How is Your Vege Garden going?

Moon · October 2014

Seeing coffee lovers have elaborate machinery and often go to the extent of acquiring a coffee bean roaster to do home-roasting .. I'm wondering - do these 'enthusiasts' of doing it yourself to achieve better 'quality' outcomes - also extend their enthusiasm into the backyard to include growing your own organic veges?

Do you have a vege garden - and how is it going?

Post up what you are growing .. and how you do it .. along with your successes and failures along the way.

* What fruit trees do you have, and what is the produce like?
* What sort of soil are you using, and what do you add to improve it?
* How do you control pests taking a liking to your produce .. and want to eat it?

Feel free to share your experiences :thumb:

Brett H · October 2014

Nice idea! I don't have any pics cause it's dark and late...mane the turkeys ate it but I'm along for the ride!!

Koffee_Kosmo · October 2014

Although I have a green thumb I have chosen a carefree garden design that suits our climate I do grow lemon trees as we use them daily I do grow herbs as they also get used regularly in cooking A couple of coffee trees A couple of Fig Trees An olive tree and one pomegranate tree That's about it

derrilex · October 2014

Apart from the impending coffee plantation ( another 30 plants going in next week) we have finger limes, mandarin, orange,mango, blueberry, raspberry, avocado, red grapes, white grapes. All new plantings within the last 5 weeks so not producing yet. We are on super rich black volcanic soil. We mulch with a mixture of mulched lantana and cow poo powder with the odd coffee puck if my aim is good enough throwing it out into the paddock. Oh grass too. Took some sir walter runners out and they are gojng nuts. In my research I have turned up quite a bit of evidence that suggests planting anything where lantana once grew is the recipe for great success. People even go to the extreme of collecting " lantana soil " for use in pots and home gardens. We shall see.

RichardM · October 2014

This is a photo from a few weeks ago of 2 of my 3 beds. I've got a diggers subscription, so getting my seeds from there, which have been very successful. This season I have Rockmelon, Cucumber, Eggplant, Birdseye Chilli, Habanero Chilli, Tomato (Roma), Leeks, Schallots. Last season (winter) I harvested Garlic, Cauliflower, Brocolli, Coriander, Peas and Schallots. I have permanently got a rotation of Basil, Thyme, Rosemary (in other gardens), Oregano, Parsley and chives We collect rain water and that is sufficient for a daily watering of the garden. Most of the soil is imported, so it's reasonably good, but being on a bed of clay, I put in a lot of gypsum and compost. I recently was concerned about my tomatoes curling, so just did the stupid thing and added Gypsum, Epsom Salts and Sulphate of Potash. The tomatoes are now doing well, but there is now a yellow mucousy fungus growing all through one of the beds within two days of me fertilising. Lesson learned, stop fertilising! I think the Gypsum was needed, and the Magnesium (epsom salts) possibly, but I'll lay off the sulphate of potash for now. In a few weeks, I'll be over doubling my garden bed capacity with one of these in the 3.5 x 0.9 configuration http://www.birdiesgardenproducts.com.au/index.php/special-offers-garden-beds/modular-bed-2-9m-x-1-5m-x-400mm-high-detail This new bed will be on the other side of the house where I've got grevillias, proteas, lilly pillys, limes, apple blossoms etc, which are attracting the native bees really well, so that should improve my crop too.

derrilex · October 2014

11 more trees go in tomorrow.

Moon · October 2014

on 1412856961:

Although I have a green thumb I have chosen a carefree garden design that suits our climate I do grow herbs as they also get used regularly in cooking

Do you do much cooking? .. and if so, what are your specialties?

on 1412917568:

.. we have finger limes, mandarin, orange,mango, blueberry, raspberry, avocado, red grapes, white grapes.

Nice fruit spread going on there. What do you do with them .. e.g. do you make wine from the grapes?

on 1412934454:

This season I have Rockmelon, Cucumber, Eggplant, Birdseye Chilli, Habanero Chilli, Tomato (Roma), Leeks, Schallots. Last season (winter) I harvested Garlic, Cauliflower, Brocolli, Coriander, Peas and Schallots.

Sounds like you're right into it. Do you cook? What bugs want to eat your veges .. and how do you deal with them?

on 1412934454:

I have permanently got a rotation of Basil, Thyme, Rosemary (in other gardens), Oregano, Parsley and chives. I put in a lot of gypsum and compost.

Do you grow these herbs for certain favorited recipes? Which compost do you favour .. and do you do some of your own?

Moon · October 2014

I grew a nectarine tree from a yellow nectarine I bought from a fruit shop. It grew prolifically and was loaded with nectarines that grew to full size but didn't ripen. They were rock hard until they began to rot. It did the same the following year, so after seeking advice from the local nursery .. who suggested to give it another season .. I decided to chop it down and use the space for another vege bed.. which, after spending some time enriching the soil in a raised bed .. is currently growing my first vege crop (in that bed). I looked up growing a nectarine tree from a pip on the net (ABC Gardening site).. and one reply explained that growth may be prolific .. and that it would either turn out fine .. or be a dud. Someone also said that the fruit was probably picked green .. so I wondered whether the the pip was missing .. or lacked the 'experience' of ripening? Apparently, nectarine trees need a certain number of days where the temperature falls below 5 deg C .. which did happen. Even though I don't like chopping down trees .. I have another grafted white nectarine tree. My next door neighbour also has a nectarine tree that produces massive yellow fruit .. which we've all agreed is the best going around by a long shot. I helped Tom plant it a few years ago... and look after it by adding Cow manure, Seasol .. removing weeds, spraying with Copper Sulphate to remove leaf-curl and deep watering. I've also recently taken cuttings to graft onto my tree, using the wedging method .. which I'm not sure will be successful. There's a lot more going on .. only I'll post this up to get the ball rolling .. and go make a cup of coffee :thumb:

Moon · October 2014

Well .. that was a pretty ordinary coffee .. only the show must go on.. :thumb: Herbs I'm growing are mint, parsley, coriander & rosemary. Coriander is my favourite .. and still figuring out the best method and location to grow it. Rather than purchase seeds from a hardware store .. I get a huge bag of seeds from the Indian grocery store which I can grind up for cooking .. or plant them. After trying to grow Coriander in the garden .. and finding the tasty little seedlings get bugged out .. I now reckon it works better growing it in pots. The pot needs to be fairly deep to accommodate the long straight central (tap) root, and I keep them well watered and out of direct sunlight .. as they'll shoot up quickly and seed during the warmer months. Man .. there is nothing like the aroma from freshly cut Coriander from your garden .. compared to the bought gear .. even from the Indian stores. It has a completely different aroma - which is sensational. It's like the difference between Vittoria beans off the shelf of a Supermarket .. compared to 8 day rested beans from your home-roaster. I kid you not. If you are into Asian cooking .. or salads ... get some Coriander happening in pots .. trust me. :P

I have 3 fruit trees .. nectarine and a small Myer lemon tree - that is one happy prolific producer. The other is a fairly young 2.5m Moor Park apricot .. which is choccas at the moment. I grew up with one of these in my parents backyard. Moor Park are simply the best .. and no other apricot comes anywhere near it for juicy flavour. You can take that to the Bank. 8) My old Man used to make apricot jam .. I haven't tried this yet, but will get around to it when there are too many. I'm only up to the stewed apricots with vanilla ice-cream part .. which isn't half shabby .. I can tell you. :D

RichardM · October 2014

Moon: I grew coriander this year. Planted it in the middle of winter in the same garden as my garlic/leeks, and got near 100% propagation, and no bug attacks at all. It was in a raised garden bed, with a lot of compost etc, and they sprouted in about 10 days. The bushes I ended up with were HUGE - about 1m tall before they went to seed. Possibly you have bad seeds (mine were gifted to me from an indian lady who had collected them off her last crop when it went to seed). In terms of using it up when you have too much - a nice sourdough roll, some shredded pork or chicken in a nice barbeque sauce (homemade), some pickled carrots and onions, and stuff it full of fresh coriander leaves. Cooking is my real love, so yeah, I use everything I produce. In terms of getting rid of bugs, I generally don't get any. I allow spiders to overrun everything, and they seem to take care of all the moths that attack my cauliflowers. Other than that, I spray pyrethrum if anything gets too bad, and white oil or oil/detergent mix on fruit trees. I also have penny lizards running all over the garden. I was worried they'd get my strawberries, but they haven't touched them. I think I've got enough aromats to keep the buts away (mint/thyme/garlics etc all seem to be good companion plants to the rest). I have an infestation of psyllids on my lilly pillys at the moment, but refuse to use Confidor - as it's banned in the UK due to it killing bees.

Moon · October 2014

Wow .. those Coriander bushes sound impressive. Mine so far are pretty small and weedy, although the flavour is amazing. I have allowed some of my plants to go to seed and have tried using them .. although the seeds were very small, so I will have to try some others and keep experimenting. I first found out about using coriander some years ago from the Vietnamese bakeries that make those yummy Pork rolls. I'll have to find out who makes sourdough locally, as it is my favourite bread. I do make my own bread sometimes in a bread maker .. although I have stuck with making wholemeal loaves by using the white flour mix from the Supermarket and adding bran and semolina to it. After completing a few Indian cooking courses .. coriander in is high demand for all my curries. I have 4 main patches where I'm growing my veges, but due to bugs affecting certain plants, I'm finding that I am limited as to what I can grow in 2 of them.. due to bugs that attack certain plants growing there. One of the main beds I have been growing tomatoes for the past few years .. and now resting it .. after taking the advice on garden shows about crop rotation, and resulting diseases that can infest the soil if you continually plant the same crop each season in the same space. Last year, from what I've heard, was a particularly bad season for tomatoes in Melbourne. Not only due to the 40 deg days we had .. but some bug in the soil that turned the leaves brown at the base of the plants and worked their way up. I'm using the home-brand version of 'Velvet' soap from Woolies that has potassium in it .. and mixing it with garlic and birdseye super hot chilli to spray on the plants .. as I want to keep both the fruit & veg as chemical free as possible. White fly seems to be my main problem .. they are all over my mint, capsicum, coriander and to a lesser degree, lettuce and tomatoes. There is also something that eats holes in the leaves of my pumpkin seedlings and beans .. but luckily it's only the first outside leaves and not the new central ones. The lettuce that I put in the bed I am resting from tomatoes was totally eaten. This bed has had a lot of organic matter added to it from my compost bin, as well as cow manure, seasol .. and other liquid fertiliser A lot of bees visit both my front and back gardens, and I'm very wary not to cause any damage to them. I've watched a few programs on bees .. and aware that pesticides can lead to the total collapse of native bee hives. Then, as you are no doubt aware, there is the global problem of the Varroa mite .. so I feel we need to look after our precious bees. I've recently picked up 10 Strawberry seedlings that i am trying to grow for the first time. What I have in my garden.. Mixed lettuce, Strawberries, Water melon, Butternut pumpkin, Cherry/Rouge de Marmande/Roma tomatoes Carrots, Lebanese cucumber, Radish, Beans, Green chilli, Capsicum. I've recently attended a Vege garden workshop whereby the Guru recommended not to plant your veges in rows, and to utilize more of your garden space to grow plants randomly .. which I am now starting to do. I noticed a program a couple of days a go where a garden expert was talking about sacrificial plants used to attract the butterflies/bugs .. therefore leaving the others alone. He also mentioned growing a plant that attracts them .. and when the pupae take their first bite of the plant, they die due to the toxicity.

GaryatGala · October 2014

All my veggies n fruit are in the backyard amongst roses and ornamentals. From the garage to the side fence, we have a group of fuji and gala apple, chiku,dragonfruit, blood orange as well as washington navel, persimmon, cumquat, dwarf lemon, lime, kensington pride mango, longan and three grape vines. All these fruit trees are less than 3 years old, so they are bearing little if any fruit at the moment. Vegetable beds have garlic, onion, carrots, snow peas, lettuces, potato ( blue and nadines) yams, sweet potato, tomatoes (tiny toms, grosse lisse), lemon grass, ginger, galangal, and 5 varieties of chillies. Have just planted long beans and have put in okra and rockmelon seeds in rockwool in preperation for the drip irrigation hydroponic system. As with everyone, i,ve had my fair share of battles with parasites and bugs spoiling all the hard work. Photos to come. I,ll say I do a better job roasting and making coffee than being a green finger

Moon · November 2014

on 1414574405:

Photos to come.

Yeah Baby! .. this thread needs photos. :thumb:

GaryatGala · November 2014

End of suspense, Here are a few I managed to shoot during the weekend. Please excuse my poor smartphone camera skills... Potatoes and sweet potatoes (at rear) Chilli corner (will post more when chillies are in full swing) Cayenne, Habenero, Thai Bird's Eye, Prairie Reds and Scotch Bonnets Vine grove

Koffee_Kosmo · November 2014

I spy a grape vine I can see a use for both the young leaves and the fruit KK

Steve1 · November 2014

Hi all, Good to see there are some green thumbs out there. I grow a reasonable orchard of fruit trees mostly old varieties, apples x12 (Bramley's, Cox's orange pippins ect.), Pears x5 (Williams, Josephine, Doyenne du Commice ect.), Plums x5 (Green Gage, Coes' Golden drop, Prune d'Argen, Sloe, Plumcot ect), Figs x2 (Violette from Diggers and another old unknown one), Almonds x2 (never had a nut - cockatoos), Mulberry, Cherry, Sour Cherry, Medlar, Pomegranate, Olives x 20 (Manzanilla as a hedge and a couple of Kalamatas'), Apricot (Moorpark), three sorts of quinces and a lemon and lime. I will attach some of the pics from last years harvest of veggies for those interested when I work out how... Cheers Steve

Koffee_Kosmo · November 2014

Welcome green thumb Steve I know all those varieties as a former fruit shop proprietor In QLD it's difficult to grow soft water thirsty plants That's why I mostly grow fruit trees I also have 2 different varieties of Figs white and dark flesh Good to see Quince - it makes great jam - ( flesh turns red ) however in my youth we had baked Quince and it was beautiful KK

GaryatGala · November 2014

on 1415108421:

I spy a grape vine I can see a use for both the young leaves and the fruit KK

Plenty of leaves here for Dolmades KK.[emoji6] We have yet to come up with a fusion of greek, chinese, malaysian and aboriginal version. Off my head, wattle and myrtle seed, coriander n pine nut, mint, bean sprout n shitake dolmades... Oops, wrong thread.

Steve1 · November 2014

Thanks KK. I understand the difficulty with water. For the soft stuff I run the brown plastic dripper hose in rows 12 inches apart. Bury it under a mulch and it works in Vic summers. I would be in trouble if I failed to grow fresh tomatoes, beans and cucumbers for summer salads. Yes quinces are pretty amazing but you need to be patient and have the 2+ hrs to slow poach them. Saying that poached with honey till pink and soft, and serve with King Island or clotted cream and there is not much better IMO. Mulberries are pretty underrated too. We get about 3 month harvest down here. Easiest berry around and again very drought tolerant once established. Will post some pics when able. Cheers Steve

Brett H · November 2014

Wow Steve, Im in awe! We have issues with Possums and Turkeys. I've tried everything from motion-sensor sprinklers to bird netting but still our fruit and vege is devastated. I reckon the local flying foxes started the 'grow food not lawns' campaign.

GaryatGala · November 2014

Here in Perth it,s more like fungi, caterpillars, grasshoppers, aphids on our roses and citrus trees as well as locusts that chew their way through leaves and fruit that starts to ripen. Am glad we don,t get possums and birds.

Steve1 · November 2014

Possums eh? I have heard that if you plant a blue gum and keep cutting it to about 1.5 meters the possums will gorge on the new growth in preference to most other things. Turkeys are out of my league though. The biggest problem I had with my fruit trees was the complete disappearance of an entire harvest one year by an elderly couple up the road - though I lose a few quinces and all my almonds to the sulphur crested cockatoos and corellas. Bugs do happen here, mostly pear and cherry slug for me - nothing seems to eat them. I fertilize rarely and only low dose (organic) when i do, and although things grow much slower they are less soft and tasty for the bugs and grubs and it seems they are hardier with little or no water. The fruit however is still amazingly tasty.

Here are some beans I grew a couple of years ago...

Steve1 · November 2014

Hi All, Was walking through Melb Uni Burnley Gardens the other day and took a few pics. The aphids look out of control but really aren't - if you have a close look most of them are white (dead) and there are a few bugs with wings (lacewings - great aphid predators). There are many beneficial insects: hoverflies, tiny 1mm and larger wasps and of course the lacewings already mentioned that will do in large numbers of pests (aphids, catapilliars...) I've read (and found) keeping some carrots or parsley in the ground to go to seed over the spring/summer/autumn provides extra food for the beneficial insects and helps keep them in your yard on the job. Spraying (though often necessary in farming mono-cultures where habitat for beneficial insects is highly modified or absent) wipes out the pest and predators. Food for thought. Cheers Steve

Kevohere · November 2014

on 1416278969:

Food for thought. Cheers Steve

Good food... Good thought. I have been looking at ways in bringing balance into my veggie garden even to having certain flowers nearby that deter the bad bugs. My new partner has been amazed by the freshness on the plate with the past crop of carrots, lettuce broccoli and beetroot. Better than "the fresh food people" she says! :thumb:

eggbert · November 2014

My broccoli just got smashed by caterpillars just as the heads were starting to form. Pulled the last one out last night. Still, have a load of eggplants coming through at the moment, and the thai tomatoes are still producing well. That time of year when not much else will grow in the tropics though. I've been making a few different wicking beds this year using IBC's, 44 gallon drums cut in half, and tip shop wins.

and

Moon · November 2014

My new vege patch .. while the other is resting

Moon · November 2014

Anyone know which insect dumps this huge load of eggs?

Moon · November 2014

more

Koffee_Kosmo · November 2014

I have fruit on my trees Figs, Pomegranates, Lemons and coffee trees are all in fruit KK Attachment not found.Attachment not found.

Koffee_Kosmo · November 2014

on 1416695753:

Anyone know which insect dumps this huge load of eggs?

Are you sure it's not a fungus ? As it sure looks like one If not and you have water nearby It may be frogs KK

Kevohere · November 2014

on 1416695983:

I have fruit on my trees Figs, Pomegranates, Lemons and coffee trees are all in fruit KK

Very nice KK :thumb: I love a good fig but can't seem to grow them that well down here. Problems with birds and bats, so netting is necessary and I couldn't be bothered. How long did it take for your coffee trees to flower and fruit? Are these the ones I recall you planted in those plastic wheeled garden bins? I've had two on the go for the past 5 years, one flowering (moderately) only once in that time. Mind you they were in pots, getting moved around for shelter for about half that time whilst I was a flat dweller. I put them in ground just over two years ago, after moving to a (hopefully) permanent residence. They have looked fairly healthy since with some brown tip leaves occasionally, slight increase in size, but only about 70 to 80cms high and no sign of flowers. Sorry, there's probably another more suitable thread for this. Kev

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