Food Gardening

[wide eyed and legless]

Posted before my pic was added.

 

[manticle]

Got a couple of strawberry plants and a raspberry. Prepared the planter boxes (going with untreated, unlined) with rocks, compost, cardboard, soil and mulch, well watered. Hopefully transplant berries from pots at the beginning of autumn.

Yet to decide on other berry varieties but I got plenty of time.

 

[Lincoln2]

Finally! After 10 years I am now officially an olive farmer. I was beginning to despair. This tree is called Demis Roussous (all of my trees have their own personal name, the olive tree next door to Demis is called Nana Mouskouri). I'm always reluctant to prune my trees as I'm a big softy. But I did last year and here's the harvest.

 

[Lincoln2]

Demis has between 1 & 2 dozen olives. Enough for a pizza, a small anti-pasto platter or a tablespoon of oil. Now I have to make an olive oil press. You've never seen a happier man. I was dancing around the farm with a beer in one hand and a pair of secateurs in the other. Oh frabjous day. (My wife and kids don't quite understand and think I'm a touch loopy.)

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I don't know anything about olive trees, but most other fruiting shrubs and trees they need pruning and the new wood bears the fruit.

 

[hawkgirl]

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?

you should paint the wood with Durabit - its a rubber paint /sealant & will help stop the timber rotting.

 

[manticle]

Thanks hawkgirl. These ones are untreated and filled with soil and mulch but I may be making more so I'll take a look at durabit for those. All surfaces? No leaching? Cheers.

 

[hawkgirl]

AFAIK no leaching, recommended to me by a horticulturist. Other stuff like the no-creosote creosote paint will leach & Pot Seal wont stick properly to wood. The durabit is basically paint on rubber, plumbers use it in bathrooms. Water washup too.

Currently in the middle of transferring all my fruit trees from plastic pots to wooden barrel type planters but so far happy with the results

 

[spog]

44 degrees here today, the veggies took a bit of of knock a good watering early tomorrow should help.

 

[Dave70]

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..

Oh no...not my precious liver..

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-15/second-brand-of-frozen-mixed-berries-recalled/6106490

 

[Camo6]

A question for the green thumbs onboard. Neglected my pumpkin patch over the last week and while I kept the water up to it I ignored the patchy white leaves forming. Found tonight it'd spread all over the patch. Bit of research suggests powdery mildew so I sprayed a few litres of a milk/water mix over the plant. 5 mins later I had every wasp in the neighbourhood swarming my backyard!
Any other remedies if this doesn't work? Should I bother? FWIW there's more than fifteen good sized fruit formed and a few new ones set over the last few days. Will it affect the fruit and for that matter when should I pick them? Was always told to wait till the stem browns and give them a half twist every day but I don't want to lose so many pumpkins to this mildew.
Cheers

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Lime sulphur spray from bunnings,if its not to late, when the pumpkins sound hollow when you knock on them they are ready, and make sure you leave about 20-25 mm of stem on them so they will keep.
I am thinking of putting some salsify in this month, the last lot my wife pulled out and binned them thinking they were deformed parsnips, I still don't know what they taste like :unsure:

 

[Bribie G]

Excellent spray to prevent, but not cure, powdery mildew on all curcurbits:

Equal quantities washing up liquid and cooking oil.
Shake in a container till it emulsifies.

Put about a cm into hand spray bottle with half a tsp bicarbonate of soda.

Fill with water and shake well. Spray, in evening, till leaves are dripping.

Not recommended for very young plants but excellent once growth reaches the stage where some powdery mildew spots are forming.

 

[Camo6]

Cheers both for the replies. The old man popped in on the weekend and had coincidentally heard on 3AW on the way over that late set powdery mildew is symptomatic of the plant nearing full maturity (or something along those lines) and not worth worrying about. Funny thing is, it's started throwing new fruit and spreading further around the backyard even though the rest of the plant is withering.
Anyway, picked the mature fruit tonight JIC. Not a bad haul for two seeds that sprouted from the compost feeding the silverbeet!

 

[manticle]

Won't be planting anything for a while.
Have to move out again due to landlord selling. Second time within 12 months.

 

[tavas]

Won't be planting anything for a while.
Have to move out again due to landlord selling. Second time within 12 months.

Well look on the bright side, you had a crappy neighbor anyway

 

[Bribie G]

In the current market, hopefully the new owner will be an investor looking for a steady tenant.

 

[manticle]

Well look on the bright side, you had a crappy neighbor anyway

Have a house that is better than the neighbour.

Bribieg: went through that hope last time. We have a lease till december so if we want to stay till then, and wait for a possible investor, we can.
Landlord made a very generous offer but if we accept, we are out by april. We have a lot of stuff.
Anyway, cuttings/seedlings of all plants, planter boxes and compost to the new place, start again. Thought we were going to be here for a while. Landlord asked us to sign on for 18 months when we first moved in. Been here about 1/3 of that.

Others got it worse, just a pain in the bung.

 

[tavas]

Just making a smart ass comment. Pretty shit that they made you sign 18 months then cut it short.

 

[manticle]

I know you were mate. Took it in the spirit it was meant. Just gutted cos the meeting was a few hours ago.
Landlord's situation may have changed drastically since then - might be illness, something up with kids/relatives, whatever.
Just happy here and settling in. Also moving here set me financially backwards by a long shot - recently got back to point zero so we can start again. Didn't realise we'd actually have to start again.
Anyway that's all ot. Topically - finally got little cucumbers making an appearance.