Trip to Ceres

Pip and Ngeste at Ceres

Ceres is an environmental park with an excellent nursery. Our group combined with Norfolk Terrace to select our new seedlings for autumn planting and have a cup of coffee together in the cafe instead of our usual gardening session last Friday. This photo of Pip and Ngeste reminds me that I should do something about dressing less drably- these two certainly brightened up the morning with their cheerful colors. 

Crop rotation

Carrots and garlic growing companionably

As space becomes available in the plot I plan to practice crop rotation as best I can in such a small garden. This is what I plan to do over the next month:

Take the climbing beans out and plant winter spinach, silver beet, beetroot, dill, lettuce and chard in their place.

Take out the chili and marigold plants. The tomatoes are already compost. Dig in the marigolds. Lime the soil.

Replace with garlic, carrots,  spring onions and lettuce.

Take out the cosmos. Plant peas on the wire frame,        surrounded by coriander, lettuce, small brassicas & carrots. Peas are likely to be pilfered. Over late summer I enjoyed picking beans so much I would like to give peas a try and hope for the best.

Au revoir Anita

In France haricot vert is harvested this small?

Anita with Rond de Nice zucchini

Anita's relocation to be closer to her family means she has had to leave the Farnham St. Neighborhood Garden... she will be greatly missed. These photos are of her last summer harvest, showing Anita's preference to grow vegetable varieties from her native France. Anita harvests vegetables when they are tiny- for immediate eating.

If left unharvested, zucchinis like the Ronde de Nice, above right, grow massive and change colour. This one will be kept for seed. The tomatoes in the last picture are Jaune Flamme, an heirloom French variety... au revoir Anita, jardiniere et amie. 

Anita's empty plot awaits a new owner

Growing food in containers

Celery

Most vegetables require 8 hours of sunlight per day and at my home the area that meets this requirement is limited to two square meters of paving around the back door. There I have placed two large black plastic pots in which I can grow climbing vegetables: cucumbers in summer and snow peas in winter. Grown on teepees,climbing plants reach up to take advantage of more available sunlight. The autumn Equinox is the ideal time to transition from summer to winter crops so this week I have taken out the cucumber plants in preparation for snow peas. I remove the top 1/2 of the old potting medium and replace it with a new, enriched medium made up of  2/3 new potting mix and 1/3 sheep manure* plus 2 handfuls of dolomite lime. In the glazed blue pot I grow decorative crops: basil in summer and celery, kohl-Rabi, carrots or lettuce in winter. I have a box of strawberries growing here too but they have been unproductive and I will not persist- the area is getting shadier as our lemon tree grows bigger. I surround the big black pots with smaller pots of herbs like thyme, mint, oregano, rosemary. Parsley requires less sunlight and self-seeds in damp spots all around the garden. 
* I buy sheep manure from Robert from Broadford: 0409 794 417  $6 per bag, minimum five bags, who delivers free of charge. There are several other suppliers listed on the Internet and I am told, one at least, is cheaper. Worm castings, compost or any processed commercial manure product can be used instead of sheep manure.

Late season beans

Climbing bean: "Purple King"

My 'Purple King' climbing beans still have potential to produce a crop so I am leaving them in the ground for another month and I planted three more bush beans of the late variety "Hawksbury Wonder" on Thursday this week. Bush beans only crop for about two weeks and someone stole every bean from my "Purple King" and the yellow "Cherokee Wax" bush beans while I was away for a few days at the end of February. Now I am watching the garden like a hawk and spending much more time there until I can harvest the current crop of beans. Keeping the beans in the ground so late in the season means half my bed is occupied when I would normally like to be planting winter crops like winter carrots, turnips, beetroot and parsnips. When choosing carrot seeds for winter, select a cool season variety. Don't hold off planting carrot seed too much longer as it is slow to germinate once the ground gets cold. Luckily I have half a bed unoccupied so I have been able to plant seedlings of lettuce and winter greens and will have room between them to plant garlic.

 Bush bean: "Cherokee Wax"

What to grow for the cooler months ahead

Rugosa rose,"Scabrosa" flowering for the first time in the Food Forest- only one flower but what a beauty! It should produce a beautiful hip in winter.

The Autumn Equinox  in the southern hemisphere heralds the time of year when we take out summer crops and prepare the soil for cool season vegetables like peas, broad beans, cabbages, broccoli and cauliflowers. I am restricting my planting this year to Bok Choi, Tatsoi, Mizuna, curly endive, chard, lettuce, garlic, carrots, beetroot and parsnips. Why? Three reasons:
1) Root crops and leafy greens are less vulnerable to casual theft than peas and broccoli.
2) They are space-savers. Broad beans, potatoes, sprouting broccoli, cauliflowers and some cabbages all need a bigger garden than my small plot can accommodate.
3) I  was given some Bok Choi and curly endive seedlings so I will use them.

Watch out for the cabbage white caterpillar and green looper caterpillars too. Both  absolutely love to eat Bok Choi and Mizuna in particular. I invested in some "Dipel" last year and a spray of this bacteria proved to be the only method apart from hand-picking off the caterpillars that proved to be effective.

Tatsoi is a great Asian green. You just pick the outer leaves as you need. Any Asian greens added to a broth of chicken or vegetable stock with a few sliced mushrooms, spring onions and carrots and some Japanese noodles makes a wholesome, quick and tasty lunch.

First day of Summer 2015

Time to sow beans:

Maximum temp only 17 C today so it doesn't feel like summer. However, I planted 12 assorted bean seeds in half toilet roll tubes for later planting out in one third of my plot after I have prepared the soil. The remaining 2/3 of the plot contains two well-spaced tomato plants on frames. I will gradually introduce their companion plants, marigolds, spring onions, parsley, lettuce and carrots. Today I put some heat-hardy lettuce seeds in the fridge to chill in preparation for next Friday's garden session.

Soil Prep:

I am deliberately not cramming my plot or mulching early this year because I need to renovate the soil. I will dig down about 30 cm and remove invading roots from the fruit trees in the adjacent food forest. I am working my way around the perimeter of the plot removing roots and adding sheep manure and compost as I progress. 

Last chance to plant Carrots before the hot weather:

On Friday I sifted the soil in one such prepared section and planted carrots. I placed a board over the top to keep the soil moist for a week as I can't water every day. I helped Leyla who attends the English classes in the house use this carrot planting method the previous Friday and Pat removed the board after a week but watered daily and ten days later Leyla's carrots were up and growing; very satisfying for a beginner gardener - but where is Leyla? She hasn't been seen at the garden since we planted the carrot seed.