I don't remember the name of the seeds I bought from DT Brown's seeds but it was a 'dwarf' growing broad bean.
Perfect for exposed sites or small gardens, this is the lowest growing broad bean.
Which was the attraction.
There was about twenty seeds (maybe more, I don't recall) in the packet and I planted them all and most of them came up.
They were 'dwarf' compared to a 'normal' sized broad bean, growing to around 60 to 70 cm.
So then, from the 20 odd seeds I planted I now have well over 100 and
the next step is to plant these to see if they maintain their 'dwarf'
properties.
It cropped well so I'm hopeful of some good smaller broad bean bushes covered in tasty bean pods this coming winter/spring
Following countless requests Lambley Nursery have for new release today Home Grown: An Australian Vegetable Garden, David
Glenn’s brand new Vegetable Gardening two disc DVD set.
There can
be few pleasures greater than picking your home grown vegetables from
your own garden. Master gardener David Glenn takes you on a tour around
his kitchen garden showing how to be self-sufficient in vegetables.
From
asparagus to zucchini David Glenn grows enough produce to feed himself,
his wife artist Criss Canning and their large extended family (They
have eleven grandchildren).
David’s vegetable garden, set in the
renowned Lambley Nursery Gardens in Central Victoria, is as beautiful as
it is productive. Even though the climate can be very difficult with
temperatures ranging from -8C to 45C. Frosts can occur as early as
mid-April and as late as mid-November.
Whether you have a large
country property or a small city garden this magnificent two DVD set
shows how, with a little dedication, the keen home gardener can have an
incredibly productive kitchen garden.
Growing carrots from seeds is the only way to grow carrots. You're wasting your time planting carrots from punnets of seedlings, as they will always be twisted and stunted. Unless that's how you like your carrots.
Planting carrot seeds is also dead easy. You just need some organically vibrant soil (soil enriched with compost or from a previous crop), make a shallow row (5mm) and place your seeds in the row and cover them back over.
It's now the fun, read difficult, begins.
It's getting the little buggers (seeds) to germinate.
The only way I know is to keep them moist or in other words, never let them or the soil get dry, ever, not for a minute, not for a second. As far as I know they can't be over watered so even if the soil surface is looking like it will go dry I'll be in there with a watering can.
Not so bad in the cooler Spring weather but in Summer while at work I'll build a little shade cover with some fencing wire and clothes pegs and hopefully this will prevent them from drying out until I get home from work. Or I'll wait until some showery weather is forecast and plant then.
I was reading an article or it might have been a gardening tip somewhere that suggested removing the seed leaves or the first set of leaves and planting your brasscias into the soil up to the base of the first set of true leaves, so here goes.
Getting ready for the coming growing season can mean only one thing here at My Veggie Garden, seeds.
This year I'm taking a different path to the one I usually take.
After reading David Glenn's, from Lambley Nursery, spiel on growing F1 hybrid tomatoes for improved yield and increased disease resistance I've purchased two packets of tomato seeds to trial here in My Veggie Garden.
Lambley Nursery is set around an old farmhouse in the hot dry wind swept plains of the central Victorian Goldfields so it will be interesting to see how they do in my, usually hot and humid summer.
At around a dollar per seed they could be considered expensive but I consider it a small price to pay, for if they do crop well it will be a good investment.
The two Tomato varieties I'll be trying are,
On the Lambley Nursery web site, David Glenn goes on to say, "If you are having trouble growing a good crop or indeed any crop at
all of “heirloom” tomatoes or seedling tomatoes bought from garden
centres or big box stores you will be joining a growing band of
gardeners. The answer is to plant disease resistant varieties.
We
trialled 10 varieties of disease resistant hybrid tomatoes and the 3
listed below were the best for taste and for disease resistance. I was
still picking good, ripe, full size tomatoes at the end of April.
The seed of modern, good flavoured, disease resistant tomato hybrids
is expensive but it more than pays for itself in the vastly improved
production of ripe tomatoes."
I've also ordered other seeds that I will trial for myself as well, these include,
I'm keen to get started and can't wait to see the results but I'll be posting as I sow and plant and hopefully have a bountiful harvest to share.
Lambley Nursery has a good reputation among my circle of gardening friends and my seeds arrived well packaged and inside the two week time frame I was advised to expect.
To bee or not to bee, I can't decide. Though a decision might be getting closer.
I've been a member of the Southern Beekeepers Assn for a couple of years now though I've only attended a few meetings.
But now, with my new job, more spare time and some spare money, I'm
beginning to think it's time to take the plunge and get myself a hive or
two.
I do feel there is a great responsibility to the bees in keeping bees. I want to be sure they can look after themselves if I go away for any period of time. I'd also like to gain enough knowledge in beekeeping to be aware of any encroaching problems or needs the bees might have.
The the time I have spent with the other members of the
Southern Beekeepers Assn. thay have always been very friendly and helpful so I
feel sure I wont be left in the dark at any stage.
I'll go to
the next Southern Beekeepers meeting and see if I can make some positive
steps in the direction on having a hive or two.
...to bee continued....
Once I'd melted the ice from the windscreen we, my daughter and I, had a nice, uneventful, run down the hill into Brissy.
Still fairly cool when we arrived at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic gardens.
We made our way to theJohn Oxley District Orchid Society Inc. Orchid show only to find that we didn't have any cash and they didn't have any electronic means of taking our money. So back to the car to find an ATM and then back to the show.
This was our first Orchid show so I've no idea if it was big, small, good or bad but I did enjoy the Orchids they had on display.
We also sat in on an Orchid potting lesson and got to ask a few questions about some pressing orchid issues like, why is that one smaller than this one and will this live in Toowoomba? All of which they were happy to answer for us. They were very friendly and helpful.
Also you don't go to an Orchid show and walk away empty handed so I bought two booklets, one for beginners and one on Cattleyas, some plant labels and a pen.
I also bought my self an Orchid called Twinkle 'Yellow Fantacy.'
My Orchid adventure may only just be beginning because the Toowoomba Orchid Society is holding their show this coming weekend too and I thing I'll have to attend.
Tomorrow I'm heading to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens with my daughter, Elysha, to visit the John Oxley District Orchid Society Inc's Orchid show. for their displays of hybrid species and native orchids. Cultural advice from very
knowledgeable growers available along with potting demonstrations.
Plants, growing requirements and floral arrangements on sale.
They say, Green thumbs, do not fret. Pockets of soil in urban areas are still
available for the increasingly popular practice of urban gardening.
And while the proximity of these soils to pollution and industry can
increase levels of contamination by harmful compounds, some scientists
have found that the risks associated with gardening in these soils may
not be as high as first thought. Read more here.
Just got back from the Qld Garden Expo and of all the amazing things to see and plants to look at three things really caught my attention. 1/ Garden Sharp. Lawn and garden tool sharpener. I've already used it on my secateurs http://www.accusharp.com.au/subcategory/1/ 2/ easyclip. from http://gre8gadgets.com/ Here's a video link that shows some of its uses. https://youtu.be/j8oDNGfQYXo 3/ And last but not least, PVC connectors for making all kinds of things. I've been looking for a product like this for years but haven't been able to find any until now. http://www.klevercages.com.au/
Planted several rows of brown onion seedlings, a row of 'Early Crop Massey' peas seeds as well as some spring onion seedlings.
Also, as you can see in my previous post, I also harvested my Dwarf Sunray Jerusalem Artichoke and replanted four more tubers.
I've also been allowed to use some of the neighbours backyard for growing veggies so I plumbed in a new tap that I can use to get water there and then I set about getting a small bed of Broad Beans started.
It's a bit late for Broad Beans and there wasn't much soil prep but I just wanted to get something started.
I plan to grow some of the bigger veggies there like corn, potatoes and pumpkin but it's amazing how quickly you can run out of space.
I'll keep my yard for growing the quick pick veggies like lettuce, peas and beans, and herbs.
Cheers Stewart
P.S. Drizzly rain today so everything's getting a good start.
You might remember me banging on about getting a hold of some Dwarf Sunray Jerusalem Artichoke around August last year, well, the results are in.
I went down to Jerry Coleby-Williams open day last year in the hope of getting some dwarf Jerusalem Artichoke from him and I did. Two small tubers of which only one went on to grow.
The above ground growth was small and dwarf as expected and I assumed much the same was happening under ground but to my surprise I was very wrong.
I dug them up today and an area about 45cm square was thick with little and big knobby tubers.
This is far more than I expected so if anyone would like a few knobby tubers to try, let me know.
If you're stuck for space in your garden then this is the book for you. If you've ever wanted to save some space and grow your garden straight up and down, then this is the book for you.
Author, Shawna Coronado, has hundreds and hundreds of ideas, and photos, of ways you can incorporate vertical gardening to grow a living wall into most any aspect of a modern backyard.
I am genuinely impressed with the author's obvious passion and her enthusiasm shines through on every page to make this a thoroughly enjoyable book to read.
Shawna's thoughts, ideas and a practical approach on how to grow a living wall are well set out and build from the basics of growing a living wall to the most complex of ideas.
Part 1 includes some great chapters on 'How to Create Living Walls,' which includes what tools you'll need, how to water your living wall and what soils and compost to use.
Part 2 of Shawna's book, then moves on to more specific applications of growing living walls with chapters on, Growing a Fern Garden, a Vertical Vegetable Farm, a Culinary Kitchen Garden and many more.
Beautifully illustrated with step by step photo and instructions on how to create your own Living Wall Garden.
Shawna Coronado
Here is a copy and paste from Amazon.com on Grow a Living Wall by Shawna Coronado
Make a beautiful, practical, environmentally conscious garden, even in a small space - grow UP with a living wall!
A
living wall is a vertical structure, usually outside the home, that is
built with live plants growing in containers hung in a decorative
arrangement.
Sometimes called "Green Walls" and "Vertical Gardens," living walls are easier than ever to plan and grow! Grow a Living Wall is the first wall-gardening book to focus exclusively on the needs of home gardeners.
Make
your vertical garden environmentally friendly and sustainable. It's
easy with author Shawna Coronado's help! One of her themed vertical
gardens is stocked mostly with flowers to make it a haven for bees and
other pollinators. Other gardens are filled with vegetables and herbs so
anyone with an outdoor wall can grow their own food - beautifully! Even
more gardens promote aromatherapy or medicinal plants. Some are
designed to provide a green net of air filtration near a living area, or
to protect exterior walls from exposure to direct sunlight, which helps
to keep the indoors cool.
In addition to the comprehensive,
step-by-step information that explains the basics of vertical gardening,
each of the 20 featured gardens has its own chapter filled with useful
tips, stunning photography, and fascinating background stories that
point out how much difference a small garden can make. Like author
Shawna herself, the gardens you'll find in Grow a Living Wall are positive, life affirming, and sure to produce a smile or two.
Shawna Coronado is an author, columnist, blogger, photographer,
and spokesperson for organic gardening, green lifestyle living, and
culinary preparation who campaigns for social good. Shawna's goal in
authoring gardening and green lifestyle books is to promote a world
initiative to encourage healthy and sustainable living. Shawna was
featured as a Chicago Tribune "Remarkable Woman" and speaks
internationally on building community, simple urban garden living, and
green lifestyle tips for the everyday person. Shawna lives in the
western suburbs of Chicago where she has a suburban front lawn vegetable
garden. This adventurous garden is highlighted in all her books and has
been featured in many media venues including radio, and TV. Her organic
living photographs and stories have been shown both online and off in
many international home and garden magazines and multiple books. You can
learn more about her at www.shawnacoronado.com.
I've started getting the soil ready for planting garlic around the end of March or early April.
I have two varieties to plant. One is Italian Red coming from The Diggers Club and the other is a white garlic that I picked up from an organic shop and have been growing here for the last two or three years.
Both soft neck varieties suited to our warmer climate.
Here's some good news on the Solar power front from ABC Catalyst Program.
Dr Graham Phillips investigates new technology that is able to convert more than 40 per cent of the sun's light into electricity. This is more than double the efficiency of today's domestic rooftop solar panels, and could eventually lead to cheaper sources of renewable energy.
I don't remember the name of the seeds I bought from DT Brown's seeds but it was a 'dwarf' growing broad bean.
