Food Gardening

[wide eyed and legless]

I have peaches and plums, never thought about spirits from any of them. I do have some other seeds to sell, not illegal to sell them, just to plant them, $5 each.

 

[theQuinny]

$2 ...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

$2 each! one seed will give you a return to buy a 50 litre Guten, a couple of sacks of grain, 2 new suits, 3 pair of shoes and a stone of monkey nuts.

 

[theQuinny]

Group buy !

Oh ... and I'm all out of monkey nuts ... !

 

[Candice Marsden]

Sweet corn and sweet potato for me are a crop of little return for effort put in, good thing about kale is it will sprout again from the root the following year as does broccolini, spuds are a crop I grow every year even though cheap enough to buy it is the small new potato like, the skin rubs off and served with bacon and the bacon fat drizzled over the spuds is magnificent.
The super food crops spinach,kale, broccoli, horse radish, (10 times better than kale ) and if anyone has a hydro set up watercress is so easy to grow packed with iron vitamin C and calcium.
Then the usual tomatoes, beans dwarf and runner, zucchini, always produces far more than needed, cucumbers, having experienced a few bitter cucumbers I always grow the hybrid variety which doesn't need pollinating heirloom varieties of tomatoes does seem to have a better, sweeter flavour and to get the best out of your vegetables cook and eat within an hour of harvesting.

Where do you buy horseradish to grow? The fresh stuff is amazing!

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Where do you buy horseradish to grow? The fresh stuff is amazing!

I think I got mine from Diggers if I remember right, don't know how you would go living in Perth and the quarantine laws. Ask around some of the garden centers or on eBay leaves are good to eat too.

 

[altone]

Where do you buy horseradish to grow? The fresh stuff is amazing!

You can try Guildford garden centre over there
https://guildfordgardencentre.com.au/product/horseradish/

edit: karnt spel

 

[Slurp]

Where do you buy horseradish to grow? The fresh stuff is amazing!

We picked one up from Bunnings a couple of years ago. If you water them heavily to size and then dial the water back the heat intensifies.

 

[Slurp]

I think your locality has something to do with it, I have always been wanting to get into bees, wife isn't keen, there are still bees hanging around our garden at this time of year in Victoria. I could put hives on the roof not so much bothered about a return from honey, just like the idea they are there.
My work these days are setting up vegetable gardens and the area I work in has a large bee population nothing better that working in a garden which is full of bees.

Our neighbours behind us keep 2 hives. We have awesome pollination rates on all the fruit trees, chillies and tomatoes. Only downside is cider season. I made 100 litres across 2 batches from our trees, the bees cottoned onto it for the second batch and they were swarming around my crusher and press. Reckon I fished close to 50 out of the juice from the press. Didn't get stung once though, they are a pretty happy lot. We planted a bunch of rosemary, roses and other flowering plants to keep them coming over a few years back. He usually misses a few queens in Spring and we get 2-3 swarms landing in the garden each spring.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

They are pretty docile, where I work around Warrandyte south there are plenty of hives and all I can hear is the drone of the bees, along with working the gardens.Really has a most therapeutic effect.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

How is this weather, nothing better than tending the seedlings, listening to the Bulldogs v Richmond game. Love this time of year all capsicums are growing strongly along with the tommies, have got a dozen cauliflower I have to try and find some room for, rhubarb and sea kale coming on, what can be better. I wonder what the poor people are doing.

 

[altone]

How is this weather, nothing better than tending the seedlings, listening to the Bulldogs v Richmond game. Love this time of year all capsicums are growing strongly along with the tommies, have got a dozen cauliflower I have to try and find some room for, rhubarb and sea kale coming on, what can be better. I wonder what the poor people are doing.

Bloody hell I'm only just planting my tomato and capsicum/chilli into seed punnets - hope I'm not too late.

As for space - it's my biggest bugbear - big house on a standard block means not much room.

I'm currently digging out a 2 sqm patch out front - getting rid of compacted clay putting in a drain then I'll refill with organics plus a bit of sifted original soil.
probably 80% compost and manure 20% sifted clay soil.
Just want to grow the chard out front to make a bit more room for veg out back.

edit: I'll be planting daikon as well just to try and get those deep roots breaking up that underlying clay

Did the same out back with a fence bed - got a green manure in there atm to try and get it nice and fertile.

 

[Slurp]

How is this weather, nothing better than tending the seedlings, listening to the Bulldogs v Richmond game. Love this time of year all capsicums are growing strongly along with the tommies, have got a dozen cauliflower I have to try and find some room for, rhubarb and sea kale coming on, what can be better. I wonder what the poor people are doing.

I envy you, while the thermostat is in the positive for the next few days, we have big frosts and negatives here for at least another 6-7 weeks. Lucky I have seed raising and small plant set up inside to get them going and can harden the tomatoes off in anticipation of planting. Not planting too much this year other than enough for fresh fare, we have too much in bottles to eat up from last couple of years. All good, three full kegs and a batch of mead underway... no complaints!

 

[wide eyed and legless]

At least with the frosts you would be better able to grow decent Brussel sprouts, I have tried a couple of times here and they just go flower.

 

[Slurp]

At least with the frosts you would be better able to grow decent Brussel sprouts, I have tried a couple of times here and they just go flower.

Lol one of the very few veggies I don't really like, whitlof being the other. But they do grow well here for sure. I checked the buerre bosch pear tree, it is loaded with fruit spurs as are the apple trees, so assuming the frosts play nice we will be in business with them this year . The garlic planted in late autumn is starting to kick on with the warmer days now too. Garlic is one of the best crops we grow actually, big juicy purple garlic bulbs. Out of interest, do you know of any decent organic sprays for red spider mite? Our bok choy got hit pretty hard by them this winter. We had 2 beds with them so pulled them before they spread too far but lost half a dozen to them. Will neem be sufficient?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Parsnips is a veggie I am not keen on, still grow them though, I grew some Salsify they were going along nicely until my wife pulled them all out and put them in the compost she said she thought they were parsnips gone wrong. This is what they look like and taste like oysters apparently

The spider mite, there was a discussion on the Hop Growing thread, I think Dans Craft Brewer used some organic insecticide.

 

[Slurp]

Parsnips is a veggie I am not keen on, still grow them though, I grew some Salsify they were going along nicely until my wife pulled them all out and put them in the compost she said she thought they were parsnips gone wrong. This is what they look like and taste like oysters apparently
The spider mite, there was a discussion on the Hop Growing thread, I think Dans Craft Brewer used some organic insecticide.

Thanks. first time I have seen them outside actually. Only seen them otherwise indoors in growing conditions without sufficient air flow in my experience. That will teach me to get lazy and buy plants rather than grow from seed. I'm looking at you Bunnings!

Oooh salsify.... Salsify with a nice piece of cod or snapper, a creamy white wine sauce and some steamed green beans for the win. Pair with a saison and your night is made... Or boiled until just soft, cooled and then finished off frying in a pan with some bacon lardons, put them in once the fat is rendering out from the bacon... Or added half way through the cook to a beef casserole.. Fk, I have had dinner and now I am hungry again. Can't believe you lost them all. Out of interest, where did you buy them from? I'd be keen to pick some up.

Parsnips are best young and roasted I think. When they get older they go really woody and its hard to make anything decent out of them. Also they need a decent regular watering schedule so they fatten up on top and don't go running to China. Try roasting them with carrots and honey, maybe with some caraway seeds or a good bunch of thyme.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Are you a chef, had me drooling over the salsify definitely will be getting more to grow again as I said never got a look in last time.
A couple of swede to go in with lamb shank stew, used to feel sorry for the Europeans who never got to have spuds prior to Walter Raleigh, but they had the swede and turnip, a load of pearl barley will be in attendance as well.

 

[Slurp]

Are you a chef, had me drooling over the salsify definitely will be getting more to grow again as I said never got a look in last time.
A couple of swede to go in with lamb shank stew, used to feel sorry for the Europeans who never got to have spuds prior to Walter Raleigh, but they had the swede and turnip, a load of pearl barley will be in attendance as well.
View attachment 113383

Turnips look awesome! Not a chef just a big time foodie.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Hey Slurp you should apply some of your cooking knowledge to the Brussel sprouts, lightly steamed and then fried with sesame seed making sure you have some left over to fry with bacon for breakfast.
Did I say I am also making dumplings to go with the stew?