Garden World

Be still, my beating heart. Today I went to Garden World. Oh my.

Now that the vege garden is complete I decided I needed a few flowers. I went the cheap-arse option and bought "potted colour - 4 for $10!" - which means "we can't even be bothered telling you what these are called because they'll be dead in a couple of months anyway, but in the meantime... PRETTY!" I also bought a gardenia, which thrills me to my fingertips because nothing says Spring to me more than the smell of gardenia. Forget jasmine; it's gardenia all the way for me. I also bought a bromeliad for indoors - I'd never even heard of these before until I saw them in my counsellor's house, but I absolutely love some of them so I couldn't resist it. What attracted me to this one was the vivid green of the leaves, which of course doesn't come through in the photo properly. Hmph. And it has just occurred to me that there's every possibility my counsellor will now think I'm a crazy stalker who is trying to emulate her by buying a bromeliad... but I guess she's in the best position to assess my level of craziness at any time. (Yeah, but keep your doors locked... just in case...)

Garden World also had a large bonsai section. I don't know, I find bonsai a bit weird. It's like the plant version of teacup dogs... I get the feeling that if Paris Hilton were into plants she'd fill her house with bonsai because they're 'cute'.

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The finished product

Here is the vege garden with everything planted.

I know, it looks like I planted 13 tubs of straw but I assure you there are plants in there. Small and a bit sad-looking at the moment, but definitely there. If everything survives I'll have:

* English spinach
* Rhubarb
* Leek
* Dwarf broccoli
* Zucchini
* Kale
* Lettuce (iceberg and cos)
* Tomatoes (truss, cherry and roma)
* Corn
* Snow peas
* Strawberries - they're not in the photo, but they've actually survived from last year (much to my surprise as I haven't watered them or even looked at them in months) so hopefully they'll keep going and give me more fruit.

That list contains five things I've never grown before (rhubarb, leek, broccoli, zucchini, and corn), one thing I've never grown nor even tasted (kale) and one thing I killed last year (spinach) so this should be interesting! I wanted some apple cucumbers too but couldn't find them in Bunnings. I'll try a nursery on the weekend... although I'm not entirely sure where I'll put them anyway. I suppose I could always train them up the clothesline...

A no-dig vege garden in 9 easy steps

Start with a large tub with drainage holes kindly drilled by a handy friend...

...add some wet newspaper...

...a good layer of cow manure...

...plenty of straw...

...some more manure...

...a bit more straw...

...and a good layer of compost.

Repeat three times...

...and add vegetable seedlings.

Voila!

In actual fact I underestimated how much room I'd need so I still have a number of vegetable seedlings that will need to go in smaller pots, but the majority are planted now and I'm feeling decidedly Mother Earth-ish and content...

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Murray lives!

I knew my boy would recover...



















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This is what a heatwave looks like

At least, it's what it looks like at my place.

Crispy snow peas

Burnt strawberries...









...and capsicum

And Murray the house plant looking very sorry for himself (and this was after I gave him a very big drink of water).

I can't believe I won the Rodent War but lost against the forces of nature! Actually most of the plants were at the end of their fruiting season anyway, and those that weren't will recover, so it's not too bad. But here's the really amazing story. I went to pick some cherry tomatoes and found that a few of them, although only half ripe, felt a little squishy. I came in to put them in the 'ripening bowl' on the windowsill, and removed the ones that had already ripened. Some of those felt a little squishy too. I ripped one in half and it looked fine, so I bit into it. And then I realised (I swear this is true) that the tomatoes have been COOKING on the vine, and on the windowsill after I picked them.

Yeah. It's been hot.

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The Greenhouse Effect

Firstly, thanks for your kind words in response to my last post. I'm still feeling a delicate shade of pale blue but at least that matches my eyes.

Now, back to the vegetable obsession temporarily. Last night I had friends over to my house to dinner and as we sat around in a contented haze of post-burrito repleteness I lamented the fact that my vegetable garden is being eaten by beasts unknown. I casually said, "What I really need is a lean-to greenhouse, only made with screening instead of perspex. I can't get one though because they're hugely expensive and I'd have to get it custom built since I have such a tiny space for the garden." The husband-half of my friends said, "Well, I could build it for you. It would be easy. Where's your tape measure?" Apparently, he builds stuff. I had no idea. Before I knew it he'd measured up and drawn plans. Wow!

It will look a little like this one, only without the sloping roof, and of course it won't come out so far from the house because I only have one metre to spare. I expressed concern that it might be a problem that I rent (and therefore can't undertake any building projects) and he said, "Don't worry, it will be attached to the house by two tiny screws and when you move you can dismantle the whole thing and you won't even be able to see where the screws were."

I am SUPER excited about this. He estimates it will cost about $200... as opposed to the $900+ dollars for the cheapest commercial one I could find. It probably won't happen for a couple of months but I'm content to wait... and in the meantime I'll start planning my winter garden.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - my friends are awesome.
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Veges in captivity

I don't seem to be missing any more vegetables this morning, but neither does the rat bait look nibbled so it may be that the vege thief had the night off last night. The whole thing is starting to drive me a little nuts - I've gone beyond mild annoyance and I'm edging towards Crazy Lady. Any minute now I'll be behaving like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. It's just one nibbled cucumber away...

I can't even work out exactly where the animal is getting in. This is what the garden looks like with the net - okay, it's not perfect but there aren't that many spots to crawl in. The edges are attached to a variety of pipes and protuberances in order to leave a minimum of access points.

I've also resorted to the mothball method, which apparently keeps possums away. My garden has stopped smelling like Vaporub and now smells like your grandmother's wardrobe. I imagine if I'm really lucky the snow peas, as they grow, will twist themselves around and possibly through the mothball holder, so I'll be growing the world's first mothball flavoured snow peas. I can't even guess where the market would be for those.

And here's the rat bait. Intact. Completely intact; not even nibbled.

I'm not obsessed. Truly, I'm not. And on another matter entirely... does anyone know where I can buy some camoflage and some small land mines?

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Dear rodents: listen up!

Dear rodents,

I think I have been more than fair. I put a net around my garden. You found a way in. I smeared smelly goo all over the place (including a pair of trousers which may never be the same again) to discourage you without harming you. I have resisted building a duck blind and sitting out there all night with a rifle. All I wanted was for you to go away.

I have played fair, but you have not. The tomato and cucumber you ate last night were not just a tomato and a cucumber. They were the final straw. I hope you enjoyed them, because now I've had it with playing fair.

Today I'm buying Ratsak. It won't be pretty and I don't care.

Playtime is over. You have been warned.

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Rodent wars

I have been having trouble in my vegetable garden with what I suspected were possums - there is at least one family of possums living somewhere in my street - but what I now think might be a rodent of some kind.  I suspect it's a rodent because I have a net around my garden and I haven't seen any evidence of a possum break-and-enter. It IS possible for a possum to get in under the net in a couple of spots but it's not possible for it to get in and leave the net undisturbed, which is what's happening.  Also, things are being nibbled very neatly, whereas possums tend to lean on things and knock them over, and to rip off all the tomatoes and leave the ones they don't want.  My vegetable thief is much neater and more fastidious than that... so I'm thinking rodent. Ugh.

I was given a possum-deterrent tip which should also work for other creatures.  The tip is to smear Dencorub or Vaporub (something very smelly and unpleasant) around the edges of the garden and, in my case, the edges of the pots.  It needs to go anywhere their paws might land - they don't like it on their paws at all; and eventually they will identify that garden as the one with the nasty, smelly stuff that gets all over your paws, and leave it alone.

So yesterday afternoon I went out to my garden armed with a pot of Home Brand Chest Rub (I'm not buying the name brand stuff for a rodent) and a pair of disposable gloves, because I am a princess when it comes to dirty hands.  I applied the goo liberally over the edges of all the pots, parts of the trellis and the edges of the garden.  I won't know for a while if it's working because the culprit hasn't been coming every day.

I'll tell you what, though... every time I go near the garden my sinuses clear almost immediately.
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When will she shut up about the veges?

Come on... I have a new camera with a great macro setting AND a dedicated foliage setting. What made you think you weren't going to get photos of the vegetable garden?

Behold the Hunter Gatherer

This is a Caesar Salad.

But wait - it's not just any Caesar Salad. It's a Caesar Salad made with cos lettuce grown in my vege garden. Woot!

Arrgghhh!!!!

I am fighting a losing battle against possums in my vegetable garden. They are eating the cucumber and tomatoes as soon as they ripen and it's starting to get a little irritating, to say the least! I have put a net around the garden but Houdini Possum somehow found a way in, so I have just re-netted the entire thing in a ridiculously elaborate manner in an attempt to block their access. I also went online to see if I could get any tips about how to deter them. Most 'tips' are from the RSPCA and environmental groups who spend a lot of time pointing out that it is illegal to kill them, but don't say much else about how to encourage them to go elsewhere. They did, however, have this little gem to share:

Q: Possums are eating the fruits and vegetables from my garden. What should I do?
A: It is important to remember this is only a temporary problem. The possums will only remain while there is a fruit source for them. They will go when there is no fruit for them to eat.

So... when they've completely stripped my garden, they'll leave. Yeah, thanks for that. Very helpful.

Anyone else have any tips on how to deal with them? Remembering that I rent so I can't really build a greenhouse or anything.
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Baby photos (edible)

Well, you asked for it. Here they are:

This is a comparison shot of the photo from three weeks ago and a photo taken this morning.

The capsicum isn't doing well but everything else is thriving. Here are some individual shots:

Snow peas - no fruit on them yet

Lettuce - wiggly ones are iceberg; the others are cos

Cucumbers - you can't see it but they're flowering so there'll be fruit soon

Grape tomatoes - there are loads of tomatoes under all the leaves.

Spring onions on the left, chillies at the back, chives at the front and basil on the right.

It's only a small garden and in truth I can't take credit for much of it since they are thriving just by being outside - this is what plants do, after all - but still it is deeply satisfying to watch my little garden growing and changing; and to know that it's producing things that will feed me. It's somehow primal.