Luscombe Street - Week 7 Update

A very quick update this week!  The broad beans are going very strong - its amazing how quickly the plants grow once they have germinated.  Everything else is doing really well, continuing to grow.  It will be great once the weather warms up, and the days start getting longer.  The garden will go wild!

The Plot

Fruit / Root Bed

The carrots and radishes continue to grow away!

Legume Bed

The broad beans are doing really, really well.  Fifteen plants have germinated!

Brassica Bed

Allium Bed

The spinach is doing really well in this bed.  It won't be long until it can start to be harvested!  There are lots of little seedlings coming up - I think they may be clumps of coriander and parsley, and the odd lettuce.   Lets wait and see!

Hawthorn Update - Snow Peas!

The first snow pea has started to grow!  There is also another one on the way in another flower.  Its amazing how quickly they grow - you can see the little peas growing inside when they are this young and translucent.  Let the harvesting begin!

Hawthorn Garden Update - Week 8

Attack of the moths!  Having left the garden to fend for itself for a week (we have again had very cold and wet weather so not nice to be heading outside!), I managed to bypass checking for caterpillars and moths and found two big, plump specimens on the broccoli plants at home!  They have really had a go at two of the plants so here's hoping the plants will still do well and continue to grow.  It just means that I will need to keep a really good eye on the plants and squish as I see them.

The two containers - the peas are doing fantastically well!

Not exactly sure what these are!  Maybe droppings?  They were also on the new shoots toward the centre of the plant.

 Little villan on plant

So the Cabbage Moth apparently lays its eggs on the underside of leaves where they hatch and feed mostly on new growth.  These caterpillars are very well fed and are at least a couple of days old.  The best way to deal with them in a small garden is to spot the little villans yourself and kill them as you come across them, along with any eggs you find on the underside of the leaves.

I will have a look at the EcoOil as well and see whether it may help with the problem.  First things first, I have investigated whether companion planting might help the cause.  As a quick solution on Friday afternoon before we heade away I tied a bouquet of herbs to the stakes to ward off any of the moths over the weekend.  There weren't any eggs when we came back so I hope this might be a solution!  The other recommendation is to place crushed up egg shells around the plants.  Apparently this tricks the moths into believing that there are already a lot of moths hovering around the plants and they look for somewhere else to lay their eggs.  Will try that with the egg shells from breakfast this weekend!

 

The two little monsters - squashed!

A temporary solution - bouquet garni of mint, rosemary and sage

The last of the Spring Onions are well and truly ready to be planted!  Once we have constructed the final container this weekend they will be free of their black plastic pot.  The Parsley is also doing well, along with the last of the Kale, also to be planted into the container.  The Beetroot is yet to germinate but should do soon!

Luscombe Street - Week 6 Update

It was a very quick visit down to the plot on Friday afternoon as we headed away for the long weekend!  I very well earned and lovely break, but it meant the garden both at home and at Luscombe Street has been neglected a little this weekend :) So it's a quick update for this week!

 Root / Fruit Bed

The carrots have gone wild!  There are many, many seeds that have germinated in the bed, it will be interesting to see how many I will need to thin out.  It was a bit of an experiment to see how many would actually germinate - it seems that many have!

 Lots of little carrots and radishes!

 Legume Bed

The broad beans are doing wonderfully well as well.  It took them a little while to germinate, but since then they have just shot up so quickly and continue to do so.  I am really looking forward to heading out and seeing how much more they have grown over a week and a half.

 Broad bean seedling

Brassica Bed

 
The Brassica bed continues to grow.  It will be interesting to see whether any cabbage moth has come in to eat the seedlings over the last week.  As you will see, they have well and truly settled in at home which is really frustrating.  A bit of a challenge to figure out how best to deal with the situation!

Allium Bed

Hawthorn Garden Update - Week 7

Sunday was a very busy day at home as well.  Whilst I spent some time out at the plot, Dan was busily working away in the garage making the two 600x600mm containers for the citrus trees.  Don't they look fantastic!

The first citrus box!

I planted them up, adding a few handfuls of slow release organic fertiliser into the soil, watering in well with Seaweed Solution, and just with the hose, to reduce any transplant shock the plants might experience.  I am reluctant to prune the plants yet - they really do need it though.  I am mindful of the fact that we would like compact, well structured plants that we can harvest easily so will wait until they have settled into their new homes before pruning later in winter.

 The two fruit trees

Planted below the trees are companion plants that have shallow root systems that won't disturb the citrus' growth.  Allisum are great flowers to grow, requiring very little maintenance.  The flowers will attract good bugs that will help to manage any insect problems the citrus might experience.  The same applies for the garlic and rosemary planted below the lemon/lime tree.  The scent of the rosemary and garlic will help fend away any unwanted pests, whilst the flowers on the rosemary will attract beneficial bugs to the garden.

 Companion planting - Allisum in the mandarin, Prostrate Rosemary and Garlic in the Lemon/Lime container

 All four planters - one more to make!

The vegetable containers are doing really well - the Snow Peas are continuing to flower and will soon start producing their little pea pods.  There was a visitor to the plant on Saturday, a stick insect!  He enjoyed eating the few aphids that were on the plant and basking in the sun.  I was so proud!  A little ecosystem in the garden!  Very exciting :)

The two vegetable containers

The first of the blooms on the Snow Pea

Happy stick insect on the Snow Pea - a little ecosystem in our backyard!

I have also set up the mushroom kit in the back shed so will be giving an update in the next couple of weeks on how that goes.  I have also planted a heap of beetroot seeds to plant in the last of the large vegetable planters to be made in the next fortnight.  So this season we will have a Legume bed, Brassica bed and Root/Fruit bed producing at home.  There's certainly a lot happening!

Luscombe Street - Week 5 Update

The first Sunday of every month is Working Bee day at Luscombe Street, so there was a lot happening in and around the plot this weekend.  We're installing a second water tank down near the front of the block which will make watering the apple crates a lot easier!  Not that we have needed to the past five weeks - it has been raining an awful lot.  It makes life much easier only having to head out to the plot once a week to check up on things!

Very exciting news - the broad bean seeds have germinated!  In fact all of them have germinated so there may be a glut of broadbeans over the next couple of months!  Doesn't worry me - you can easily freeze or dry excess beans for use later on in the year.  The other plant that is going really well is the rhubarb.  It was only when I had returned home and took a look at the photos that I realised how green and healthy the plant is.  If you compare it with the photos, even from just last week, the plant has just grown from strength to strength.

There are little sprouts making their way up across the plot, having spread the heap of lettuce, rocket and herb seeds last week.  It will be great so see such a variety of foliage over the next couple of months taking over the plot.

Root / Fruit Bed

I thinned out the radish seeds a little this week, just relocated the sprouts to other parts of the bed.  The carrots continue to sprout and the nasturtium plant is growing well.

Legume Bed

 The broad beans have sprouted!  You might be able to see them surrounding the bottom edge of the photo, and also towards the centre.  There's probably 10 or so that have sprouted.

Brassica Bed

 The rhubarb plant is going really well, and the bok choy continues to sprout.  The purple sprouting broccoli is changing colour and looking really beautiful.

Allium Bed

I planted out some of the spring onions this weekend so this bed will be chock full of onions come spring.

I stocked up on bulk Seaweed Solution at CERES on the weekend and noticed that they also stock a product called Fish Emulsion, which I had heard of, but knew nothing about.  It is a great liquid fertiliser for the garden, particularly for fruiting and leafy vegetables.  It contains all essential nutrients your plants need to thrive.  The helpful person at CERES said to think about Seaweed Solution as more of a tonic for your plants, where Fish Emulsion provides a balanced and comprehensive fertiliser for your plants.

So all of the plants received a generous dousing of both Fish Emulsion and the Seaweed Solution this weekend.