Microclimate Gardening and Food Forests

After last year's hot summer, I've decided to take a different approach this year - microclimate gardening.

The raised beds in our garden are made from Besser blocks, which is great for winter vegies as they retain the heat. However, they can be a bit warm in summer (last year I had to put this canopy up to raise the carrots), so this year they are going to host all of the heat-loving vegies, such as corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, melons, eggplants, etc.

The less heat-tolerant vegies, such as the leafy greens and root vegies, are going to be planted under and between the fruit trees. They'll still get enough light, but they'll also get protection from the hot midday sun; in other words, it will be the start of a food forest.

And I saw a neat idea on Gardening Australia the other day - pots with frames in them for growing Ceylon Spinach or Malabar Greens. These could be really useful to move around the garden to act as temporary shades and I'm also thinking of other plants we could grow in these pots.

I've moved the Queensland arrowroot from the garden into a big black bin under the eaves and it's put its first couple of leaves up already, about 2 months or so ahead of usual. I'm going to try this technique for also growing sweet potatoes and chokoes, so will tell how that goes later in the season.

We've worked out a site for a water tank to collect the rainfall from the roof and have finally agreed a site for the chook pen. It will mean moving the current compost heap, but that's OK with me. I'm also thinking about establishing a pond/bog area to house plants like water chestnuts (currently in buckets) and cranberries (currently in the bath tub); don't know if we'll get to it this year, but it's in the plan!

I lost a lot of time in the garden this winter due to illness and busy-ness, so I'm a little behind the eight ball. But on the weekend I got out in the garden and started weeding, feeding, fertilising (don't you just love chook poo!), planting and mulching under the fruit trees - twenty strawberry runners in so far. Haven't taken a photo yet, but will when I get a bit more done - hopefully next weekend (depending on the weather).

And last, but certainly not least, the bees have survived the winter (I was worried we might lose them when it was very cold and wet for a while) and we're thinking of putting in another hive. It is so terrific to see them around the garden and I'm planting up some extra herbs and flowers just for them.


love and light
naturewitch

Great Day in the Garden

What a great day in the garden! Daphne has just started to flower - I love her beautifully sweet, rich scent. Have you noticed that many winter and early spring flowers have a particularly appealing scent? I wonder if they are calling the bees?

The great maize experiment has come to a close for now. We have had a few heavy frosts now and so I thought it was time to stop hoping for much produce. We didn't get much suitable for grain, but we did get quite a few "baby corn" cobs, which I intend to bottle and use in stir-fries. I've gathered the silks and will dry them to use as a herbal remedy (great as a diuretic and for soothing cystitis), as well as gathering some long leaves, which I will use to try some rush work. So, we may not have obtained what we hoped, but it certainly wasn't all in vain. I'll definitely be planting it earlier next season.

This morning I planted a packet of globe artichoke seeds (37), so hopefully we will have some baby artichoke plants by spring. Globe artichoke is a fantastic food - full of nutrients and a great tonic for tired livers.

I cleared the asparagus bed of the spent ferns today and there was a bonus - red berries, full of seeds. Normally I wouldn't bother with the seeds, as it takes quite a while to grow them to harvest size and you have to sort out the male from the female plants. But this asparagus is rather special. I bought it to replace the crowns that were overpowered by parsley a few years ago when I was ill and couldn't tend the garden. I had ordered both green and purple asparagus crowns, but when the order arrived, there was only purple asparagus because they had run out of green. The purple was merely to satisfy my curiosity, but it has proven to be a very prolific and delicious asparagus. It's not in the catalogue anymore; hence, I thought it might be worth trying to propagate some from the seed. I can't remember whether it was a hydrid or not, but I guess its babies will let me know the answer to that. Anyway, the asparagus bed is now fed and mulched and ready for next season.

Remember those cheeky potatoes surviving under the asparagus ferns? Well, the frost had knocked them back as well, so I harvested their produce - a couple of kilos of nice, red potatoes. They'll make a great meal.

Oh, and I picked the last of the tomatoes this morning - I'm blown away by the fact we still had tomatoes on bushes (albeit rather dead looking bushes) in open ground in Canberra in mid-July! It must be a record of some type, I'm sure. This winter has been rather mild until the last week or so, so maybe that accounts for it. I've collected both red and green tomatoes, so when I find my green tomato marmalade recipe, I'll be in the kitchen cooking some up - it sounds weird, but is truly delicious.

Unfortunately, with the frost the nasturtiums are looking rather sad and the peas, onions, leeks and shallots are not making much progress. But the broccoli is still producing madly and there's a couple of nice cauliflowers ready for picking, not to mention the ongoing Asian greens and the baby beets.

I'm fairly pleased with my vege garden - my aim is ultimately to produce fruit and vegetables all year round, so we are more self-sustaining. There will be some limitations, though - mangoes, bananas, pineapples and pawpaws are not likely to grow here. But we'll be happy with what we have.

love and light
naturewitch

Today's sowing

The growing challenge goddess will be happy - today I grabbed a heap of herb seeds, some of them woefully out of date (but you never know your luck!) and potted them up. The kids helped and within an hour, we had over 100 little pots (that were just hanging around doing nothing) filled and awaiting the rain that the goddess is now delivering. Thank you, universe!

Here's what we planted: arnica, bergamot, bilberry, calendula, caraway, chickweed, chives, clary sage, cranberry, cress, dill, marshmallow, nigella, parsley, sage, witch hazel.
Not sure if they'll all be viable, but you never know unless you try.

Also planted some more veges for the cooler months: spring onion, winter lettuce, pai tsai, wong bok, kale, English spinach, mustard greens; and I sprinkled around some of the white beetroot, carrot and parsnip seed that I was harvesting, just in case they take off.

Currently we are picking raspberries, pears, quince, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants (aubergines), zucchini (courgettes), beans (both purple and green), rocket, English spinach and pai tsai. Oh, and the red cabbage I turned into sauerkraut (I hope!) a couple of days ago and heaps of herbs. Gloat, gloat gloat. How lucky are we to be able to grow our own food!

Must start thinking about chookies and ducks and I wonder if the park across the road could accommodate a milking goat?

love and light
naturewitch