Sunday, June 01, 2014

Garden share collective June 2014 - Goodbye May & the first day of winter.


Hello there, thank you for visiting and for reading my blog post for June as part of the Garden Share collective, hosted by Lizzie Moult over at Strayed from the Table.
Apologies for not posting this link last month, forgot, sorry
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The temperature in May cooled enough to light the first fire of the season.


What happened in May?
We picked the last of the tomatoes and pulled out all of the sad looking plants


  We decided to plant the onion seeds earlier this year, traditionally they say to plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest, last year we lost the lot with non stop rain. So we're upping the odds on them getting a better start this time around. Planted 18th May.
 
Joe takes his time planting each individual seed at the recommended spacing distance, a tip from the square foot gardening book,  this way you don't have to thin out, replant or waste any seeds, makes more sense doesn't it? I remember planting whole packs of seeds then having to thin out and disposing of half of them, no sense there at all, especially with the cost of seeds!

 
Covering with a cloche until they have germinated and established themselves further aids their success, it also stops the ruddy cat using it as her personal bathroom!
 

Joe finally got around to planting the leeks, he used a broom handle to make a hole and dropped in the leek, that's all they need, Clyde doesn't look at all impressed.


Joe also planted more turnips, carrots, parsnips etc in one of the raised beds in the lowers garden and we bought some starter plants to speed things along a bit. I have no problem buying plants this way, I seem to have epic fails with seeds sometimes, it's less hassle and probably cheaper in the long run. I'm a lazy gardener if truth be told.

Perpetual spinach

Rainbow silverbeet/chard

Two varieties of kale, one curly and the other roma?

In the clear space between the rows and behind the recently planted pear tree 
we've planted broad beans

All the fruit trees have been planted, the two pear, two apples and the fig are in the upper veg garden, all of the others are in the garden. No point showing you photos, they would just look like bits of twig stuck in the ground. They will be more interesting come spring.




A big pile of horse poop, covered. From a free and never ending source.
 

Area outside the kitchen, a work in progress and redesign planned.
View from the bedroom window, we planted the lemon, lime and the bay near the herb garden

We intend to mirror the 'L' shaped garden on the right hand side, we'll remove the herbs  from the raised bed and put them in the ground when we've dug out the border. 
Lots to be done in this area, might have more to report next month.

Elsewhere in the garden...Photo's taken this weekend.
Something's been chomping on the silverbeet and spinach!
But it's hanging in there...

The leeks have grown since taking the photos at the beginning of the post.

The kale too has grown a wee bit, some of these have been chomped too!

New shoots poking their heads out of the ground.

We'll be able to start using some of these lettuce leaves soon
Look at the weeds already!
,
The brassicas are doing well


The pepper/capsicum plants not so well, they got frosted.
Joe's moving them into what will become the greenhouse today.

What I've had to do to stop the cat's getting on these gardens.

Looking a bit sad, I planted more that that! Ruddy cats!

Turnips are doing alright though.

It's citrus time, and this satsuma? is heaving
 This branch is on the floor with the weight

Grapefruit

Three lemons! They won't be enough for my G&Ts!
The stock like to help prune, this area was once part of the garden, it's now a paddock
We have planted a new lemon outside the kitchen.
I think I will be making marmalade soon.

We've even had these flowering.....bizarre.

Joe put some garlic in here today

And as I do this post he is clearing this area and will plant more garlic

And that's me for this month, good riddance May, I didn't like you much.

Today is the first day of winter and this is how it looked earlier. 
See you next month


10 comments:

  1. Very nice Sue, you and Joe have been very busy. The leeks are well positioned as you have taken the time to plant them properly. Lovely silverbeet and hats off for growing your own pesticide free garlic.

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  2. oh my Sue, I have garden envy. your garden is different to mine, huge garden beds and all those fruit trees. everything looks very healthy. the seed tape idea looks perfect for you, have you seen my tutorial? there you are with the fire, and here I am with the fan on! I love seeing all the different gardens.

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  3. OK, those citrus trees almost made me cry... with joy of course. I have a teeny citrus "garden", in containers, with about 6 fruits a year per tree. It's hugely exciting to get that fruit, but yours are... well, quite astounding!

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  4. Looking good in your garden Sue. Lots going on.

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  5. Anonymous11:41 pm

    I too have citrus envy! And land envy too, I so wish we had more room. We always protect our baby leeks with toilet rolls cut in half. They keep away the bugs and biodegrade as the leek grows.

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  6. I am so jealous of your open spaces and the room you have for creating the garden you want ... it looks quite idyllic.
    xx

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  7. What an abundant garden you have at the moment. I have trialed two methods of onions this year for the first time. One shake the seeds out in a row and fingers crossed and like Joe I have also planted them out in to seedtrays individually to then plant out later, putting only one seed in for an onion is hard work the seeds are so tiny.

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  8. Great to see other gardeners gardening on a Grand Scale! I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed but the plans and projects keep on coming!! Look forward to seeing your progress.

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  9. It must be lovely to plant your own veggies and fruit and then pop out to harvest them. The beds look like they will be abundant, like your satsuma tree! oh my goodness, how fab is that! we put some sprouting old potatoes in the soil the other day, you never know! x x x

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  10. Great to hear of your progress. Lots going on.

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