Author Topic: Australian Gardening Thread  (Read 144722 times)

HappierAtHome

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Australian Gardening Thread
« on: July 15, 2016, 01:15:00 AM »
I thought it was about time we had an Australian gardening thread, so that we can share our southern hemisphere gardening adventures!

Full disclosure: I am an enthusiastic but inexperienced gardener, so I will be asking many questions.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2016, 01:26:50 AM »
My house is on a 455sqm block in the inner-city suburbs of Perth. The house is big, with a big deck and a few smaller paved areas, so there's not a HUGE garden though I believe it's big enough to cause me plenty of joy and heartache ;-)

Last summer I played with some tomatoes and a capsicum plant (grown from seed!). This growing season I'm hoping to be the queen of tomatoes, plus try out some zucchini and eggplants.

I have three dwarf citrus trees (mandarine, lemon and lime) in large pots. I've purchased a super dwarf nectarine to pot, and a pinkabelle (dwarf pink lady) for a garden bed. It'll get a leprechaun (dwarf granny smith) to be its pollination partner soon.

I have a lot of grand plans including apples, avocados and all sorts of other exciting adventures, but I'm trying not to bite off more than I can chew - at least not all at once!

I am extremely fortunate that my Dad is a botanist and former nursery owner, so he is my Personal Gardening Consultant and is very, very patient when I text him a few times a week with dumb questions. I have told him to start charging me $5 per question, but he just laughed at me.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2016, 01:50:52 AM »
Introducing my gardening endeavours! Another inexperienced one here.

When I was living in an apartment in Melbourne I had mint, rosemary and garlic chives to pick on my kitchen windowsill, and that was about it.

Now in Perth. Earlier on I was living in a house with lots of outdoors space, so I took up more gardening. I had a harvest of tomatoes in summer this year, and radishes, lettuce and rocket in autumn and winter, and I'm happy with that as a beginner. Currently living in a unit with limited outdoors space, and that space doesn't get direct sun, plus not sure how long I'll be here, but I did move some of my veggies in pots with me, so we'll see what happens. Most of the lettuce and rocket are going to seed already so I'll have to deal with that soon...

Not sure how long I'll be staying at my current place. But if/when I move I hope to keep up with gardening!

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2016, 02:01:01 AM »
I forgot about herbs! I've had some basil and will definitely do it again when the weather starts warming up. Mint seems to die on me really quickly. I have parsley which is doing well, and rosemary which isn't dying OR visibly growing so... who knows?

I've never been able to get coriander going. Which is a shame because it's so tasty.

marty998

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2016, 02:13:43 AM »
Do I qualify to post here? Been keeping a cactus alive and I haven't yet killed a sunflower plant I picked from mum's garden a few weeks ago.

Not a lot of greenery in my apartment block but I'm slowly gathering a growing collection of potted plants.

englyn

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2016, 02:35:23 AM »
Sure, if you want to!

Zucchini can be VERY prolific. 2 plants can probably produce more than 2 zucchini-loving people can cope with even after you give some away.

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2016, 03:09:31 AM »
Hallo all! I have a Kaffir lime, 1 surviving strawberry plant, sweet potato, and a growing succulent collection. I'm renting, but have put a few plants in the garden anyway to make it nicer - the best two so far were native violets, which has become prolific in the shade of some camellias, and a pink dwarf kangaroo paw along the driveway which I plan on purchasing again. Unless they can be separated?

Astatine

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2016, 05:33:43 AM »
Posting to follow! I'm feeling a bit lost for words atm so will add more later.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2016, 06:21:25 AM »
I've not heard of being able to separate kangaroo paws, but you never know!

Zucchini can be VERY prolific. 2 plants can probably produce more than 2 zucchini-loving people can cope with even after you give some away.

Are they as easy as everyone says? I want at least a few wins with gardening this year :-)

Do I qualify to post here? Been keeping a cactus alive and I haven't yet killed a sunflower plant I picked from mum's garden a few weeks ago.

Not a lot of greenery in my apartment block but I'm slowly gathering a growing collection of potted plants.

What are your potted plants, marty?

PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2016, 09:38:25 PM »
Yay! I garden in my rental property in Brisbane. I have what I call my Unproductive Orchard in pots. The Unproductive Orchard is mostly from pre moustache days and represents a large investment in plants and pots for limited produce return.
- dwarf avocado
- lime tree
- lemon tree
- native finger like
- 2 Coffee trees
- Rosemary
- miracle berry tree
- 2 olive trees.

Recently I added some reduced to clear orphans to the mix - brown turkey fig, paw paw and mango tree. Thanks Bunnings for your slightly old rejected.

My MMM gardening effort is the tomatoes. It is my attempt at zero cost gardening. The only inputs have been 5 bags of horse manure ($10). Everything else I scavenged. The seeds were taken from previous crops. It is a red pear cherry tomato. I ate the first ripe one this morning. Mmmmm so good.

Oh and there is a passion fruit vine on the front fence that is super productive.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2016, 10:05:25 PM »
That is one heck of a tomato patch!

Do you know why the orchard is so unproductive?

marty998

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2016, 10:09:20 PM »
Oh they are all potted... I don't have a garden as such :D

2 Cactai, one that is just branches with leaves (not sure what kind it is...). And a sunflower plant which is gorgeous...

Having said that it probably is not sunflower... just has yellow flowers that open and close at different times of the day

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2016, 10:14:17 PM »
PDM - what kind of avocado is it? Just occurred to me that some breeds are much better at self-pollinating than others, so that might be part of the issue.

Marty - I think if you can keep the cacti alive for a few more months you should try a tomato plant in a pot!

PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2016, 10:23:57 PM »
PDM - what kind of avocado is it? Just occurred to me that some breeds are much better at self-pollinating than others, so that might be part of the issue.

It is the ok one for self pollination. Avos have A ands B types and I've never really got much past that other than when I bought it it said it was the good type for self pollination.

The Unproductive Orchard is mostly unproductive through poor plant choice. Olive trees that take 6-7 years to fruit. Coffee plants that take 2-3years. Probably unfair to the lime tree that gives heaps of limes each year. The finger lime tries hard ( that is its flowers) but probably needs more shade and love. Them all being in pots doesn't help. Less room for error with watering and feeding.

But what about those tomatoes! Break even is 3-4 punnets ( about 1 kg). That is a point of pride for me. For too long I've ploughed cash into the garden. Leading to $30/kg tomatoes or there abouts.


PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2016, 10:25:34 PM »
MMMoustache gardening question - what is just not worth the cost/effort/time to grow in your vege patch?

I'll start - carrots. At 99c per KG I can't even come close to that.


PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #15 on: July 15, 2016, 10:30:52 PM »
Hallo all! I have a Kaffir lime, 1 surviving strawberry plant, sweet potato, and a growing succulent collection. I'm renting, but have put a few plants in the garden anyway to make it nicer - the best two so far were native violets, which has become prolific in the shade of some camellias, and a pink dwarf kangaroo paw along the driveway which I plan on purchasing again. Unless they can be separated?
Internet says YES to propagating kangaroo paw by division of clumps.

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #16 on: July 15, 2016, 10:43:15 PM »
Hooray! I'm gardening on the south side of Brisbane. Ground's difficult; I've been told that this specific area was graded flat by the U.S. Army during World War 2 to park tanks and planes on. However it happened, I've got about 4 inches of topsoil before it goes to pure clay. I mean, I have had amateur potters dig it up, work with it and declare it a 'nice terracotta'.

I've put in a raised bed that's about 40cm deep on top of the lawn. The space I had was underneath a high verandah, so I didn't have much hope for it because it gets about 2 hours of sunlight at each end of the day, plus more in winter because it faces north. It's currently giving me more zucchini than I can eat - my next plan is to get another one just like it and plant tomatoes.

My chickens are currently frustrating my efforts - they flew over their 4ft fence a few times before I clipped their wings, and ate all my tomato seedlings. Ah well, try again later.

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #17 on: July 15, 2016, 11:20:57 PM »
I forgot about herbs! I've had some basil and will definitely do it again when the weather starts warming up. Mint seems to die on me really quickly. I have parsley which is doing well, and rosemary which isn't dying OR visibly growing so... who knows?

I've never been able to get coriander going. Which is a shame because it's so tasty.

Great thread idea. Mint likes water and also shade and will take over like a weed. Can plant near the tap so it thrives on the splashes and drips. I had a chocolate mint last year which was divine to smell but despite my best intentions to make a chocolate mohito, I never did.

stripey

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #18 on: July 16, 2016, 12:39:08 AM »
Thanks for starting this thread, Happier :)

MMMoustache gardening question - what is just not worth the cost/effort/time to grow in your vege patch?

I'll start - carrots. At 99c per KG I can't even come close to that.

Onions.

Garlic 'would' be on this list too in terms of cost but the home-grown stuff is so much better than anything imported.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #19 on: July 16, 2016, 03:01:07 AM »
I've posted this link in my forum journal already but adding it here as well. It's a recap of my gardening from the first half of this year on my personal blog. For those who like to look at pictures and read stuff. :)

Astatine

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #20 on: July 16, 2016, 03:05:55 AM »
I'm partway through clearing out a bush that I planted next to the driveway and I'm thinking about planting food in the space. Not sure what yet. It's not great growing weather at the moment (we had snow a few days ago) so I have a bit of time to think about it. Maybe snowpeas or beetroots or I dunno, something random.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #21 on: July 16, 2016, 03:16:28 AM »
MMMoustache gardening question - what is just not worth the cost/effort/time to grow in your vege patch?

I'll start - carrots. At 99c per KG I can't even come close to that.

Onions.

Garlic 'would' be on this list too in terms of cost but the home-grown stuff is so much better than anything imported.

I buy Australian garlic and it is SO expensive. I wish I'd grown some this year! I'm assuming it's too late now?

I'd add potatoes to the list.

happy

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #22 on: July 16, 2016, 06:02:30 AM »
I think its too late, although one blogger from Melbourne has not long planned his. The year i planted mine late, they still browned off in December, but the bulbs were v small due to reduced time in the ground. I would think with the hot summer in Perth this is what will happen.

I posted this on my journal but thought I would repost it here:

Year round garlic
Posting this because I'm pleased to have finally sorted out this problem and in case its any use to anyone else. Once I tasted Aussie organic garlic and then grew my own from the cloves, I was hooked. No more bleached white shop garlic from China  or Mexico for me! Organic garlic won't last a year from harvest to harvest, so trying to stay self sufficient in garlic became a mini challenge for me.

Finally this year all my garlic is processed and I am set. Here's how I do it.
1. Plant some of last years garlic late March-April. Plant more than I want to eat: extra for next year, for early plucking and for shooting. Maybe 2-3 times what I plan to eat in the standard way.
2. Any left over will start to shoot by May June, so it needs to be dealt with. There are 3 options:
   2.1 peel garlic and heat/cook in olive oil at 130degreesC in the oven for 1.5 -2 hours.  Sterilise a jar/s and lid  in oven for the last 20min.  Using aseptic technique, pour oil and garlic into jar, seal tight and keep refrigerated. Garilc preserved in oil is DANGEROUS due to the high risk of botulism. But with the cooking and refrigeration it becomes safe…for several months. Must keep it continuously in the fridge though.
   2.2 peel garlic and freeze ( thank you Allie)
   2.3 put garlic clove into a little water and in a windowsill and let it shoot. The shoots taste delicious in cooking. Great if you have a lot  of cloves left over.
3. The 3 options above ail keep me going until September or so. At this time the garlic can be plucked as a sort of delicious garlic shallot - the bulbs don't start forming until later. Keep plucking or using up frozen/ preserved garlic.
4. Harvest in November/December.  Use fresh and as drying.
5. Keep using garlic you've grown until April, when it starts all over.

Fresh Bread

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #23 on: July 16, 2016, 07:00:24 PM »
This is an excellent thread, thank you so much for starting it!

Our gardening efforts to date have been: put some seeds in the ground and then come back six months later and say "oh, that grew and that didn't". Also our efforts have been hampered by rats and possums. So the plan going forward is to put a bit more effort in plus build some protective cages, basically we need to garden inside an aviary! My friend suggests baiting the rats since I've seen them and they are non-native but I haven't quite got to the point mentally where I can kill something so cute & fluffy (although I'm a total hypocrite because I eat lamb and veal) so I'll see if we can keep them out.

The things we have had luck with are herbs and chillies. I think the oils in them deter the vermin and they seem to need little attention. We seem to have all the oregano (goes wild and is easy), mint, rosemary (so hardy, love it), thai basil (huge bushes of it from seed in one season, and it comes back after winter) that we need. About mint - ours dies back regularly but then comes back, so we just let it get on with it. We did grow a few tomatoes and pick them while green and ripen inside before they were stolen! Anything fruiting got stolen basically, including choko and avocados, both almost inedible off the vine/tree! Our massive avo tree produces about 10-15 watery fruit a year and we get about 5. 

I am very inspired by the tomato and garlic stories. Do you think the rats will avoid garlic? About carrots - we resprouted the heads of a few organic ones and managed to grow new tubers (under rat proof wire), so that's an option for mustachian veg.

Is anyone in a crop swap group? I am a member of a Sydney one but have nothing really to swap :( But there is a beekeeper swapping honey for eggs & veg and people swapping cuttings. Well worth getting into one if you are good at growing more than you can eat of one thing. This one is on Fcebook.

PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #24 on: July 16, 2016, 07:26:40 PM »
Also our efforts have been hampered by rats and possums. So the plan going forward is to put a bit more effort in plus build some protective cages, basically we need to garden inside an aviary!

The things we have had luck with are herbs and chillies. I think the oils in them deter the vermin and they seem to need little attention.

Do you think the rats will avoid garlic?


Bloody possums! For many years I've battled them. Your on the right path with cages. Bird netting works too. It really is the only effective way. Everything else fails (Possoff spray, garlic spray, chilli spray) etc.
I think they have a preference for tomatoes and leafy greens but will eat pretty much your whole patch if food is in short supply- including chilli and garlic and herbs.

However, since getting a dog out possum troubles have entirely gone! Only to be replaced with dog problems (she destroyed a mature potted lemon tree - uprooted and chewed to bits, and likes to bring inside manure from the garden and loves to demulch plants).


PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #25 on: July 16, 2016, 07:28:20 PM »
Oh and check gumtree.com.au for heaps of cheap/free fencing material and wire. Usually a fair bit on there. Don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on infrastructure for a few bucks worth of tomatoes. I'm all about the ROI in the vege patch.

Fresh Bread

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #26 on: July 16, 2016, 08:23:12 PM »
Our wire has all come from the side of the street to date :) We did buy some bird netting but the effing rats chewed through it. Guess they're hungry. We've got a dog but the possums just give him the finger and carry on. I swear if I went out there one night I'd see one lifting up a possum proof cage while his mate grabs the goods. And he'd stand there and wave at me.

PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #27 on: July 16, 2016, 08:26:55 PM »
Haha, I get that. Once I made up a great chilli spray and confidently sprayed it all over my tomatoes. That'll show them possums. Turns out the really enjoyed the nicely flavoured tomatoes.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #28 on: July 16, 2016, 09:11:21 PM »
I'm not in a crop swap group (don't have any crops yet!) but I live in the same suburb as my brother who is similarly inclined towards growing his own, and we have plans for sharing fruit and veges down the track.

limeandpepper

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #29 on: July 16, 2016, 09:12:01 PM »
Also our efforts have been hampered by rats and possums. So the plan going forward is to put a bit more effort in plus build some protective cages, basically we need to garden inside an aviary! My friend suggests baiting the rats since I've seen them and they are non-native but I haven't quite got to the point mentally where I can kill something so cute & fluffy (although I'm a total hypocrite because I eat lamb and veal) so I'll see if we can keep them out.

Yeah, I'd be careful about baiting - just because the culprits are non-native rats doesn't mean that there aren't native animals around that may end up eating the bait that wasn't intended for them.

I also had a rat thief that was taking my tomatoes and radishes! The rat liked to get the tomatoes when they are perfectly ripe, so I had to be just one step ahead of them - the moment they are ready to pick I had to do it, instead of being tempted to leave them to get redder. The radishes I covered with wire, that worked very well.

happy

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #30 on: July 16, 2016, 09:46:02 PM »
I bag unripe tomatoes in a brown paper bag, and tie them on with a twist tie. This stops possums, birds and  wallabies as well as  the fly and caterpillar pests that otherwise decimate my yield.  A bit labour intensive but it works.

Other than pumpkins, and herbs, I grow pretty much everything else under nets.

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #31 on: July 16, 2016, 11:46:48 PM »
Awesome idea for a thread HaH! I'm in western Brisbane on a typical Queenslander block of 464m2 with the house right in one front corner, so quite a decent sized useable block. We're doing renovations including things like pulling down a redundant carport, replumbing from the front in and moving front stairs, so the garden will have to wait until the construction is finished. At this point I have a pot with a cherry tomato and some basil, a mango tree and some bindi filled grass (I hesitate to call it lawn).

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #32 on: July 17, 2016, 04:36:55 AM »
We visited my parents and DH's grandparents this weekend, and now I have a huge stash of new succulent species, a bulb that was growing in air, and a gorgeous plant that appears to possibly be a begonia, with long black stems like bamboo and delicate pink flowers and spotted leaves. I love free plants :)

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #33 on: July 17, 2016, 07:15:43 PM »
Posting to follow but it's already so long that I need to catch up at a later time! Recently moved into a sustainable community type dwelling with communal garden beds, currently taken over by neighbour but this spring I am going to get my hands dirty and looking for inspiration on beginners plants. Most likely looking at tomatoes/capsicum/zucchini as it's what we eat most.

englyn

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #34 on: July 17, 2016, 07:24:23 PM »
MMMoustache gardening question - what is just not worth the cost/effort/time to grow in your vege patch?

I'll start - carrots. At 99c per KG I can't even come close to that.

Cabbage. They take ages to grow, everything eats them, and they're cheap to buy.

The first zucchini I grew were ridiculously easy. The next ones were a bit too wet, I think, and got mildewey, although I think they produced a decent crop anyway. Throw it in and see what happens.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #35 on: July 17, 2016, 08:24:31 PM »
The first zucchini I grew were ridiculously easy. The next ones were a bit too wet, I think, and got mildewey, although I think they produced a decent crop anyway. Throw it in and see what happens.

Thanks englyn. Can't wait for my seeds to arrive so I can start this whole wonderful process!

Posting to follow but it's already so long that I need to catch up at a later time! Recently moved into a sustainable community type dwelling with communal garden beds, currently taken over by neighbour but this spring I am going to get my hands dirty and looking for inspiration on beginners plants. Most likely looking at tomatoes/capsicum/zucchini as it's what we eat most.

Have you let the neighbour know that you'll want some space to use too? If it's a communal garden then she really does have to share :-)
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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #36 on: July 17, 2016, 08:59:52 PM »
Just splurged on a couple of dwarf citrus to eventually go in pots at the sunny front of the house :) I picked kaffir lime and he picked mandarin. We have a lemon tree in the ground that doesn't fruit so I've got to do a bit of research on citrus and what they need. In our stache there is a few hundred dollars allocated to establish a dwarf fruit orchard where I currently park my work van on some grass. Until we retire and that goes, there's no space! But I have lovely visions of ducks wandering round the orchard, eating bugs and feeding the trees. 

HappierAtHome

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #37 on: July 17, 2016, 09:23:57 PM »
Just splurged on a couple of dwarf citrus to eventually go in pots at the sunny front of the house :) I picked kaffir lime and he picked mandarin. We have a lemon tree in the ground that doesn't fruit so I've got to do a bit of research on citrus and what they need. In our stache there is a few hundred dollars allocated to establish a dwarf fruit orchard where I currently park my work van on some grass. Until we retire and that goes, there's no space! But I have lovely visions of ducks wandering round the orchard, eating bugs and feeding the trees.

How exciting! How far off is retirement? And have you had ducks before?

Have you tried Epsom salts on the lemon tree? Also, my lemon seems to need a lot of trace elements (much more than my lime or mandarine). It's had three teaspoons added to its soil in the last four months and I think it needs at least one more.

englyn

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #38 on: July 17, 2016, 09:40:04 PM »
Ask the man of the house to pee on the lemon tree!

stripey

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #39 on: July 17, 2016, 09:41:51 PM »
MMMoustache gardening question - what is just not worth the cost/effort/time to grow in your vege patch?

I'll start - carrots. At 99c per KG I can't even come close to that.

Onions.

Garlic 'would' be on this list too in terms of cost but the home-grown stuff is so much better than anything imported.

I buy Australian garlic and it is SO expensive. I wish I'd grown some this year! I'm assuming it's too late now?

I'd add potatoes to the list.

Usually the rule is 'plant before the solstice' so it's a little late. You still might be able to plant them if you get onto it straight away but they'll be smaller cloves.

Fresh Bread

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #40 on: July 17, 2016, 09:46:31 PM »
Ask the man of the house to pee on the lemon tree!

Ooo really? Does that work? He has peed to repel possums and I'm not sure if it did...

In answer to HaH, retirement is a ever moving goal. If we sold up and moved down the coast, we could retire tomorrow (well, after selling the business etc etc etc). If we stay here, we have to work 1-2yrs more. We are swaying towards staying here.

We had ducks when I was growing up until the not so fantastic Mr. Fox got them. I love them! But thinking practically, ducks would wait a few years more as we'd do a little bit of travelling once retired and once the dog has crossed the bridge.

PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #41 on: July 17, 2016, 10:47:05 PM »
Posting to follow but it's already so long that I need to catch up at a later time! Recently moved into a sustainable community type dwelling with communal garden beds, currently taken over by neighbour but this spring I am going to get my hands dirty and looking for inspiration on beginners plants. Most likely looking at tomatoes/capsicum/zucchini as it's what we eat most.

Zucchini is great for beginners. Don't plant too many plants or you'll be known as that crazy lady always giving away zucchini. With tomatoes - I find cherry sized to be easier and more rewarding than full size.

deborah

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #42 on: July 18, 2016, 03:39:10 AM »
I find with zucchini that I plant seeds for four plants each year. Often at least one dies while it is small, but never all four. Once they are a reasonable size, I pull out any excess plants - I can always do with room for a few more Chinese vegetables.

I have a 700sq m block with a big house on it. However, we have 3 plums (2 way blood plum - had its first fruit last summer, greengage, coe's golden drop - which never has anything worth eating, victoria), cherries (3 sour, 1 sweet), apricot, peach (threatening to get rid of it each year, but it is prolific), 8 apples (started producing last summer), lemon (usually we have a lot, but this year there aren't that many), grapefruit, bitter orange, lime, cumquat (the last two are small and haven't had fruit yet), hazelnuts (started producing last summer).

I have a problem with raspberries. They grow where I don't want them, and don't where I do. I have bought raspberry canes two years running, and they all died. This winter I plan to transplant all the rogue raspberries. That way we might get fruit (they are all together in a place we ignore, so we don't find the fruit).

I have a "perennial vegetable" garden as well as my raised beds. The perennial one has rhubarb, jerusalem artichokes (grow like weeds), ordinary artichokes and asparagus (need more plants) with raspberries at the back.

The raised beds are for annual vegetables.

AliEli

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #43 on: July 18, 2016, 06:34:07 PM »
posting to follow :)

stripey

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #44 on: July 19, 2016, 03:21:35 AM »
I should add that from an economical viewpoint carrots are a waste to grow, but a good fresh carrot straight from the garden is very flavourful and glorious. And you can grow all manner of funky colours too. 'Paris market' variety is small but takes only 15 weeks to crop in my hands

nnls

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #45 on: July 19, 2016, 11:24:03 PM »
Posting to follow, I am very experienced in killing plants of every variety. But I got the first fruit on my lime tree this year (4 years after I potted it) so I am very excitied.

marty998

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #46 on: July 20, 2016, 02:28:15 AM »
Posting to follow, I am very experienced in killing plants of every variety. But I got the first fruit on my lime tree this year (4 years after I potted it) so I am very excitied.

Ooh that is exciting! I hope to get a flower or 2 on my plants... long way off having edible fruit :D

PDM

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #47 on: July 20, 2016, 03:25:13 AM »
Posting to follow, I am very experienced in killing plants of every variety. But I got the first fruit on my lime tree this year (4 years after I potted it) so I am very excitied.
Nice! The Australian Gardening Thread should be all about celebrating the success and commiserating the failures.

nnls

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #48 on: July 20, 2016, 05:17:29 PM »
Posting to follow, I am very experienced in killing plants of every variety. But I got the first fruit on my lime tree this year (4 years after I potted it) so I am very excitied.

Ooh that is exciting! I hope to get a flower or 2 on my plants... long way off having edible fruit :D

Thanks I am super excited about them. I just got back from an 8 week overseas holiday so most of my garden is over ran with weeds thanks to the large amount of rain in perth while I have been away, so the plan is to deweed and then try planting some easy to grob herbs/ vegetables and start again. Hopefully with more success than last time

kiwidollabill

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Re: Australian Gardening Thread
« Reply #49 on: July 20, 2016, 05:44:10 PM »
Member from across the pond....

I'm a keen gardener, ~1600m2 section in town.  Most of it set out in the 'english park form', have owned for ~2yrs and been progressively getting rid of unsighly trees and planting NZ natives and pipfruit trees.  Lots of roses, smaller vege garden area but have a large/old wooden glasshouse which I will need to reglaze as a future project.  Plan to have alot of things in there which arent easy to grow in the colder south....