Food Gardening

[Ducatiboy stu]

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Thats the plan for the pines as the trunk is to far to reach with the Makita..

Cable tie the Makita to the front of this

Note: Also a very effective machine for removing lantana

 

[Lincoln2]

As per a cracker tip from WEAL earlier (with youtube vid and everyfing) I decided to plant my August taters in pots. I was a bit late but - maybe early Sept.

Seed taters at our local produce cost $3.60/kg which gets you a good number of chitting sebagos.

They ******* went OFF! I filled the pot to 1/3 with potting mix and planted. I've already added a mix of compost and sugar cane mulch to 2/3rds and then to full, about 10 days apart for each hilling, that's how fast they took off.

Re the bottom left: I cut the bottom out of a pot and placed it on top of the full pot to get a double pots worth of crop. I thought I'd invented a genius idea but apparently it's been done before.

I may have accidentally over crowded a few pots but as this is an experiment I was willing to take a few chances.

These were the biggest pots I could find in town and I'm already planning a trip to the big smoke (Lismore) to source bigger pots for the Feb planting.

I'll post more pics at harvest.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I planted mine about the same time but in the mushroom compost in 30 litre pots with 3 spuds in each as per video, final topping was some of the compost from my own heap, not got flowers yet but have just started to bud, been feeding them with tomato plant fertilizer as I suspect the guy in the video was doing to get such a big crop.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Old tyres are really good to

Just keep putting another on and filling with compost and straw, water with powerfeed/fish emulsion once a week

 

[spog]

I once put seaweed on my vegies and wow did they take off,If you want to do it don't get caught.Apparently taking it from the beach is very naughty.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Its the bomb that seaweed. Friends on the coast swear by it

Best liquid fertilizer is a big cherry barrel filled with everything from horse **** to fish frames, seaweed, dead cats, anything, than let it ferment up.

I cup in a watering can every week

 

[wide eyed and legless]

That Powerfeed is good stuff but I wouldn't be recommending for tubers or root crops, to much nitrogen,makes lots of foliage at the expense of what is growing underground.
As there doesn't seem to be any specific fertilizers for the eggplant, chili, bell peppers and potatoes I just go with the tomato feed lower nitrogen and phosphorous higher potassium 3-3-4.5.

 

[spog]

I believe seaweed extract is more of a soil conditioner than a fertilizer.

 

[Mardoo]

I believe seaweed extract is more of a soil conditioner than a fertilizer.

Yep, discovered that after "fertilising" my hops for two years with seaweed extracts. Boy did they take off after I actually started fertilising them!

 

[wide eyed and legless]

If you want an all rounder spog try the Maxicrop liquid fertilizer it has the seaweed plus fertilizer at about half the nitrogen as Powerfeed and save the Powerfeed for green leaf vegies.
Seasol at the start to establish a healthy plant and root system, then one of the above for whichever vegies you are growing.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Found these little jiggers on eBay cheap and handy for anyone growing cucumbers or tomatoes up string.

 

[Danwood]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/131629504675

Great find there,WEAL....cheap as chips.

 

[Bribie G]

My new place has pretty clapped out soil. It's old volcanic red stuff but pretty well compacted and leached (sloping block) but with plenty of compost / spent grain / trub dug into the veg garden it should form beautiful soil. Big compost bin is already happening.

One treatment I'm planning is to spray the whole block (half acre mostly lawns) with Magnesium Sulphate, Epsom Salts. Also foliar feed the couple of citrus. I did that in a smaller yard and the grass turned out so green it was almost blue. I'm mowing on mulch setting but when the lawn really thickens up I'll do the odd bag-catch to get fodder for the compost.

Any hints on bulk Epsom Salts? Faulding blue boxes from the chemist are about $4 or $12 a kilo, Bunnings do an ag version for about $6 a kilo.

I reckon I'd need about 10 kilos.

 

[sponge]

Alright, I'm really getting the ***** with some of these insects that keep eating my greens - mainly pak choy, basil and chili leaves (along with hops). Some are taking big chunks out of leaves, and the hops seem to get a mix of holes/chunks and transparent patches.

I've used pesticide (suitable for edibles) along with tomato/vegetable powder but neither seem to have worked.

What do you greenies suggest to protect your precious edibles?

 

[Spohaw]

I some times grow plants as sacrificial offerings to the bugs to try keep them away from plants I like

It's usually bok choy or cabbage .... Stuff the bugs seem to love then I hammer those plants with as much dirty pesticides I can get my hands on haha

I don't eat them so it's ok in my head

 

[wide eyed and legless]

When I see big chunks coming off leaves if they are low usually snails higher it will be caterpillars, I do the rounds in the morning and look for the snails and caterpillars and pick them off, red cabbage attracts less caterpillars in the summer, they must know they stick out like dogs balls.
I get the odd caterpillar in the greenhouse on my tomato plants, but just one can take out quite a few leaves, you can try this stuff sponge.
https://www.myhealthbox.eu/en/medicine/neemtechinsecticidalpotassiumsoa/2201932

Bribie I would have a look around for magnesium sulphate, sure I saw some for about $30 for 10kg, maybe eBay?

Yep eBay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10Kg-Bucket-EPSOM-Bath-SALT-Magnesium-Sulphate-Pharmaceutical-Grade-/131642822042?hash=item1ea6860d9a:g:Yu4AAOSwFL9TulQP

 

[Dave70]

Alright, I'm really getting the ***** with some of these insects that keep eating my greens - mainly pak choy, basil and chili leaves (along with hops). Some are taking big chunks out of leaves, and the hops seem to get a mix of holes/chunks and transparent patches.

I've used pesticide (suitable for edibles) along with tomato/vegetable powder but neither seem to have worked.

What do you greenies suggest to protect your precious edibles?

I've done alright using a homemade chilli (searing hot bhut, if that makes a difference) garlic and soap flake spray dispensed from a cheap spray bottle. The key is to coat the leaves top and bottom. The *******s like to tuck themselves in between some of the new growth on my kale particularly. And re apply often. One shower and its gone. Remember its only a deterrent, not a killer.
Combined with those biodegradable safe for everything snail pellets I'm managing to keep the snails and arsehole cabbage moths under some kind of control.

Heres a basic recipe for the spray. There plenty of variations and some use garlic exclusively.
All I can suggest is filter it good. Those micron sized atomizers on the spray bottles clog up super easy.

8-10 chillies finely sliced
4 cloves garlic crushed and cut roughly
1 Tablespoon soap flakes
1 Litre boiling water
Combine in a glass jar and set aside for 24 hours. Strain and pour into a spray bottle.
Use within 2 weeks

 

[sponge]

I've made a similar garlic/chilli/vinegar spray but didn't seem to work all that well, but didn't have any soap flakes so will try those next time.

Looks like I've got a few options to try though. Thanks again fellas!

 

[Lincoln2]

I'm not sure if you've heard of Pigeon Peas. They're a bush that produce pods of lentils. They've been a food source in India for at least 3,500 years. Very hardy; drought and frost tolerant, fast growing and prolific croppers. My some-time co-brewer Bill gave me some seeds and I planted them on the avenue entrance to my brewery, you may notice it in the background.