Food Gardening

[wide eyed and legless]

Yes I keep sowing seed, though I have cut kale off and let it grow again but it doesn't seem to grow as vigorously as a new plant.
There is a trick you can do with leeks, when a leek has gone to flower (I have 2 in my garden now) cut off the flower head and it will throw a load of tiny leeks up, this is what a lot of the show gardeners do.
Reproducing leeks by bulbils, “pips or grass”. This is the method by which super specimens such as “show leeks” are usually grown. These show leeks are specially selected strains to produce giant leeks. You can see the principal of this method if you allow one of your leek plants to form a flower head in the second year( they are bi-annuals). Give them the following treatment, and instead of forming leek seed pods, they will form green shoots which can be planted up. It is not what you would expect to happen, but nature is very complex and surprising! Leeks produced by this method will be genetically the same as the original plant.
Allow the flower buds to form and then using small scissors, cut off all the individual buds. The leek plant then compensates for this treatment, by trying to reproduce itself by forming bulbils, pips or grass.

 

[Bribie G]

The following works quite well:

Chokos used as a substitute for Zucchini in just about everything such as ratatouille.

A bed of sliced chokos under a pork roast, become infused with flavour.

Fish soup with Basa and julienned chokos

Choko chutney

Julienned chokos in stir fries

But at the end of the day, in the words of Jeff Wayne, 1978:

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, they said........ but still they come.

Help, chokos are definitely from Mars. And no, don't even mention the Lebanese Eggplants. :unsure: :unsure: :unsure:

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Anyone know what these fruit are.

 

[Lincoln2]

They're Congolese Death Berries - just looking at them is fatal.

I'm not 100% sure from the pic but they look like lilly pilly - a native Australian bush tucker berry. Are they about marble size with a large-ish seed in the middle and a bitter but nice flavour? Great for jams and pies plus I like to eat them straight off the tree. Nice hedging tree and pretty hardy. They grow like weeds up here.

 

[Mardoo]

Also looks quite similar to some of the bush crab apples. Doesn't seem like we've established edibility yet though...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Inside it is soft and sweet but lots of seeds a bit like a tiny passion fruit.

 

[Scottsrx]

Anyone know what these fruit are.

IMG_0172.jpg

My guess is a Jujube. Our local Fruit and nut guy loves them... http://www.perrysfruitnursery.com.au/over-the-fence

 

[Lincoln2]

Inside it is soft and sweet but lots of seeds a bit like a tiny passion fruit.

Not lilly pilly then.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

No not lilly pilly or Jujube, leaves are waxy and the fruit is 16 to 20 mm dia.

 

[Lincoln2]

Wheelbarrow sitting is one of my favourite things. After a hard day's work on the hoe, and planting cabbage, carrot, garlic, onion and snow peas, it's important to take a moment to reflect. Think over the day's work you've done. Plan tomorrow's chores and congratulate yourself on productivity. Note the champagne bucket to the left, it has a big chunk of ice in the bottom.

 

[Dave70]

You should include a cautionary note about a the barrows inherent instability. They're comfy, but kind of like a Reliant Robin if you get the entry / exit strategy wrong.
Nothing beats working your hoe hard all day but.

I spent a day putting the new Husky through its paces.
Kind of like gardening. In reverse.

 

[Kingy]

Been building an over engineered egg laying machine facilty/composter. To supplement the vedgy garden and work in a symbiotic relationship with the vedgie garden, spent grains and beers with chicks.
Still got a bit of work to do but its coming together.

 

[Kingy]

You should include a cautionary note about a the barrows inherent instability. They're comfy, but kind of like a Reliant Robin if you get the entry / exit strategy wrong.
Nothing beats working your hoe hard all day but.

I spent a day putting the new Husky through its paces.
Kind of like gardening. In reverse.

The only thing ruining that picture is its not a stihl.

 

[Dave70]

I'm only semi -pro..


Could have used a 24" bar though, hate sawing from one side to the other.
Always find felling large dead trees somewhat nerve racking.

 

[LiquidGold]

That fruit looks a bit like a cherry guava to me. How big is the shrub?

 

[LiquidGold]

Here's what my "veggie bed" looks like at the moment

 

[Dave70]

Hydro?
Please explain.

 

[LiquidGold]

It's part of an aquaponics setup which is similar to hydro except the fish (and bacteria) provide the nutrients. This design is known as a floating raft and uses pots with a growing medium (we're using hydroton clay balls) placed in holes drilled out of styrofoam sheets floating on the water.

At the moment it's only really suitable to vegetative crops rather than fruiting crops because of a slightly high ph and nutrient issues associated. (floating rafts are predominantly used for vegetative crops anyhow)

Here's the fish side of it. Edibles include 40 Jade Perch and ~65 Murray Cod.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I'm only semi -pro..


Could have used a 24" bar though, hate sawing from one side to the other.
Always find felling large dead trees somewhat nerve racking.

Problem with that is it wont cut as well with the bigger bar. My old Farmboss MS310cut better with a shorter bar,

But I also had a 1973 Super250 McCulloch with .404" chain and 36" bar that my dad gave me. We cut hundredds of tons with it over the years when I was a kid


I miss that saw . It was heavy, LOUD, had to thumb pump the oil, cranky and dangerous....But I loved it. It ate hardwood like nothing else.

Bit like the YZ490's of the chainsaw world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiTdXfVJvjI&feature=youtu.be

 

[spog]

Wheelbarrow sitting is one of my favourite things. After a hard day's work on the hoe, and planting cabbage, carrot, garlic, onion and snow peas, it's important to take a moment to reflect. Think over the day's work you've done. Plan tomorrow's chores and congratulate yourself on productivity. Note the champagne bucket to the left, it has a big chunk of ice in the bottom.

No mud on your shoes ! Photoshopped.

 

[spog]

You should include a cautionary note about a the barrows inherent instability. They're comfy, but kind of like a Reliant Robin if you get the entry / exit strategy wrong.
Nothing beats working your hoe hard all day but.

I spent a day putting the new Husky through its paces.
Kind of like gardening. In reverse.

Similar as Lincoln2, photoshopped.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

It's part of an aquaponics setup which is similar to hydro except the fish (and bacteria) provide the nutrients. This design is known as a floating raft and uses pots with a growing medium (we're using hydroton clay balls) placed in holes drilled out of styrofoam sheets floating on the water.

At the moment it's only really suitable to vegetative crops rather than fruiting crops because of a slightly high ph and nutrient issues associated. (floating rafts are predominantly used for vegetative crops anyhow)

Here's the fish side of it. Edibles include 40 Jade Perch and ~65 Murray Cod.

Fish tanks June 15.jpg

Is the nutrient and Ph at a constant level so you could incorporate some system to correct them, I accidently did an experiment where my nutrient levels were way too high in my hydroponics, it totally rendered the plants useless.

 

[Red Baron]

Ate the first potato of the season yesterday. Cabbage and brocc are looking good too.

Cheers,
RB

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Only just started chitting my spuds, loads of cabbage, kale,Chinese greens, leeks and broccoli ready.

 

[LiquidGold]

Is the nutrient and Ph at a constant level so you could incorporate some system to correct them, I accidently did an experiment where my nutrient levels were way too high in my hydroponics, it totally rendered the plants useless.

Usually the pH in an aquaponics setup gradually decreases due to the nitrification process (bacteria converting ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate) so instead of correcting it we've been hoping to have it eventually drop by itself but the level of carbonates in the water can slow this down. There are natural ways to lower the pH of the top up water which I might look at doing because until it's lower I can't supplement potassium since it will raise the pH further. In an established system people tend to use a mix of hydrated lime and potassium hydroxide when the pH gets low and this supplements calcium, magnesium and potassium at the same time.

I still have a lot to learn and the whole nutrient/water chemistry side of things is pretty complicated.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

A few years ago I was reading a lot about aquaponics and water recycling, would really love to have gotten in to aquaponics, I do remember reading that the quality of the fish food has to be really good, and having red worms and bacteria to raise the level of the nutrients but I believe it took a number of months to become an efficient biofilter.
I did make a filtering system for all the washing machine water, it was that good that I could drink it at the other end, I just diverted it into my tanks.

Where do you live Red Baron, do you get 2 crops of spuds?

 

[HBHB]

Nearly time to rest most of the gardens here once these all come off the beds.
Assortment of brown and red onions plus garlic

Black Russian tomatoes

Second rotation of cabbages and Cauliflower. First lot of cauli were a yellow variety.

Beans leaks and some Beetroot

Put in a Tropical Nectarine and Tropical Pear

Pineapples provided nicely but some failed to produce

 

[spog]

Bastard blackbirds wiped my seedlings out about 4 weeks ago, got a heap of new ones coming through in cut down milk cartons but I'm going to have to put netting over the patch to keep the mongrels out.
I put up some old DVDs on string but the mongrels got used to them so I'm going to change the type of scarrer as well..

 

[manticle]

They need to be the right dvds. Lady in the water works.
No-one ever wants to look at that.

 

[Dave70]

Bastard blackbirds wiped my seedlings out about 4 weeks ago, got a heap of new ones coming through in cut down milk cartons but I'm going to have to put netting over the patch to keep the mongrels out.
I put up some old DVDs on string but the mongrels got used to them so I'm going to change the type of scarrer as well..

A mate swears by his Bunnings deterrent owl for keeping nuisance birds at bay.
Just check your neighbor hasn't got a deterrent cat and you'll be good to go.