I'm back - Vege report from a neglected garden

Well the rugby is up and running and I am starting to reclaim my life, I hate this time of year and am busy telling everyone I am resigning as club captain at the end of the year, just need to find someone to replace me, doesnt seem to be a long queue of volunteers sadly I certainly feel like this at the moment

Garden has chugged along and yesterday I harvested broccoli (from two plants I put in a year ago, a sprouting variety, dont know what but it they have continued to produce throughout the year, cant bring myself to pull them out while they are so productive), some butter beans, radishes, potatoes and carrots. My winter crops waiting in the wings are leeks (although I dont think I planted anywhere near enough but did do them in Sept and so they are a reasonable size as long as you dont compare them to Richards ), pak choi going well, parsnips two germinated, turnips (used a liberal dose of Kings seeds and they ALL germinated - might need thinning). Still waiting for Kohl Rabi to do its thing so I can see what they are like, have a variety of brassicas doing their thing. Have harvested about 6 cape goosberries (think I need more plants - envious of your patch Richard). Onions going well for next spring. Jerusalem artichokes are huge, minimal success with all curcubits. On the upside I have Kimberley and Anna Banana (I think - or is it Canabec super) in pots growing inside about to flower, hoping this will be my winter indoor supply to go with the winter salad greens I have just sown, along with the Black Spanish Radishes. Have learnt lots over the past growing season, particularly about the inadequate volumes I planted... wait till spring

All sounds great Di, and we missed you, glad your back

Yes its certainly good to hear from you again Di..

Vegetable growing is all ups and downs at times, I am not having much success at present all the brown onion seeds I planted did not come up, three packet of sugarsnap peas later they did not come up either, nor did the cos lettuce, on the good side the Beef Steak tomatoes are fruiting like crazy and they are delicious, so are the spring onions and other lettuce..

Have a Great Easter...

di! you made it! yay!

missed yah!

garden is sounding good.
you'll know the difference between the canabec super and the anna banana the moment you see a fruit start to develop. anna is a heart with a nicely pointed end.

Good to see you here Di Your garden is doing far better than mine.

Hi Di great to hear that you had a resonable sucesefull harvest in your first year gardening and ewe will keep learning thats part of fun of it,

look forward to when Val and me come up the hill to see ya

Di your veggies sound in excellent shape - far better than mine! Glad you are back

Hi Maryanne sounds like we had similar issues with the onions, after 3 attempts I ended up with a dish of jiffy pots and a cup of water with onion seeds in it. The water was boiling when I first poured it over the onions and as soon as they germinated and the little sticky out white bit (thats a specialised horticultural turn of phrase) was a few mm long I put it into a jiffy pot using tweezers, I fitted about 3 germinated onions to each jiffy - and I am using tiny jiffys, the onions are now in the garden and looking good and strong to overwinter, the good news was that even though it took nearly 3 weeks every single onion seed germinated. I have changed my seed source and am now buying from a place here called Kings, they guarantee germination, Richard suggested poor seed may have been one of my issues as I didnt have any joy with parsnips or sugarsnap peas like you, it looks like he was right. I have recently planted caroubry peas (an old type of sugar snap that doesnt become tough if you dont pick it straight away) and they are firing ahead.... hoping to get a harvest in before the weather turns to sour. Any advice on florence fennel would be good...anyone grown it. Tessa my tomatoes are both flowering so will wait with baited breath, one of them is a potato leaf? Does that help with ID

Good top see you back DI now we can look forward to some nice pics.

Hi Di I bought my seeds on line recently from Eden Seeds they are supposed to be the best maybe they are just slow to germinate we had a lot of rain here 159mm not long after I planted them so Tony put a big rubber type tarp over the bed on top of the wire so they did not get too much water they stayed dried under that and I had to water the bed with very fine mist on the wand its been 17 days now since I planted them but you never know maybe they are a little on the lazy side and still could come up who knows.

The idea sounds terrific Di but I am too shaky these days to attempt something like that.
Though Many Thanks anyway..

hi di.
yes...potato leaf surely helps. that is your kimberley! she won't be getting very bushy...she's more of a single vine type gal. but she will set every blossom she throws...so be sure to do the electric toothbrush trick...or lots of shaking the vine, as you'll be challenged to get wind pollination inside the house. (i think )
also...she's not going to get very tall. maybe a metre.

will be watching with baited breath...how the indoor experiment goes.

Fingers crossed for your onion seeds Maryanne, I'm sure using the little jiffy pots is not the most economical way to do things but then nor is sowing packet after packet of seed that never grows I buy the little jiffys direct from a supplier that I got onto online they are barely 20mm across but do the trick beautifully, especially as I have started trying to grow things I havnt tried before and in the garden its hard to know if you have weeds or seedlings, in the jiffy pots I have no doubt, I am a solo gardener as hubby not that way inclined so dont have a "Tony" to help me out with my gardening issues. Richard, my book says fennel is perennial and I can cut it back and that it will die down over winter, reluctanct to pull it out, sowed seeds in October and planted out late November, watered them heaps and they grew well but no bulb, did I plant them too late maybe, I know they dont like heat. Re the broccoli, I have planted lots more of about 2 or 3 different varieties, just wish I knew what the prolific one was, two plants and a pick from them once a week feeds the four of us. Thanks Tessa, will keep in eye on Kim as she is about to flower :-) as is the other mystery ...will have to take some pics soon

Thanks Di .. You never know what will pop up..

BTW your Avatar...

Di

Would like to know the source of your jiffy pots.

I also have ordinary fennel planted and seeding everywhere and then another gardener said you need Florentine fennel and brought me some plants and they are also seeding everywhere - even in the gravel driveway - but still no bulb. Same as you!! Maybe we can find out together. The dried seeds are delicious in all sorts of dishes - like pumpkin soup. BGefore you cut them back, let the seed develop and then cut the whole top off and hang in a dry place etc. I love fennel seed.

Di if you are talking about Florence Fennel foeniculum valgure azoricum that forms an eatable swollen steam this been a biannual vegetable is closely related to herb fennel which is a perennial foeniculum vulgare.

di...is that you in your avatar?



in fennel grows wild in all the ditches around san francisco! and everyone just ignores it!

Same here tessa,grows in river beds and on the sides of roads every where.
Personally i dislike the stuff

Yes that is me in the avatar, party we were at recently - very very good night out

Florence fennel is the one Richard so maybe if its biennial i will have better luck next year. The reason I planted it as I got dished up some baby bulbs in a restaurant and they were superb, however, if no go this next season then will use the space for something else. One of books does say to get bulbs you need to not let it flower but then the book also says if you water heaps you get big bulbs

yep to late this season Di,but thats ok,all part of learning a.ya had a go in the chatbox yet ? go on i keen

mreow....
catlady!

WOW!!! Not bad Di....

Cool pic Di, you got claws or are you a nice

Welcome back Di, re the jiffy pots, I've recently germinated a stack of Broc and Brussles and Carrots in "jiffys" and plastic "grow on" bags from Bunnings. All of the seedlings in the plastic bags are at least twice the size. Originally I thought, Jiffy plant the whole lot, it rots, blah blah. But I feel that I will be able to re-use the plastic bags numerous times.
Jiffys cost me $6.99 for 12. ( 58.25 cents. use once)
Grow On Bags. .50 c for 10. (5.cents each, several uses)
Love the avatar, mine is also me in my gardening gear.

Humm also a interesting Avatar Tony ..In that case your carrots wont last long..

What big ears you have Tony!!