Home Gardeners

DD1 asked if I could give her a patch of my veggie garden for her to grow stuff on a few weeks ago. Of course it was too late to start her growing it all from scratch, so I said I would share some of my plants with her for this year and see how she goes, and next year she can start from scratch. So she planted and has done SOME weeding and watering. We shall see how much mummy has to do!!! I saw today the first tomato has set, so that will please her.

She has a 2x2m plot, and has planted tomatoes, sunflowers, sweetcorn (maize), courgette (zucchini), peas, beans, & lettuce.

In the meantime, I have planted the rest of the plot up. Now the rain has returned we will see how many slugs and snails crawl out to sample my seedings!

Aquaponics is what hubby and I are setting up atm. (link is to a local store that I think is awesome)

in a nutshell for those who dont know, it is making a sustanable self flowing garden beds using fish water. so you get the best of both worlds. ATM we have goldfish but I wanna change them to brime or baramundi so I can eat them as well as have the yummy garden.

ATM we have beetroot growing, but this week I am getting another bag of clay balls and getting another 2 punits of veg, (spinich and something else havent decided yet)

Grow bed with Clay ball with Beetroot seedlings

Tank set up, Floor view

Tank set up, top view

Inside tank view

but it is heaps of fun. :)

Will this frost ever go away?  The weather man predictied a freeze last night and they were right.  It was such a heavy frost that we had to heat up the car so my husband could drive to work this morning.  I really want to get my tomatoes and peppers planted.

We have some perenials and bushes that have begun to flower.  The color is finally returning to the yard.  We have some butterflies now too.  That I am happy about.  The annoying little green bugs on my roses....not so much.

We purchase a truck load of bark mulch.  I think I am going to have a good cry over the price of it.  $250!!!  Ahhhh.  It was a purchase that we needed to make.  We have gardens all the way around our house and several other spread out over the property.  The bark much is a good way to keep the weeds under control.  It also makes it look real nice.  We are considering putting the house on the market so this really is a good way of keeping everything looking nice around the yard.

The best part of the bark mulch is not even what it is doing for the yard.  The giant mound that I have in the middle of my driveway has provided my children with some fin over the last couple of days as I work slowly to get it put into the beds.  They are having a grand time running up and down it.  I am pleased to say that there has not been a single injury as a result of their crazy fun.

Ahhh, Spring has sprung indeed.

Thanks for the invitation!  This looks like a great group for me.

I live in the US so we are in the end of Winter right now.  I am so looking forward to my gardens.

We have some crocus bulbs planted in a sheltered area close to the foundation of our house.  I discovered yesterday that they are just starting to peak up out of the ground.  We still have a lot of snow on the ground.  In fact, I just watched the weather forecast on television and they are predicting another 4-8 inches of snow for our area tomorrow afternoon.  Seeing those crocus buld start to grow was a nice reminder that Spring is on the way.

We live in Connecticut so we have a short growing season.  It of course depends on what we grow but most seeds do not go in until late May and they are done by the first or secon week of October.

Thanks again for the invitation!

A couple of years ago DH got a new camera and learned to use it by practising on my garden! I just found the pics and, it being cold and miserable here, I thought I would upload them here so you can enjoy them too. Oh, most of them ARENT edible, in case you're interested. I hide them at the back of the borders now and teach the girls "DONT STAND ON MY FLOWERS" so they hopefully wont ever get near them.

Dicentra spectabilis Alba. LOVE the shapes!

Euphorbia grifithii Fireglow - beautiful but it has white sap which is NOT nice on skin, eyes or mouths.

A bunch of lilies - but unfortunately the red Lily Beetle which is rampanging across the UK now has destroyed all my lilies now.

The English Foxglove Digitalis - very beautiful, thousands of seeds which are toxic but I think they make a heart drug out of them now dont they?

Sea Holly - loved by the bees and butterflies!

Passion Flower - the only one that is hardy in England, though this one gave up here two winters ago.

Eringium variifolium - a beautiful sea holly.

Another lily.

Rosa Gertrude Jekyl - an Old English Rose that has a beautiful scent.

 

This is the second year I have been doing a vegie patch and I am happy to say that it is going better than the first year but still not as good as I would like....

I have pests that seem to eat alot of things and things just not taking off....Hmmmm...

I tried a mix of garlic oil and soap and water as a spray to try to stop the pests but that is not working....Are there any other ideas out there???

I think I will be getting some manure when the patch dies down and really trying to spruce up the soil....I want it to work to help with vegies on our table and in our tummies and so my partner does not get rid of my patch so he can park his trailer there!!! How dare he even think of that.......

The one thing I am proud of is my Avocado tree that I planted from a seed that is actually taking off and growing very well in a pot at the moment...I got disheartened though once this one took off, as I found out, apparantly you need two avocados as they have a flower cycle where one day they are female and the next day they are male so having two helps them pollonate and do there thing...The other thing I found out is that it could take 7 years to get fruit unless I get a grafted one from a nursery... Does anyone know how to graft an avocado tree??? I guess if all else fails they are supposed to be great tree climbing trees...So if we ever get our own place I will be planting it in the ground so the kids can have a great time climbing...

Anyway I finally got my first blog here in the gardening hub of minti...YEah!!!

I hope the grubs dont eat your harvest and your flowers bloom.

Cheers Spinnychic

Well winter here and I just thought I'd report that scale has attacked my orchids!  Scale is noticed by small rounded little dark things over the tender part of plants, they love orchids,benji, and other soft plants. I get rid of it with antibactrial dish soap such as Palmolive. Just wipe them off with the soap and rinse them well.  Not expensive and works well plus it's safe around pets and kiddies. In the summer when the plants are outside a mix of water and Palmolive will get rid of pests too just watch that it doesn't get too much into the soil.  I bet you guys are all in your gardens enjoying the fruits of your labour!  Many feet of snow here.

Hi All,

I am moving house at the end of the month and the new house has a lovely vegie patch, i have never had a vegie garden before so i may need to call on you all for advice.

love Anita XXX

i cut my first cucumber yesterday

i was visiting mum yesterday (she is 89) living at her home alone . my two brothers live close by and we all call on thephone everyday.

i wanted my mum to get the first cucumber i also had lettuce growing in my garden . a shame the tomatos are still green. but at least i had a little to give her . over the years mum and dad have had their vegie patch  (ever since i remember) and even though we have had our all our married life all 29 years , mum and dad always had abundance togive extra to all of us . their 6 children.

now mum has a garden but its very slow growing this year . next year god willing we will get some manure to add to the soil. my parents have always put a roof over our heads even when things were rough. we mighten have had many materialistic things  (i know its hard to believe but mum and dad never owned a car and neither of them drove a car) but they taughtus many qualities in life

for that i will always be grateful

i love you mum and dad and i always will

annie