Food Gardening

[Camo6]

Fresh basil reigns supreme. Last year I grew it around my herb patch and nearly cried when it was all gone. This year I tried perennial basil. Too perfumey for my liking and as rough as dried nettle, but if it hangs around awhile I won't complain. Still, no comparison to the real thing on a pizza with tomato and bocconcini or with good pasta and extra virgins. Now I'm hungry again.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Fresh basil, coriander, parsley and dill and curry plant, I do grow other herbs but those five are the mainstay as for perennial basil it is good to have through the winter months, better than nothing.
Another thing about veggie gardening which is a lesson to be learned in serving beer, pick a strawberry or a tomato which has been warmed by the sun and the taste is one big flavour burst, but take them out of a fridge entirely different, same with beer to get the full flavour it has to be warmer than fridge temperature.

 

[Dave70]

Fresh basil reigns supreme. Last year I grew it around my herb patch and nearly cried when it was all gone. This year I tried perennial basil. Too perfumey for my liking and as rough as dried nettle, but if it hangs around awhile I won't complain. Still, no comparison to the real thing on a pizza with tomato and bocconcini or with good pasta and extra virgins. Now I'm hungry again.

I think an indoor hydro setup may be the only answer here. Coriander and basil, at least in my case are such fickle bastards, running to seed the nanosecond they get stressed out. CFL's cost peanuts to run and a mix of cool daylight and warm white pretty much have the spectrum covered. Small price to pay if you can enjoy fresh basil pesto year round anyway.

 

[fraser_john]

Two harvests of sweet corn, bottled into 23 bottles, should be a year long supply. Bottled hot yellow peppers and two jars of gherkins over the w/e as well.

Waiting for my tomatoes to kick in to start on the tomato puree

 

[Camo6]

That reminds me. My folks have a couple of stovetop vacola sterilisers sitting in a shed and probably a few hundred jars and lids. If I can evict all the tiger snakes I might bring them back down and put them to use.
Or put them on evilbay...

 

[fraser_john]

That reminds me. My folks have a couple of stovetop vacola sterilisers sitting in a shed and probably a few hundred jars and lids. If I can evict all the tiger snakes I might bring them back down and put them to use.
Or put them on evilbay...

Fowlers jars can attract an excellent premium, so might be worth selling. But rings etc are expensive for them. I just use plain Bertolli used pasta sauce jars, they are branded Mason (from the USA) and pop top new lids can be bought for around 10c each and are reusable a few times if washed properly after use.

 

[shaunous]

Two harvests of sweet corn, bottled into 23 bottles, should be a year long supply. Bottled hot yellow peppers and two jars of gherkins over the w/e as well.

Waiting for my tomatoes to kick in to start on the tomato puree

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Bottled sweet corn :huh: ?

 

[Camo6]

Hmmm. I use dolmio jars for yeast management and starter wort but getting the smell of tomato and garlic out of the lids can take awhile! Where do you source the lids Fraser_john?

 

[shaunous]

Food wholesalers Camo, my local one has the jars for $1.12 and the lids less then 10c, i get given everyones jars now they know i make chutneys and sauces but u do need to replace the lids occasionaly as they rust after a few boiling sterilisations.

 

[fraser_john]

Hmmm. I use dolmio jars for yeast management and starter wort but getting the smell of tomato and garlic out of the lids can take awhile! Where do you source the lids Fraser_john?

Green Living Australia linky

Make sure to follow the directions on measuring lids!

 

[Camo6]

Cheers to you both. That'll save me scolding swmbo every time she throws them out!

 

[manticle]

Got no more room left in the soil to plant much more so keen to use the backyard fence and get some planter boxes installed.
Hoping to grow a few berry varieties.
Made the boxes last weekend out of non structural pine ply. Drilled a few drainage holes at the bottom. Finding conflicting advice on whether or not I need to treat the wood and if so - what with?
Also should I line them and if so - what with? Not landscape fabric but maybe hessian?

 

[Curly79]

Black plastic? Cheap and easy. We've got Logan berries fruiting at the mo. Beautiful. Raspberries grow like weeds too mate. Yum.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Just made up 2 raised garden beds last weekend from a couple of old pallets, will be filling this weekend with garden soil, mushroom compost, chook poo and cow manure, hope to plant some winter beans, tomatoes and cucumbers in a couple of weeks

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Got no more room left in the soil to plant much more so keen to use the backyard fence and get some planter boxes installed.
Hoping to grow a few berry varieties.
Made the boxes last weekend out of non structural pine ply. Drilled a few drainage holes at the bottom. Finding conflicting advice on whether or not I need to treat the wood and if so - what with?
Also should I line them and if so - what with? Not landscape fabric but maybe hessian?

The boxes will be o/k for 2 or 3 years without doing anything to them but you could have used the treated pine, the one about 35 mm thick, it is not treated with arsenic and is safe for garden beds. Log onto-reminders @gardenate.com it will give you advice on what you should be planting.

 

[manticle]

Yeah it was just scraps from work that would have ended up in the bin. It's a rental so a few years is good
I check gardenate regularly. Want to get some good soil going first and plant berries in cooler months.

 

[Dave70]

Hoping to grow a few berry varieties.

And if you go with blueberries, few will be the operative word.
I think mine have been in large pot on three years now. Lovingly prepared and PH checked Azalea mix, still only yielded a extremely modest return - though there seems to have been a burst of foliage lately so perhaps a bumper crop in in the post..
Anyway, the young bloke enjoys eating them direct of the plant, so its worth it.
I'm still making smoothies with Nanna's frozen berries however..

 

[Curly79]

I'm hearing ya there dave. We have three blueberry bushes. Maybe had three punnets worth this summer

 

[manticle]

Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and maybe loganberries is the very rough plan.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I have got raspberries and josta berries (a cross between blackcurrant and gooseberries) get two yields from raspberries only problem is they pop up all over the place like a mad woman's shit.
Harvested some cucumber today they are not the lebanese pickling variety but I shall have a go at pickling them, at least with them being a F1 variety I don't have to worry about any bitter ones amongst them.