Decided to have a shot at growing some aquaponic garlic after some prompting from a fellow Aussie Tuber, Shaun.. I already had some sitting in the fridge chilling out so it was only a 2 min job.. Took me 4 days to get to the 2 min job but such is :D
I have finely make up a "Living Green Feeder" for the girls pen.. A friend, tar Rosie, put me onto them a few years ago but I have kept putting it off.. This was a very easy build & only took me about an hour to make & install.. I think a basic one could be made from items such as upturned bread crates or wire baskets from an old fridge/freezer..
For more regular updates about the patch come visit us on our Face Book page..
Have a great one All... : )»
Well we have just finished a 2 week holiday of sorts with Bianca having a few weeks off.. I feel like we got a load done around the house as well as the patch..
Aquaponics.. Well, WE GOT POWER!!!
**does a little happy dance**
The day after the last blog we got power connected to a post in the aquaponic area..This has made the whole yard a lot tidier with less cords & hoses laid out everywhere..
No longer do I have to connect 2 together to water the beds behind the chook house & blueberry in the back corner.. The hose can also reach the mulberry tree up at the side of the house..
Another jobbie that has been sorted is the backup air pump for the aquaponics for when/if the power fails..
This has given us some peice of mind but would still like to refine it further if I can scrounge some parts.. To start with, a solar charger for the battery would be great.. Would also like to try to run the 12v pump via a inverter & UPS set up but that is still being researched..
Had a bit of a scare with nutriment readings from the system this week.. The pH has dropped to 5.6, ammonia is steady at 0.5ppm with nitrites trace... The big shock was the nitrates that have spiked to above 80ppm (hard to tell for sure as I have lost the card that goes with the kit).. A few of the plants had started to yellow off a bit so I dosed the system up with some iron & upped the feed for a few days but I think it may be the acid conditions causing the yellowing off.. I posted an enquiry on my Backyard aquaponic forum thread & have been told it's not as bad as I thought but should be addressed ASAP... Slacked lime (also known as hydrated lime, brickies lime, Calcium hydroxide) was also suggested as a quick way to bring it up & an option I was considering, Thanks RupertofOZ.. I decided to add some shell grit to buffer/raise the pH as we already had a bag under the house that we use to supplement the chooks diet.. My mistake there was to tie a insect exclusion bag to the water inflow tap on a grow bed so the water could flow directly over the grit..
After some fish solids had collected it made the bag less water
permeable & the bag swelled up over the side of the bed under the
pressure..
The water had to go somewhere so it started to overflow down into a tray of pepino cuttings underneath.. At least all was not waisted &I think they all loved a good drink of fishy water..
I decided that having the water flow through the bags wasn't necessary so just tied them off & placed them in the clay directly under the taps..
I think we lost ½ the sump, about 300L, over night so that shall be replaced on Friday.. I will hold off adjusting with slacked lime until the system is topped up just to see if the the fresh water (which I know is alkaline here) will help raise the pH..
Community gardens...
Have been visiting the local community garden as much as we can on the weekends.. I am really loving the social aspect as well as learning about different plants, skills sets & ideas others have to share.. Just to give you some idea of what the garden looks like I have done a small walk around clip...
Hopefully a full clip behind the ideas of the garden & the future plans will be made in the near future..
Last week we were lucky enough to have a tall raised garden bed donated & installed by the local Bunnings store..
It was great that not only did they supply the bed, help to assemble it but also provided the gravel, soil, mulch & plants needed to get it all up & growing..
I think these raised beds are a great idea especially in a community garden.. Members of the community that have back & other mobility issues will now have somewhere where they can comfortably garden & help out.. If we could get a few more of these beds set up we may be able to encourage a few more people to participate in the garden & maybe decide to have a go at growing their own food at home..
Turmeric..
Thought we may have lost the turmeric that we left in the ground over winter so we planted out a few more corms..
We didn't need to worry it appears as the plants in the IBC beds have all survived & sent up new shoots..
Seeds & seedlings... 16th October (missed from last post)
1 row Bulls Blood Beetroot
(BOGI) into bed #1
1 row of Dragon Carrots (Eden Seeds) into bed
#5.. 18th October
7 Passion fruit Giant Granadilla (BOGI) into 2
pots
(These are the largest of the passion
fruit family with fruit up to 40cm in length)
2 lots of Mini Lee watermelon seeds (BOGI) into IBC Wicking beds near the AP & house.. 22nd October
3 x red tomatillo seedlings into bed #1
3 x purple tomatillo seedlings into bed #2 24th October
Planted a few of the trees we got from the BOGI fair into larger post & installed Wetpots into them I did a little clip explaining what Wetpots are & how they are installed..
I think the plants will be very happy here over summer until we finish the design for the front yard where they will be planted out..
28th October
3 x turmeric corms into pots
9 x asparagus seedlings (THANKS Tammy) into 2 pots, added to Wetpot system
3 x Opal/Sweet basil mix into bed #2
1 x Thai Basil into spice bed behind aquaponics
1 x Yakon into wicking barrel at the end of bed #3
Potted up the following seedlings that had been sitting in the trays..
1 x Yellow 7 chilli
5 x Bih Jolokia chilli
5 x Jalapeno chilli
8 x Udumalapet eggplant
30th October
1 x Blueberry bush (BOGI Fair) into Wicking barrel..
That's about it for now... Will do a harvest update for the past month when I can scrounge some time..
Have a great one all..
Aquaponic update…
We finally have some table fish in the Aquaponic system… We ordered 25 Jade
Perch from ANFE & picked them up on Thursday the 12th of April… Just held off posting to made certain I didn't "loose" any;)»
Aquaponic mishaps...
Spent the past few days playing around with the pipe work for the
system after having a few HSM's (HOLY SHIT/SUGAR/SHIVA moment's) with the FT (fish tank) overflowing due to clogged ports.. The fish are eating the algal growth & the stray bits are
causing blockages in the drilled out end caps of the SLO's (Solids Lifting Overflow) that feed the GB (grow bed) & empty back into the sump.. I added an "emergency overflow" port that runs directly into the sump as an extra precaution.. I was looking at increasing the size of the holes in the end caps of the SLO's but received a comment on the clip from a most helpful viewer that recommended making slits in the pipes instead of holes & run them vertically down the uptake pipe so did them first thing this morning.. Thanks "youronnit"
A make shift cover was made up to help keep sunlight out so that will hopefully slow the growth of the algae..
New grow beds & pipe work..
Have picked up the extra pipe needed for the grow beds but ran out of time this weekend.. I already have the bell siphons & enough 1" pipe to make the returns to the sump so hopefully some progress will be made this week.. Once I'm happy with the set up the GB's will be lined with black plastic on the outside (to stop algae growth) then set in place.. Would like to fill the GB's with clay balls but due to a change in state government, B will be bumped down a few pay levels **zips lips so as not to rant then kicks soap box away** so it may mean a change from clay balls to rock for one of the GB's.. Might bring them on line 1 at a time as I think there are enough clay balls leftover from the old barrelponic system for 1 GB so we shall just see how we go..
Week in the dirt patch...
On Thursday we had whole house water filter system installed.. As chlorine & chloramines (found in most town water supplies around Australia) both indiscriminately kill good & bad
bacteria/fungi we are concerned about using tap water that smells like its
come straight from a pool on the garden beds... The system contains 2 coconut carbon filters as well as a pre filter that will remove the larger particles giving the carbon's longer life spans.. The main aim is to remove as much chlorine & chloramines from the water in case we need it for emergency top up water for the aquaponics.. It will also mean that we won't be killing off any of the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi we have been adding into the beds over the past few weeks when we have been sowing seed..
Made the decision to order some Veggie netting from Net Pro on Friday & it arrived 1st thing Monday morning (today) so will need to knock some frames up this week.. White cabbage butterfly eggs & a few small caterpillars have already been removed from some of the kale & cauliflowers in the patch.. Will also be used as a 20% shade cloth during summer which is another bonus as we have been looking for a lower % shade cloth..
Sunday saw us planting out a few seeds & 9 broccoli into the beds.. (Full list in Planting Diary)
Friday also saw this little feller finely emerge from a chrysalis...
Not sure of the variety as of yet but have set the task to our eldest as part of her studies for Monday..
Sad Worms...
Had to save some of the worms yesterday (Monday).... I had filled the top tray of the worm farm with horse manure that I had mixed some Blood 'n' Bone that contained added fertiliser without realising that they are not really fond of the B&B/Fertiliser... A few had become emaciated & passed on unfortunately : (» I emptied out the tray onto the soil heap then put in some Mangle that had been put through the food processor as an attempted apology to the others... The worms that were rescued from the tray were put into a barrel full of fresh screened manure with no added extras to see how they will go... Hopefully they will thrive in there & I will be able to use the other barrels in the same way to boost worm & casting production... I would like to have a whole section in the proposed soil/compost bays just for manure composting with worms so as to reduce the feed bill for the Fish in the Aquaponics set up but that is a few jobs down the list at the moment...
Bags of Spuds...
Planted out the remaining Dutch Cream seed Potatoes yesterday into bags... I used a different blend this time as I think the Coir blend didn't hold enough moisture.. This batch was made up of reclaimed spoil from the garden, Mushroom compost & some of the "Safe Fertiliser" CBM Mix to give it all a bit of a boost..
Garden Preparations...
Will be setting up some more "hoops" in the garden for the shade cloth as it will have to be modified a bit to include the Aquaponic system... It will be a bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle : D»
I think we will have enough cloth so that will please the wallet me thinks...
Had a great weekend in the yard doing some jobbies, socialising with ADULTS& playing with a family heirloom that has been "lent" to me...
BBQ, Good Friends & Spuds...
My farther has passed on custodianship of the family BBQ to us... He built this BBQ for APEX outings before I was born (40 or a few less years ago) & it is still going strong with a few minor alterations like the tin side panels being replaced with Stainless steel & some Aluminium covers to keep the plate clean when stored & not in use... It had been out of service for the past 10 or so years as family gatherings had migrated to other relatives places so it needed a bit of TLC... The plate needed a bit of a touch to remove a bit of rust build up as well as replacing the regulator & lines just to be on the safe side... Not as flash as a newer model but we know it will last another 40 or so years if looked after.. I like that we can remove the burners & use them to boil the presure cooker (when we get one) for canning our produce in the near future...
We got to use it for the first time on Saturday when we had friends visit for a bit of socialising...
Was a great day & got a bit of help in the yard... We needed to harvest the 4 potato bags from around the side of the house as the stalks were all dying back so the young kids all got a go at digging through the soil to see what they could find... Wasn't the best yield but we are still learning with spuds... I think the mix we used was to free draining & it was a struggle to keep the water up to them...
Also got a bit of a hand with the framework to finish off the AP site... Can set the fish tank & other grow beds up now... Thanks Guys & Girl's...
Fertilisers...
We bought a couple of bags of fertiliser last week from Safe Fertilisers as we are starting to run low on the rock dust & have a few beds/barrels that need to be revitalised before they are plated out.. The last batch we got was an all rock dust blend but decided to try a "BFA Certified" "Enviro Blend" this time.. CBM Chicken manure, blood & bone, and minerals. This 100% organic blend provides the full
spectrum of macro and micro elements. N 2%, P 2%, K 0.4%, S 2000ppm, Ca 8%, Mg 2%, Fe 1.4ppm, Mn 370ppm, B250ppm, Cu 55ppm, Zn 120ppm, Co 10ppm, Mo 40ppm, Se 3ppm, C 20%, Si 5%
Not the most pleasant smelling blend but should help kick things on a bit... Will still be using the horse manure & worm castings as added organic matter to the beds/barrels, this is just to help add a few nutrients that were used up in the last crop or just not there...
The main crop of Beetroot is not preforming as well as the others
planted out at the same time & it was suggested to us that it could
be a boron deficiency so they will get a nice top dress of fertiliser too...
Harvesting & Planting out...
Have been picking a fair of Kohlrabi, Carrots, Spring Onion & Mangle to turn into coleslaw lately & it has become a bit of a favourite... 4 bas of potatoes were also harvested (see picture above) as well as the garlic that is in the clip below... The stems went a bit soft on some & others had already dried out but were missed amongst the Onions so we though it best to harvest the lot..
The Silverbeet/Chard & other leafy greens are still being used to supplement the chooks diet.. They now look forward to their morning/evening treats & come running as soon as they see us in the patch...
Below is a list of what was planted out last night to take advantage of the full moon...
Carrots, a mix of Nantes (Johnsons seeds- organic) & Dragon (Eden seeds) x 2 rows in Bed #1
Carrots, Mini Round (Diggers seed) x 2 rows in Bed #1
Carrots, Heirloom mixed (Diggers seed ??) x 2 rows in Bed #1
Tomato, Broad Ripple Yellow currant (Diggers ??) in Lime Tree bed...
Tomato, Wapsipinicon Peach (Diggers ??) in Lime Tree bed...
All but the Nantes & Dragon Carrots were from the gift we received from from our You Tube gardener friend Watsamadoing last week... Thanks again :D»
Garden walk through Clip...
Bit of what was said above & other natterings...
Weather...
It will start to heat up here a bit by the weekend we are told, hitting
about 29°C by Friday, so we are thinking about putting up some of the
shade structure to try & stop some of the Broccoli from premature
bolting... Will be trying to incorporate the mesh we got to try &
keep the White Cabbage Moth/Butterflies from getting to the Brassicas
& depositing their eggs...
I just realised that we have only a few weeks to go until Spring & I really need to pull my finger out... There are are a few seeds I could start to sow in trays to get ready as well as a growing list of small to large scale projects I really need to make a start on... IBC Aquaponic system... This one is the big one that really needs to be done but unfortunately there are a few other jobs that need to be completed in order to set it up...
Here is a list of the most important Jobbies as I see them... # 1.Spice Wicking bed... This is going between the Chook yard & the AP system as an extra level of "scratch" protection... Don't really want Chook poo in the fish tank... Really need to get this in so we can move onto... #2. Preparation of Aquaponic site... Part of the area where the Fish tank is going has been roughly levelled & some Besser blocks are cleaned & ready to be mortared in place, still need to pick a dozen or so up... We will be putting down some stone in the area on top of some used weed cloth & old feed bags to keep the weeds down... #3. Cut & set up IBC's... To tell you the truth we are still a bit undecided as to which style of system to make... I like the idea of the grow beds that run on flood & drain using bell siphons that feed back into the fish tank directly with the pump running 24h... This will only need a basic pump & should be fairly cheap to build... If we go with one of the CHIFT PIST (Constant water Hight In Fish Tank, Pump In Sump Tank) system we need a pump with float switch & extra plumbing but I do like the idea of this system as the sump can be used as a separate tank for the Yabbies/Marron the real reason for getting into Aquaponics in the first place... (I don't like eating fish, go figure: D») To make it worse Backyard Aquaponics have released a Free Download Manual on how to build a basic IBC system as well as including HEAPS of the forum members own IBC systems... Heaps of ideas but really need to get it up & running for Spring... #4. Harvest worm castings... This really needs to be done 3 weeks ago but haven't gotten around to it... A couple of new farms need to be set up too in preparation of using them as a supplemental fish food... #5. Build Black Solider Fly Larvae farm... This will be a great addition to the patch... These guys will look after all our meat scraps as well as veggie scraps... After our Dog Bunny passed we have been cringing as we toss out all meat scraps into the general waste bins... I see it as a waste of energy that could be used to feed other animals or plants... The Larvae can be used as chook or fish food& the wast they leave behind can be put through the worm farm... #6. Age/Compost more Manure... Will be needing a fair amount of this for Jobbie #7... I almost bout a $30 120L composer new last night & am glad I didn't now... Will be pulling out the Carboy barrels again & might even make up a wire unit lined with weed matting... Will need to get some more blood & bone to add to the blend... #7. Front yard Wicking Garden... We are letting the girls have a bed each in the front yard as well as a few for ourselves & a few barrels... Looking at some dwarf stone fruit for the barrels as well as a grape vine... Need to start to look at providing more of our own fruit...
There are more jobbies to do but that is a list of the ones I feel are important to get us off to a good start for the spring/Summer growing season...
Oh, & during all this it will still be life as usual with the girls schooling & general house duties or my chain will be shortened again by Queen B☼......
Feel free to crack the whip & keep me motivated...
Have a great one all... : )»
**Removes self from Puta & makes a start...**
It's that time again when we start deciding which winter plants are ready to cull, which beds need a good feed & which if any need to be moved or removed... If we don't make a start now we will be behind the 8 ball for the Spring plantings...
This is a rough plan of what we would like to have done by the end of Spring... There are a few more beds I would like to add in the next few months but they will have to wait until the Aquaponics system has been set up.... Have also started to look out for plans to make a Black Solider Fly farm to grow some more food for the Fish & Yabbies to make it easier on the wallet & healthier for them...
Decided to start with the Brussels Sprout barrel as it just wasn't preforming very well... Have also made a tentative start on the IBC Aquaponic system... Well, moved the pavers, levelled off some soil & pondered the layout over an ale with B☼...
Will be laying off the fish feed for a day or so to see what happens to the levels...
Also cut up a few barrels to turn into Wicking barrels but really didn't accomplish as much as I wanted but that's always the way... Such is...
Harvest Shots...
The Swiss Brown Mushrooms have been a tad slow in producing so I am hoping that moving them into a warmer spot might aid in better growth... Have only gotten 300 or so grams in the past 2 weeks...
I might try a method I read about in the Simple Savings forum where you grow your own using chopped up "ripe" Mushies that are dropping their spores to start up another farm... Always up for playing around...
We harvested the last of the Dragon Carrots from Bed #1.. They will be vacuum sealed & frozen.. The lemons are being picked every few days & many a Lemony treat has been made for home & B☼'s work in the past couple of weeks.. Always nice to share with work mates & family... The Sugarsnap Peas are starting to get woody & are not as sweet as the past few harvests so 1 lot was pulled & the second has been left after getting a good feed with Fish, Seaweed & Rock dust fertilisers to see if we can pick them up a bit... A large handful of baby Spuds was taken from a bag
We also got our first bug/maggot free Capsicum!!!!!**DOES BIG HAPPY DANCE** It will go well in a roast Lamb & Quinoa salad me thinks... The Cape Gooseberries are slowing down a bit... We are getting 5-10 every few days so its a race down to the patch to see who can gobble them first at the moment...
Feel free to ask questions or offer advice...
Have a great one all... : )»
On the downward slide....
As much as I love rugging up & getting comfy on the lounge with the family I really am a Lizard at heart...
Have had a few mornings at 0°C or below without to much damage to the Veggie patch...
**Knocks on wood**
Only a month & a half to go before I can start to thaw out... Potato Harvest...
I have been dying to get into the potato bags & in a weak moment the other day we emptied one....
Not the biggest harvest but they were the best tasting spuds we have grown... They went down well in a Chook, Mushroom & kohlrabi casserole...
The rest of the bags are being left as I fear we haven't been keeping the water up to them enough for the spuds to mature properly... That has been rectified now as they have been fed with some worm cast tea & now will be watered every second day...
In the patch...
Not much has gone on in the patch except for harvesting the Snow & Sugar snap peas as well as the purple Kohlrabi & other assorted leaf veggies...
A clip from the 4th of July with a catch up on the beans, Beetroot & some more Carrots...
Left is a shot of the tiny Mushrooms from the Video as of yesterday... The Peat is starting to look a bit feral with some green mould moving in so I think it will be retired & we shall chalk up the $ lost as part of the learning curve...The other box hasn't produced any fungus as of yet even though we have been keeping a close eye on it...
The black worm farm still hasn't been harvested as of yet... We should get around to it next weekend I think... Will be able to use the "Handy Dandy" Worm Harvester on it hopefully as this batch is a bit dryer than the last few... Right is a shot of today's pickings, just under 800grams of Sugarsnap peas a few carrots we are going to blanch & freeze...
Aquaponics...
We made a start on the Barrelponics system on Monday...
Left The main frame for the bench is made from a frame of an old lounge, bits from a recycled futon lounge along with some recycled timber & bolts... Right One ½ barrel was found i a park after the January floods & the other was purchased at a 2nd hand store for $4... The black barrel was bought from a local Produce supply store...
Koo has had heaps of fun helping with the build... The girls are using the Barrelponics as part of their science lessons so that should be fun...
Very annoyed with myself we the stuff up & will definitely be erring on the side of caution from now on... Feel really bad for what happened to the fish....
That's abooot it for now so Have a great one all... : )»
Have been a tad slack with the blog with all that's been going on so though it was about time to have a crack... 1st up, here is a post on our other blog with a few shots of our Wedding.... (click on "Wedding"..)
Now to the garden....
Gates...
The 2 side gates finally have been fixed.... Both are a temporary fix but should last for a few years... I think they were mentioned in a walk trough Clip last week...
Mushrooms...
The first flush of Swiss Brown Mushrooms have been harvested...We bought a kit from a local nursery, set it up about a month ago & forgot about it... B☼ harvested just over ½ KG of fungus on Friday night... The top layer of peat has dried out a bit so it got a small watering & is being misted daily now but fear we may have neglected them for to long...
Out with the old...
A decision was made to remove old Goliath to help make room for the reception marquee so a new one was made out of bits of leftover play equipment... Not as big as the old one **Sigh** but will still hold 2 loads from our 7.5kg washer... It looks like we will be making a proper more permanent line in this style up the side of the house...
Quick update clip...
When wicking beds go BAD !!!!
This is what was found in & under the plastic liner in Bed #5 when it was removed....
Harvests.... We have been getting heaps of fresh veg from the patch at the moment... Left is what the Raspberries looked like before the wedding & the guests got to sample the fruit... Getting ready to cut it right back after the last 3 or fruit ripen... Right is the Swiss brown we picked on Friday....
Left is the huge Kohlrabi that has been used in 2 stews, last nights Chook & tonight Beef one... Right is a shot of Mangles in the patch... After reading a thread on Simple Savings we "thinned" some out last night & they tasted great in the stew... The leaves make a great Spinach substitute...
Have finally started to harvest some mature Carrots over the past week or so & must say, we are most Chuffed with the results... No bitter taste as some have told me their home grown ones have had... We will be making up some more Carrot seed tape tomorrow so another batch can go in...
The Beans, Snow & Sugar snap peas have all gone crazy... We are harvesting about 500g of each every 3 or so days... Think the Snow peas my be nearing their end but have plans for that bed so all is good...
Right... Tonight's Beef stew with Carrots, Beetroot, Kohlrabi, Beans, Snow & Sugar snap Peas from the patch.... Very Tasty!!!!!!
That's about it for now...
Have a great one all... : )»
Monday walk through...
A bit of a walk through looking at a few bits around the yard that we did on the weekend in the yard & Veggie Patch...
Harvesting the Spice barrels...
We decided to harvest the Galangal, Turmeric & Ginger (GTG) early this year so we could renovate that part of the patch for the Aquaponic system...
We got far more than we thought we would as the soil they were planted in was of very poor quality...The Worm cast & Compost tea's gave the leaves a boost in the last few months so the rhizomes must of benefited as well I think...
I think we got twice the Turmeric (left) than the last crop, about the same from the Galangal (middle)... The Ginger (left) produced a lot more than last years crop that was grown from rhizomes purchased from the supermarket... This crop was grown from rhizomes purchased from Green Harvest & produced about double the amount of better looking ginger... Glad we paid the extra now... The pieces with stalk still on them will be given to others & some will be planted into Bed #9 with the Lemon Grass...
New Barrels & other Bit's...
2 new Wicking Barrels were made up for some seedlings in need of new homes... 2 purple & 1 Thai basil (left) were put in a barrel down in the patch & the Bell Chilli & 2 x of our Banana x Chillies (right) were put in a barrel beside the new Spice barrel by the back stairs...
All the remaining potted veggies were put on a frame around the side of the house with only a few pots & the Bromeliads, including the Pineapple, were left under the stairs with some Aloe & herbs.. The Strawberry wall (left) has had a minor renovation with some more wire cut out to allow for the plants settling down further in the wall & restricting the crown from sprouting more growth...
Have been harvesting a few Broccoli flowers (left) for salads & nibbles while walking around the patch.. Will be saving some seeds once they set..
There is only 1 white Kohlrabi left (right) & B☼ wants to leave it to see how large it will grow...Will be a week or 2 before the Purple ones will be ready.. Planted out 10 others around the patch & plan to sow some more seed when we can find some space...
The Passion fruit barrel has been overrun by feral Tomatoes & Eggplants that have sprouted from the worm cast that was placed under each of the seedlings... Shall have to thin them out soon but am thinking of leaving the Eggplant in just to see what type it turns out to be...
Have also moved bits around the yard & have packed up all the composting barrels until after the reception... I might be able to take out Bed #5 , put in the bedding pebbles, cut down then place the IBC's before the reception is held but it might be a push.. Was hoping to have a little Barrel system up by then but the 2 new Wicking Barrels have taken up the spot next to the stairs where I was going to put them... Such is...
Random Pic's...
Some of the produce we have been picking...
Long early Eggplant, Beans, Kohlrabi, Beans, Beetroot, Lemons, Beans,Mangle Leaves, Snowpeas, Dragon Carrots, Beans, Cape Gooseberries, Raspberries, Beans, Honey snap Peas, Oh & did I mention Beans ???
Have also been trying to get a Celery base to shoot & will try to plant it once the roots come in... We do the same with store bought Shallots/Spring onions (depending on what country you live in).. Have bought a few bunches of them marked down to clear for 50cents & didn't loose any after planting them...
Has been a tad busy here with the realisation that a wedding is but a few weeks away... We have stairs to fix/paint, a yard to tidy & numerous little odd jobs on the go so the Blog has been suffering a bit...
Was a bit frustrating trying to paint this week...
New additions...
I finely caved & let B☼ get a Mulberry tree on one condition, It gets planted in an adapted Wicking style Barrel & gets espaliered on a trellis up the side of the house...
We also found a Bell Chilli (not to be confused with a Bell Pepper) at the markets on the weekend just on closing... The Lovely people that ran the stall gave it to me so I was mighty chuffed... We had grown a few at the last house but like so many seeds they were misplaced in the move... They are a mild Chilli that are great for salads & not too hot for kids...
We have had mixed results from the seeds we planted just over a week ago... The Cauli's, Kohlrabi, Cabbage & I think a few Kale have shot but no sign of the Lettuce, Parsley, eggplants or Broccoli... We do now also have 3 Onion shoots in the Onion tray that was sown a few weeks ago... Think I might just bite the bullet & go buy a punnet of seedlings...
I am starting to think it may be either the seed raising mix or the seed supplier that may be faulty & not I... Have never had so many misses over such a short period... Aquaponics...
A site has been found for the set up, where Bed#5 is... It shall be removed slowly over the next 3-5 weeks (unless a Wedding gets in the way)... Some gravel & large pavers put down as a base & some conduit dug into a trench to provide power to the set up... Would be nice to have some goldfish or Blue Eyes in there & the system cycling to start up the nitrogen cycle but I fear I may be dreaming...
The totes are still in the same place in the yard, one of which has the Strawberry Wall tied to it while the stairs get painted... I need to purchase some special security "bits" to undo some of the screws so we can start to cut them up...
What's on our plates...
The first 3 pumpkins were picked on the weekend... We have been trying to cure them the past few days but sun doesn't want to cooperate unfortunately...
Aside from the herbs & Shallots, we have started to harvest the Snow peas, Lettuce, Kohlrabi & the Broccoli as well as having an Eggplant for the table every other day so we are very happy... There are a few Beetroot's that will be picked for a Friday roast if they are lucky... The remaining Cauli's Are starting to form tiny heads & we are about a week out from our first meal of Silverbeet...
Well, the last ½ of this week has been flat out so so didn't manage to do much other than get the stairs ready for painting, doing the top coat around the Strawberry wall then host have a family get together today...
Shall hopefully be more entertaining & insightful later in the week...
Have a great one all.... : )»
Walkthrough...
Just a quick one as not a lot has happened this week due to the holidays which meant Visitors & Visiting...
On a sad note...
I think we may be pulling out Bed #5...
On a happier note, Wit is going to be replaced with an Aquaponics set up...
**Does happy dance**
Have been reading up on a lot of information on fish farming & Aquaponics as well as watching the multitude of videos available on the net... It will be good to grow some of our own protein... Due to local regulations meat Chickens are out of the questions... We are hoping to include the worms in the system as food as well as active participants within the grow beds... We purchased 3 IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) tanks to turn into Fish tanks & Grow beds... I wont be rushing the project due to upcoming nuptials but will be spending most of the honeymoon building the system... Maybe...If I'm allowed...
I could Rabbit on about it for ages but shan't due to the fear of loosing my hairy noggin...
Finely got around to harvesting the seed from the long purple Eggplant that was on the bush in the patch... After looking in the Seed Savers book we decided to just scrape the seeds out rather than cutting into cubes, whizzing in a blender then floating the seeds out... We also purchased a large white variety at the markets on Sunday so some seeds will be collected from it soon...
I think I may have cooked the last lot of seeds we sowed in punnets after putting them in a make shift grow box... Some more were sown in other punnets over the long weekend...
In punnets I planted,
Broccoli, Albert x 6
Cauliflower, All Year Round x 6
Cauliflower, Purple Sicilian x 6
Kohlrabi, White Vienna x 6
Kohlrabi, Purple Vienna x 6
Lettuce, Mignonette mixed x6
Cabbage, Sugarloaf x 6
Kale, Dwarf Green x 3
Kale Red Russian x 3
Eggplant, Rosa Bianca x 4
Eggplant Udumalapet x 4
Parsley, Italian flat Leaf x 6
These will just be left in a sunny spot in the yard in a tray to germinate...
I also sowed 6 or 7 Blue Lake climbing beans under the trellis in Bed #8 after pulling out the Cucumbers... They just were not preforming well which I think is due to the Tomatoes that grew there before them... Not very friendly to each other those 2 plants...
Compost & Worms...
We harvested all the larger fruit from the Zucchini's to make up a batch of sauce & found 3 to be fairly badly blown with some sort of fruit fly... Would be nice to be able to spray the garden knowing the Neem is going to stick & do the job it should...
Such is as they didn't get wasted & were turned into worm food...
These guys are mating & increasing in volume so fast that B☼ is thinking about getting a bathtub so we can increase the output of castings for the patch & to help some others out... I have 3 bags of composted manure blend to feed them as soon as they have finished feasting on the current batch... The 8 bags of manure I was ageing for a few weeks has now been blended with Blood 'n' Bone & cracker dust then added to the drums for3-4 weeks... I used some of the leftover compost & castings solids/slops from the compost tea to help speed things along with it's added beneficial bacteria... This is the first time I have screened the manure before mixing it so it will be interesting to see if that helps with the process at all...
Living Strawberry Wall...
This was inspired by a thread on Simple Savings... Thanks for posting the question Aaron & inspiring me to have a go...
A few weeks ago I ordered 8 Strawberry "Joy" runners from Green Harvest with plans to plant them into a ½ a 44 gallon drum we found... Unfortunately I was so impressed with the way the Worms ate through the Horse manure compost that I turned it into another Worm farm leaving no place for the Strawberries until a came across the above Simple Savings thread...
I think vertical gardens are great idea. We have grown Strawberries vertically, with limited success in the past, using 90mm PVC pipe in a Hydroponic garden we had many moons ago... I do think that this method of vertical growing will prove to be a much better way to grow in limited space & can't wait to harvest our 1st bowl of fruit...
We had most of the bits left over from other projects for the frame except for the zip ties...
We did have to buy a 15L bag of Vermiculite (Left), 3 x Coconut coir blocks (Right), & use 30L of potting mix we had under the house to fill the grow box as well as about 30L of our own Worm castings...
The Coconut Coir was soaked in a Seasol solution to help add nutrients into the mix...
Bellow is the estimated/invoiced prices...
2meters of chain $16.00
Zip ties $2.40
Vermiculite $14
Coconut Coir $8.50
30L Searles Premium potting mix $14.00
8 Strawberries, "Joy" + delivery $16.45
1 Strawberry, "Pink" $4.00
Grand total of..... $75.35 AU
At today's prices for Strawberries, $5.00 per 250g punnet (as seen the local Stupidmarkets), it works out that we need to harvest 3.77kg of fruit for the wall to pay for itself... May take a while but I am hopeful that it will pay for itself before December...
Will post walk through up date before Wednesday hopefully...
½ the Worms we harvested on the weekend are now in a new home, the ½ barrel we found at the local nature reserve... We are using an old fly screen frame with black builders plastic in place of the screen as a lid... They appear to be happy in there so all is good... The other ½ were put back in the 3 tiered farm...
Transplants & Seeds...
4 Passion fruits were taken out of the old Sweet Potato bed on Sunday, 1 was planted in the new Passion fruit barrel in the Chook yard as a back up & the others were potted out along with some that we planted a while back to give to family members...
A few punnets of Broccoli, Kale & Purple Cauliflowers will be sown out tomorrow just to cover any failures that may happen & for when we clear out Bed #5... Also planting some climbing Beans on the Cucumber trellis as soon as the seed arrives...
Walk through Update...
Had to cut this one up a bit as I was rambling on just a tad... Hopefully I shall get better at this so the clips run a bit smoother...
