if the frost did get to the spuds before i did, will the tops die off or change colour! they seem to be the same if not stronger and greener looking now. i have mounded them up yesterday and soaked them and the other veges with water soaked sheep poo. i was very busy outside yesterday with my 6 y olds help. we extended the chook run, weeded the vege gardenand planted more silverbeet seeds and parsnips, stacked fire wood, cleared some nasty wandering vines from the trees. it was a very productive day.
floralsun,
Jun 7, 7:59am
We're having trouble with rats getting into our compost bin - we blocked the holes in the plastic - and have now found they've dug up through beneath the bottom of the bin. They seem to be around a lot more this year, so bait is getting put out a lot more. Hopefully this will help.
whiskey13,
Jun 7, 6:49pm
I was the same jules.busy busy busy I went to move 29 strawberry plants that had been hidden under the pumpkins over summer and they had babies without me knowing! now i had to find homes for 40 plants. Ended up putting them in the raised bed under the grapevine.
whiskey13,
Jun 7, 9:08pm
Yippie, Linda and Jason welcomed little Lucus into the world yesterday. Congrats to all. He'll share his birthday with my friends daughter she turned 17
jules.,
Jun 8, 4:05am
bugger! i knew there was something else i had planned for the weekend. i was going to give the strawberries in the pots a good haircut and re plant the ones in the garden. oh well, they will wait for this weekend now :)
juliewn,
Jun 8, 9:05am
Hi everyone. how are your garden's growing. Has anyone ordered the new Homegrown magazine - "Live Off Your Land For Less" - it looks good in their site - I'm looking forward to browsing through my copy.
whiskey13,
Jun 8, 5:08pm
Have just made the aphid spray using rhubarb leaves but i've forgotten how much dishwashing liquid i add at the end and i've looked in here and can't find it.I actually can't remember where i read it, I've read that many things concerning gardening that my head is about to explode LOL
juliewn,
Jun 9, 10:10pm
Hi Whiskey :-). lovely news.
Congratulations Lynda and Jason. :-)
From the Get Growing email:
'Lynda has some very exciting news to share. On Tuesday, she and hubby Jason became proud parents to little Lucas Hinton. Congratulations Lynda and Jason on your gorgeous son - we know he will bring so much joy to your lives. If you'd like to send a message to the Hinton family, please send an email to [email protected] and we'll forward it on for you.'
So glad all went well. welcome to the world little Lucas. :-)
juliewn,
Jun 10, 5:05am
I was just thinking. haven't seen your name in the garden threads for a while Stevee. you're missed. hope all is well - and that you're off on a fabulous holiday somewhere.
juliewn,
Jun 10, 7:44am
Bumping for you Whiskey. and hoping someone can help.
stevee6,
Jun 10, 4:17pm
#405 what are you putting into your compost! Rats go after anything meat or dairy based so it might be worth just freezing those scraps and putting them out with your regular rubbish or burying them deeply in a hole in the garden. Chicken wire stretched out across the bottom of the compost bin also helps.
simplesean,
Jun 11, 8:58pm
Hello all. long time no see Thought I'd pop in for a quick hello. We've just bought a house with a decent size bare section. I'm gonna develop it using permaculture techniques. I will take some before and after photos at some point.
stevee6,
Jun 11, 10:12pm
Simplesean - brilliant! I hope you consider fruit trees and shrubs too - value for money I'd say they're the best investment.
juliewn,
Jun 12, 3:05am
Hi Everyone. :-) hope your gardens aren't getting damaged by stormy winds and rain. very blustery and wet here. Hi SimpleSean. I'll watch your posts with interest, as I'm developing a good sized area here around our new home - approx. 640sqm available to create gardens, and almost 200m of fenceline.
juliewn,
Jun 12, 3:05am
I've created three spreadsheet's - one for fruit trees, berries and vines, another for herbs, the other for vegetables. I've put the name of each month at the top of 12 columns, then in each column, I'm adding the name of a fruit (or vegetable or herb) variety that I can harvest within each month - ie. one apple I've planted will give fruit from March to May, so 'Apple's' is written in the column for those three months. At a glance, as I plan and plant fruit trees, I can see how a type will fit in with my aim for harvesting - I'm planning to be able to harvest a minimum of three types of fruit, and 7-10 types of vegetables at any time of the year, plus a variety of herbs.Your post has reminded me to take some photos here too - thanks. What fruit tree's are you planning to include!
juliewn,
Jun 12, 3:09am
Hi Jules. I read your posts and my mind starts to plan the next part of my garden, which will be including vegetable areas.thanks for your posts filled with how your garden is growing and what you're harvesting. you are inspiring. Thanks.
my wonderful husband built me a new raised bed today, its the 1st of 4 planned new ones I am hoping for before spring :)
I also got the 1st lot of garlic in this morning, and am waiting on my shallots to arrive, so when they do, they can go in too.
The cauli and broccolis are heading up nicely and the cabbages are starting to heart up too.
Hows everyone else getting on with the wet, cold weather!
juliewn,
Jun 13, 6:48am
Hi Everyone :-)
Stevee. your garden sounds lovely. and very productive. as goes yours too Jules.
Has the drought up your way fully finished Jules. I hope so. we've had the opposite here in Whakatane in the past few weeks. heavy downpours caused flooding throughout town twice in a fortnight. water came to the level of the bottom weatherboard on my house, and three of my neighbours were evacuated during the night. scary. Over 120 homes aren't able to be lived in still. sure have been thinking of everyone affected.
Consequently my gardens are saturated - rain most days and often heavy. growth has slowed, even though it's not been that cold.I have silverbeet growing, they're not growing enough to provide leaves to harvest - seemed wrong to buy some silverbeet recently!
I have brassica's growing, including Brussells Sprouts and Kohl Rabi - growth has slowed on these too. I have a dozen or so beans to pick still - from the three kinds of seeds I bought on Trademe that are dried for use in soups. I've got quite a good crop from them, although I planted them late once I finished building my raised gardens. My Broad Beans are flowering well. parsley flourishing, and courgette's not long finished. Meyer lemon's looking fantastic. very large smooth skinned fruit. thanks to the calf-shed mulch it clearly loves spread around beneath the tree.
My first crop of mandarins are almost ripe - just 12 fruit, bright and attractive on the tree. can't wait till they're ready. Persimmons grow over from a neighbour in my drive, and they very kindly leave them that way - so all of us who share the main drive share the persimmons too - they're delicious and a welcome fruit to enjoy.
Enjoy your gardens. and some winter relaxing in front of a fire. :-)
floralsun,
Jun 13, 9:05am
Thanks for your post Stevee6 There aren't any meat or dairy things in the bin - it's fruit and vege scraps + weeds and prunings from the garden. Our cat has been hunting regularly - though we cover the holes partly when putting bait down so she can't get at the bait. I'll put some netting around the bin and hope that stops them. Our neighbour has overgrown rubbish at the back of his property - I think the problem is coming through from there. He's elderly and unable to walk very well - I asked his lawn mowing man if some of the rubbish could be put in the wheelie bin each week - hasn't been done though.
jules.,
Jun 14, 3:22am
juliewn, the spread sheet seems like a good idea. this way you will have different fruits all year round. hows the house going! we just put in a new kitchen, that was trying enough, hehe.
jules.,
Jun 14, 3:30am
so much for doing my poor stawberries this weekend. the kids had their hockey games saturday morning, with daughter very chuffed with her player of the day trophy, then i worked the rest of the day. today daughter had a party to go too, and when it finished it rained on and off. i managed to get 1 pot cleaned up in between the showers. there are runners self rooted everywhere. really needs a good day to get them done properly, so gave up and will wait for the nest fine day. but have been looking at buying more plants off TM. they are a really good price compared to the plant shops. will see how many i have here first. i would have had more, but the garden some were in, the chooks have had a great old time scratching them all up :(
jules.,
Jun 14, 3:49am
yep the drought is totally over, maybe not as much rain here as down your way julie, but still plenty! We had a flash down pour a couple of weeks ago, it rained so hard for over an hour that the drains couldnt cope with all the water, so we had a river running down the side of the section and right into the basement/workshop/rumpas, hard work to stop it going right thru to the rumpas with the carpet etc. Still, we got off very light compared to a lot down your way.
Hope it gets better for you very soon, best of luck!
jen92,
Jun 14, 4:45am
I had some rats recently dig out my daff bulbs and other bulbs around the garden.Saw a rat scamper up a tree as I was busy watering the garden.My cat has been killing the rats and they were whoppers.I'd find them in the same spot every week where the cat dumped them.
kiwiscrapper1,
Jun 14, 9:56pm
seeds I remember lindamentioned that there are seeds available, ie carrots, that are on a long strip so you dont need to thin them out, has anyone used these or know where to get them from! I have just thinned a few of my carrots out and its so time consuming , would like to try the others, if I could find some.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.