Spring 2019 Planting Stage 1

With the weather (finally) warming up in Melbourne, I decided to transplant some of the seedlings that look ready.

First are the pumpkins, the below photo was taken 1 week ago. They have grown more true leaves and the roots have grown very long.

They are now at the front garden where they should get ample sunlight during the day.

Second, the cabbages, cauliflower and lettuce seedlings have grown enough number of true leaves, so they were planted at the front garden as well this morning. Also on the photos are lettuce and spinach seedlings.

Photo from 1 week ago. Cabbages (back right), cauliflower (front right), broccoli (back left) and lettuce (front left)

Photo taken yesterday.

The cabbages and cauliflower were planted around the poppies bed where they will get lots of morning sun.

Some of the lettuce seedlings were planted at the front garden as well, since they were doing well on that section last year.

Third, lettuce, spinach and broccoli  seedlings were ready.

The big lettuces were from last winter and new seedlings planted in front of them.

Broccoli also occupy the same spot this spring as last time.

The remaining of lettuce and spinach seedlings were planted in garden bed 3 this year.

Lastly, the tomatoes that I planted in August 2019 were finally ready to meet the outdoor weather.

Garden bed 4 were cleared yesterday to make space for the tomatoes.

New occupants of garden bed 4, with some space left on the right hand side for cucumber, capsicum and beefsteak tomatoes.

All of the seedlings have been covered with with pea straw mulch since the photos were taken.

Garden bed 2 filled with broad beans, long beans, anak beans and all sorts of beans.

Photo taken 2 weeks ago.

Photo from this morning.

With new beans seedlings popping out.

Raspberry bush is back and growing new branches. There are a few flowers already showing and I hope there will be walls of raspberries soon.

Cranberries have grown it's leaves back. 

Seedling Preparation for Spring 2019

As the weather warmed up in Melbourne, I started my batch of seedlings for the 4 beds crop rotation this spring. This year, I didn't prepare too many backup seedlings because I finally figured out the right time to start the seedlings and also to transplant them outside.

The usual suspects are tomatoes and pumpkins.

Tomatoes, seeds planted in the first week of Aug. Photo taken in the second week of September.

These 4 trays are pretty much the only seedlings I prepared this year. They are the vegetables and herbs that we regularly consume, such as pumpkin, capsicum, chili, lettuce, spinach, brocoli,  cabbage, cauliflower, parsley and basil. These were planted in the last week of August and photos were taken in the second week of September.

The pumpkin seeds are the usual early sprouters.

And the lettuce, brocolli, cabbage and cauliflower.

I really hope I will get cauliflower this year, I'm going to plant them at the front garden.

LittleMsGreenies Return with Garden Update 2019

LittleMsGreenies had returned with Spring 2019 garden update after a long break. The garden had grown and changed a bit. I figured out the sun pattern and the best spots for certain plants.

The front garden has new brick edging which I recently installed. 

This year, the half circle section has a pair of tower of nasturtium and snow peas, a few bunches of kale, sprouting brocolli and hopefully cauliflower. Also in this section, I'm hoping the geranium and borage will become a permanent fixture to maintain the bees visitors around the garden.

The bees absolutely love the borage flowers.

We've been harvesting snow peas and kale consistently in the last few weeks.

Also at the front garden, I planted Asahi tulip bulbs which had flowered in the last few weeks.

The Tete-a-tete daffodils had not flowered yet. I hope they will come out.

I planted Californian poppies underneath the olive tree and they have finally flowered this year. This had been a long wait for me as they were planted from seeds around 2 years ago.

Some of the calendula flowers had popped out as well. This empty patch is ready for pumpkin seedlings to be planted in the next few weeks.

 

The Lavender plants had grown significantly and produced lots and lots of flowers. I have been harvesting and drying them for tea and homemade shampoo. The bees are also loving them so much and I can sometimes see 6-8 bees hovering around.

In this section, I planted a few kale and lettuce. They grew slower than their fellow plants in the half circle section (a sunnier spot). 

And finally, the giant jade plants at the front door had grown enormously. They had red flowers which attracted the little nectar sucking birds. The pair of planters had filled up and had the spilling over effect that I hoped for.

Stay tuned for more updates on the fruit trees and the four beds crop rotation.

LittleMsGreenies Garden Update 16th December 2017

Late post from last month, the week before Christmas.

The hot weather arrived rather late this year in Melbourne. By mid December, finally things started to pick up and the plants are finally growing taller.

The tomato plants have finally gained some height and started flowering. Lots of bees and butterflies flying around them, probably because of the blue borage flower in between the rows of tomato plants.

The corn plants have also grown taller in the last few weeks, looks like the heat is helping them a lot.

The nasturtiums haven't stopped flowering. We've been adding their leaves and flowers in our salad. 

And of course, the salad leafy vegetable is also harvested from the garden. The spinach, lettuce, mint and herbs have been providing constant supply. Probably thanks to the succession planting and periodic harvesting.

Lots of different varieties of mint, Spearmint, Basil Mint, Chocolate Mint, Peppermint, and Common Mint.

Garden Update from 22nd Nov

What a difference 2.5 weeks make to a garden in spring.
After a mild struggle to get the seedlings going, because of the colder start in Spring, the plants have finally grown significantly.

By the 22nd Nov, we've got a few good harvest of snow peas.
The Mammoth Melting snow peas is easy to grow and by the looks of it, it's going to keep climbing.

Left photo: 4th November 2017; Right photo: 22nd November 2017

Snowpeas

The leafy vegetables on Garden Bed 1 have grown a lot as well.

 

On 4th November 2017

 

On 22nd November 2017, from left to right: Cauliflower, Spinach, Red Cabbage, Cos Lettuce, Herbs (Parsley, Coriander, and Dill), and succession planting of the same vegetables.

Some of the radishes were ready to harvest.

So, I have a real garden salad for lunch on that day, literally everything from the garden, except the dressing.

The only thing missing is the tomato, which are still growing.
They have grown taller significantly, and so does the borage.

On 4th November 2017

On 22nd November 2017, from left to right: Nasturtium, some rouge Chives from last year, Chili, lots of Tomatoes and Borage, Capsicum and Corn.

The Borage plant is a success, lots of flowers, lots of bees buzzing around them.

The Start of Spring 2017 Planting in September (Late Post)

Good Day Everyone!!

This is a late post from September, when the weather should have started warming up here in Melbourne. The seedlings that I started indoor had flourished well, and I have started planting them out.
I think I may have been too keen, and should have probably waited a few more weeks before doing so. We had a few cold days, and I'm not sure if the seedlings will make it or not.
But, things are really warming up, according to the temperature stats and forecast, so, I'm hoping I haven't done too much damage to the seedlings.

Garden Bed 1 - Green Leafy Veggies

Lots of seedlings here, I planted Choisan, Pakchoi, Spinach, Cos Lettuce, annual herbs that I don't use for companion planting, such as Dill, Coriander and Lemon Basil.

There's going to be more seedlings gradually being planted on this space. I'm hoping I can do succession planting, to get continuous supply of green veggies.

Garden Bed 2 - Fruiting Vegetables

I put together a makeshift trellis using strong garden string, hoping to grow the Zucchini, Butternut Pumpkin, Rockmelon, Honeydew. There are chilies and capsicum seedlings already planted. There are 4 types of tomatoes (on the 4 trellises), from left to right: Roma San Marzano, Black Russian, Cherry Tomato Tommy Toes, and Tomato Magic Mix. In the inside circle of the tomatoes, I planted Italian and Curly Parsley and Sweet Basil. And, in between the tomatoes, I planted rows of Borage, for companion planting.

Borage - Companion Planting of Tomatoes

This year, I'm attempting to plant corn. When I bought seeds last year, I got free corn seeds, so I thought I give it a go this year.

Garden Bed 3 - The Root Vegetables

In this space, I planted Kipfler Potatoes. There are other potatoes planted in bags, I found them easier to harvest when planted in bags.
Since the last few weeks, I've started planting Radish Champion and Carrot Paris Market seedlings.
These two are new types of plants that I'm trialling this year. Hopefully they will give me a good harvest. Again, succession planting to get ongoing supply of fresh radishes and carrots from our own backyard.

Kipfler Potatoes

Radish

Garden Bed 4 - The Beans!!

Beans trellises were installed and the seeds were planted. There are 5 trellises this year, from left to right: Broad Beans (climbing) and Bush Bean Royal Burgundy at the bottom; Snow Peas Mammoth Melting (climbing) and Bush Pea Greenfest at the bottom; Blue Lake Beans (climbing) and Dwarf Bush Beans at the bottom; Adzuki Beans; and last trellis, Snake Beans.
So far, the seeds on the second trellis had emerged, the snow peas and the bush pea. The broad beans had started to emerged as well.

Broad Beans and Snow Peas

Can't wait until they grow bigger. The dream for this year is to have lush green vegetable garden and be self sufficient enough for our daily consumption.

Come on weather, get warmer already!!