The Russians are coming!

I know it has been said a trillion, million times, but gardening really is a wonderful tonic. I was feeling a little down today, and so finally I took myself outside and started to water part of the garden. This led to watering the vegetable patch, which led to cleaning out some bok choy that had raced away to seed.

In its place I planted at tomato plant that had volunteered in one of my pots. I am not sure what species it is at this early stage, but I suspect that it may be a cherry tomato. It was growing very strongly, so it would have been cruel not to give it more soil and a chance to grow.

To make room for the seedling, I also cut some lettuce. As I pulled one head from the garden a wriggly worm fell back into the soil and raced back into the moist dirt and out of sight. It was a thrill to see that our new garden already has a nice healthy population of worms. Go worms, go!

Before going inside I harvested a couple of the black Russian tomatoes as well. Well, at least I have the salad for dinner - tomatoes and lettuce!

Black tomatoes are known for their strong, earthy tomato flavor, which often has a slight saltiness. Black tomatoes have a very dark skin that starts as dark red or dark green, but becomes almost black as the tomato matures and ripens.

Nearly 50 varieties of black tomato are now found in Russia. The best-known black Russian tomatoes are the black Krim, a sweet and salty dark greenish tomato named for the Crimea; and the black Russian, a large purple tomato with greenish-black flesh.

tomato wars

We have been suffering tomato wars this week. Something is coming over the fence under the cover of darkness and feasting on our crop of Black Russian tomatoes  I suspect it is a possum.

It is choosing a tomato, eating half of it and then throwing it with disdain onto the lawn, to select another one. Arrogant possums!

We have a couple of pink flamingo lawn ornaments that I have moved into place to "protect" the vegetable garden, and for the last night or two we have had peace in the garden.

So, when I came across the following Judy Horacek cartoon, her work struck a chord.

Father's Day special - coloured spinach

Father's Day breakfast was free range eggs and home grown organic coloured spinach from our very own raised bed.

bringing in the harvest!

We have started to harvest the first vegetables from our raised garden bed! It was with more than a little pride and a lot of bragging that I cut a bok choy and a lettuce late this afternoon. I had to hurry a little as a storm was coming in, with the full lightning and thunder chorus, but it was been weeks since we have had any rain, so it was a welcome sign. It did rain, but not as much as we would have liked. Maybe more tomorrow.

We had the bok choy for dinner tonight, and the lettuce will be part of my lunch tomorrow. Fresh, organic loveliness!

potage is a thick soup, and a potager whence it comes

Willowbrook Park

Potager : The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden

I was over at Willowbrook Park looking at the progress of their potager, and wishing for an abundance of land, and finances. In the meantime, I will enjoy their efforts, and the fruits of my own raised bed!

Willowbrook Park

I added to our vegetable garden this week - celery, marigolds and a lavender plant.

Celery because it is an excellent source of vitamin C and fibre.  It is a very good source of  folic acid, potassium, and vitamins B1 and B6.  Celery also offers a good source of vitamin B2 and calcium. Works for me!

celery seedling

Marigolds because they are pretty. Some people plant marigolds as companion plants in the belief that they control nematodes, but I am not a strong believer in companion planting. As Jackie French states "Marigolds can repel nematodes - they'll repel them away from the marigold roots, and right into the arms of the poor flowers or vegies you're trying to protect. Not that it matters much - the main pest species of nematodes in Australia don't care one way or another about marigolds ". Our marigolds are merely to brighten our view from the house while we wait for our plants to bloom!

marigolds!

The lavender is because I am addicted to the perfume of lavender. I love to add a sprig or two to the ribbon on a gift, or just to brush my hand over the plant and absorb the gorgeous scent. Most of our garden is too shady for lavender, and I have not been successful in growing it since living in Brisbane, but I have chose the Avondale species, which is claimed to resist humidity the best. We shall see!

how does my garden grow?

Our vegetable garden is progressing leaf by leaf, tendril by tendril. All the plants have experienced some growth. The beans and peas have really zoomed ahead, but all the plants appear very strong and healthy. I have just watered them every second day, all they respond with strong green growth.

Isn't nature wonderful? We just give a little loving care and look how we are repaid!

There is new life in the soil for every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer.CALVIN COOLIDGE, speech, Jul. 25, 1924

toiling in the field.

We have finally got our first raised bed in place and filled with vegetables seedlings. It took a little longer than we (I) anticipated, mainly due to time and physical ability, but once we applied ourselves, it really didn't take that long. And I can proudly announce that I could walk next day, despite using some muscles I may not have used for a year or two!

We used a raised bed kit. We decided to go with a raised be as our garden is built on the site of an old quarry, and is just limestone and clay, so we have had to raise all beds. If we want to grow root crops, and we do, we need more depth than our other beds, and so have opted for a raised bed, away from the other gardens to gain maximum sunlight and access.

We assembled the sides, being careful of the edges which are very sharp. Not an activity to do with children! The manufacturers did provide some rubber edging in the box, and it is working well. My only worry is that it doesn't look very long term and I sense we will have to replace in the future.

Then we marked out the outline on the existing lawn. There is no need to lift the grass, the garden can be built over the grass, but we wanted to use the grass in other areas of the lawn and so The Agronomist threw his back into it and moved the turf.

There is a sprinkler pipe running underneath the garden, and so we thought it wise to protect it from future spades and forks. We have bricks left over from when our house was built and so use those the build protection around the pipe. I then placed a thick layer of newspaper over the bricks to seal the deal. In fact we lined the entire bottom of the garden with newspaper, which will rot down and add carbon to the garden over time.

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 Layers of mulch, leaf litter and compost were then added. The final layer was good quality clean garden soil. Elder daughter and her husband have a worm farm and gifted us a litre of worm juice and so I made a mix (1 part worm juice to 10 parts water) and applied that that to the entire garden.

Along the way we attracted some new friends ! I think the worm juice may have driven them to new highs of distraction!

Excitement was mounting as time to plant had arrived!

Heritage Black Russian Tomato

A variety of beans,

including a purple variety

a mix of salad and bok choy, 

and green shelling peas!

I also planted some coloured spinach, and a rosemary bush to replace the one that died. Well, to replace the two that died. I am hopeful that I will have more luck growing rosemary in a garden than a pot. When we lived in Toowoomba I had no difficulty growing rosemary, but since moving to Brisbane have not succeeded with it. Onward, ever onward, though!

I even tried my hand at making a bean teepee! It may not be a thing of beauty, but it is an architectural triumph as the three stacks and a few (ok, a lot) pieces of twine have managed to stay erect and not take down any of those lovely purple beans as yet!

When I finished, I felt quite mother earthish, and imagined I should sit back on a stool and drink tea from an enamel mug while surveying my efforts.

Why an enamel mug, you wonder?

Well, my Dad always drank his tea, when in the garden, from an old enamel mug that I think he may have had long before I was born. (That is my Dad, as a very young man, pictured in the banner) It is one of the clearest memories I have of him, working in the garden and stopping to drink his tea from his “work” mug. I guess he liked it because it was unbreakable, and enduring. It certainly outlasted my Dad, and is now ensconced on a shelf in my Mum’s kitchen cupboard, as though he has just stepped out and will come back for his mug any moment. I wish it was so.

Actually, I wonder if Mum would allow the mug to go to a new garden? It just seems the thing to do, somehow. Yes, it does.

raising a no-dig garden

With our raised beds we are building no-dig gardens. Our garden is built on the site of an old quarry and has very heavy clay, so we have had to build up all our gardens, so a no dig garden is the only answer for us.

No-dig gardens are sometimes also called sheet-mulch gardening as layers of organic material are built up on top of the soil, often right over the existing grass. I have seen them built over cement also!

 Lucerne or hay is often used as the base component of the garden, but other nitrogen rich materials, such as grass clippings or sappy green prunings may be used. Straw, sugar cane mulch or other high carbon material can be used on top of the garden.

If you are building your own frame for a garden, or planting on an open space, to build a no-dig garden of approximately 2mx3m it is suggested that you will need:

• 4 bales of lucerne soaked in water
• 1 barrow of compost
• 1 barrow of combined animal manure, blood and bone and chicken pellets
• 1 bale of straw soaked in water
• Wet newspaper
• Water

I suggest slashing, mowing or even digging up and grass or weeds.

1. Water the area to be cultivated
2. Lay down a thick layer of newspaper. We found that a complete paper thickness works best in the long run.
3. Alternate thin layers of lucerne, compost and manure, until all material is used ensuring each layer is wet thoroughly
4. Then spread the straw over the top to form a mulch, also wetting thoroughly.
5. Leave for at least two weeks before planting, re-wetting when necessary.

To plant, just dig small areas within the lucerne layer and fill with compost. Plant into this compost, and replace the mulch around the new plant.

Vegetables such as silver beet, spinach and lettuce do well in no dig gardens. Root vegetables that require depth for planting will need to wait for several seasons until a good depth of compost lucerne has been built up.

starting a new project

The raised bed kits were on special, so we got two for the usual price of one! Twice the excitement!
I wanted to race and set them up, but Sunday had other things marked in its diary, so it may need to wait a day or two. However, the project can't be postponed too long, because I may have already a few things to plant...

Heirloom tomatoes : Black Russian!

Tomorrow, tomorrow...