to bud burst – in August?

My own garden is doing quite well and we have heaps to eat!

Until next time

The Organic Gardener

Everything is coming along nicely despite the cold weather. I am still picking tomoatoes and we have picked massive amounts of broccoli.

Our Second Vege Garden

We have also seen a massive increase in the size of the vegetables at Jessica’s house and she has picked her first feed of broccoli this week as well!

Mmmm yum organic broccoli.

Plenty for next week too!

The fruit trees are showing bud swell and the almond tree is well in flower and we are very pleased to see that.

That’s all for this week – steady as we go until the spring heat fires up the rest of the veges!

The weather has been glorious this week – cold mornings and sunny cool days with a hint of warmth growing in the sunshine each day. Ideal for the vegetables that are in the garden at the moment. I am picking bucket loads of broccoli and cherry tomates and today I got stuck into the beetroot and leeks.

The silverbeet has grown some beautiful leaves and I have bolied them up ready to share and cook for dinner tonight. I have planned Chicken, Silverbeet, fetta Frittata.

The teabag is to give scale to the leek and beetroot. The leek are magnificent and I have some ideas for them later in the week!

I planted more beans this week, should do well with the ground warming up slowly now. The peas are nearly 1.8m tall now and flowering – wont be long until we are enjoying the sweetness of fresh peas!

Finally a true sign of spring – the view out my kitchen window – the Japanese Plum is in full bloom!

The spring daisies are in full bloom as well as the bottlebrush – Little John is the variety.

Stop Press

Just picked these two magnificent heads of organic broccoli which are off to Albany this week to my sister’s 50th birthday dinner!

They are both as big as my head!

Greening Another Garden

This weekend I hope to help the set-up of another organic vegetable patch. My friend Daniel is going to install one of my raised garden beds – home-made from the shed we have been recycling this year.
Another friend bought a commercial raised bed and between the four of us, Chris, Daniel, Jess and I, we will start our little “family market”. We will all grow slightly different vegetables each month and rotate the varieties over the year.

I have been listening to Vandana Shiva. A physicist who taught herself about agriculture and biology because of what she saw happening in her homeland, India.

“Scientist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva examines the correlation between widespread, continuous hunger and the introduction of genetically engineered seeds and agrochemicals, particularly in India. These corporations essentially force Indian farmers to buy new, genetically modified seeds every year.”

Listen to her discussion of the impact of the giant chemical companies on Indian farmers. Learn how famine got worse in India after the green revolution not better! Hear how the GM products are now, once again, corrupting the food supply in India and changing the environment itself.

For example:

BT Cotton is supposed to need less pesticide but instead the farmers are using more pesticides. The upset of the natural systems means that new pests are now a problem in the farms!

The patenting of seeds means poor farmers are locked into selling everything they grow just to pay their new debts. They are no longer able to feed themselves – they often lose their farms as a result – suicide rates have gone through the roof in farmlands!

Free Trade that is Not Free

Free trade is not about freedom it is about forcing the poor countries to take products they do not need! India was forced to take pesticides into it’s agriculture if it was to receive aide in the 60′s. Today trillions of dollars are wasted on subsidies, supporting the chemical fertilisers etc to support the unsustainable “Green Revolution” techniques of farming.

The same thing is now happening with the patenting of seeds – the free trade argument is being used to force the poor again to take the GMO into their food supply systems. 5 large corporations are taking control of our seeds and our freedom to grow what we want – and this is not only happening in the poor countries they are also targeting first world countries. European countries that refuse to take GM foods are being targeted by the large corporations under the banner of free trade agreements.

GM In Australia

I have always spoken out against the introduction of GMOs in Australia and particularly Western Australia. We stand to lose too much – our “green” image our safe food – based on tried and true research over many decades of careful study and practised farming techniques.
The GM crops have barely been tested and rarely undergone long-term studies. As for increased productivity – in some instances the GM does poorer than the original variety!

We rarely hear about the devastation of farm life in the countries that have been using GM for some time, here in the press. The major political parties listen to the big money and not to the people as far as agriculture goes and so we have seen trialling of GM Canola here in W.A. (No one will insure against damage to other farmers when seeds get loose and pollen contaminates organic and regular farms alike! Why if it is so safe?)

So what who will protect our farmers that choose not to use these GMOs?
In Canada they have given up segregating their GM Canola since it has contaminated the whole crop – with a 1% drop in productivity!

Who will guarantee that your grandchildren will not have genetic damage, infertility issues and poor health outcomes because of GMOs?

I Fight For My Grandchildrens Right to Healthy Food

I became a grandfather this year and it has triggered in me an acute awareness of the mess I am leaving her to deal with. For too long we have sat quietly and accepted the rhetoric of the large corporations and the major political parties in this state. I act every day in some small way to clean up the world in which we live and share with nature.

My Lettuce is going strong. Just like the lettuce at my daughters house!

Just the tiny act of growing some of your own food in your own backyard, following tried and true organic strategies improves the world just that one little bit. If you have started a vege patch then good on you – if you haven’t then have a go – every little bit helps!

Organic Broccoli every day!

We all see the sense in dropping our household energy consumption – even just 10% can have a massive impact on CO2 production – well the same is true in our food consumption. If every household produced 10% of their vegetables and fruit imagine the impact!
I am not talking about the environment alone -yes you save water, yes you improve the soil around you, yes you increase diversity in your natural environment – more than that the very act of growing food changes your whole outlook on life!

Snow peas for lunch!

The more we get back in touch with the earth, living things – our food – the more we see the stupidity of our headlong rush into industrialised GM based food production!

This Is The Organic Home Gardener

Dry Spring Days

Spring is gradually warming up but we are seeing very little rain. I have actually had to do a little hand watering to keep the veges and fruit trees in top condition. We have also been harvesting our regular veges and a few new ones. Snow peas are now gracing the table as well as the first of fruit – Mulberry and Gooseberry.

Yummy peas!

Organic Broccoli to be shared out this morning.

The first of the Mulberry and a huge pile of Gooseberry!
I could have picked more but ran out of steam after fertilising the whole yard!

The Mulberry tree is now well over 5m tall and loaded with fruit – soon we will be picking every morning!

Grapes are forming on the vine and showing a promise of a lot more fruit this summer!

Amazing Sunsets

We have been a little short of rain this last week and the result is a need to water a little bit around the yard to keep production up. The flip side is some pretty amazing sunsets!

Have a good week!

Mmmmm here is my dinner – second helping – my dear Margit served up all veges from the garden on this plate!

Making Feta cheese may have to be my next project – then grow my own pasta!

Records have been set and broken this spring with September having some of the hottest and driest days for many years. A worrying sign of the times it seems as the climate changes.

In the garden the attention to organic materials and nutrients is even more critical if plants are to thrive and survive the more demanding conditions. I have been doing the usual things – wetting agents to improve water movement and retention, adding organic materials and increasing nutrient levels with seaweed extracts and organic fertilisers. Next month we will need to start mulching the vegetable beds as the sun increases even more in strength and water is even more critical.

This Week In the Garden

The broccoli and snow peas are still going strong and we picked our first kilogram of mulberries. I actually picked another 2.25 kilos 2 days after this photo.

In the deep freeze with these little yummy berries!

Speaking of freezers I defrosted that deep freeze this morning in readiness for the onslaught of fruit and vegetables we expect in the next few months.

This is an important part of our food strategy – most crops are bumper crops so we can freeze excess and then have them over the next few months and even into next year!

A numberof the garden beds have been dug and more compost and manures added. This bed is the corn bed.

Heaps of lettuce to be had all over the yard.

Silverbeet thriving in the warmer conditions – we froze over half a kilogram today.

Several tomato plants have been put in – this is a old fashioned variety – Black Russian.
I also planted several others plus cherry tomatoes to replace the old bush which is slowing down a little now.

This lettuce is growing in the lawn – one of about four!

These spring onions were picked to give me a bed for the cucumbers – which I have growing from seed at the moment – ready to go in next week. We chop up the spring onion and freeze them since there are so many.

Fruit Trees

Here are a few shots of the fruit trees – apricots to figs to plums to persimmon!

Nature In Action

This shot is one for all the organic gardeners – ladybugs making baby bugs on the apricot tree!

These little bugs are the big workers in our garden cleaning up many pests. Good to know that the few aphids we have will soon be chomped by the new bug babies!

Planting This Week

Cucumber, zuchinni, corn, tomato,capsicum, cherry toms, spring onion, eggplant.

Well we are a week into October and no rain for quite some time. The winds have picked up in the last week so evaporation will become a more serious issue now. Temperatures are climbing – 30degrees today – 31 by the weekend! Will have to start getting in some mulch to cover the beds so that the vegetables can avoid water stress.

Fruit to the Max

All our fruit trees are now well into flowering and beyond – apricots on the tree (well over 60 this year) and the mulberries are pouring in. I pick every second or third day and manage 2-3 kilograms at a time. It takes me about an hour to complete the job so I get out there at 6am most times – hey it’s cooler and the fruit easier to handle.

Plums in Blossom

Apricot

Olive Tree going like crazy since the gum tree was removed.

Grapes gone mad – over 15 bunches forming on the vine!

Strawberries Yumm!

Vege Seedlings Away

Zucchini

Lots of Veges to Eat

Picking 500grams of Broccoli every three days or so as well as about 200grams of snow peas. The peas will finish this week with this warmer weather but the Broccoli should be fine as long as I keep the soil moist enough.
We hope for a good feed of Cauliflower this weekend – I can see a vege bake in the offing!

Cauliflower

Flowers for The Insect Friends

With the hotter weather we also see more pest insects crawling out to have a feed so we also supply some support for the natural predators – flowers for feeding and habitat. The ladybirds are a little more active which will mean we will get on top of the aphids very soon.

Snap Dragon

Ornamental Weeping Peach

I have started spraying for fruit fly this week – I use an organic spray that attracts them and then poisons them after they have a taste! I have fruit covers arriving next week so I will show you how they are applied to the tree after I get them out on the Apricot.

Until Next time

The Organic Backyard Gardener

Yes you read it folks Perth had some rain! I was in a garden fitting reticulation when the thunder storm started – I got soaked – but loved every minute of it!

The garden is looking good today after the showers so I just had the luxury of harvesting and enjoying!

So here is a quick update for this week.

Fruit Trees Growing Like Crazy

The apricots are doing great and the plums have set fruit – the mulberry is going crazy with over 25kilograms picked at this stage. The dwarf Pinkabelle apples trees are in near to full blossom and the grape is also flowering like crazy.

Plums tiny but full of promise!

White Mulberry

The Mulberry tree is so heavy with fruit that many of the branches are bent over nearly to the ground – some of these are nearly 4m long so you can imagine the weight!

Apricots in their fruit fly protective bags. This is a strategy to keep fruit fly off the stone fruit. I will be netting the plums as well as continuing with the baiting.

Eggplant have refreshed themselves and are producing like mad!

Update on the Corn and Zucchini

The corn has finally taken off and showing signs of it’s vigorous growth rates.

The zucchini are three times bigger than last week and are flowering and fruiting so the big zucchini feast is only a few days away!

I actually picked a baby zucchini for our dinner as well as some eggplant and broccoli so it has begun!

As you can see we are still picking cherry tomatoes! (I have some seeds from this bush now so more next year!)

That’s all for now have to get dinner going! Lot’s of vege from the garden awaits!

Until next week!

The Organic Gardener

P.S.
Just been out and picked 8 kilograms of Mulberries this afternoon – the branches are so heavy that in fact a large trunk has broken (it was as thick as my arm)!

Zucchini are away!

The leaks have been harvested before they go to flower!

Beans! Does this mean a stir fry later this weekend! Now where is that eggplant I saw this morning?

Most of the grape flowers have turned to fruit – as you can see here!

The Mulberries are still going crazy and we have bucketfuls of fruit every other day – this morning I picked a kilo or so of the white ones.
I usually eat around 250gm of fresh mulberries every day straight of the tree – one of the joys of having fruit trees in your garden! This to me is one great reason to have your own organic produce in the yard! Every kid should grow up picking food from their own environment not just from a supermarket shelf!

Including the Kitchen Sink

We have had so many Mulberries this month that the preparation and packing was taking up a lot of space in the kitchen – so I had a brain wave – a sink outside!

So off to the local recycling centre in Mindarie and acquire a sink for $15! That’s right a stainless double sink for less than a couple of stubbies! I actually priced a similar sink at a hardware store and it was $495!

Anyway I used an old trolley as my base (it has great wheels for getting the sink around) and added the required plumbing to keep the water for the garden and have a little hand spray for cleaning veges etc.

The wife is happy to have all the grubby washing happening outside! I am happy since I now have my own work space for cleaning up veges and preparing seedlings etc. Once I get to building my workshop this sink can roll straight in! For now it stores up against the wall under the eaves where the trolley was before.

I just pop a bucket under the outlet and the water can be used in the garden – I don’t like to waste a drop of water.

The little green tank catches water from the evaporative air conditioners overflow and the gutter. Again this is actually a big source of water in the hot months of the year. In the middle of summer when its 35oC or higher we will catch anywhere from 50-100litres. This is enough to keep us in salad for a week!

Anyway that’s it for today – off to dinner – a nice chicken dish with home grown veges!

The Organic Gardener

November Rain

This week we have received a good dose of rain in the organic garden!
Totally unexpected and very needed. Some areas of the state actually received record rain for a November day – Bunbury received over it’s usual November total in one day.

At first it looked like just light showers and I expected to be watering the garden on Thursday since the mulch I have applied to the beds will hold out the lighter rain. After an hour of light rain the heavier rains started and thoroughly saturated the beds.
This insulating affect is the downside of a thick mulch layer – but I usually only apply it in the late spring early summer when the searing heat of the sun is more of an issue than rain soaking the ground.

The mulch also reduces evaporation losses due to the strong morning winds we get here in Perth in the summer. The easterly can rip moisture away in no time at all, undoing any gains from light rain. Mulching is ok when using drip irrigation since overhead watering is not only wasteful int he strong summer breezes it also increases the chances of disease. Fungal and some insects thrive in the hot humid conditions around a plant when using overhead watering.

Summer Crops Away

The warmer days have a big impact on the summer crops I planted and we are starting to experience large production numbers for many vegetables. The tomatoes have started to form so we can expect some juicy fruit in a week or so – Jessica is already picking her Roma tomato – her bushes went in a little earlier than mine.
Beans are still growing nicely and we get a good feed once a week at the moment – not bad since I lost a lot of plants to the slaters this year.

The Zucchini are going like crazy!

This one is destined to my dinner plate tonight!

The last of the cherry tomatoes have been picked and I have cut the bush right back to the stem – it may reshoot and we might get another fruiting. I have already planted some more bushes so there will be abundance of cherry toms in the months ahead.

Not a bad effort for 10minutes harvesting!

The corn is now about 1.2m high and growing faster every day! I am not sure on the likely productivity this year since they are a little shaded by the mulberry tree!

Eggplant are just starting to respond to the hotter days!

Last, but not least, the cucumbers are flowering and producing fruit! A week from now we should be able to pick our first fresh cucumber!

Fruit Trees

All the fruit trees are going nicely with the majority of the apricots safely in pest netting or friut bags. The plum tree has a few plums – quite happy with that since we had none last year and the second tree died. I thought I would need 2 trees to get pollination but there must be another one in the area somewhere nearby.

The Pinkabelle apples are in full bud and the fruit are just starting to form! A good crop expected this year!

The Mulberry crop has slowed down and we pick about 3 kilos this week. I might prune the tree next week to try to sneak in a second flowering. The tree will need a good feed to trigger the new fruit since it has worked very hard so far this year – over 60kilograms of fruit so far.

Well that’s this weeks update, enjoy your garden wherever you are!

The Organic Gardener.

Full Steam Ahead

The garden is kicking into summer production mode and all the favourite summer organic veges are going great guns!
I am watering heavily every second day. I have all the beds reticulated with underground or above ground soaker or dripper pipes and this is working very well in the regular 30 degree days we are having now.

With the warmer weather the family also uses the air-conditioner a little more than usual and I am collecting the run-over water in a rain tank and using it to hand water every other day. If you think about the 1000′s of litres of water wasted from air-conditioners every hot day in Perth you can see how much food could be grown just from that re-use.

I think of vegetable growing as water harvesting. 80%+ of many vegetables is water and even if you think you don’t use water to grow your food – it comes from a store – you are mistaken – water is used along the whole food chain. I know that no matter how much water I use to grow my food it is still much less and more sustainable than the large agri-business approach. Another reason for everyone with time and willingness to grow even just a little.

Anyway onto the weeks activities in the garden!

Organic Zucchini to the Max

These two weigh nearly a kilo! I have picked 12 this week of this size and slightly smaller. Family and friends are loving it!

This is the 3square metres of dirt that are pumping out 2-3 large Zucchinis a day. I don’t think they have reached maximum production yet since only 3 bushes are really working hard.

Here is todays monster “in situ” so to speak. You can see 4 more in various stages of growth – on average 4 days from flower to pick!

Sweet Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Heritage tomato varieties!

This week I brought home a bag of tomatoes from my daughters garden since hers are a lot further ahead of mine – as we planned! Mine are just starting to colour up so we should be picking next week. The cucumbers are flowering and I picked the first one today!

As for lettuce, I have none left but we have planted some at Jessica’s house and they should be ready next week. I got to busy with the play this last month and missed the normal replant cycle of the lettuce! I am playing an apostle (James) in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar

Corn and Eggplant

The corn has started flowering and is now setting fruit!

The cobs are growing nicely and hopefully the pollen will do it’s thing and we will have sweet corn on the BBQ before the summer ends!

Yummy!

Big eggplant are on the way another favourite on the BBQ or just about in everything you might like to cook -stir fry, pizza, lasagne etc.

Cooking

Now all this food means of course lots of cooking and eating! My next favourite pastime!

This is a plate from dinner and everything (except the pork) is from the garden – eggplant and zucchini fried in organic coconut oil. Sage crumbed and fried and also used to make the pork crumb dip.
Last night I had lasagne with zucchini in the layers of pasta and meat.

The Rest

Capsicum (a heritage variety called Sweet Chocolate)

Beans and broccoli are still going strong and we can have one or the other every night if we like.

Basil is growing nicely and is coping rather well with the heat!

I have also managed to grow a big splash of summer bulbs and the driveway garden is flush with colour!

Time catches me now and I must head on and do some work on the car.

Until next time.

The Organic Home Gardener is out a here!

Summer Vegetables and Fruit

After a few days of high temperatures this week we have had cooler days and even a little rain. Just showers so far but it helps keep the evaporation rates low. I don’t have much to share this week since I have been so busy with landscaping and the Musical I am in that the garden is just having to look after itself.

Tomato and cucumber just in time for summer salads! Both are heirloom varieties and are full of flavour.

Zucchini and Broccoli still growing well.

As you can see the Zucchini are still producing large quantities of fruit – I probably pick 2 a day and they are all over 500gms in size. We cook them in everything we can think of from pizza to cakes! The eggplant are also in abundance now and are so tasty on the BBQ!

Anyway that’s all for today – must get some rest after two shows yesterday and a big BBQ in-between – yes your right I served up some of my veges on the BBQ – zucchini and eggplant are just so yummy!

Quick Update!

ThIs lovely bunch of apricots were picked Tuesday with more on the tree for next week!

Very warm this weekend – 36 degrees on Sunday – so a challenge to keep things alive! I lost two lettuce plants and that was not too bad!

This morning I harvested quite a bit of fruit and vegetables and this is a quick post to update you.

Absolute bucket loads of Eggplant this week. They seem to love the hot weather so a good choice for Perth vege gardens.

The apricots are yummy and we have managed to keep the fruit fly off quiet a few – lost more than I would like but we are getting a good supply this week. Must get the netting organised better next year.

Despite the heat the tomatoes are hanging in there! These are actually early varieties and prefer cooler weather than we are having right now so I have to protect them on the very hot days. My beach umbrellas are still doing the job – one has rusted out but two are ok! The tops are outlasting the bases and I may have to find another way to use them.

The broccoli has done very well despite the extreme heat a few days in the last week.

Update

Show your support for Steve Marsh by visiting his Benefit Fund!
Good things are happening from the grass roots of the community to support Steve through this stressful time!

Steve Marsh Benefit Fund

“Like” Steve Marsh Benefit Group On Facebook

GM Genie has Escaped

I have just learned how the poor WA farmer who had his crops contaminated by GM Canola is not being supported by our government. Politicians made the decision to trial GM crops and they should be bearing the cost to the economy and individual farmers.

We warned them before this stupidity started that this would happen and they just ignored us and some very well placed opinions from scientists.

The article that got me fired up is at the True Food Network and explains what has happened and the response of our government minister for Agriculture!
I have written to the minister and the letter is published here!

Letter To Mr Redman, Minister for Agriculture, WA

Dear Mr Redman
Just read about how you are blaming the farmer, Steve Marsh, for the loss of Organic status of some of his property!

This is an appalling state of affairs!

You were warned before you started trialling the GM crops that this would happen! West Australians don’t want GM in our state and you are endangering our clean and green image by proceeding with the release of these organisms into our environment.

How you could believe that a 5m spacing will keep the GM genes in place is beyond common sense. Steve Marsh has lost his ability to maximise income in an era of severe climate challenges (How many farmer have suicided in the last 5 years due to the drought?). Your poor political decisions are the cause of his challenges not nature, not the organic certifiers or Steve himself!

For you to now add to the stress levels of our farmers by not backing them when contaminated by your approved GM crops is totally unacceptable. You and other irresponsible persons in government (of all sides) have let us down and as far as I am concerned next time you stand for government I will vote against you and your party.

This letter will be published on Facebook and my Organic Gardening Blog!

You and other like minded persons in public office are about to feel the sting of social media – your days of getting away with these stunts are numbered!
No GMOS

Yours truly

John Wood, B.Ed (Science) Level Three CT (30 Years teaching biological sciences!)

The Thin Edge of the Wedge

The release of GM organisms in WA is unacceptable and has no basis in good science and food production – it is all about big money for big corporations. If we don’t want the same situation here in Australia as is happening in the USA –
You Can’t Pick Want you want to eat! then we have to stand up and be counted!

If you value your freedom to have a GM free food chain then take action NOW!

Copy my letter, write your own email your local MP do whatever it takes!

The Internet and social media especially gives a voice like we have never had before in the last century – use it!

I want my grandchildren to have the freedom to choose organic food free of GM contaminants – current events are threatening this simple freedom!

A slightly enraged Organic Home Gardener!

Merry Xmas

Well here we are on the count down to Xmas day.
Today we expect to have hundreds of people down on the local oval as a huge Carols by Candlelight show will be up and running from 7pm – not forgetting the sound checks this afternoon. Then later on the fireworks!

I have been up early but taking it slowly this morning as I read my Sunday paper and get out and check the veges.

This last week has seen great production in the garden and we have been making up parcels of vegetables for our friends all week – since we have more than we can eat!

This morning was no different and have collected a mass of veges.

Broccoli

Zucchini. These guys are some of the biggest I have grown this year – approaching 1 kilogram. That is a bread knife to give you an idea of how big!

Eggplant -15 in the last two days!

Here are my heirloom tomatoes,cucumber and capsicum.
You have a large Russian Black, Zebra and Sweet Chocolate Capsicum.

Pest Control

The garden is largely free of pests at the moment except for the worm that attacks my eggplants and other plants in the family (tomato, capsicum). I have been using a bacterial spray (Bacillus thuringiensis) regularly this month and that seems to be keeping them under control – I have lost maybe 6 eggplant this week but we picked 25-30 unmarked eggs. The ones with a bug in them I chop up – cutting up the maggot and salvaging the edible portions of the eggplant.

The broccoli are racing along despite the heat and the spray has hammered the white butterfly and so the leaves are healthy and uneaten by caterpillers. The ladybirds are crawling over everything and we often have 1-2 in the kitchen after harvesting.
This is the benefit of organic control measures – you reduce the pests and encourage your predators.

With my stone fruit I have been spraying organic fruit fly control regularly around the garden – quite a good control but I also needed to cover the fruit with fruit protection bags.
The fruit bags have helped us produce nearly 60 apricots – it would have been more but the last rain storm we had broken open a few bags and I was too slow checking them and the fruit fly struck! I threw away 20 apricots in one day! A big lesson for me!

The Zucchini are showing signs of a little fungal infection so I will be out spraying them with milk solution tonight to get that under control. 1 part milk to 9 parts water is a good ratio and reduces fungi significantly.

Merry Xmas

I have only a few days of landscaping work left before Xmas day. I hope to have a relaxing weeks or two over the break and get into the garden to tidy up before the harsh summer heat starts once again.

I wish all my fellow gardeners the very best for the season – enjoy your summer vegetables over Xmas as you share the lovely fresh food with your families and friends.

Until next time, Merry Xmas!

January the 1st and temperature is climbing this week again!

Expecting 40degrees tomorrow and 36 today – will need to get some shade cloth out over the cucumbers since that is too much for them!

Eat Good Food in 2011

With 2010 behind us it is interesting to see what this new year will bring. I hope many of you have taken on board the desire to eat good food in 2011. Organic food can really get you in a good place health wise and your body deserves the best.

Our Cherry Toms are producing about 2-300 grams a day right now!

If you have yet to get the garden producing all you need then seek out a good source of organic fruit and veges in your local area. More and more suppliers are coming into the market and it much easier now to get good quality organic food.

This website Where Can I Find Real Milk? is a great place to start!

What we are picking in the Organic Garden This Week

We are picking large amounts of summer fruits and veges this week.
Tomatoes (cherries and Russian Blacks), eggplant, cucumber, beetroot, broccoli, zucchini, corn, capsicum.

Family and friends are enjoying our surplus and are loving the taste of our organic treats.

We expect to start grazing on the grapes this month – we have a huge crop!

Take care where ever you reside in this new year day!
Organic Gardener

Sure is Hot

Perth in January can be a very hot time. This year is no exception!
My strategies to survive the extreme heat involves efficient watering systems (dripper systems) and shade.
I have umbrellas and shade cloth and frames that I use to support the shade-cloth.
So far this has worked and I am growing most of the vegetables that we like in the summer months – zucchini, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, capsicum, chilli, spring onions, eggplant.

Each of these has different tolerances to the heat and require little or no shade through to heavy shade (especially at 37+degrees).

Garden Design To Survive The Heat

Garden design has a part to play as well. Using shrubs and trees to throw shade and have a cooling affect is a great idea – our large mulberry bush being an example! It throws lovely shade across two beds for the early part of the day. Also pot plants in the right place can creat a cool shady spot under a patio!

Jasper’s tropical hideaway!

Another example is the very hot north facing section of the house that has a small garden area. It is where the Hills Hoist is located and lots of paving – a sure recipe for heat!
We used to have trees in that section but they were well over 20 meters so too big for that close to the house. So I have had to plant tough native shrubs and grasses to try to cool it down out there. I use quick growing grevilleas and native grasses since they require little water after the first summer and flower and are green all year. They can also be removed easily if I choose to plant other things later.

This gives you some idea of the view from the backdoor. At 3pm at 36degrees it feels like 45 out here! Though it is much better now I have thrown shadecloth over the hoist.

This angle shows the gradual creeping in of the plantings each year. This is a great area for fruit trees so I have put in two Paw Paws (last year) and a grapefruit tree this week. I will plant more as I improve the soil and micro-climate.

I pruned the shrub to that pillar shape so that it cleared the Hills Hoist and also kept the path free of branches.
I planted two of them over 15 years ago and have nursed them thru many hot summers – they are basically un-watered now and throw nice shade.

When we first moved in it was all sand out here and no understory to the large gum trees – 2 gum trees and a Sheoak. One gum fell over in a storm (taking out the fence) the other we had removed. The Sheoak went a couple of years ago and the bark on the ground and the large stump are all that remain.

Landscaping Plans

I have plans to take this part of the yard into a more user friendly area. First is the retaining walls. This will allow me to remove the slope of the soil to the fence. I have learned over the years that a flat garden bed gives superior results every time. A sloped bed runs the water away, allows erosion in winter storms and slowly rolls the mulch down the hill!

The limestone blocks are in place ready for me to get on with it next week. I have dug the footings and they have been watered down a little to compact the soil more.

I have planted my first citrus tree – a grapefruit – Ruby Red.

The wire is to keep the dog out of the dirt. A lot of very smelly manure went into a very big hole below that little bush and he loves digging in manure. It is a great place to bury a bone to add that little garnish he likes!

This Weeks Harvest and Plantings

With the heat on thru January we can expect the typical salad plants. Lettuce, cherry toms, tomatoes and cucumbers. Most are still growing but a few have finished.

Lettuce and beetroot enjoy the shade of a beach umbrella!

The last Zucchinis were picked this Friday for a stir fry and the tomato bushes came out today.

I have renewed a few beds and the next crop of Tomatoes and spring onion are away. I should have planted these earlier but work and Xmas festivities have kept me out of the garden.

Baby Toms.

Spring Onion and Leeks.

The grapes are looking good and last night we ate the first bunch!

Well that’s it for this week. Unlike the Eastern States (most of which are under water) we are very hot and dry here in Perth and wish the best to our friends in Qld as they start rebuilding and cleaning their homes and gardens.
Please support them if you can!

Lifeline Queensland Flood Appeal

Refreshing a Used Bed

This is a tired old bed that has fed us a tonne of broccoli over the last year or so. I pulled the broccoli out last week – stems as thick as my wrist!

Dig and Fertilise

Next task is to lift up the pipe and dig over the soil before adding some organic matter. In this instance I have some Dynamic Lifter.

So 10 minutes later, here is the bed well dug and manured – retic spread out neatly to ensure even watering.
This is the new drip irrigation I have been installing in most gardens I am building or helping to refurbish. I have done the same here to replace the underground weepy hose I was using but has turned out to be potentially carcinogenic!

Mulch

I think this photo suggests clearly what we need to do next! That’s right – mulching! This organic mulch is made from sugar cane and is totally necessary with the heat still on in Perth. The thick layer I will add to the bed will keep the roots cool and reduce water loss by up to 70%. So with the pipes under the mulch and water directed slowly into the soil the plants will thrive despite the intense temperatures of summer.

Here we are, bed done and ready for seedlings and seeds. I am thinking of planting some beans and cucumbers and maybe some early cauliflowers!

Summer Harvest

The over-haul of the old beds is an ongoing task at the moment. I have the zucchini bed to dig over next week and after that the cherry tomato and egg plant beds.

In the mean time we are just picking the first of the capsicum as they come in to their rapid growth phase. The next round of beetroot and lettuce are doing well and I will get some more in next week to get the continuity going.

This monster we found this morning, as big as my two fists!

This bed has celery, capsicum, basil (three varieties) and sage.

Harvest

Today we picked some eggplant and cherry tomatoes. The zucchini are nearly finished and we get more from our daughters garden now as her bushes are going great guns. This was our plan, hoping to have a transition from my crops to hers since we delayed the plantings between each yard.

These are the spring onions and leeks we planted last month. They are thriving!

The Wall is In

This is just the start as we plan more fruit trees out here – a very warm spot in the yard – ideal for citrus!

That’s it for this week.
The Organic Gardener.

Updates On Refreshed Beds

Here is the bed we demonstrated last time, notice the seedlings are up and away!

Beans, cauliflower, lettuce and beetroot.

These are the plantings from the month before. Doing very well despite the extreme heat we have been having lately.

This is the last bed I have refreshed this week. I also added the new retic pipes. More lettuce and some broccolini going in here to start.

I returned the mulch I salvaged before digging and this will get us started until I buy some more.

Late Plantings

These are the little tomatoes I showed last time starting to flower and a good size right now. These are thriving in the heat.
I also have a crop of cucumber in the neighbouring bed just starting to flower – so we hope for some more fresh cucumber in late Feb and March.

My capsicum bushes are nearly 1.5m high and are covered with large fruit. Once they start ripening up we will pick them. We pick the odd green one for salad now and then.

Last of all today just to show the success of the timed plantings between my garden and my daughters. Here is one of many of the large Zucchinis she has grown over the last month. This fellow was just on it’s way into a souvlaki with some our yummy eggplant.

Update

Just picked the last figs and more grapes and eggplant.

March is approaching fast but the heat is still on in Perth. A big challenge to keep all the plants growing and watered efficiently.

Capsicum bush up to 1.5m high and bursting with fruit.

Survival is down to good mulching and regular watering with the new reticulation piping. This is proving a great success and it is surprising to see such good growth in the high heat of later summer.

The heat is of course just the shot for ripening the organic chillies and capsicums. We started picking last week and have had 3 large red capsicums this week.

Dinner Time

These large capsicums are great for stuffing and roasting in the oven and this is just what we did this weekend. I have just eaten the leftovers for lunch today and enjoyed the full flavours of sweet capsicum.

These were filled with premium beef mince, garlic and herbs from the garden.

Last Fruit

We have picked the last of the fruit this week. The grapes are in the kitchen now – the last bowl of them.
I picked the only plum that survived the fly and plan to plant a second tree next year to improve the pollination rates.
Figs are all gone but we did achieve a better crop than expected.

The apples are growing well and we should get a good feed in late March from the Pinkabelles.

The new grapefruit tree has survived it’s planting and is growing new leaves every week! I hope to see some juicy fruit in the coming years.
We will add a lime and maybe orange over the winter this year.

Vegetables Thriving in the 35 degree days

It is a challenge to keep the vegetables going strong in the current summer conditions. We have had a long stretch of weather over 30degrees this month and the rest of this week is no different.

Eggplants just bursting off the plants! Gave away 6 this week! If you enlarge the photo you will see just how many are growing on the bush.
These bushes are also shading some celery and they are enjoying the cooler spot.

We are having great success with the lettuce and beetroot despite the heat. My secret is partial shading from the capsicums, full shading with the umbrellas on super hot 37degree+ days. I also give them a mid-day watering by hand to keep the ground cool for the roots – this works well. (Using recycled water from the evaporative air-conditioner saves water too).

Lettuce and Beetroot – hanging in there – in fact thriving!
(The oranges are to capture the slaters!)

Cucumber can make it thru the hot days with a little shade cloth.

The second crop of tomato are growing like rocket ships and have fruit at squash ball size already!

Worm Farm Emptied

Yesterday I sorted the trays in the worm farm to get at the full castings tray on the bottom. The castings were odourless and so rich and thick that I mixed them with water in the watering can and spread it over the vegetables beds. Took me an hour to do all the vegetables beds and a couple of flower beds.

I put some castings in a sealed bucket to take to my daughters house to fertilise her vegetable beds as well.

Here is a close-up of the castings – almost like clay in your hands – a years worth of kitchen scraps!

Here are the hardworkers responsible for the great fertiliser!

Autumn In The Organic Home Garden

Well here we are in the middle of March and the mornings have finally started to have the cooler feel of Autumn. This morning we had no breeze and the hint of dampness in the air. Not the nasty humidity of the last month of summer but that pleasant feel of a settled dew on the grass.

The daytime temperatures are still in the high twenties and low thirties so the summer crops are still thriving. We are enjoying sweet yellow and red capsicums and strong chillies, rich eggplant and crunchy lettuce. The spring onions are doing well but not ready for eating yet. I missed a replant this year due to travelling and we have lost our usual constant cropping of this dinner favourite.

We are currently eating apples from my sisters farm (organic Galas) – our apples should be ready in the next month!
I also have a few jars of her home-made jams and chutneys making for some yummy sandwiches!

The last of her peaches were ripening on our last visit and were very delicious even though they were a preserving variety. All of the table varieties have been picked and consumed!

Share Cropping

Jessica’s garden is full of salad vegetables as witnessed in the following photo.

The vegetables and ornamentals are well established now and the family is benefiting from fresh vegetables every day for meals. We are slowly co-coordinating our growing so that as one of us finishes a crop the next garden is producing. A case in point has been the massive zucchinis we have both grown this year. My crop finished after some very heavy production and within the week of picking the last fruit Jessica was harvesting monsters to share with us and her friends. Last weeks moussaka featured Jess’s last offering of zucchini and some of the best eggplant we have seen this year.

After a very busy year building walls and raised garden beds at the new house for Jessica and Jon I can almost see a need to start on another yard somewhere to increase our production. I actually have one in mind and this will get three sets of vegetable beds and fruit trees coordinated – we all love sharing crops and having meals together to enjoy the produce.

Will the last of the tomatoes manage to ripen before the temperatures drop?
If they don’t they will be in the chutney for sure!

New Seedlings Away

With the slightly cooler weather it has been a good time to get some of the winter crops out and seeds/seedlings in the ground. A little bit of shade cloth will protect them from the last of the hot days(the mid day sun still has a real sting) but allow them to get good growth of roots while the ground is still so warm. It is also a good time to add fertilisers since the warmth will encourage the soil bacteria to convert the manures into more available nutrients. Once the evening temperatures drop below 15degrees the production of many of the current vegetables will decrease rapidly. Some of the worm tea from the worm farm will give it all a big kick along in the mean time!

I will get my seed trays out this weekend to prepare some of the other winter favourites – cauliflower, carrots and turnip etc. The next planting of spring onions will need to go in as well to get the continuity back into the production.

Bananas

On my trip to the southwest I was able to dig up my brothers banana trees that he was removing from the garden. I Removed 20 suckers from the larger plants and packed them in an esky to bring home. I planted then the next day and so far only 3 may have died after planting.

That lovely rich mulch is composted organic sugar cane mulch! It is just brilliant in keeping the water in but best of all it will rot down into a wonderful soil additive!

Even if only 50% survive I will a have a serious number of plants to sort out next year. I know I don’t have the space to grow them all (each plant needs about 30kg of manure a year) so I will be offering them to a few friends next winter!

I can plant some in the front yard in the tropical section we have and they may not fruit but will add a nice cover to the ferns.
I will keep you up to date on their progress!

Just a quick update. We found an apple half eaten on the weekend and decided it must be a rat!
We set a trap for him that night (after covering up the other tree with nets) and within 5 minutes had the rather large culprit. He currently resides in a plastic bag in the bin!

This Monday morning I check the rest of the apples and find another one nibbled and this time some tomatoes eaten!
Two rats it seems!
We picked the apples from the tree and set another trap. Trap went off last night but he had managed to avoid getting caught. Ants are now cleaning off the peanut butter!

I may have to resort to rat baits – don’t like to do that but we are losing all the ripe fruit to these mongrels!

Just a quick update on the Organic Garden activities this week. My birthday week!
Yep, turned 52 on Sunday! We will have a family dinner out at a nice Chinese Restaurant tomorrow.

Rat Attack

As I mentioned last week we have been battling a couple of rats. I have dealt with one and am still chasing the other one – lost 4 tomatoes last weekend! The dog keeps him out of the top beds and so we are not losing any capsicums and beetroot.

Netting keeps the apples safe!

Harvest this Weekend

We have Three varieties of Capsicum ripening at the moment and we are enjoying them immensely!
I picked 5 varieties of lettuce this morning and we are enjoying them in our lunchtime sandwiches!

Bananas Up and Away

As you can see the bananas have all survived and are either sending up new shoots or have already progressed to nice big leaves!
We hope for organic bananas this time next year.

Rain At Last

Just a quick update – we have had a huge amount of rain today – I have been stuck in the bush for a week due to my car breaking a few hydraulic lifters and have come home to find 3 inches of rain in the gauge!

Now I cannot confirm the accuracy of that amount for the week but I have had nearly 10 mL today since I emptied the rain gauge this morning at 9am!

The yard is lovely and green and soil is damp down deep!

Dinner From the Garden

I went out and picked – broccoli, boc choy, spring onions, capsicum, cellery and made a stir fry for my wife and I – Yummy!

I will update the blog with more detail next week but for now – HEY IT’S ACTUALLY RAINING!

This years olive harvest – more details to follow!

Organic Blogger

The Last Week Of Autumn

With the heat finally gone we can turn off the reticulation and relax!
What a difference a few weeks can make.

My early planted broccolini and broccoli thriving with the cooler nights.

The rain has been wonderful over the last two weeks and we have received more here in the garden than the official weather records.
I am pretty sure we have had nearly 3.5 inches and the garden is showing all the benefits.

Yummy Food

Everything is still growing well and we are enjoying plenty of food out of the garden.

Lettuce, spring onion, leek, cellery, capsicum and eggplant are still on the go and the cooler weather plants like silver beet and bok choy.

The lettuce are racing along and are very sweet!

Found this Yellow Capsicum this morning

Some nice chili for dinner! We are having moussaka tonight.

Brocollini racing away!

I have to rip the tomatoes out this week to put in some potatoes and maybe some more garlic in there as well to keep the bugs away.

The cauliflowers are ripping along and I have managed to get three delayed plantings in and so we should have a staggered supply when the harvest time comes.

I planted these in March.

These are the May planting.

Bannananas

We unfortunately lost the Paw Paw tree this week – no idea why! So I have dug up three of the bananas to plant in the garden bed. We have lost maybe three plants out of the 21 I planted from Albany not bad since they were not expected to be any good.

Organic Is Best

More research has been released this week highlighting the benefits of organic produce over regular veges.
Gardeners have known it all along of course and so happy to see that the mainstream media is starting to get it to.

Organic has more than just nutritional value, the impact on the planet is also a very big benefit. With organic farming there are several principles applied that mean less impact on water supplies, soil, and natural diversity.

You not only help yourself when buying organic produce to eat but also the environment.
Growing your own is even better!

Until next time

The Organic Gardner

Winter Is Officially Here!

Yes it’s winter – and the weather has delivered!
We have had over 50mm of rain this last 4 days and the garden looks very satisfied with itself!

Cooler nights, sunny days and the Brassica are away.
We have had some lovely broccolini already and the cauliflower are huge – leaves once again nearing a metre in length.

The Long Road Home

I have just driven 750kilometres through the south-west of the state (Manjimup – Rocky Gulley – Mt Barker Albany – Porongorups – Perth) after getting my car back from the repairs after we broke down in the bush last month.

It was just great to see all the farms nice and wet and the farmers out ploughing and seeding in readiness for this year crops.
My sister’s farm is all green and clover everywhere. Cows are fat and the calves thriving.

Before the rain just a hint of green!

Pizza For Dinner

So tonight we are having pizza – so I have been out in the garden and picked herbs and vegetables to make us a yummy pizza in our wizz bang new Pizza Maker!

This little oven heats top and bottom all at once and makes yummy pizza in minutes!

Margit made a dough and it has been rising for the last few hours!

The second pizza will have a bought base of Turkish flat bread.

This one will be nice and crunchy!

Here are the vegetables and herbs I picked fresh for the pizza!

Capsicum, spring onion, chili, eggplant, basil, thyme. Add some ham and cheeses and away we go!

Round and round the pizza goes!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpaUrAE2VcA[/youtube]

Pizza is Ready

Ok Ready for me to eat!

Until next time!
The Organic Gardener

Have I wet your appetite?
Check out my mate Mick’s new Pizza and Parma book!

Pizzas And Parmas: The Possibilities Are Endless

Foundation Day

Here we are in winter and this is the view out my office window

Blue skies with a hint of the evening chill on the horizon. Roses still growing and smelling sweet.
A rich green lawn, despite the appalling hot summer and water restrictions. That’s Sir Walter and it just loves Perth even with minimal water!

Perth has the most amazing weather, despite climate change! With the change in weather patterns and the shift in the rainfall distribution the challenge is to home gardeners to find clever ways to keep the food coming in.
Modern developments in irrigation (see my reticulation posts) and clever use of organic mulches and shade cloth are the future of home gardening. Let’s not forget the benefits of raised garden beds as well!

I cannot imagine the impact we could have on world food supply and the positive health gains for the population as a whole if we could get even 1 in 10 backyards producing organic fruit and vegetables.

This Weeks Food

My first celery for a few years – this went in the beef stew today!
These were produced from a tray of seedlings my neighbour Robbie gave me. They looked a little poorly by the time I got them into the ground but they survived!

Here is my giant cauliflowers – there are some really nice heads inside already!

The usual suspects in this bed – broccolini, beetroot, Bok Choy and silver beet.

The broccolini is just so sweet and rich this time of the year with the temperatures around 5degrees.

Spring Onion

Yes, I know it’s winter – but someone forgot to tell my lettuce and capsicum! We are still picking 3 varieties of capsicum and about 4 varieties of lettuce. This is Perth – even in winter I can grow summer vegetables!

The eggplant has come out of it’s autumn rest period and we are picking 1-3 medium sized fruit a week now. This big one I am keeping on the bush to try to grow a giant. There is no real reason to do so I just want to see how big I can get it.

I know you have been wondering how I keep them so bug free – well first off it’s the whole micro-environment of the yard that helps but also precision hits with the old faithful Neem Oil.

More Winter Crops

This is my crop of cabbage and parsley – the cabbage will be a while yet but I got them early so should do well!

Now here’s a tricky one – top right hand corner you can see a nice potato bud breaking the soil!
I have 4 metres of potato in this year – two varieties. Delaware and Ruby Lou

So let me finish off today with this shot of my organic bananas!

I thinned the out last month and they have responded with more leaves and even some new shoots coming up from the sides!
Hey bananas – this is winter remember!

Until next time

The Organic Gardener

Update

Show your support for Steve Marsh by visiting his Benefit Fund!
Good things are happening from the grass roots of the community to support Steve through this stressful time!

Steve Marsh Benefit Fund Blog

Steve Marsh Benefit Fund

“Like” Steve Marsh Benefit Group On Facebook

Winter Veges Have Begun

Well here is the benefit if an early planting of cauliflower – we get to eat these lovely fresh monsters already!

This is pure white and heavy – 1.5kilos!

How big is that well excuse my mug but this big!

The lettuce and broccolini are also in fine production and we are enjoying fresh crisp vegetables every day!

Self-seeded and sweet as honey!

Mmmm sweet!

Here are the potatoes this week – as you can see they have nearly all broken through and will be ready for feeding and burial in a few weeks!

Rain Rain Rain

This weeks rain has been lovely and we will top 30mm before I empty the gauge on Sunday!

It Rained All Day

Yes this week has turned into a real winter in the Organic Garden!

I was so happy to have 30 mm in the gauge last Sunday –

BUT today was madness!

I got to work at 7:30am – trying to beat the storm warning and be off the road.
Well it was raining as I got out of the car and continued until 2:30pm to varying degrees of intensity!

I got home and this is what greets me in the gauge!

Yes, you read that right 72.5mm in one day – and the day is not over yet!

Organic Vegetable Update

I don’t have to do much at the moment since the beds are all full of veges and things are just growing!
With all this lovely rain it is amazing how well everything is pushing up out of the ground!

This is 4 days of broccolini growth! Photo does not do it justice but it is half a 5 litre bucket! Some of the stems are 15cm long and taste like asparagus. This is destined for the big family dinner this weekend when my brother, his wife, my mother and niece and her hubby arrive! We are going to Wicked on Sunday!

Even the eggplant is confused and I have picked over half a dozen this week!

The Lettuce are tasty and sweet!

Remember my little spuds?

As you can see they are away now and thriving!

Ok I have to get dinner into me!
See you next week!
The Organic Gardener

Do I Need An Ark in the Organic Garden?

I know I just posted the rain gauge but since then the weather went nuts!
The organic garden is nice and wet.

125mm for the week and two more days to go!!
That’s 5 inches of rain in 5 days in our area!

Dinner

We made Lasagne last night (with eggplant from the garden) and tonight is leftovers with fresh veges!

I know I picked all that broccolini for the weekend – but this is just for dinner! It has grown since Tuesday!

July and I am still picking ripe capsicum!

Planting My Feijoa

With all this lovely rain falling this week it is the perfect time to start on the garden plantings.
I have a number of trees to plant this year and the first is the Feijoa.

A yummy fruit – but not everyone likes the flavour!

A warm summer means that feijoa grows a very high quality crop of fruit in near optimum condition. Hot, dry weather is ideal for the production of high fruit quality.
Perth weather is the perfect place for this tree and I hope some nice production over the next few years.

A nice flower for the garden!

A Nice Shade Tree

Apart from the fruit production the tree is also a handy shade tree and plants in groups real well.

A nice little tree for your garden

Their are a vast array of feijoa varieties available. But it can be confusing to know which varieties to grow as some are better than others . I recommend that you research the varieties and select one that suits your needs.

Check out the New Zealand Feijoas Growers website for a good description of the varieties.

Getting Your Tree in the Ground

Pick your spot and start digging the soil out!

You need to remove some soil completely and replace it with good quality compost. The hole needs to be much bigger and deeper than the pot the tree is in!

Mix the soil very well and add a slow release organic fertiliser.

This slow release fertiliser is a mix of manures and both slow and quick release nutrients!

Now dig a hole near to the size of the pot and in summer you add water at this point – today with a week of raining I don’t need to do that!

Backfill.

Scrape back the mulch and water again!
I have used a bucket of rainwater – I have 400L in drums and the small tank I added to a down pipe last year so sweet water for my new tree.

Now is a good time to add a stake to support the tree through the first year – especially in Perth with our windy days!

So there you have it – one tree in and the hope of fruit and shade in the years to come!
Happy gardening!

The Organic Gardener.

We Make it to 150mm of Rain

Here it is the gauge from my garden exceeding 150mm of rain for the week!
I cannot remember a week of rain like it for many decades. It does not solve our water challenges in Perth this year but it sure boosts the groundwater around our way. After near drought like rainfall for the last few years it is a delight to receive rain in such quantity.

My brother was here from Denmark way and just laughed – they have had some seriously heavy rain on the farm and it was still raining as we spent the weekend in sunny Perth!

Have a great week!
The Organic Gardener

I submitted a document to the Senate Standing Committee On Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Inquiry into Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) Bill 2010

This submission was accepted and I am now free to publish it in it’s entirety.
After watching some recent programmes on the TV and net I felt so angered by the threat to our food supply and also now our personal health that I just had to write.
I have also been recently targeting our local politicians involved in the decision to release GM trials on canola and wheat!

Dear fellow Australians

BACKGROUND

Yours Kindly
John Paul Wood, B.Ed

To see the first of a 4 video series that gives more background on this follow the link below.

The Future of Food – Introduction

Well what a lovely wet July in the organic garden!

This is the gauge for the last week up to Sunday morning!

Harvest time in the Organic Garden

These are the next crop of cauliflowers.

Here are the potatoes we have been following for the last few weeks – very tall now and hopefully growing nice tubers underneath.

I picked enough silver beet to make two meals last week.

As for the broccolini it is thriving in the cold days and heavy rain!

How much? Well take a look at today’s pick!

Yes that’s nearly 1.5 buckets of the stuff!
The turnips are sweet and crunchy like an apple!

Anyway that’s it for today have to get ready to leave to the theatre – I have been working as backstage crew the last two weeks that is why the updates have been a little thin this month.

Busy Busy Busy

Well August is nearly over and I have not posted once! So busy working near full-time in a school and also running the gardening business. A few 6 day weeks lately so too busy to get into the blogs!
However the garden is doing fine and the lovely rain has been a treat!

We have rain in the gauge nearly every week – last week we scored over 60mm!
The ground is lovely and damp and even on sunny days the plants are all coping very well.

The last of the eggplant from last season – it was a monster – we ate it in a lasagne this week!

A typical weekly harvest at the moment – the last of the winter crops are still filling our fridge!

This was a good month for broccolini – we have had several two bucket days this month!
A number of friends have had the excess delivered to their tables!

Tree Planting Time

With such lovely weather it has been an obvious time to start planting any new trees.
We have been considering more fruit trees and the latest has been a Feijoa.

This is a plant from a number of South American countries – Brazil for example. Also called the pineapple guava it is a nice fruit and most importantly tough to cope with Perth Summers!

If you don’t like the fruit then the flowers are a nice garden addition with the tree having a pleasant shape.

I bought a small plant and it has already grown some 20% larger thru the winter months.

I have a post dedicated to the planting process – Tree Planting.

Well still have some work to get out to so take care and see you in the spring – that’s only 3 days away!

The Organic Gardener!

Rain and Sunshine in Spring

What a great week leading up to Father’s Day!
All the best to the new dads out there and all you oldies!
That’s me now I suppose – my second year as a grand-daddy.

Anyway, the rain has fallen (over 60mL in my yard) and the sun has shone – 24degrees one day this week!
The result is bucket loads of vegies!

I have picked over 3 buckets of Broccolini this last 2 weeks and have shared it all over the place! Mates at work and family and neighbours all get the surplus.

Today I picked the first of the cabbages – and it is a lovely green crinkly monster! Fresh and dripping with dew this morning it was such a delight to bring it in to the kitchen.

This afternoon I picked some spring onion and baby leeks – enough for the next two weeks!

The turnips are nice and crisp and I eat them like apples as well as using them in our stews through winter.
They are like a huge radish but just a little sweeter!

Fruit Trees Promising To Bud

The Mulberry tree is covered with fruit already and I can see half of the branches covered in red immature fruit.
The apple trees have a good bud swell and the plum is looking ready to burst to flower anyday!

Yes that’s our fig tree popping up through the Nasturtiums! It is looking very healthy and we hope for a good feed this year so long as I get on top of the fruit flies early.

Flowers A Plenty

I obviously grow a lot of vegies but I also like to add some colour to the yard with a good spread of flowers around the place.

I planted some sunflowers this year – hoping for a feed later on!

The biggest bonus is really that the bees have a good feed in the yard all year round. Remember without the bees we would have a serious problem!

Strelitzia

Ornamental Japanese Plum

Some of the flowers have a dual purpose – they not only look and smell nice they also have pest deterring benefits – like the lavender hedges I have throughout the yard.

We also like to let the Nasturtiums take over the backyard where we have no garden beds since they cover the ground and keep the weeds down for most of the winter. Of course they are also edible! They have a peppery taste and are great in a spring salad. The plant is great for keeping bugs out of the yard since the strong smell confuses them.

The olive tree – surrounded by nasturtiums!

Well that’s me done for today – need to get dinner sorted – no shortage of fresh organic vege!

Until next time – the Organic Gardener is outa here!

As I sit here writing and posting more photos the rain is just pouring outside after a week of mixed weather! We had some sunny days and for the last 3-4 days lots of spring rain! The gauge had over 1.5inches this morning and the current showers are adding to that in a very solid way! Yep, I can see 10mL in the gauge from my office window!

I am still kicking myself for failing to get rainwater tanks in this year! However, we have upgraded our home to just over 2.3kW of solar cells so did not have the money to put in rain tanks as well! Next year will do!

Like the vegetables I grow some things cannot be rushed – in the right season things take their place in our lives.

So back to the garden!

In the Organic Garden this Week

With spring gaining ground each day the fresh rain and sunshine are promising so much in the production side of the garden. The mulberry tree is bearing kilos of fruit and we have been grazing each morning on a handful of fresh berries!
I visited Jess’s garden yesterday and her Almond tree and apricot tree are flowering! No sign of flowers here but the promise is in the swollen buds all along the stems!

I am picking broccolini by the bucketful this week – my friends and work mates are all getting a good share of the bounty my few plants are providing every other day! I had to just cut it back yesterday – I had been a little slow harvesting Friday and some of the broccolini went to flower. The flowers are not too bad to eat but once they open fully the stems seem to get stringy and are not as nice to eat. If you pick it at the right time the stems are just like asparagus and then you really can enjoy your meal of vege!

A kilo of organic Rainbow Chard.

Lettuce, fennel and beetroot enjoying the warm sun.

And how nice is the broccolini? Well last night my granddaughter, Gracie, had her first broccolini, my organic broccolini of course, and loved it! She ate it straight of her mum’s plate and all we heard was “more!” We called them little trees when my kids were small and it was the same here – so funny hearing Gracie ask for more trees!

Leeks driving upwards to the sunshine whilst the beetroot quietly do their thing underground!

Fresh coriander fills the kitchen with that spicy hint of yummy flavours to come at dinner time!
As for the last of the cabbage – they were great in the stir fry!

The Mulberry tree is carrying huge loads of fruit and slowly bending down as the weight increases with each day of sunshine!

The apple trees are just pushing a few leaves and buds out into the spring sunshine!

The Feijoa tree is going great guns! I estimate it has now doubled in size!

Spring Planting

Well that’s it for this week. I have been working the equal of 6 days a week lately as I hold down a full-time job as well as running my landscaping business. We run into the busy time of the year for the gardening side of things, so everyone wants lawns in and pruning done – yesterday! I enjoy the extra cashflow though and I have a few holidays planned shortly before I start on the exam supervision jobs in October.

So get out in your garden and get the soil fired up with some good organic compost and get the spring plants in!
Jess has her tomatoes in this weekend and they are looking good! Mine will be a while yet. I have to wait for the shadows to shorten around the house before planting. The beds are not quiet warm enough.

Here’s to hoping Perth can manage better than average rainfall this year!

Organic Gardener says – bye!

Harvest Time

Another great week in the garden harvesting the fruits of a lovely rainy winter and spring. I have removed the old cauliflower plants as well as pruning the egg plants.

Rubbish out and the compost heap is next!

Bed is nice and clean now and ready for manure and summer plantings.

Winter Fruits of the Garden

The organic potatoes are doing very well but I need to get a bed ready so I have removed the short half meter row. This bucket of spuds is the crop!

Plenty of greens today, these are the lovely leeks I dug. We hope to cook these with a few spuds tonight – boil the potatoes and then dice them for a quick fry in oil with the leeks and some parsley or coriander!

Old favourites – beetroot – the middle one is a normal size (well supermarket normal) and the other two are monsters.

We warmed up some vinegar and added some sugar and herbs to make a nice preserving liquid to keep the beetroot yummy for the next salad!

Decisions soon on where to put the tomatoes!

Last but not least the mulberry tree is getting into a higher gear and so far this week we have picked over 2 kilos of fruit! The tree is heavy with unripened fruit so much more to pick!

Have a great week!
The Organic Gardener
Only 1 week of fulltime work left – then a holiday!