The Organic Home Garden

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

Well I am off this Friday to a Yoga Retreat at the Serpentine Retreat Centre. This is always a great time for me I look forward to it every year.

No it’s not just the yummy vegetarian food!

It’s the time to slow down and find some space in a busy life and find some guidance and inspiration for the remainder of the year and beyond. The weekend is also a time to serve one another and my first contribution will be some organic vegetables! Your surprised I know! LOL

I hope to bring a recipe or two back for you all so stay tuned!

This week we are in the grip of lovely winter weather and so the organic gardener has been just relaxing. Lot’s of rain and with it the natural fertilising of the nitrogen dissolved in the water as it falls. There is something special with this natural event it always amazes me how it produces slightly better growth than just chucking on other fertiliser. I suppose when you think about it the plants have been tuning themselves to this natural process for thousands of years and so should be expected to respond so strongly.

Today I picked a lovely pair of organic cauliflowers and there are three more ready by Friday and they will be going to the retreat for dinner. The parsley is so thick and green it would make lovely juice drinks. I hope to take about 2 bags of this to the retreat as well.
The capsicum are nearly finished now – in August? – and the turnips and beetroot are just ripping along. I have just finished eating half the large turnip and will finish it with my Shepherds pie!

This first photo shows the cauliflowers with their leaves to show you how huge the plants are growing.

Here they are all cleaned up!

Some lovely Red Coral lettuce is progressing well.

The baby broccoli are tearing up the garden and the leeks are doing very well too.

Here are the scraps and I chop them up to put in the worm farm!

A layer of newspaper over the top and then lid on top!

Flowers Are Springing

The wattle is bursting into blossom and should be at it’s best this weekend!

The Mulberry Tree is pushing out leaves and should start producing sugar in the new fruit soon!

Well that’s it for this week! I have work everyday so it will be busy up to the retreat.
Have a great week and enjoy whatever season it is your part of the world!

Cya
The Organic Gardener from the Organic Home Garden

After a weekend in the country – way down south – I came home this week to pick my weekly feed! Once again the organic veges have caught me un-awares. It is incredible what happens when you have some rain and a little sunshine in winter. The vegetables just go crazy. Here is my proof of that – I picked two cauliflowers this week because they are just springing out of the ground. One is of a normal size the other is one that has just gone cccrazy!

Giant Organic Vegetables

All looks as usual, although the leaves are very long.

Just a normal cauliflower.

In the other bed we have more vege looking ok – oh I forgot about that one I wrapped!

Looks a little large!

Hmmmm quite heavy!

Now that’s some Cauliflower! Obviously the worm fertiliser did the trick!

Here is the mornings harvest – most of which I am giving to a mate since we have plenty in the fridge already!

Fruit Trees Starting to Prepare for Spring

A wander around the garden reveals that many fruit trees are responding to the longer daylight hours and preparing for the spring. The mulberry tree is already looking very busy with flowers and green fruit growing all over it!

Mulberry flowers and fruit in the background. All we need are warm days and the sugars will start bulging those berries!

Peas flowering and reaching for the sky!

Onions swelling and will be ready soon enough!

We are still picking capsicum – this has to be the first time I have picked them – red – through the whole winter!

Here are my “baby” broccoli – and the lettuce in the lawn will be ready soon!

Just an update on what is fresh in the organic garden this week!

Lot’s of lovely rain has stirred things along and so we are enjoying the benefits of that.

Beans are still going strong and the eggplant defies all logic and also pushing out stacks of fruit. Bok Choy and parsley going strong and the turnips are yummy!

I cannot believe the number of capsicums that are still growing despite it being so cool but we don’t mind. Found a red one today!

I mowed the lawn this week, first time in 4 weeks – I love this new Sir Walter – and had to mow around lettuce that are springing up through the lawn! Beats the normal weeds you get in lawns.

Pests In the Organic Garden

First sign of a real pest this week. Aphids on the roses.

I normally deal with them by wiping them off with my hand. If they get very thick we use a garlic spray to discourage them. I usually don’t over react at this early start to the winter since the ladybugs need food and these few aphids will give them a feed.

The roses should be going dormant by now so if we lose a few leaves or flowers it does not matter. I need to keep the ladybirds in my garden over winter so that they can make a start in the spring as things warm up. If I go and hammer the aphids too much the ladybirds may leave for greener pastures.

Organic gardening is about balance in the garden between the bugs and the gardeners friends the predators. We put up with a few bugs knowing that in the long run balance is more important than 100% productivity.
I also now have the personal experience of several years organic gardening of seeing less bugs the more I follow the principles of balance.

Until next week
John the organic gardener.

The garden has slowed down a little at the moment and the last of the summer fruit are finishing off. The capsicum and eggplant are enjoying the warm weather. The zucchinis are getting close to finishing but feeding us anyway!
Seedlings are in for onions and carrots and beetroot. The older beetroot are nearly ready to harvest.

Tomorrow I shall start the seedlings for the next round of planting – carrots, beetroot, onions, cauliflower, turnip and spinach.

Finally, I scored 30+ passion fruit and a bucket of grapes today from a garden I was working in – yum!

Here are the veges harvested today and a look at the progress of next weeks!
Click on the link to be taken to the Album!

Harvest time!