The Organic Home Garden

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!

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I have just got back to the keyboard today to find the unpublished post!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!

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

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!

Hi everyone just a quick update on the harvest for the first week of August in the Organic Gardeners Patch.

The Cauliflower has grown like mad, still picking Capsicum(don’t ask me how!), baby beetroot, more carrots and the spring onion are leaping out of the ground and there is just a little bit of lettuce about as well. This morning also saw me finding a few sweet potato! They will be yummy with the other veges in a big roast this weekend.

Fertiliser From Worms

The worms gave their best today by supplying 10 litres of liquid fertiliser for me to spray around the vegetables. I added a little seaweed based fertiliser as well to give it a real kick.
Should see a surge in the growth next week! The 20degreeC days are working so well with the chilly mornings – I love growing vegetables this time of the year.

Until next week

Organic Gardener is outa here.

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.

It was such a lovely morning here in Perth. The sun was shining the air was cool with a strong breeze and blue skies above. It’s Xmas day and I cannot think of much better things to do than go out in the garden and grab lunch! We are off today to the relatives for lunch and so we are obviously bringing the salads. We have been blessed with some marvellous weather and as a result the garden is the best it has been for years! So here is the roll call of veges this week!

Tomatos by the bucket load! Red, black and yellow!

Xmas week harvest

Eggplant and Zuchinni!

Zuchinni

Carrots, cucumber and lettuce!

Baby Carrots

Lebanese Cucumber

Butter Sweet Lettuce

Onions, spring onions and leek – I harvested all the onions this week and most of the garlic and they are just drying out a little before we store them for the summer!

Brown Onions

The onions are so sweet that I have been eating the little ones raw! Well they are too small for cooking so I eat them as a salad! My son-in-law Jon has been eating fried onions with Russian black tomatos this week and loves them.

PLANTINGS THIS WEEK!

I have half of the leeks left for harvest this month so I have started planting the next lot and also some white onions, cucumber and tomato for late summer salads! We also like to make tomato chutneys with the green tomatos on the last of the bushes in early autumn.

Leeks

Tomato

Oh yeah here is the first of the Capsicums!

Capsicum

BRAG BRAG BRAG!

I hate to do this but the tomatoes on the Mortgage Lifter are already gigantic so get an eye full of these two – they are as big as my fist already and there are 5 more on the bush as well!

Mortgage Lifter

2 weeks later - Ripe

PRESERVING EXCESS CROPS

As you have seen the production can sometimes be way over what you can eat. So what do you do?
Well I give away a lot to family and friends so that is the usual solution. However, I like to have some vege and fruit for those cold winter days as well. So we have a number of options – preserving in chutneys, freezing and drying.

We are actually still eating green tomato relish from last year on our salads – even after giving so many bottles away as gifts! This year I am trying to dry some veges and the first effort are some tomatos – red and green!

Preserving Fruit

We made fig leather last year and I ate the last of that recently. The difficulty is sometimes the variety of fruit is not suitable for drying – some have more water in them than others and this affects drying. Anyway I will continue to experiment and will eventually get it right!

Have a lovely Xmas season and enjoy!