Edible garden chatter

[briggsy's girl]

I swear there used to be a thread like this, but i just had a beak and couldn't find it, so thought i'd start another one!

we've just done our spring planting (well, some of it) so thought i'd see who else was doing an edible garden this year.

what sort of garden do you have - do you have a dedicated vegie patch or potted plants? what are you growing? do you "companion plant" (i'm looking in to this)? is there anything you really want to plant but not sure how it will go - maybe someone else has some advice for you

so lets get some chatter going - and hopefully we'll be able to share our successes and help each other out when problems come up!

[Mother Goose]

not yet but planning to put one in at the new place!

[briggsy's girl]

ok, should probably post where we're at first I guess

we have a mixture of gardens going on - at the moment we've got a mixture of small pots, big pots, old bath,water features we've turned into planters, and a big garden bed - with plans to add another large garden bed in the next couple of weeks

we have fruit trees in large pots - we are still nipping the fruit off as it develops so the plants can grow a bit bigger first - currently there is apple, nashi pear, peach, nectarine, 2 mandarins, lemon, lime, orange and blood orange

we have potted herbs (chives, mint, parsley), with coriander in the old water feature
chilli sees in the old water feature
strawberries in the other old water feature, and in the old bath we brought from the old house

some capsicums and zucchinis in pots (waiting to go in the ground when the new garden is built)

in the garden we have corn, lots of tomato, lettuce, bean, snow peas, peas, more capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower, brocolli, spring onion and beetroot seedlings, carrot seeds and two small passionfruit plants


we also have some pretty stuff in the garden - potted roses, a potted magnolia, hippeastrums, bearded irises, clivias, snowflakes, some potted seedlings mum bought for DD - and about 125 sunflower seeds to put in the new pretty garden when it comes in to being - can't wait!

[Pholi]

I've got an edible garden which is slowly taking shape. We've only been in the house 18 months, and unfortunately it's been somewhat neglected through my pregnancy, but even so, we're currently harvesting cherry tomatoes, eggplants, spinach, rainbow chard, swiss chard, a range of herbs, and finally the broccoli is almost ready to start enjoying, too. On the way are carrots, beetroot, garlic and red onions, snowpeas and sugarsnaps, chillis, and kale. I have 2 potted blueberries, strawberries and a potted lime, and the lime has set it's first ever fruit this year.

I have a wonderfully sunny stretch along a wall where my brother-in-law has built me a trellis, in exchange for physio treatment I give him, but I'm still waiting for him to find time to come back and dig out the thick root mass from the tree/vine thing that we removed from the spot, so I can get some soil improvement in and plant a few more things out - 2 types of passionfruit and possibly a grapevine! The understory will be mainly perennials - rhubarb, asparagus... ummm not sure what else!

The next major project will be building a set of 4 raised beds on the area of lawn that I have killed under newspaper and mulch, but I really thought that the cherry tomatoes and eggplants which I planted in large cardboard boxes in this space would have died off over the winter... strangely, they're still going strong, and have both fruited right through the winter. At this stage, at best it will be a project to tackle after the baby comes (which is anytime in the next 2 weeks) while DP is on paternity leave, and at worst we might not get to it until next winter!

I've read a bit about companion planting, but am going to focus more on crop rotation once the beds are in.

[Floweryfields]

I have a veggie patch, which I made a 'cover' thingy for this year to keep the cabbage moths at bay without chemicals! Looks like this:004.jpg
I currently am waiting for the winter crop to finish which is cabbage, caulis, spinach and potatoes. When they are done Iwill put in corn, tomatoes and zuchini, possibly snow peas.

[diva det]

I am just starting my edible garden off so i would love to join this thread. I got chickens 6 months ago and have been busy using their straw filled with chicken poo to make compost with so then i can grow my vegies. There was an old vegie patch in our new house but it hasnt been used for years so i am trying to get it filled of worms and goodies ready to start growing some yummies. I have also been worm farming and have over 20lts of worm wee ready to use on my newly composted soil as well!
I am still a few weeks away from planting but i am getting there.
I am swapping some worm wee with a friend for some heirloom seeds so i am going to start sowing them next week in the strawberry punnet containers i have been saving.
we also planted some bare rooted fruit trees last week-Pippin apple, granny smith, galah apple and a nectarine. So they are now in - we also have kafir lime and a lemon
I also have a small cheapy hot house i ws growing herbs in over winter but i am winding it down so i can concentrate on my outdoor gardens- plus my kids put a hole in the plastic so its not sealed unless i use the sticky tape to tape it up lol
so thats us
cant wait to get our gardens started!!

[briggsy's girl]

cover looks good Ausgirl - i'm tempted to do something like that - but it would be a huge project given the bed we have at the moment is 20+ square metres - and the new one will be the same size

[~Kim~]

Oooh us this year. Funny you put this up BG, I was only thinking a few days ago that I should dig it (the thread) up.

We have a lemonade tree, a nectarine and a passion fruit in half wine barrels. We have a raised garden bed with carrots, pumpkin vines (will be moving these out into the garden), cucumbers, tomatoes and blueberries. We also have various herbs and several strawberries. Two are in hanging baskets and one underneath the passion fruit vine. It survived being destroyed by the chooks and has grown back from nothing.

Our seasons and soil are fairly extreme here in the desert so it's easier to manage stuff in pots. DS is so proud of our raised vege bed. We planted and raised the seeds ourselves. No mean feat for a little boy who loves to dig.
Our chooks are now contained in their fortress to stop them decimating everything. When the tomatoes get a bit bigger I will get some marigolds and am going to look into other companions. We are lucky enough to have very few pests and diseases here (cos nothing can survive lol). We don't have a whole lot of viable space but am keen to get as much as we can going. Fruit and veg are tediously expensive here so I will start with the stuff the kids eat the most of and go from there.

[Floweryfields]

I also have a neglected very old mandarin tree in the garden, a lemon in the garden and a baytree in a pot.

[Mother Goose]

I'd love to plant a lemon tree but DH won't let me. Not sure why. We are planning on snow peas, cucumber, tomatoes... I think rhubarb? But think it's the wrong time of year for that? We move this week but won't be able to work on the garden for a few weeks I don't think. Also need to sort drainage as I noticed it pools where we want to plant.

Someone suggested to me Sunflowers... dumb question (I can kill Cactus), but if I plant Sunflowers, how do I get the seeds you eat? Which is what I'd like

[briggsy's girl]

Not sure MG. will be something for me to research seeing we have so many to plant! Kmart had packets of dwarf sunflower seeds for $3 or $4 tonight

[luna moth]

We have two raised Vegie beds, a patch along the sideway, and some natives out the front.

We've just harvested all our swedes and carrots from the beds, and have planted out some celery, tomato and rocket. Alongside them w also have bok choy, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, kale and broccoli that we are about to yank.

Our passion fruit vine has a way to go yet, our blueberry bush is experimental and probably failing.

We have a hop vine climbing the wall, and a huge mint bush.

In pots we have parsley, sorrel, basil, coriander, sage and salad greens.

The natives are years off doing anything good, so no point talking about them.

My 20 month old DD is the best cabbage moth remedy we have! They had already laid up in our kale, so we have taught her to pick out the caterpillars. She loves them, lines them up on the back step and talks to them. Pretty cute.

[Mother Goose]

ooooo does the pack say how high they grow BG?

[briggsy's girl]

Will just get the kid in bed and go look

[briggsy's girl]

ok. We have five varieties. Who'd have thunk there were five varieties available out here

Height ranges from 18inches for the dwarfs up to 3m for the giant ones. All five varieties have different heights but take about the same amount of time to mature. if it comes together abim hoping it should look awesome when they all flower (I hope anyway!!)

[Mum2twoBoys]

I've just planted some seedlings to start my own vegie patch. I've got tomatoes, carrots, capsicums, parsley, rosemary, cucumbers and corn. DH is going to make me a vegie bed in a couple of weeks out of old railway sleepers. I'm excited to start.

Sent from HTC wildfire using TAPATALK, so forgive any spelling errors its a small keyboard.

[Tuesday's Child]

Ooh thanks for starting this BG. We're about to start our veggie patch, hopefully this weekend. I've been wanting to for ages but we didn't have room at our old place. We have a raised garden bed that DH has been emptying mouse poo (we breed them to feed our dragons) into the bottom and will hopefully get some soil to fill it this weekend.

I have no idea what I want to plant though. Suggestions are welcome

We do have a lemon tree that was here when we moved in. DH wants to get rid of it as it's in a spot that makes getting his cars in and out awkward. MIL and I are trying to convince him to move it.

I also have a small box of herbs: parsley, rosemary, thyme and oregano. They kind of got forgotten in the move though and I didn't get them planted soon enough. I've lost the oregano and the thyme isn't looking too good.

It's been years since I've had an opportunity to garden but i'm looking forward to getting out there with the girls this spring.

[Floweryfields]

I'd love to plant a lemon tree but DH won't let me. Not sure why. We are planning on snow peas, cucumber, tomatoes... I think rhubarb? But think it's the wrong time of year for that? We move this week but won't be able to work on the garden for a few weeks I don't think. Also need to sort drainage as I noticed it pools where we want to plant.

Someone suggested to me Sunflowers... dumb question (I can kill Cactus), but if I plant Sunflowers, how do I get the seeds you eat? Which is what I'd like

You let it flower and the head dies off - you can tell when the seeds are ripe, they are full and black and plump in the flower head. My chooks love a sunflower head!