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Backyard Vegetable Gardening & Livestock Raising & Sustainable Living

Ooh yes, blackberry = yum but difficult to control! Good luck with that ;) =D

The strawberries definitely needed more shade. They were pretty much in the direct midday sun. Silly!

You must try the watermelons too, they were really easy to grow. We grew mini ones with orange-coloured flesh. Different, but very tasty :)
 
^Yeah, Blackberries are weeds here- But I like them :) The rim of our yard was OUT OF CONTROL! And will be next year unless we try to kill them off......
But we won't ;)

You should totally get your veggie patch back up!
I want to get one going in this yard-
We grew tomatoes and had alot of fruit (most already established in our yard)

Mint is one of my favorites- The best way to grow mint in ground (unless you are like me and LIKE that they are invasive) is to plant them in a pot or a wide bowl planter and plant the entire planter in the ground.......
 
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Here are some of the plants I have been growing lately, the photo is fairly old.

A) Rhipsalis spp It's a type of cactus (with no spines) that I hang on my veranda but I was giving it a break out in the yard.

B) A tray of Tamarillo seedlings I did. They were all ready a few weeks ago (about 30cm high) and I have given most of them away. I've already got one in the yard but I am going to put at least one more in.

C) This was an experiment. They are two types of Ceylon Spinach. I trained them up the fence just behind where they are in the photo. So they are an edible climbing green, they are massive at the moment but I haven't tried them yet.

D) Ha! Cat grass! Every now and then I buy a little cat grass and grow it on for friends of mine that have cats. Whoever I give it to are always amazed at how their cat immediately rubs themselves on it and start eating it. I usually do it for cats that have to spent their time inside in units or apartments, poor things :)

E) Is a form of Crassula ovata (Jade plant) called Coral Jade. I am obsessed with Jade plants, and have about 10 different forms of Crassula ovata. I have an ovata hedge at the back door that is about 500mm high and 3 or 4 meteres long, it looks great.

F) Is another Jade, but it's a Portulacaria. It's a really old fashioned plant in Australia and I have always wanted to grow it, so I am going to put a hedge of it in somewhere. (They are all about 250mm high now, every thing has grown well)

G) Is a tray of native Australian trees called Davidsonia pruriens. I've got a passion for Australian plants and these are rare and threatened. They are being used a lot commercially these days because their fruit, although extremely sour proves to be a great as a Jam, sauces etc.



I could go on and on about the things I am growing at the moment. My veggie patch is chockers. It's a real passion of mine, and working in the industry is great. I love plants and gardening :)
 
Klue said:
D) Ha! Cat grass! Every now and then I buy a little cat grass and grow it on for friends of mine that have cats. Whoever I give it to are always amazed at how their cat immediately rubs themselves on it and start eating it. I usually do it for cats that have to spent their time inside in units or apartments, poor things :)
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That is so lovely and thoughtful Klue!!
How funny is it when they rub themselves all over it :D
I wonder what's in the plant to make them so attracted to it...do you know Klue?


I forgot to mention our passionfruit vine!! We got 2 passionfruits off it last season, and this season we've had heeeaps of flowers (which I LOVE!) on it but no fruit...?

OH and also!!!! We have had a tree in our backyard since we moved in and never knew what it was...until last year we got some fruit off it....and it's a pomegranate tree!! This summer it's got quite a few flowers and little fruit on it so hopefully we'll get some big enough to use for cooking/eating =D
 
Aaaand here are some photos :)

They aren't NSFW but tags added to save room.
NSFW:
Pomegranates!
pomegranate1.jpg

pomegranate2.jpg


My 2 favourite trees in our yard, the melaleuca tree in the front, and this huge beautiful deciduous tree behind.
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Klue, perhaps you could tell what kind of tree it is?? Here's a close-up of the leaves if that helps...
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This is that same tree in Summer:
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And in Winter:
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Cool huh! <3

And this is our vegie patch back when we first moved in, after I planted some seedlings :)
herbs2.jpg

vegies2.jpg


And here's one of our grevillea
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Aaaaand I think we're just about done here ;) %)
 
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ocean said:
LoveAlways- That sounds fantastic!!
I'd really like to get chickens-
I have seen your photos in the thread in HL of your garden.......very pretty.
What is a daikon?
As far as purple sweet potatoes- I have never seen one, but do buy purple potatoes :)
If the veggie or fruit is odd, I like it:D For some reason Broccoflower tastes yummier than broccoli or cauliflower- and purple, or orange cauliflower tastes better than white:D

Pip- Um.....I have lots of random info stored in my little brain but at the moment can't think of anything- as the thread progresses I know I will have much more to add ;)
Click to expand...

Daikon is a japanese radish. Its an amazing vegetable!!! Its like a flavor sponge =) But my favorite way to eat it is sauteed simply with salt pepper and oil.

I have jicama seeds but we haven't planted them yet. My husband doesn't know what they are so he's hesitant. I've only ever eaten them in Mexico.
 
Jicama is good :)
I saw a recipe recently for a jicama and apple slaw.....thought that sounded good..... I THINK it was served in a fish taco but I am NOT certain- but that would be tasty :)

I will have to look up daikon- I am thinking....there are these chips I sometimes buy- They are called "terra" chips. Its a mix of root veggies made into chips:) I think Daikon is in them???

Klue- awesome set up...... I am going to start my seeds soon. I need to get some soil pellets- but now stores are putting out veggie seeds and herb seeds.....and I save seeds off of plants- so I have anumber from last year and the year before- Hopefully they grow:)
We will see.......
 
Looks like a Waterhousia (there has been a name change, it's Syzygium floribundum now) But I could be wrong. I didn't know they were deciduous. What is the new growth like? Does it flower and fruit?
 
^^ Klue, is that directed to me??

If so, no, it does not fruit nor flower. It's a big deciduous tree, like an ash tree or something?
 
^ Yep. It looks like an ash, but a native Rainforest one. There are deciduous rainforest trees, it really does remind me on a lilly pilly (Syzygium, etc).

Sorry, I would have to key it out or have a closer look. :)


Edit: On further thought it could be a species of Flindersia, which is a native rainforest Ash. I looked in a few of my books but couldn't find a likely culprit.
 
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^^ Ahhh you're awesome! Thanks mate :)

And YES perhaps one day if you're in Sydney you should come and check it out for yourself!! :D
 
^ Sounds good. There certainly could be some shenanigans next time I'm down there :)


I've been inspired to try some heirloom varieties of veggies and herbs in my garden. There is a few good seed companies locally here, but it is endless online.

Check out this scalloped squash!

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It's just hard in the height of summer to keep up to some things. I usually let my veggie patch wain a bit at this time of year. I do have some 8 or 9 foot cucumbers trellised at the moment. They are from some seed I got from an old bloke at the Ex-Services club that has been in his family for a few generations. Long white cucumbers. Not many fruit are setting, I think there aren't many bees around and I'll have to do some hand pollination.
 
^^ That would be a cool photo! If you enlarged it, you could enter it in this week's photo contest :)
 
Reminds of Urbanhogs old avatar. He had a bit of a green thumb as well if I recall correctly.
 
^ Are you trying to grow them in the ground or in pots?


Compost worked into the soil for in the ground, or a Premium potting mix (based on Peat Moss) in a pot. Plenty of sun, water them every day or two and use a fish and seaweed liquid fertilizer once a fortnight. Will work a charm!
 
oh, i actually had good luck with chives in the past. i live in ohio, where spring comes late. i put them in a mostly sunny section with stuff like parsley, lettuce and a few cucumber plants.
 
can someone give me advice? like i said above, i'm in ohio, so winter lingers on and frosts at night are hit or miss in may. i usually try to start tomato plants from seed in april (indoors in my sunroom) but they stay super small, and never look 1/10 as good as the plants ready to go in the ground that you find at the store in may/june. should i try starting them in march this year? or is there harm starting even earlier, if i keep them in a warm part of the house instead of in the unheated sunroom? i end up with a decent fruit crop, but it's super late in the season. like i just start getting tomatoes when everyone else has passed their peak. so i'm thinking that i could have them for a lot longer if i get the early timing right, and then also plant some on my past schedule as well...
 
-->and heads up Klue. imma adopt you as my garden master, so expect pm's with lotsa questions :D
 
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