Backyard Gardening

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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Kim O'Hara »

I don't need a greenhouse in my (tropical) climate but this looks like such a clever idea I thought I would share it:
http://www.designweneed.com/underground-greenhouse/

:namaste:
Kim
shaunc
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

Kim O'Hara wrote:I don't need a greenhouse in my (tropical) climate but this looks like such a clever idea I thought I would share it:
http://www.designweneed.com/underground-greenhouse/

:namaste:
Kim
It looks like a great idea Kim. It's a shame they don't explain a way to sweeten the missus up about why you've dug a bloody great big hole in the yard. lOL :twothumbsup:
I've noticed that some of the best ideas in agriculture come from developing countries. Whenever I go to bunnings I always have a look for a foot plough, an ingenious idea that's very popular in Vietnam as well as quite a few other countries. It's not too popular in Australia though.
shaunc
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

On Sunday morning I got home from work after doing a night shift & decided to cook everyone an omelette for breakfast. Eggs, silver beet, tomatoe, zucchini & ham. It was a good feeling knowing that every thing except the ham came from our backyard. The tomatoes are on now, when I got home from work today I filled a 10 litre esky with tomatoes, in another week or so I expect the neighbours will be running away from me when they see me coming down the street.
In the northern hemisphere I suppose it's getting to be the time of the year when you start to think about what seeds you're going to put in.
Good luck with what ever you try.
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Kim O'Hara »

shaunc wrote:On Sunday morning I got home from work after doing a night shift & decided to cook everyone an omelette for breakfast. Eggs, silver beet, tomatoe, zucchini & ham. It was a good feeling knowing that every thing except the ham came from our backyard. The tomatoes are on now, when I got home from work today I filled a 10 litre esky with tomatoes, in another week or so I expect the neighbours will be running away from me when they see me coming down the street.
In the northern hemisphere I suppose it's getting to be the time of the year when you start to think about what seeds you're going to put in.
Good luck with what ever you try.
You can send a few tomatoes this way Shaun - they don't cope at all well with the wet season up here. Good all winter, though, and that sort of makes up for it.

:smile:
Kim
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Ayu
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Ayu »

Yes, spring starts already in Germany. The migrating birds didn't even fly all the way down to Africa but stayed in the North.
Sprouts are coming out. And I am going to pull up weeds right now.
Be well everyone.
Ayu
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Hi, everyone,
I have just come across http://blogs.extension.org/gardenprofessors/ which is connected to http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalke ... index.html. Looks good!

:reading:
Kim
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reddust
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

I'm planting peas, cutting back bushes around the house, spreading wildflower and herb seeds , and inoculating fallen timber with edible mushroom spoors today. I've never done this before and I am so excited :twothumbsup: I love mushrooms :heart:

I had the flu for only 3 days this year :sage: I'm up and about without any lung infection and only a sore back. :sage:
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
shaunc
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

On Saturday it rained. I pulled out everything in the vegetable patch & filled up 2 20 litre buckets with tomatoes. I threw some greenery to the chooks to pick on & after throwing some dynamic lifter around, I turned the soil & raked the patch smooth. After that I commenced planting the winter vegetables. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts & silver-beet. By the time I got inside it was 6.00pm, I was like a drowned rat from the rain & my clothes were so muddy that my wife sent one of the kids down to the yard to hose the mud off me before I took my clothes off in the laundry & had a tub & got changed. All of the seedling got a good start as it rained all night.
I hope things go well for the rest of you.
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

Today I planted some sage & garlic amongst my winter crop to try & deter cabbage moth & other pests. Quite Buddhist of me I thought if it works, no pests & no killing.
Good-luck with whatever you're doing at the moment in your yard.
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Ayu
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Ayu »

Ah, I didn't know that sage should be helpfull also. Here we plant Lavendula officinalis for to disturb the aphids. But any smell seems to be helpfull... Also onions are good.
But did you know that such a sage-plant becomes a big bush within some years? Eight years ago I set a small plant of 20 cm height into the garden and soon (within three years) it grew to a bush of 1 metre height and about 1,50 m diameter... :tongue:
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

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Ayu wrote:Ah, I didn't know that sage should be helpfull also. Here we plant Lavendula officinalis for to disturb the aphids. But any smell seems to be helpfull... Also onions are good.
But did you know that such a sage-plant becomes a big bush within some years? Eight years ago I set a small plant of 20 cm height into the garden and soon (within three years) it grew to a bush of 1 metre height and about 1,50 m diameter... :tongue:
Wow!
I don't recall ever having a sage plant live more than one or two years, and I have certainly never seen one that big.
I expect to have to replant most of our herbs every year, actually - either the wet season kills them (35C and 80% humidity, with maybe 100mm rain in a day) or the dry season does (six months with only 5mm rain per month - forget to water them one week and they die).
Lemongrass, ginger and galangal live for ever, basil self-seeds and regrows, but most of the others ... nope. On the other hand, we can grow most things most of the year with a bit of care.

:namaste:
Kim
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Ayu
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Ayu »

Yes, the flora in Australia must have very different circumstances. :smile:
Sage (and lavendula, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano are/) is a Mediterranean plant/s.... Maybe it is too hot for them in your place? Or they deserve some certain soil to stay for years?
In my place the winters are sometimes too cold for this plants. Especially if there is a cold eastern wind blowing they freeze and die. But our sage stays on a sunny spot protected from the wind.
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

Ayu wrote:Yes, the flora in Australia must have very different circumstances. :smile:
Sage (and lavendula, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano are/) is a Mediterranean plant/s.... Maybe it is too hot for them in your place? Or they deserve some certain soil to stay for years?
In my place the winters are sometimes too cold for this plants. Especially if there is a cold eastern wind blowing they freeze and die. But our sage stays on a sunny spot protected from the wind.
Australia is a big place with a very different weather patterns for different regions. Kim could probably grow mangoes fairly easily where she lives, but I wouldn't even attempt it. I've just put in some winter vegetables & some of them like cauliflower & broccoli I don't think Kim would be able to grow. I think the trick is to work in with your local environment as much as you can rather than fighting it. Tomorrow I'm taking the kids out to pick a few plums down the river & maybe put in a trap or 2 for yabbies.
At the moment everything is looking ok around the yard & one of the sage plants I put in is a Tasmanian variety that should do alright where I live & hopefully will eventually grow into a decent sized bush. The ones I put in the verge patch will get pulled out once they get too big.
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Kim O'Hara »

shaunc wrote:
Ayu wrote:Yes, the flora in Australia must have very different circumstances. :smile:
Sage (and lavendula, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano are/) is a Mediterranean plant/s.... Maybe it is too hot for them in your place? Or they deserve some certain soil to stay for years?
In my place the winters are sometimes too cold for this plants. Especially if there is a cold eastern wind blowing they freeze and die. But our sage stays on a sunny spot protected from the wind.
Australia is a big place with a very different weather patterns for different regions. Kim could probably grow mangoes fairly easily where she lives, but I wouldn't even attempt it. I've just put in some winter vegetables & some of them like cauliflower & broccoli I don't think Kim would be able to grow. I think the trick is to work in with your local environment as much as you can rather than fighting it. Tomorrow I'm taking the kids out to pick a few plums down the river & maybe put in a trap or 2 for yabbies.
At the moment everything is looking ok around the yard & one of the sage plants I put in is a Tasmanian variety that should do alright where I live & hopefully will eventually grow into a decent sized bush. The ones I put in the verge patch will get pulled out once they get too big.
You're right on most of that, Shaun. In fact, your biggest mistake is that I'm a "he" not a "she" :tongue: (don't worry, you're not the first to make that mistake.)
I have an enormous mango tree in the back yard, and a good patch of bananas, but we can't grow apples (fruit won't set without some cold weather) or stone fruit. Asian greens - bok choi, etc - do better than European ones, which isn't too surprising.
In the south of the country we get genuine Mediterranean climates, Ayu, but we run out of land before we get as cold as Germany, let alone Scandinavia or Canada.

:coffee:
Kim
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Ayu
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Ayu »

A saying here is: "There's no such thing as bad weather, there is only wrong clothing." ;)
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Ayu wrote:A saying here is: "There's no such thing as bad weather, there is only wrong clothing." ;)
I know that one and mostly agree, but do your plants and animals share the same opinion?
:thinking:

Maybe for plants, "There is no bad weather, only good and bad places to grow" ?

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Ayu
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Re: Backyard Gardening

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Yes. :smile:
There is something wrong with the namaste-button.
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Just an afterthought on this:
shaunc wrote: I think the trick is to work in with your local environment as much as you can rather than fighting it.
I try to do that, of course, but when it comes to food gardening in a completely new kind of climate it creates the need to change eating habits as well.
In principle I'm happy to do that - I like Asian food - but in practice, habits are habits, and the family has favourite recipes, and the cooks in the house (there are three of us taking turns) all have slightly different priorities and preferences so the change is coming rather slowly.

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shaunc
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

I know what you mean about eating habits. My wife is from the Philippines, so in our house it's 1/2 Asian, 1/2 australian food, with seafood taking a front seat on both menus. We came home with a bucket of plums but no yabbies today
Ayu wrote:A saying here is: "There's no such thing as bad weather, there is only wrong clothing." ;)
I'd have to agree with that whole-heatedly Ayu.
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Ayu
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by Ayu »

But what is the right clothing, when it's very hot? :thinking: Wet towels on the head?
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