My July to do list

Welcome to the first day of July! (Well it was the first day, but then I got busy doing other things!!!)

I've been sitting down thinking about everything that needs looking at in the garden and thought I'd share my to do list, maybe it will inspire you too.

* Asparagus need attention. At this time of year a lot of the fronds on the asparagus have died down. Now is the time to chop them all back and re pot or feed them for the coming season. I discovered last year that they respond well to a good layer of new composted and composted manure. I also build up the soil level over them as it tends to drop through the year and they grow thicker growing up through more soil.
*The bananas are looking a little untidy, the wind is up and the dead leaves are blowing the trees around. It's time to prune off the dead leaves and have a look if there are any excess suckers coming up that need removing. Ideally I try to keep just one leader in the group and two followers, any additional take to much energy from them. I've also got a bunch of bananas on one cluster. Removing the flower once the bunch is established also helps conserve energy and prevents visiting bats attracted by the flower nectar. I normally hesitate to do this as I love watching the birds that come daily after the nectar as well, but there's a new flower about to open so the old one can go.

Banana flower needing removing to allow bananas to put their energy into the bunch.

Spring bulbs I'm hoping to get planted early this month.

*I'm a bit late for spring bulbs, but I haven't yet missed my opportunity. We'll be putting them into the small wicking beds around our new pergola for a bit of colour.
*The jerusalem artichokes have had their flowers die down a while ago now and have been awaiting me digging them up for eating. This is my first time trying these and I'm excited to see how they've gone. I'll eat some of the tubers and keep some for replanting which can happen now.
*The ginger plants have died down last month, and that's the sign that they are ready to harvest. They can be left in the ground for a while, but they get 'hotter' in flavour the longer they are in, and come spring they will shoot again. As I'm not a fan of really spicy, I tend to dig them up sometime in July. Again, some for me and some for replanting.
*The turmeric is beginning to die down now as well. Related to the ginger family, I'm going to treat them in the same way. Harvest this month and keep some for replanting.
 There's probably a whole heap more that will get attention this month, but I figure that's a good starting list.
What's on your to do list this month?

Things of note

Today I noticed:
* that our loquat tree has started to flower. I'm really excited to see this as it's the first time since we transplanted it out of it's pot and into it's final position. For anyone who doesn't know what a loquat is they are well worth trying. Ours was producing fruit while in it's pot within a couple of years. The fruit is kind of egg shaped and when ripe a lovely apricot colour and best of all tastes very good. They also seem very easy to grow from seed. I've got some seedlings underway from fruit from this tree.

Loquat tree in flower

*that the tadpoles I'd seen turned into very small black frogs are in fact seemingly turning into lovely small green ones, I found a whole heap of them on the leaves of the water plants in that pond. This is a tremendous relief because I had seen my second only cane toad in the yard as I was walking back late from the beach one night and I had started to wonder. They are well camouflaged amongst the pond's greenery, well enough that hopefully the kookaburras who take the occasional baths here won't notice. I have noticed an increase in the number of frogs around both ponds, I don't know whether the small LED light I placed in each pond is attracting them, or perhaps a supply of insects by night for them to feed on, or maybe it's just the dry summer heat is attracting them to stay closer to water.

You can see three frogs on the stalks here and one on the leaf above.

Look how many are hiding amongst the leaves here.

*Another banana tree has just come in to flower. That will be the third one, as another two are well under way with bananas gaining size each time I see them.

* I spotted a small praying mantis, another "good" bug for the garden. After reading about good bugs versus bad bugs I like to celebrate every new good bug that arrives. Every insect brings a better diversity to the garden and an opportunity to fight off the bad bugs without resorting to chemicals in a garden where I'm trying to remain as organic as possible.

Can you spot it? It's almost invisible against the bark on the tree trunk.

Rain, rain, and more rain

It's been raining heavily for the last three days which means I've been unable to get much done in the garden this past weekend. It was raining on my last day off as well. The grass that only a month ago was dried, dead and brown, is now flourishing at knee height. The only plants wilting now are those that are drowning. It's amazing how much the weather and climate can change so quickly.

A fortnight ago, after we had the first lot of deluge I pulled out the cucumber plants which had been flourishing happily in the number one wicker bed up till that first rain. They thrived, protected from the worst of the heat with a shade cloth canopy, and had enough constant access to water via the wicker bed setup, but kept free from water directly on the leaves. My first successful cucumbers! No problems with powdery mildew, no problems with them becoming dried out from lack of water. They were perfect, and delivered a bountiful crop of white cucumbers until the rain came. With the constant wet weather came the powdery mildew, and then the vine in it's weakened state fell victim to an invasion of bad (24 spot) ladybugs and their hungry offspring. I decided to cut my losses and pulled them out. Out too came the first crop of peanuts, perhaps in retrospect a little early, but I still have enough to be able to use some of the crop to replant and go again, and some for a little snack. In their place have been planted a variety of lettuce seedlings and asian greens from seed.  A fornight later the seedlings have sprouted and will soon need to be thinned out.

The chickens were moved off wicking bed number two, and onto bed three, which was already sporting a thick cover of green manure ready to delight the chooks and nourish my soon to be next planting area.
Wicking bed two has been planted out with some snake beans grown from seeds I'd struck from last seasons crop, some tomatoes and basil, edged with the rest of my peanut seedlings and accompanied by some parsley. About a week ago I also popped in some dwarf bean seeds, a mixed of borlotti and butter among others, and some beetroot. I have to say that I think the seeds may have been too old, because nothing has shown itself yet. I have to admit, I'm not feeling positive, given that beans and normally really quick to show.

On the positive, the rosellas I planted out have all settled in really well courtesy of the rain. So too has the sweet potatoes I'd started from slips from others I'd grown. These are outside the wicker beds in the ground gardens created by the retaining walls I've built to level the garden for the wicker beds to sit flat. Older plants like the pawpaw (papaya) and the artichoke that I thought had all but died off in the dry, have been given a new lease of life by the rain and are coming back strong. All sorts of things are popping up, including lots of self seeded parsley, nastursiums and even some basil right at the back door.

The first bananas were cut down a fortnight ago as well, and finally today have started to show a flash of yellow, indicating they are about to ripen. I find once one starts, they whole bunch follow suit really quickly. So hopefully Thursday will see me with some fresh home grown bananas, and by that night a well stocked supply in the freezer ready to use in home made icecream.
Today I also picked the one pineapple that had grown this season. It looked a little the worse for wear today, and when I went to investigate I discovered the base was aready blushing golden on it's way to being ripe.

In all lots coming along nicely. I am keen to make sure the three wicker beds really prove their worth over the next seasons, although with this rain, I wonder why I even needed them in the first place. How's your garden surviving the wet, or are you somewhere where you're still battling the heat and dry?

Going Bananas

I was so excited yesterday to look up from the bottom of the garden and see I have another banana about to flower. For those who don't know the joys of growing your own bananas yet, the flower is the start of what will become your bunch of bananas. Last year, almost a year after planting two suckers that a friend had given me, I had my first two bunches of home grown bananas. The tricky thing is that like the small hand of bananas you buy and leave on the bench to ripen, the whole lot ripen all at once and I'd estimate that one of my bunches last year would have had in excess of 40 bananas on it. Thats a lot of bananas to deal with at once.

You can see the flower 'bud' in the centre of the image.

After picking the bunch, I've discovered then ripen quite quickly if I hang them inside off of the rafter in the lounge. (Just a note here, be careful for the sap, it stains, hence the newspaper on the floor). It also makes them easier to access. Fresh and newly ripe they are delicious to just walk past, grab one and snack on it, even my chooks like them (although it's interesting to note that they wouldn't touch a store bought one). The rest I chopped up and froze in tupperware containers thinking I'd use them in smoothies or even get motivated enough to do a banana cake. I felt that those two would be plenty to keep my happy, until I discovered banana icecream that is.



My grandaughter helping herself to one off a ripened bunch earlier this year.

 Those first two banana trees produced their own suckers. Most of the websites and blogs I googled suggested that you remove all suckers but one, so you are left with the leader (the first big one) and a follower which is the one that will replace it when you cut down the original after it delivers what will be it's first and only bunch.  This is so that the bananas put their efforts into producing fruit rather than growing the developing suckers. I have to admit, that laziness meant I've got more suckers than I should have and a few months back I got hubby to dig some out and we've established another two spots in the garden with their own two banana plants growing. These ones are coming along nicely, but it will be a year before I'll see them fruiting.



In the centre you can see one of the birds which visit the flowers daily. This photo was taken in early October so it's taken almost 2 months to form the fruit from this time.

 So last years two 'followers' became the leaders and were doing well, have flowered and now have set fruit, so it was a real shock to see that one of the 'followers' is also now beginning to flower.



Bananas growing on the bunch.


Then delight turned to panic last night as I was working late in the garden and saw not just one bat, but two land in my banana tree! Both flew off again, but now I'll have to watch very closely for the first signs of ripening on the bunches that are hanging there ready to make my move before the bats do. If  anyone has any suggestions on how I can deter the bats from my bananas please let me know.

The bananas bekonning to bats in the late day. How do they even know they are there?

January Garden Update, it's all about multiplication...

My poor gardens have been so neglected of late. With the longer trading hours at work over the leadup until Christmas, and a lot of time spent inside the house to get things done ready to received visitors (my lovely sister and her kids) I haven't spent much time at all out in the garden.
Many of the seedlings I'd struck had grown too oversized and pot bound to be able to transplant into the garden. The gardens themselves had become overgrown with weeds and grass and the chickens had dug up anything that looked half decent! So just over a week ago I started the clean up. Out with the strangled seedlings (actually into the compost heap). All pots cleaned and stacked up ready for my next try. I'm pleased to say as I look around my garden, that much of what I've planted recently has been the offspring of last years plants, and my numbers are increasing.

Most of the ginger plants (I'm proud to say I've about 18 plants from last years roots, which started from 1 plant the first year and became 4 last year) planted out into one of the garden beds (new philosophy, not enough spare time to keep this many garden beds going with changing crops) where they will sit happily now for between 6 to 18 months. I normally like to harvest my ginger around August as the leaves die down, but these may not have had enough time in the ground by then to develop good sized roots. They've been given a good sprinkling of "Rooster Booster" to help get them kickstarted in the hopes of getting a great surprise come this winter, but the books all say they need at least 12 months, so we'll see.

The new Ginger bed, 15 plants here

I purchased some Tumeric roots from a fresh food market held near work each Wednesday and they had started to sprout so I popped some into pots to see if I could get them to grow and I'm thrilled to say I have at least one that has pushed up it's first leaf. I had already purchased a Tumeric plant last year along with a couple of Galangal plants (these two are both related to Ginger and given my success with that I figured I'd give them a go). I had wanted to buy more as they are a nice green plant with beautiful leaves, and they seem happy enough to grow in the garden under my giant Ghost Gum where not much else is thriving, but a little bag of roots for $3 seemed like a more cost effective way to get them going than $15 plants.
I weeded and tidied up another of the two garden beds near to the one now containing the ginger. They needed quite a bit of work as the chickens had slowly spread them almost flat. One has been planted out with my peanuts I'd struck from seed from the plants I'd bought last year (two original plants become about a dozen). These too had become seriously pot bound so I'm hoping I haven't left it too long to get some results from them.

Peanut shrub

In the clean up of the garden beds I dug up a couple of tomatoes that have sprung up and transplanted them into a better position near the fence line so I can tie them up and hopefully have a little more control over them as they grow! Each year since I first planted cherry tomatoes I've had them come up all over the place, many I just rip out as weeds, some I take pitty on as they seem so strong and healthy, letting them develop where they sit, only to get frustrated when they overtake other plants in the bed, so this time I'm determined to be the one in control!
To top off my gardening exploits, I put in some french beans in the third bed (my others were all dug up by the chooks in one of their escapades), some peas along the fence line, and lastly a few marigolds dotted around, just for good measure.

French Beans on the way

Reading this it sounds like everything in the garden came to a holt, but as I look around my bananas have grown, and look about ready to pick the first bunches,

 my snake beans have been producing steadily, my spinach has somehow survived the incredible heat through summer and it still going, the rosella seedlings are now about 2 foot high and growing quickly with recent rains,

One of the Rosellas

the Purple prince chilli that stayed no more than a seedling for the last 12 months has actually grown only a little but produced it's first chillies,

The purple prince, worth the wait

the water chestnuts have multiplied as well, quietly growing from last seasons bulbs I kept and put into another tray in the pond in the hope of getting enough to be able to move some into a new pond sometime this year,

The water chestnuts will start to die off ready for harvest

the gooseberries are growing some leaves back after the beetle problems left them stripped, the cuttings from the Brunsfelia (Yesterday, today and tomorrow bush) are holding their own, the raspberries are shooting canes up everywhere, the pineapples have produced new leaves,

the fig has 3 fruit on it, the lemonade tree is loaded down with fruit,

new growth one the potted citrus, the new paw paw has grown noticably,

there's frog eggs in the pond,


Those white bubbles are frogs eggs

 and the purple passionfruit has set fruit and the local pair of curlews have hatched two babies.

This protective parent has both chicks under her wings.

It all leaves me with hope that even without my contant input, things still have a way of getting slowly better.

Spring gardening update

So I've been really slack and not done a posting for so long. I got frustrated as I had people making lovely comments on my posts and then when I went to their posts and tried to leave a comment, I failed. I couldn't make it happen!!! Anyway, in a grumpy state, I gave up. Yes, I have tried again, unsuccessfully. But time has past, I'll give it another go shortly, but in the meantime, my garden is growing, changing with the season. If I don't make a note of it here, then next year I won't have a record to go back to, and after all, that was a large part of the point of this blog in the first place. Kind of a garden diary, as my other attempts have left large holes. (I have a diary I was making notes in....somewhere???)

Moving on....

The apple trees have flowered, and again this year they have had some tiny little fruits on them. The tree on the shadier side of the gate had one, which today is now on the ground, in perfect condition, so whether it's been wind, or just that the tree knows it's too soon to bear fruit in only it's second year? The other one has three little apples still holding tight. This was the tree that had a couple of small fruit on it last year, so maybe there's hope yet. From my reading it seems that the trees don't normally produce in their first few years.

One of three little apples, about the size of a golf ball.

The macadamia nut tree had flowered with the most flowers I've seen on it yet, and seemed to have lots of little nuts forming, but with the storms last week and all the wind, I noticed today that it seems like many of the higher stems are now bare and only the lower protected branches still have nuts on.

Lots of flowers on the macadamia looked promising.

Hubby got this one! Little did I realise it would be the one & only!

The peach tree that was so badly damaged last year when another big tree collapsed on it during a storm produced quite a lot of fruit, so too did the nectarine. However they both fell victim to fruit fly and we only got just that first single peach, the flys made short work of the rest. (Note to self, even if the fruit is looking fine and there are no signs of infestations still get a dac pot up and going early JUST IN CASE!!!)  These little flies went from nothing to millions in just a couple of days, so there's no time to be unprepared. All the books said to have the dac pots up when the plants were flowering, but everything just looked so healthy and I kept forgetting and it hadn't seemed to be an issue (famous last words). So by my rough calculations I would think I'll need to have the lures on the trees by early to mid September next year, just to be sure.

Nectarines, just days before being completely wiped out by fruit fly.

With Spring's arrival, the sweet peas I planted just after St Patricks day back in March finally started to grow and flower. Not as great a display as I'd originally hoped for, but I had thought they were done and failed months ago, so they'd not received any tender loving care for some time. I'm collecting some of the seeds so I can try to raise more for next year, rather than buying punnets like I did this year.

Oh, and I almost forgot the most exciting thing of all, one of my banana plants has had a bunch of bananas slowly growing ever larger and today, to my delight the other banana tree has put forward a great big flowering stem, so hopefully this too will be productive soon.

Anyhow, that's all for tonight. Bed time for me. So much more happening, but that can wait for another night.