My nursery obsession - and getting started on your garden.

Most of my friends are of the age that when you say nursery they think change tables and nappy holders and giraffe growth charts.  Me on the other hand - I think gardening!  I don't seem to be able to drive past a nursery without stopping and buying another punnet of seedlings, or a fruit tree, or a half price pot, or all of the above.  So this post is really for people like I was a year ago - very new to gardening, and maybe you don't know where to start.

My usual go to nursery is Flower Power.  This is not sponsored, (although I'd be very open to some sort of barter arrangement - I promise to post my purchases if I get some freebies!) but it is the most convenient place to my inner city suburb where I can still buy plenty of reasonably priced potting mix, and seedlings galore.  And even though it's a chain store I still think of it as being better than going to your generic Coles or Woolworths owned hardware caverns.

Boot full of loot for my #gardening today #goingtoneedabiggeryard pic.twitter.com/qaWcOVDolI

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) May 22, 2015

For herbs I think it is worthwhile going to your local fruit shop.  Sounds unusual, but mine certainly has herbs such as basil, coriander, mint and many others in pots rather than your usual bunches - you might as well pick up a plant, use what you need for dinner and then plant the rest.  Sometimes florists have things like this for sale too, or maybe that just depends on your local shops - but probably worth having a look.

Then I have the local organic farmers markets.  I can't go every week or I really would have too many plants to even fit in my yard.  Our local markets (at Orange Grove Public School) have fruit trees, seedlings and plenty of potted colour, all at very reasonable prices.  You can read about some of my adventures with seedlings from Orange Grove here.

So turns out I could carry a tree after all #gardening #tree Kaffir lime means we can use the leaves already! pic.twitter.com/UIHlotQtFh

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) June 13, 2015

Spent up at Orange Grove Markets today- all for $27- dill, coriander, rocket, celery, kale, mizuna, chive, + flowers! pic.twitter.com/5Gb289or5p

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) February 28, 2015

And then there are the online nurseries.  I purchased a landscaping bulk buy of bulbs in March (the results of those will be posted at a future date - but it's looking pretty good so far.  Mind you, with 400 bulbs - yes, I have one of the smallest gardens you will ever see and I bought 400 bulbs - so I had to give a lot away to my dad).

I haven't even tried any seed swaps yet, but I've been seeing them the more I read of other people's blogs, and they certainly seem a great idea.  Not sure what my coriander and basil seeds (the only things I have managed to be able to save yet) would really be worth, but maybe I could swap hundreds of them for something more exotic....  I saw some information about the Seed Freedom Food Festival when it was posted in the Garden Share Collective group on Facebook and although I won't be in Adelaide it does look like a great event.

So I don't suppose it really matters where you get your seeds from, but get out and get planting!

Garden Share Collective - August

I missed last months Garden Share due to work, planning a holiday and general laziness.  But despite my general neglect of the garden (or maybe because of it!) some of my vegies are going well - and some not so well.

So as I missed last month this is a sort of catch up post!

I have managed to do a bit of planting, most of which was done in mid July.  I put in broad beans, cauliflower, and baby beets.  All were bought as seedlings, some from our local organic markets, (Orange Grove) and some from the nursery.  I also bought a kaffir lime tree from the markets.

These are my broad beans and cauliflowers after planting.

Snow peas are going great - climbing up my improvised chicken wire lattice - and I have even managed to harvest a grand total of 4 peas - but there are plenty more coming.

Lovely snow peas flowering away -and some of the peas themselves

My first ever snow pea ready to harvest

Broad beans also look good, flowering away and have grown much bigger.  No beans yet but I'm sure they're coming.

The broad bean flowers are quite lovely.

Trying to be arty aerial view of the broad beans - but it means you can't see really how well they've grown

The cauliflowers have grown and my land cress appears to still be working to keep the caterpillars away, but no sign of any florets yet.

The pak choi has been half/half - two seedlings bolted straight to seed and are now flowering away - the other two are looking like we need to cook some stir fries!

Look at the pak choi go!

Silverbeet has grown well and we have been picking a bit as we go.

Need to get eating the spinach

Other vegies that have still been providing this month are my never ending rocket plant - the more we pick, the more we get!

Some of the celery I planted ages ago is still going strong.

Coriander has gone a bit to seed but there are still quite a few good plants, and the other herbs - oregano, mint, thyme, rosemary - are still ticking along.  I also put in a pineapple sage so will see how that turns out.

When we got back from our holiday I discovered the broccolettes had all gone to seed, so they have been pulled out. Likewise my chilli plants I decided to pull out as they had gone pretty straggly.  The garlic were looking a bit brown, which may have been from lack of water (I went away and had assumed it would rain enough to water my garden - luckily nothing died but I probably should have arranged some watering!) and the lemon tree is looking like it needs a bit of fertiliser.

Bit of a mess - but broccolettes gone to seed, coriander also heading that way, the never ending rocket and some chives hidden in there too.

The garlic plants are still going well.

I had to conclude my potato in a bag experiment as all the plants had died.  I think a variety of factors played a part in this failed effort - probably not enough sun as I had in my back courtyard, which gets very little direct sun.  Also I have a bad habit of neglecting the back yard and focussing on the front, so I may not have watered often enough.  And when I just dug out the bag I discovered the top soil was quite dry but the bottom soil was quite muddy and almost clay like, so I suspect the drainage in the bag was not sufficient.  So for my 4+ months of effort I only have 3 small chats and some tiny easter egg sized potatoes!  On the plus side, the soil in the bag was full of worms and will now be stored until I can use it for some more planting in spring.

The grand total of my potato experiment.  Not exactly successful.

Very blurry but we're hardly going to be self sufficient at this rate!

So my plans for the next month - I will be travelling a lot for work so realistically I won't get much done, and can't really plant too many seeds as I won't be around to care for them.  But I'm hoping to keep tending my peas and beans.  I also want to spend some time planning out my spring/summer garden as my pots seem to be multiplying and I want to dig up my front garden bed, which has been overrun with self seeded vincas and even a primula or two that have popped up - but I think I could use the space better for vegies given the full sun it receives.

A productive Saturday

I do love the feeling of being productive on the weekend.  Although it is nice to have those lazy days where you do nothing much, I've decided that I prefer the weekends where I manage to garden (or DIY - or maybe both!), catch up with friends AND have a bit of a relax.

It's only Saturday night, and I already feel pleased with my achievements.  So naturally, self congratulation is only so good - I feel the need to share with everyone!

Friday night was quiet but I did watch Better Homes and Gardens, and then my new favourite show - Selling Houses Australia.  I admit I do occasionally end up feeling a bit smug that we did buy one of those houses without the "Shayna Blaze dressing"-  and paid less because of it.  I always wonder if the people who did buy the houses see it on TV and curse that they could have bought it cheaper. 

Then this morning my productiveness (is that a word?  Probably not) began.  A trip to the Orange Grove Markets was first order.  I have blogged about the markets before (read it here) - I'm not so interested in the organic produce (after all I am trying to grown my own!) but the plants and flowers are good.  So today's purchases were cauliflower and broad bean seedlings, and a kaffir lime tree. 

So turns out I could carry a tree after all #gardening #tree Kaffir lime means we can use the leaves already! pic.twitter.com/UIHlotQtFh

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) June 13, 2015

The broad beans and cauliflower seedlings prior to planting.

I came home, and spray painted another pot (there were quite a lot of large pots left here, but all were ugly and scratched, so I am gradually trying to pretty them up).  I weeded, and I sifted an awful lot of dirt (I've been sifting dirt for months, as the previous owners seemed to have had a pebble landscape at some point - which means there are rocks in every garden bed.  I use a colander that I bought for $2 at the local Vinnies, which we then drilled larger holes into.  And I decided to remove my basil plants, which had become very woody and were totally gone to seed.  I am going to try to dry the plants and keep the seeds though.  

My excellent dirt and pebble sieve.

The flowers of the basil plant, which I hope I can dry out and keep the seeds from.

Once the garden bed was prepared I planted out my cauliflower and broad bean seedlings.  I also planted beetroot seedlings I bought last week, and finally planted the hyacinth bulbs which have been sitting in my fridge for a good month or so waiting to be planted.  

Caulis and beans planted out in my freshly sieved garden

Beetroot seedlings planted out

Hyacinth bulb is already shooting a little

Once the pot was dry I planted the kaffir lime tree out as well. 

I took a few more photos of my garden - just because some of the flowers are looking lovely, even if it is June and the middle of winter here!

One of my snap dragons 

Quite an extreme close up of one of the snap dragons

Lemon tree blossoms - hopefully that will mean I will have some fruit.

Plus I took a trip to Fedwood timber to try to find out about replacing the palings on our fence.  It seems it will be a lot more expensive than I expect, so I'm still considering.  I discussed it with my neighbour, and we have decided that to start with we will try to remove the disgusting green paint on the retaining wall  - so tomorrow morning I will be borrowing my neighbours gurney and taking on a green painted sandstone wall.  (yes that's right.  They painted sandstone green.  Why??)  

So that was just the morning!  I had lunch with a friend and a wander through Rozelle.

And then this evening I was lucky enough to go to see the screening of the film "Women He's Undressed" as part of the Sydney Film Festival at the Hayden Orpheum in Cremorne.  I went with another friend who was able to get tickets through her work.  It's a documentary, directed by Gillian Armstrong, who was at the screening.  The film was great, and I've never been to the Orpheum before - it's beautiful.  Definitely recommend checking it out! 

The organ being played before the performance

The ceiling in the theatre (The camera phone doesn't really do it justice!)

A productive trip to the Orange Grove Markets

The Orange Grove Markets are a weekly tradition for many people around Rozelle and Lilyfield, and with good reason.  They are organic farmers markets, so the emphasis is on organic produce and locally sourced food.  There are also a number of bakeries, and other meal producers, so you can also pick up all the essentials like cronuts, delicious gluten free baked good, olive oil, dips, and lots more!

But I was there for the plants.  I had been told you can get citrus trees for a good price, and I really want to get a few - my mother in law has even promised to buy them for me for Christmas (yes I know it's March.  We are just a bit slow!)  So I went to check it out.  You can indeed buy citrus trees, many with a lot of fruit, for around $35 for a dwarf lemon or a lime tree.  All great - but I walked there, and it's a good kilometre or so.  So if I'm going to buy up I need to have a plan for how to get them home - that will be for the next visit.

In the meantime though - I found the seedlings.  And who can resist a bargain?? So I started buying.  Then I got offered a box to carry them in - so I really had to fill up the box to make it practical to carry home....

Not sure about the angle but that is the box full that I lugged home - it is a longer walk than you think when you're carrying a lot of plants!

The spoils of the day were -

I've never eaten kale - and I don't think I could stomach a green smoothie - I was told to saute it though and it's really tasty

Kale - the current super food favourite.  Apparently grows well over the cooler months, and is ok in part shade, so will be going out in the back yard.

Six little celery seedlings

Celery - it also seems to like the mid seasons.  I think I have to do a bit more research on this, to blanch the celery so it grows tall and not too bitter - but for now it is in the part shade areas of the garden and we will see how we go!

Rocket - every salad needs it.  I tried to grow this from seed and wondered what happened to the seedlings  - now I've seen that slug (read about it here) I think I know!  But these are bigger plants already so hopefully survive.  It's gone into full sun in the front yard.

Coriander - I love this herb but it often seems to bolt easily.  I realised perhaps last time I had it in too sunny a spot, so this time it has gone out the back under my clothesline - this might let it stay more leafy for longer I hope.

Dill - always makes me think of a nice fish dish.  So giving this a try for the first time.  It appears to need full sun and can apparently grow very tall, so it is at the back of the beds in the front yard.

The mizuna got a bit squashed on the trip back home

Mizuna- I bought this not even knowing exactly what it was, but I needed an extra herb to make my 5 plants for $10.  I'm glad I got it though - it sounds tasty.  Also known as Japanese mustard, the leaves are supposed to have a mustard or peppery flavour.  Also a leafy salad vegetable, these grow in part shade, and smaller leaves will be more tender and more tasty (or so I have read!)

Chives - always a kitchen staple.

So all of those cost me $17 - $10 for 5 for the herbs (including rocket and mizuna) and the celery and kale were 6 seedlings in a punnet, and 2 punnets for $7.  Bargain!

 In addition to those I had also made a sneaky trip to a nursery on my way home from work on Thursday, so I also had four six cell punnets to plant out (they were buy one get one free - couldn't resist) - so in addition to all those I also now have curly lettuce, leeks, dwarf broccoli and spinach which has been planted in various pots and garden beds around - hopefully in the not too distant future I will have a veritable salad bowl in my garden!

Plus, tomato and capsicum plants self seeded and have sprung up when I moved my compost heap - so I have transplanted them to pots, and if they survive I will perhaps replant into a larger pot or into the garden bed for some late season fruit.

Lovely marigold

Begonia

Blurry pick of my possible snap dragon

Then to fill up the box I decided to get some colour - needed to replenish my hanging pots.  A petunia, alyssium, marigold, snap dragon (I think!) and a blue plant that I don't actually know the name of all went in - they were also 5 for $10.  So for a grand total of $27 I had more plants than I know what to do with - and had to carry them all home!!



The last thing I bought was two bunches of dahlias - because who doesn't love brightly coloured fresh flowers?