# Forum Home Renovation Landscaping, Gardening & Outdoors  Show us your veggie garden

## andy the pm

Hey everyone,
I love looking at peoples veggie gardens so I thought we could start a thread on it. 
Here's ours, its a bit hodge podge because we were not planning on staying here that long...
1st pic is the salad bed I made my other half for her birthday which is providing a continuous crop of rocket, red russian kale, red giant mustard and lettuce (which is bolting thanks to our crazy weather). I have just thrown in some spinach seeds which are starting to sprout.
The next pic shows the lebanese eggplants and capsicums which are starting to flower and behind that are some beetroot which we ave already sampled. There is also a tomato plant there which has a few green toms on it, just need them to redden up!
Right at the back we have some zuchinni which are starting to flower. Just in front of them and along the back fence the corn is popping up and I'm going to chuck in some sweet pea seeds in a week or so. The sad looking bush on the back fence is a lemongrass that was impressive before I tried to transplant it, still, there are some green shoots appearing.
Next on the list is a herb spiral, following by some pumpkin, potatoes, zuchinni and watermelon which I'm going to plant near the right hand fence and let them grow across our pathetic excuse of a lawn and hopefully kill some weeds... 
Lets see some others!

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## Moondog55

That's much prettier than mine, I'm ashamed to show my pictures now POUT!!

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## andy the pm

> That's much prettier than mine, I'm ashamed to show my pictures now POUT!!

  C'mon now Moondog, don't be shy!

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## Black Cat

No pix from me either - what is not running to seed is just emerging from below ground. And the beetroot is benefitting from the companion planting of stinging nettle, lol The rhubarb is starting to look promising though ...

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## Moondog55

Stinging nettles are a good sign, also make great compost tea. 
OK I'll take some snaps tomorrow if i can find my camera amongst all this rubbish. Got some wood shavings today ( Cypress- smells divine ) and started to hill my potatoes

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## Black Cat

They also make quite a tasty soup if you fancy clear soups. Will be hoeing the corn tomorrow and popping in some bean seeds - pulling out the last of the gone-to-seed broccoli, putting in the gooseberry bushes that are going into that tank ring, after digging in some more compost into the surface for more water retention. Then back to the mower - I find it hard to keep up with the grass at this time of year - we are getting rain at sufficiently frequent intervals that the grass just shoots up, then stays wet for too long so you can't mow before the next patch of rain (well, that's my excuse) but it's up over the top of my gumboots now, so will have to face the horrrors tomorrow if I can.

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## m6sports

Looks good i will post mine tomorrow morning
i dont have much, but it my first year

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## andy the pm

Thats it, even if you don't want to share pix its great to share ideas.
I've just prepped an area about 2sqm and have planted some watermelon, pumpkin and zuchinni with the idea being to trail them along the ground so they cover and smother our weed lawn...if they grow well I'm guessing the neighbours will be liking the free veg!
I was toying with the idea of planting some brocoli but with the weather the way it is I think it will just bolt...

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## Black Cat

Yes, my broccoli has bolted. I too will be planting a number of cucurbits in the bed where the chook run used to be. That is the corn/bean/cucurbit patch due to the assumption it will be reeking with nitrogen. In permaculture circles they reckon this works - give the corn a head start, then plant the beans (which chase the corn up the stalk) and the cucurbits (which benefit from the environment the corn forest creates. Never tried it before, so am giving it a go this year. The total bed size is just over 2m by 2m so should be sufficient to get a decent block of corn.

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## andy the pm

> Yes, my broccoli has bolted. I too will be planting a number of cucurbits in the bed where the chook run used to be. That is the corn/bean/cucurbit patch due to the assumption it will be reeking with nitrogen. In permaculture circles they reckon this works - give the corn a head start, then plant the beans (which chase the corn up the stalk) and the cucurbits (which benefit from the environment the corn forest creates. Never tried it before, so am giving it a go this year. The total bed size is just over 2m by 2m so should be sufficient to get a decent block of corn.

  I have read that too about corn, mine are about 4 or 5 inches now so when they get a bit taller I want to plant some sweet peas. My corn is a bit randomly planted at the moment. We should be pleased apparently if we get 3 corn per plant but you can get up to 6! 
What are cucurbits??

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## Moondog55

Curcubits are plants of the cucumber family.
I have planted my corn 5*4 very close together (300*300) and thus week or next I plant the next batch, the idea being to have continuous sweet corn maturing over the summer, too much nitrogen in the soil already so I wont be planting beans.

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## Black Cat

Indeed they are. They also include pumpkins and squashes - zucchini and such like. I might backfill the gaps in the rows with more corn = it sounds like a good idea and there seem to have been comprehensive loss in the first row and a half due to frost finally getting to them (they survived the first two, just, but turned up their toes after the third).

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## m6sports

Here are the Pics i promised  
Its not that big but ive got  
Parsley, chives, Dill, and the rest are tomato plants

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## Black Cat

I find it deeply depressing you all have such neat gardens. Clearly I am doing something wrong ...

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## Moondog55

I don't call it mess, I call it planned disorder

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## Black Cat

No, definitely mess at my end. Need more hours in the day ...

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## andy the pm

> Here are the Pics i promised  
> Its not that big but ive got  
> Parsley, chives, Dill, and the rest are tomato plants

  Looking good m6, I like your tomatoes, they look much better than mine...

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## Moondog55

Well here are a few shots of my garden, my vegie garden and my flower gardens are all mixed together, I even use my nature strip for herbs.
In my nature strip I have 2 KPS and a hedge wattle will be going in soon, garlic, parsley( both types) basil, oregano a single Thai chillie plant and a selection of indigenous grasses 
Big hill of mulch has 2 zucchini, front border edge is a mixture of birds-eye chillies and garlic chives and lots of self sown daisies I am for-ever pulling up. 
Raised bed has more chillies and self sown potatoes and tomatoes ( I haven't yet decided which to pull, probably the spuds) and is sown with coriander which is doing poorly.
Vietnamese mint, peppermint, lemon balm and English mint all in pots. 
Back yard has a big bed for the sweetcorn, one of todays big jobs is turning the next 1/3 over and planting another grid of seeds. 
Corn is 4 weeks since planting, I swear I can hear it grow on a hot day. 
Potato bed has 3 varieties, and I  have a swag of spuds to plant courtesy of my mum who found them at the back of the cupboard, old plastic recycle bins recycled as planting tubs.
Ground here grows one crop really well, basalt rocks, we are on the great Victorian basalt plain here in Norlane.

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## Moondog55

Lots more pictures, as you may see i like to mulch, it has taken me about 2 years to get some life back into this soil, mainly due to the drought. 
One mature compost bin has about 100 worms per handful, that bin really needs sifting into bags to use as concentrated fertilizer, in a month or three I will have the old bath to use as a biggish worm farm then it becomes easier.

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## Moondog55

Bay trees in pots, fertilized when and if I remember and pruned sometimes by simply cutting whole branches off for hanging in the kitchen for cooking with. 
More herbs, thyme in a pot zucchini everywhere I could find room

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## Moondog55

More pictures, old black plastic recycle bins make great planters for herbs but the potatoes are going in these. Styrene plastic boxes are also good for shallow rooted stuff but I never seem to get good results using them

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## Moondog55

We are renovating, which means we have small off-cuts of sheet plaster; I have never understood why people throw this very valuable resource in the skip and then go and buy Gypsum to improve their soil, every scrap of wall-board plaster is going to be used in our gardens. 
It does take longer to work but that shouldn't  a problem, what most gardens need is patience and time anyway. 
Neighbour left a bag of potting mix on my porch, may as well put it to good use 
We'll see how these do; in about 6 months they should be ready

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## Black Cat

That is looking really great Moondog - not messy at all! I spent some of the day potting on some tomatoes that I had planted in toilet rolls - they are now in pots, inside their toilet rolls and watered in with some seasol. My basil that I planted a month ago has finally broken the surface to it too got a dose of seasol to encourage it as did the dill, oregano, parsley and tommytoe seedlings. Some day soon I am going to have to knock up some beds to plant the toms into - but it rained all day today so not much was done outdoors. I do, however, now have my frames loaded with wax to go into the bee hives and the bees are on order!

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## Cecile

> That is looking really great Moondog - not messy at all!!

  Well, site of the day was Moondog showing my two year old granddaughter how to poke a hole in the soil to plant bean seeds.  We'll see how many of them come up.

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## Moondog55

Yes I decided to co-plant beans, put them in yesterday, 2 seeds +/- for each corn plant. I wont stake and lets see what happens, BueLake beans can climb quite aggressively I hope the corn will be strong enough as I wont use extra stakes

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## andy the pm

> We are renovating, which means we have small off-cuts of sheet plaster; I have never understood why people throw this very valuable resource in the skip and then go and buy Gypsum to improve their soil, every scrap of wall-board plaster is going to be used in our gardens. 
> It does take longer to work but that shouldn't a problem, what most gardens need is patience and time anyway.

  I'm doing the same thing Moondog, when I have enough I'm going to hire a small mulcher and just feed it through and into some bags.
I love what you have done with the nature strip, I'd love to do the same though I don't think our council is that progressive thinking but I'll give em a call one day to find out...

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## Moondog55

Andy DON"T call them, just do it, most councils are way behind the times. I did call my council tho, and I was given some guidelines. 
No trees, nothing over 900mm tall, no rocks, big mulch so it isn't picked up by the wind, native plants preferred and after all that the bloke in charge of streetscapes here in Geelong; said that the practice isn't encouraged but if I wanted to do it : "Go ahead"  
We were offered free trees for the nature strip last year, we were the only ones in our street to accept, which is why we have 2 KPS in the garden, one I bought as tube stock for $2- the other is council planted.
The list of acceptable street trees under powerlines is very short and no indigenous trees or shrubs are on it but we will be planting the hedge wattle anyway as it is seriously endangered

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## Black Cat

One extra rule is usually that you leave safe passage for pedestrians... Some of us still walk to get where we are going. 
I pulled out most of my gone-to-seed plants today and they have been added to the compost heap (those not fed to the geese, the chooks and the mother hen and chick) And dug over the parts of the bed no longer occupied to loosen the crust on the surface. Tomorrow will add some compost (from the other heap) and pop in the rest of the gooseberry plants. I also took cuttings and potted up several future rosemary bushes. I bought a potted rosemary last year, and have been progressively taking cuttings from it so eventually I get enough to plant a hedge around the clothesline for perfuming the washing (that is, once the clothesline is installed, which will be after the caravan is gone from the site).

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## Moondog55

You also need to make sure people using cars can cross the strip to get to the footpath

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## Black Cat

Not exactly the vege garden, but this is my baby hawthorn hedge. And my baby chicken whose parentage remains a mystery ... 
To get the photo of the hedge in perspective. the plants are planted in midwinter and cut back to four inches high. The one to right of centre is now over a foot high and still growing rapidly.

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## jago

Looking very good guys, I'm jealous  and a little embarrased to show mine but the eating so far has been great, 
L-R 
Peas, Carrots, Spring Onions, Mutant Lettuce & Beetroot 
Cos Lettuce,Chilis, Long Peppers, Basil, Heirloom Adelaide Toms & Roma Toms 
Jap Pumpkin, Cos Lettuce, Broad Beans and Sweetcorn  
everything is ready to crop except the pumpkin which is just flowering so hopefully no trips to the market for Christmas. 
Plus Parsley and Mint  & Spinach 
Last year the parsley grew to over two metres high so lets hope I can control it in pots this year. :Doh:

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## Black Cat

Now that looks a bit more like my garden. You can pick a renovator's garden from the spare building materials, waste piles and casual approach to mowing. Thanks Jago. I feel better now ...

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## twinny

this is ours, we grow grass, dog poo, toys to trip over, and building materials! there's a stonefruit tree, lemon tree and an orange tree in there somewhere, and the wife likes to kill a variety of vege seedlings through various degrees of neglect around the place too  :Doh:

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## andy the pm

> this is ours, we grow grass, dog poo, toys to trip over, and building materials! there's a stonefruit tree, lemon tree and an orange tree in there somewhere, and the wife likes to kill a variety of vege seedlings through various degrees of neglect around the place too

   Twinny, 
That back yard is crying out for some terraces made out of railway sleepers! Let me at it....we grow dog poo very well, we have a border collie that goes 3 timesa day! I'm about to make a worm tower and dedicate it to dog poo rather than land fill...

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## Moondog55

> Twinny, 
> That back yard is crying out for some terraces made out of railway sleepers! Let me at it....we grow dog poo very well, we have a border collie that goes 3 timesa day! I'm about to make a worm tower and dedicate it to dog poo rather than land fill...

  Double that on the terraces, crying out for a rice paddy and waterfalls. 
Andy make sure you NEVER give the worms real food in the poo disposer, apparently  if they get the taste of real food they won't eat the other stuff, excellent idea those things, I can't abide people who put the cat litter in the rubbish bin, we will need to set one up soon. step-daughter is bringing her cats out from the USA. 
Let me know how many trays you need for it to work properly please 
Yesterday I put in climbing peas and dwarf beans in the front and today the second lot of sweetcorn gets into the ground

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## Armers

Ahhhh NUFFKING awesome day in Melbs today so i thought i would take a photos of my folks veggie patch, since we're stilling living here while we build i would consider this pretty much my garden too  :Biggrin:  
Anyway, to the photos... First up with have a little herb patch... Thyme, garlic chives, thai basil, parsley, sage, and corriander... Also you can see last years potatoes in there as well   
next we have the good old garden bed, they're a little bare at the moment, kinda never got around to re planting other then tomatos lettuce and a new chilli and basil.    
When i finaly get into my place, there will be come veg... I mean we have a 50 year old apple that needs some company  :Biggrin:  
Cheers

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## Moondog55

Start now on the apple tree, spray for codling moth and fruit fly, then next year after a pruning and another spray you should have it for another 50 years, are yu going to be running a few choox to clean up the windfalls?/ I'd like to as soon as possible.
Start accumulating all those unwanted newspapers too

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## Armers

> Start now on the apple tree, spray for codling moth and fruit fly, then next year after a pruning and another spray you should have it for another 50 years, are yu going to be running a few choox to clean up the windfalls?/ I'd like to as soon as possible.
> Start accumulating all those unwanted newspapers too

  
Attacked the apple tree during winter its looking might sexy now... I'll get a photo when i am there next for you...  
here is a photo of it in july / august just after i hacked it  :Biggrin:     
Its looking better every day! 
Cheers

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## Moondog55

looks good for it's age

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## Black Cat

I potted up some strawberries this morning before heading off to quilting - they came from a fellow-quilter's garden yesterday. Some time (perhaps tomorrow, weather permitting) I will be cutting down a small rainwater tank to make a low ring in which the sweet bay will be planted. The strawbs will all be transplanted into the ground around the bay and allowed to naturlise as ground cover till the tree is bigger and shades them too much. The stake for the tree can provide a central prop for the birdnetting.

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## Black Cat

Looks gorgeous - not just good!! Almost espaliered. Excellent pruning job!!

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## Armers

> looks good for it's age

  Wait till you see it all dressed up!   

> Looks gorgeous - not just good!! Almost espaliered. Excellent pruning job!!

  I did this years hack... the espaliation (is that a word ?) was done by the orignal owner. 
Man  i gotta get you guys a photo tomorrow.  :Biggrin:  
Cheers

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## Black Cat

It will be stunning right now - I can tell. My lot are busily dressing up too - lovely to see. Oh, give it a good dose of blood and bone around the root zone now, and water it in well.

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## nat1

Hi guys, got this and that growing. I used leftover corrugated roof sheets cut down the middle length ways for my edging, poly irrigation on the top sharp edges.,treated pine covered in plastic so no soil contacts it used for the corner posts.
Old brick peers used for other garden edging.

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## Black Cat

Very nice! Might try that myself - will save a lot of soil using only half height iron ...

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## Black Cat

Still no photos of my vege patch (basically as it is almost bare at present) but here is some produce I picked this morning as a contribution to a stall at the local farmer's market

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## Black Cat

Finally managed to get a photo I am not too embarrassed by ... The rectangular bed in the foreground is the one I made today - still not filled properly or planted. Then comes a small rockery/terraced retaining wall to turn the corner and a flight of three steps from tyres, then a series of five tank rounds that curve back to the right which are the retaining wall for the septic tank fill (hit a slab of bedrock at 1600mm when setting it in). The two tanks in the background? One is metal waste waiting for me to take it to the tip, the other, rusty one peeking behind the pile of dirt will be cut down to make a round for the sweet bay tree once I work out where to put it. THere's another rectangular bed to go behind the one I built to day, but slow and steady wins the race. 
As you can see the beds are pretty manky at present as much of the winter harvest is gone and the spring planting is going into the rectangular beds. The tank rounds will be fore perennials like raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, asparagus and such like.

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## jago

> Finally managed to get a photo I am not too embarrassed by ... The rectangular bed in the foreground is the one I made today - still not filled properly or planted.

  Oi  thats cheating I showed you my crap heap show me yours! :Biggrin:

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## Black Cat

I had to cut down all that grass (you can see more of it in the background) so you could see anything. Want another viewpoint? This is the same area, looking the other way. To your left you have a heap of leftover soil, currently being engulfed by weeds. In the background you have the new chook shed, the old chook shed and what was the woodshed last winter, but which is about to be reframed, have a new door put into the wall facing the new chookshed, and windows in the wall around the corner (for views of the orchard and daylight to see what I am doing with the pots and plants and machinery I will be dealing with in there). The roll of hay is rapidly running out but never fear, there are another nine to come once that is done. In the far distance you can see the delightful architecture of the concrete tank and dunny block provided by council for the recreation grounds. They will be invisible once the trees get a bit bigger.

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## jago

go on then. :2thumbsup:

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## Black Cat

OK, done - I accidentally posted that before I was done and now it has been edited and photo inserted ...

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## Moondog55

We have had rain since my last post
here are some shots of the growth since the rain started 3 days ago 
I am going to need a spray I can see the downy mildew starting, i'll try skim milk powder dilute first before going to Lime and copper sulphate

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## Black Cat

Another option before that: 
sodium bicarbonate   spray - 1tsp carb soda, 1/2 tsp sunflower oil, 1 drop diswashing  liquid, 1   litre water 
For your milk spray - one part cows milk, 10 parts water
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</td></tr></table>

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## jago

> Another option before that: 
> sodium bicarbonate   spray - 1tsp carb soda, 1/2 tsp sunflower oil, 1 drop diswashing  liquid, 1   litre water 
> For your milk spray - one part cows milk, 10 parts water
> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 48pt;" width="64" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr style="height: 15pt;" height="20"><td style="height: 15pt; width: 48pt;" width="64" height="20">
> </td></tr></tbody></table>

  What is the preferred method as  my beans and peas are covered due to weeks of rain? 
Also my Jap pumpkin  has been planted since August its  flowering but no sign of pumpkins ...any thoughts?

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## Moondog55

> Also my Jap pumpkin  has been planted since August its  flowering but no sign of pumpkins ...any thoughts?

  No bees??

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## jago

> No bees??

  Plenty of bees (coke can, mouth, ouch again, I will learn) not for last couple of weeks though becuase of rain. Its pretty healthy garden we do have lots of bees, lady bugs, hover flies, assassin bugs, dragon flies and even a couple of bluetongues (keep eating my strawberrys) so I am blessed with good bugs and know real signs of nasties. 
The pumpkin has spread about 5 metes across with runners and has about 20-30 large flowers but no sign of pumpkins. 
I do have a problem with most things bolting not long after they are planted parsley grew to 2 meters high basil about half that size and my mild chilli variety are so hot they make scuds look like kids food. Spring oinion cuttings  that I planted 3 weeks ago are half a meter high and flowering!

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## Black Cat

> What is the preferred method as  my beans and peas are covered due to weeks of rain?

  Either should work. And the weeks of rain will have dampened the pollen which is why they have not set fruit. You need to take the male flower and apply the pollen directly to the female flower to ensure pollination takes place.

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## jago

> Either should work. And the weeks of rain will have dampened the pollen which is why they have not set fruit. You need to take the male flower and apply the pollen directly to the female flower to ensure pollination takes place.

  Cheers  BC  I will go and impregnate the pumpkins.... 
Any ideas why everthing I plant  bolts?

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## andy the pm

> Any ideas why everthing I plant bolts?

  Its the weather...cool, hot, cool, hot, wet, hot...poor plants don't know whether they are coming or going...

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## Black Cat

Yes having similar problems here this spring - 33 mm of rain and the whole back yard disappears under waist high grass - I am beginning to think a flamethrower may be the answer. Still, have been able to pick a few things before they go to seed at least. And the strawberries are positively bulging with growth - so hopefully they will ripen before too long (and I can keep the slugs off them in the mean time ..)

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## Moondog55

> Any ideas why everthing I plant  bolts?

  I was going to make a dumb remark about not enough nuts and washers but I have decided to refrain, possibly too much nitrogen in the fertiliser

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## jago

> I was going to make a dumb remark about not enough nuts and washers but I have decided to refrain, possibly too much nitrogen in the fertiliser

  
Not using any fertiliser.... the red mud up here it is so fertile if you leave the garden furniture out on it, it takes root and you can grow your own furnture! Honest.... 
BC ..I went out and sexed the pumpkin flowers...and weird they're all (37)male no females so probaby the reason no pumpkins, any ideas forum gurus? :Doh:

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## Armers

Took my time but i told you i would deliver the goods...  
Bloom'n Tree   
APPLES!!   
Cheers folks 
Ben

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## Black Cat

Looking good! And those apples are way more advanced than mine ...  :Frown:  
I ate my first strawberry today and it was delicious. Sorry. No photo. It was eaten before I had the chance ...  :Biggrin:

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## andy the pm

Harvested our 1st lebanese cucumber today, big fat & juicy! The zuchinnis I planted a couple of weeks ago are starting to form, pumpkins that went in at the same time are starting to flower as well. 
Have just planted in some organic potatoes that were starting to grow so hopefully they will produce something in time.... 
The corn is going mental, although only about half a metre tall some of them have 6 shoots growing which hopefully will produce a cob each... 
The only thing not going well is my tomato plant, about a dozen green fruit that just wont go red!  :Annoyed:

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## Black Cat

My tomato plants only went in the ground yesterday - I still have a couple of dozen seedlings that are too small to plant out just yet. But peas and broad beans are a-picking and the strawberries are starting to come on well. Tomorrow I hope to get the second new raised bed filled with soil and something into the ground there as well - lettuce definitely, and will have to rummage through my seed packets to see what else I can plant. Oh, and will be putting the beans in alongside the corn plants that are taking off following a couple of inches of rain over the last couple of days. I just love Spring and all the exciting things happening in the garden!

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## Black Cat

Finished filling the second raised bed today (works delayed due to rain), and have planted four rows of seeds so far. Lettuce, tomatoes and marigolds in the first one now ... :2thumbsup:

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## nibiru

hi all, new to the site. just going through all the great info and found this thread. currently having some great success in the vege garden and took a couple of picks the other day so thought i would put them up. 
looks like some great experience around here and looking forward to picking up some tips 
cheers

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## Black Cat

Looking good - I think I would be putting some runner beans up that fence though, to avoid the heat of summer striking back into the bed ...

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## Moondog55

`Not sure what is growing faster the corn or the dandelions, you have to admire a plant that has the ability to spring back from what would kill most green things. 
I suppose when you cannot string 3 clear, dry days together to spray Round-up on the Kikuyu the drought may be starting to break

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## Black Cat

I know what is growing faster in my corn plot - the stinging nettles - serves me right for using the old chook run ... And you only need 6 hours rain free to get the roundup to work. Problem is finding 6 hours rain free that are preceded by still weather. Too much wind around this place ... 
Fruit trees weeded and remulched today.

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## Moondog55

It seems I missed my opportunity today, too windy;but at least the laundry dried

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## jago

&R*$*() I've had to pull nearly all my crops out due to excessive conditions 27c most days and pissing down... at the start they all bolted but  they have now all been smashed  by the weather. 
Oh well off to spend the evening back at wikileaks  new site 213.251.145.96 reading about Americas global policy on energy ...they are doing secret deals to let UAE establish Nuclear powers stations!!! :Shock:

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## HandyAnnie

My vegie garden is looking very bare - I managed to get most of the weeds out (green crop that didn't get turned over in time and managed to sprout seeds) and planted some potatoes. Some of the carrots that didn't germinate in the drought from last year have started growing. I have sage and parsley and rhubarb and kent pumpkins and a growing crop of jerusalem artichokes. My neighbour is giving me some of her tarragon, lettuces and silver beet and I have onions and garlic growing in pots ready to be planted. Am rather glad they weren't planted out as last night's sudden downpour (we even had a 2 hour blackout) brought a branch down (smack on the bare patch in the vegie garden). (These photos are from Friday afternoon - taken for my father who lives in the US and is a master gardener.)
Oh and 2/3 of the yard is enclosed for our purry girls (3 cats). That photo is from last year, back when we had a drier spell.

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## HandyAnnie

Hi Twinny
I plotted out your co-ordinates as being somewhere in the South Pacific near Rapa Iti... Are you sailing?
That's a lot of garden on a boat...   :Redface: )

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## andy the pm

Our cucumbers have been going great, and now the zucchinis and eggplants are catching up...

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## Smergen

OK, I've HAVE to join in this thread. Built a couple of garden beds in my time with a few different materials, but the latest versions are the best I think. Here they are in various stages of evolution. I'm quite proud of them actually as it is not often a pencil pusher like me gets to use power tools... 
The photos of the vegies are pretty old now (Oct) but we're through the beetroot phase, and now picking snow peas, beans, rocket, spinach, onions, carrots, strawberries, blackberries and soon will (hopefully) have tomatoes and capsicums. The other garden bed (made from stone) was the left over triple mix we had that we thought we'd use while we try and work out what we want to do with the space. Got some very nice zucchini and pumpkin growing in there.

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## Moondog55

Nicely done

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## Black Cat

Very good indeed!! The flaw in your approach is that you will never get to play with your power tools again if you build your beds so well ... And I love your house - was it once a school house? railway station? something like that????

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## Smergen

> Very good indeed!! The flaw in your approach is that you will never get to play with your power tools again if you build your beds so well ... And I love your house - was it once a school house? railway station? something like that????

  Thanks BC. Well I will have the power tools out to help me build my retaining wall over Xmas. Thanks for the compliments on the house. Nothing like that at all, just a nice big A Frame joint. Needs a little TLC but we love it too...

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## jago

Very jealous smergen ..great set up. 
My beds have all gone to seed, apart from my asexual pumpkin  thats still only producing male flowers !

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## Smergen

Thanks Jago. I'll try and get out and take some more photos over the Xmas period. We've got some 'issues' with some browning on the beans and snow peas which I'm hoping people more knowledgable than me could help out with. 
It will also be interesting to see how the eWood holds up over time and whether I've put enough support in there for them and how they react to the Summer sun (if it ever arrives) 
In the meantime, here were the previous versions at our previous joint...

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## jago

My beans browned after a plague of aphids appeared and the peas died from powdrey mildew...blame global warming and all the rain.

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## Moondog55

Jago we are having problems with our sweet corn, the first batch are not setting female side shoots, it looks like we got a hermaphrodite batch as the male spikes are lumpy and bumpy; second time this has happened with the "Supersweet" hybrid from Yates, this is the last time I plant it.
"Moon & Stars" is doing very well tho and much cheaper seed.

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## Black Cat

My first batch of sweet corn died in the late frosts. My second batch suffered from the dog deciding the soft dirt was nice to lie in, and the cats concluding it made a nice toilet. The third batch has yet to break the surface. Those of the second batch that have survived are only about 600mm high so far and too sparse to have much hope of pollinating effectively. Might have to grow them under plastic next year I think.

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## jago

12 sweetcorn from 8 stems I bought dwarf corn, stems 1 metre high normal size cobs very sweet. 
Toms about 20 kilos so far off 2 plants and they suddenly died!

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## Smergen

Some of our latest rewards from the garden...

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## Stan 101

What a great thread. Some of the posts have motivated me to knock up a small raised bed with treated pine about 1350mm x 1050mm x 280mm. About 6 barrows of backyard compost and then 3 bags of cheap potting mix was used to fill it up. 
I've just planted seedlings for sugar snap peas and roma tomatoes. I've moved my oregano, thyme and lemongrass in and planted some seeds for spring onion, baby carrot, and mixed lettuce. I'll add sweet and holy basil and coriander this week. 
I'll be sure to post up a photo later this week. Thanks for the motivation. 
Cheers,

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## Smergen

Nice work Stan, look forward to the pics. 
Out of interest, did you line the garden bed before putting the soil/compost in?

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## Black Cat

I took out the camera the other day after two blokes and i had attacked the jungle with mowers and whipper snippers and brush cutters and machetes (well, may be the machetes are an invention ....). the tomatoes have fruit on them which has yet to change colour, the lettuce are ready to pick, the beans have just started flowering, the cabbages are doing so well I thinned them and planted the thinnings in another new row and the cauliflowers seem overwhelmed by the cabbages so are not doing too much at all. 
We had very close to a frost yesterday morning, and another the day before that. Disconcerting at this time of year I have to say. Fortunately I was up at five so was able to make sure it did not effect the toms. Oh, and I spent today making jam (in between fiddling with the bees and generally tidying up a bit)

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## Stan 101

> Nice work Stan, look forward to the pics. 
> Out of interest, did you line the garden bed before putting the soil/compost in?

  No I didn't line it. CSIRO are happy with CCA in vege garden borders. The minimal arsenic leaching is not organic and arsenic is naturally occuring in soils as it is. There is .4 of a cube of organic matter with a surface area of 1.35m2 in CCA timber.  
When you look at polymers such as polpropylene and the like and what they off gas and the chemicals they offer on break down it's a bit of damned if you do damned if you don't. Builders plastic doesn't break down readily but it does off gas. CCA doesn't leach much after it has been dried after treatment and what it does leach isn't readily soluble in organic matter. 
That's my take on it.  :Smilie:  
cheers,

----------


## president_ltd

> No I didn't line it. CSIRO are happy with CCA in vege garden borders.

  not exactly. The facts about CCA-treated timber (Fact Sheet) 
specifically:  *Crops* 
 A number of studies have shown that CCA is not  absorbed into above-ground food crops such as grapes (8), tomatoes and  cucumbers. There are, however, some reports of a slight increase in  arsenic content in root crops such as carrots and beets grown against  treated timber, although the arsenic is in a safe organic form and most  of it is removed with peeling. *Any concern can be eliminated by  growing these vegetables more than 100 mm from treated timber garden  edgings or by lining the edgings with plastic. This has the additional  useful effect of reducing soil contact with the wood, which could  further extend the wood's life.*      

> When you look at polymers such as polpropylene and the like and what they off gas and the chemicals they offer on break down it's a bit of damned if you do damned if you don't. Builders plastic doesn't break down readily but it does off gas. CCA doesn't leach much after it has been dried after treatment and what it does leach isn't readily soluble in organic matter.

  indeed, agree with damned-if-you-do / damned-if-you-don't. 
best bet is actually to make a raised garden bed out of neither.
we built one up using core-filled concrete blocks.  i've seen corrugated iron/zinc used too.

----------


## jago

> I took out the camera the other day after two blokes and i had attacked the jungle with mowers and whipper snippers and brush cutters and machetes (well, may be the machetes are an invention ....). the tomatoes have fruit on them which has yet to change colour, the lettuce are ready to pick, the beans have just started flowering, the cabbages are doing so well I thinned them and planted the thinnings in another new row and the cauliflowers seem overwhelmed by the cabbages so are not doing too much at all. 
> We had very close to a frost yesterday morning, and another the day before that. Disconcerting at this time of year I have to say. Fortunately I was up at five so was able to make sure it did not effect the toms. Oh, and I spent today making jam (in between fiddling with the bees and generally tidying up a bit)

  BC BC BC... what are you doing with Instant mash!? :Doh:

----------


## jago

> not exactly. The facts about CCA-treated timber (Fact Sheet) 
> specifically:  *Crops* 
>  A number of studies have shown that CCA is not  absorbed into above-ground food crops such as grapes (8), tomatoes and  cucumbers. There are, however, some reports of a slight increase in  arsenic content in root crops such as carrots and beets grown against  treated timber, although the arsenic is in a safe organic form and most  of it is removed with peeling. *Any concern can be eliminated by  growing these vegetables more than 100 mm from treated timber garden  edgings or by lining the edgings with plastic. This has the additional  useful effect of reducing soil contact with the wood, which could  further extend the wood's life.*      
> indeed, agree with damned-if-you-do / damned-if-you-don't. 
> best bet is actually to make a raised garden bed out of neither.
> we built one up using core-filled concrete blocks.  i've seen corrugated iron/zinc used too.

  totally agree but you could always dry stack a couple of courses of clay bricks as an alternative. I wouldn't touch CCA wood for garden beds.

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## Moondog55

> BC BC BC... what are you doing with Instant mash!?

   :What he said: doubled LOL

----------


## Smergen

I made our most recent garden beds out of eWood, made from recycled printer cartriges. Inert, sustainable product and great to work with, albeit very heavy. Couldn't be happier. The plastic takes around 40,000 years to break down in the soil, so I reckon I'm good for my life time provided the joints last...  :Smilie:

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## Stan 101

I forgot to get a close up of the garden. I just snapped this with the phone. The seedlings of tomatoes and snow peas are powering. The mixed lettuce, baby carrot and spring onion I started from seed are up and running and my previous herbs are well settled and happy.     
Cheers,

----------


## Smergen

Vegies garden's current rotation...

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## Smergen

The little fella looking rather pleased with the carrot he hooked in the garden. Sure he's little but it's one big sucker...

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## jago

Wouldn't want to see the rabbit that eats big @@@@ers like that...what are you feeding your Veggies and more importantly did it taste any good.

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## opalmagic

If you want an untidy vegie garden, try this one! 
Pmpkins, tomatoes, carrots, leeks, climbing beans, snow peas, spring 
 onions, zucchinis - and a big sunflower watching over it all to scare off the 
 birds!  
Cheers,
Pam

----------


## Smergen

> Wouldn't want to see the rabbit that eats big @@@@ers like that...what are you feeding your Veggies and more importantly did it taste any good.

  Thanks Jago, 
Well it's the first year through in the garden bed for vegies, so the virgin triple mix from the supplier is obviously high in nutrients. However we do fold through general domestic compost mix (garden/house scraps) when we remove vegies from rotation.  
Also the Managing Director has made up this (very foul smelling) liquid fertiliser which she drains from a bin up the back. In the bin is a combination of vegie plants, garden plants and other misc shrubs, which she has addede some water to. This breaks down over time and she sprays it on all the vegies once every few weeks. Stinks, but hell, these are the best vegies we've produced so it must be working! :happy:  
Also we've noticed in previous places having quite stumpy carrots. I think this is due to the carrots not being able to grown 'downwards' before hitting the hard clay at the bottom. So having a double sleeper bed gives it extra height to grow into. If I was short of space, I'd grow then in a big pot or something. 
As for taste, the MD is making carrot and pumpkin soup (also from the garden) today so we'll see how it goes...

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## 70's Revival

Very inspiring thread.
I'm super new to the vegie growing game and have just set up some NZ collar boxes around a month ago.  We are doing 6 double height boxes but have only set up three at the moment due to more renos being done in that area soon. 
All doing well and basiil and mint going nuts and have started to enjoy a few rocket leaves and various lettuce leaves. Have small beetroot, cucumber, spring onions, lettuce, chilli's and lots of herbs. 
However I am starting to get a few holes in the rocket and lettuce, they look like little aphid holes.  I can't see any actualy insects but as I am trying to keep it all organic do you know if there is something I can use that will keep it all organic or should I just resign myself to this being part of the organic vegie growing process? 
Thanks in advance vegie gurus.

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## VernJ

Well we made the start this week. Rather late but we are in Brissie; so plenty of solar energy left B4 winter.  I built the garden in that part of the back yard that gets the most sun all year. I had to dismantle some of the retaining wall so I used up all the spare blocks in the process. I put 1/4M³ of crusher dust under the garden mix we brought (compost and cow manure). Im told it adds magnesium which is apparently missing in our soils and in our diets.  Some established herbs are in and seeds planted for beans, tomatoes and aubergine. Zucchini, peas and broccoli should be well established before winter.<O :Tongue:   The bed is only 12M² and we like a hint of chaos in our gardens so we are trying not to plant in rows. But no amount of chaos will fool the brush tail possum (in the third PIC).We just spotted him/her this morning in the Lemon Myrtle; very conveniently located just <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com3 meters</st1:metricconverter> from the garden. The picture was taken from our back landing. <O :Tongue:   Anyway, this guy or other locals decimated our herbs in pots last summer so we had to build a weld mesh cage. Im going to try naphthalene flakes first. But then the organic garden lady told us a liberal spray of male gardener's urine around the perimeter...aw! really?. Hopefully, we will have a strategy in place by next summer. Any advice on the possum issue would be appreciated.  Cheers!<O :Tongue: ></O :Tongue: >

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## Moondog55

Personally I'd use a .303 but that is now frowned on

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## Smergen

:What he said:  
Nice work though Vern, that's a sharp looking garden bed. Looking forward to hearing/seeing how it goes.

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## VernJ

So ... 5 weeks in and we are enjoying the aubergines, they were from Bunnings and one plant had flowered. Zukinni on the way and tomatoes starting to look the part and all the herbs are great, except the possum's favorite Itallian Parsley which was striped bare but is growing back.  
For a giggle we bought a plastic nodding headed Owl which reputedly scares the crap out of possums. These are the same possums which will defianently out stare me on our front landing. 
Now about the broad beans and borlotti beans, they on the other hand are failing badly. Small curled new leaves, older leaves going yellow and falling. Thought it was a bug of some sort and got some potasium soap to spray. The next set of borloti beans have shot up out of the ground but they also appear to be going off .... the garden soil is very rich organic mulch and cow manure .... could it be lacking something or is it too rich for beans, could it be a fungal thing ????? any advice would be very much appreciated. 
The images show the progress so far ... 
Cheers!

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## Moondog55

Do a quick soil test to check pH, may need some lime

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## Black Cat

I ripped out the tomatoes yesterday and picked about five kilos of largish semigreen tomatoes. The less green ones will hopefully ripen indoors, the rest will become green tomato relish. Picking cabbage at present and the broccoli is growing rapidly. The brussels sprouts keep being trodden on by the dog who seems obsessed with eating asparagus at present and the cauliflowers have good leaf development but are yet to start to form curds. The tomato bed was dug over and broad beans planted at each end (apparently they kill off any tomato-related diseases in the soil) and between them are rows of onions, beetroot, turnips, swedes, carrots and parsnip seeds. We have had good rain over the last week and this week is setting fair for sunshine all day every day, so I figured it was worth the risk of sowing seeds. The soil is still nice and warm and the bed faces north and gets sun all day, so they should be up and ready to face the weather if things turn nasty once more.

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## VernJ

> Do a quick soil test to check pH, may need some lime

  Thanks Moondog.You were spot on ... our local Nursery folks did a quick soil test on the garden mix and it was couple of clicks too far alkaline. They suggested a couple of sweetners via pellitised Chookpop and some volcanic dust should improve nutrients and trace elements. I will test again once before we plant. And I might lime up the corner where we plant the beans and peas. By next summer it should be all go for the salad crops. 
Possums continue to raid. Parsley, capiscums  and fennel plus corriander, tomato and broccoli sprouts all sampled.  
The Owl deterrent wasn't. I might need to build a cage, ugly. 
The Naphalene flakes seem to work but I hate spreading it around. 
Any success stories on the possum front would be appreciated. 
Cheers!

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## Black Cat

Blood and bone. In bags tied around the garden. Works to keep the possums off my fruit trees (so far). Has the added advantage of leaching into the soil to sweeten it. I use naphthalene as a mouse deterrent instead ...

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## Smergen

We decided to clear out the big eBeds and turn and fold in some manure in prep for the next rotation. So we cleared what was remaining of the vegies before the cold weather killed most of it off. 
It was a rather big haul, but very inspiring as well. The basil worked very well with the tomatoe plants and will be a permanent plotting technique in the future. The basil has now been made into an excellent pesto already. 
The capsicums will be turned into a chutney apparently, whilst the rest will just be ravaged by the Site Engineers. The cherry tomatoes just prove to be the most excellent snack. 
And the leeks will no doubt become part of leek and spud soup. Always love how the little dudes help us collect the vegies...

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## Black Cat

So the spring has sprung. Amazing weather for August. Am usually huddled from the winter snows at this time of year, but not this year! The asparagus is up (Just) and the rhubarb, and the raspberry canes I shoved into the ground 'in case' have all sprouted leaves, so it looks like i may have a glut of fruit on my hands come Autumn. What a pity I am most likely going to still be working full time at that time. Will have to work out a strategy for dealing with the produce over the weekends...

----------


## Smergen

Spring has definitely sprung indeed. Next rotations are in and off and running. Trying some potatoes in the big eBeds this time after success growing them in the ol' "Stack-o-Tyres". Beans, spinach, silverbeet all firing and the beetroot, leeks and spring onions playing catch-up. Naturally we will have our monster carrots in tow as well. 
Will be interesting to see how things take this year compared to last, how rotating the beds works and how well our 'juicing' of the soil with manure and compost will go. Already frustrated a little with the grass seeds that came through the horse manure sprouting but we've got most of it... 
The black garden beds also have warmed nicely which I'm hoping will help jump start some of the growth. 
One thing though... noticed a couple of weeks back that a RABBIT had be digging around... not happy. Covered the beds, haven't seem him since so fingers crossed. He better watch out or I'll go all Elmur Fudd on his hide...

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## The Roofer

Not mine - but a place on Sunshine Coast (fixed roof) - really nice vegie garden on side hill next to the back door.  It's at a good level to work at?

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## Black Cat

Nice look there Roofer. a bit suburban for me. I like things a bit on the wild side. Smergen, a bit of blood and bone on the beds usually sees off the bunnies (unless you have been looking up recipes, lol).

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## The Roofer

I agree Black Cat, 
Another problem I have is not with the vegie patch - but mulch and Bush turkeys - one bird has moved about 3 cubic meters of my cane mulch from gardens and neighbours bark - then built a huge mound on our boundry? Sick of raking it back with the neighbour every weekend for last 6 weeks!  
It's a big mother with huge dangley yellow & red beard! UGLY 
How do you stop these workaholics?

----------


## Bedford

> How do you stop these workaholics?

   :Shock:

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## Smergen

> Nice look there Roofer. a bit suburban for me. I like things a bit on the wild side. Smergen, a bit of blood and bone on the beds usually sees off the bunnies (unless you have been looking up recipes, lol).

  Thanks BC. Will keep it in mind if there is any future siting. Have a bag of B&B in the garden shed so it's ready to roll. Having said that, rabbit stew was always a quite tastey growing up...

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## Black Cat

I have some good recipes ... 
Bush turkeys require ten foot electrified fencing. Or an endless supply of mulch and cooperative neighbours.

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## brettsyoung

Got ours in last weekend - fooled by the warm days.  A few horror frosts during the week but they're hanging on.  The usual beans, peas, lettuce, cabbage, pak choy, coriander, broccoli, strawberries, onions...  Someone told me about frost-resistant tomatoes being sold this year.  Has anyone seen/tried these? 
The biggest problem around here (after frost) is wild ducks - they love to eat the tops off the plants.  My neighbour lost her entire flower garden from a duck massacre a few weeks ago.  I gotta get some netting before they visit me... 
cheers
Brett

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## finger

Reviving an old thread. 
Over the long weekend I whacked together a couple of extra beds to go with our current established bed. Snow peas are going great, carrots look to be going ok and the cauli is kicking on although its yet to flower.  
 I've put tomato's, and broccoli in one bed and potato's and garlic in the other. Unfortunately our backyard struggles for good sun over the heart of winter so probably wont see much action till early August. We've got a mass of possums in our area but touch wood they've left the vegies alone for now, shame I can't say the same about the passionfruit vine which has been decimated.

----------


## Smergen

> Reviving an old thread. 
> Over the long weekend I whacked together a couple of extra beds to go with our current established bed. Snow peas are going great, carrots look to be going ok and the cauli is kicking on although its yet to flower.  
> I've put tomato's, and broccoli in one bed and potato's and garlic in the other. Unfortunately our backyard struggles for good sun over the heart of winter so probably wont see much action till early August. We've got a mass of possums in our area but touch wood they've left the vegies alone for now, shame I can't say the same about the passionfruit vine which has been decimated.

  A timely bump finger. One of my favourite threads on here. 
And a very nice use of space mate and sharp looking beds. I hope the possums leave them alone for you.

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## Smergen

It's time to get the spring plants in so I needed to make some room...

----------


## oceanaussi

i there,  I'm planning my first vegetable garden. I know I'm a bit late but due to earth moving works at my new place, I wasn't able to start beforehand. The land which will become my vegetable garden is now level. And in a couple of weeks I can start on it. But I have a few questions:  1. I'm planning the veggie garden right next to the house as I want to use greywater on the crops and that is where the greywater is. However, there's 2 bedroom windows towards the veggie garden and I was wondering if the smell might be too strong.  Please don't laugh. I assume that I will be putting compost/blood and bone on there on a regular basis, so I'm just wondering if the smell is too strong?  2. I'm planning to have the veggie garden fenced off with a path in the middle and then paths to the left and right towards the rows of veggies. I'm planning to plant by group,eb root crops, salad crops, stem vegetables, leafy vegetables ect.Is that the right approach? 
3. I'm using Michael Pollock's book 'Fruit & Vegetable Gardening in Australia' as a guide. However,I have no idea what grows in my area and what doesn't. I live west of Rockhampton, QLD. Any idea where I can find a plan which tells me what I can plant where and when? 
4. I'm planning to have the chooks inside the veggie garden (fenced off obviously). Has anyone here done this?  Thank you!

----------


## finger

> i there,  I'm planning my first vegetable garden. I know I'm a bit late but due to earth moving works at my new place, I wasn't able to start beforehand. The land which will become my vegetable garden is now level. And in a couple of weeks I can start on it. But I have a few questions:  1. I'm planning the veggie garden right next to the house as I want to use greywater on the crops and that is where the greywater is. However, there's 2 bedroom windows towards the veggie garden and I was wondering if the smell might be too strong.  Please don't laugh. I assume that I will be putting compost/blood and bone on there on a regular basis, so I'm just wondering if the smell is too strong?  2. I'm planning to have the veggie garden fenced off with a path in the middle and then paths to the left and right towards the rows of veggies. I'm planning to plant by group,eb root crops, salad crops, stem vegetables, leafy vegetables ect.Is that the right approach? 
> 3. I'm using Michael Pollock's book 'Fruit & Vegetable Gardening in Australia' as a guide. However,I have no idea what grows in my area and what doesn't. I live west of Rockhampton, QLD. Any idea where I can find a plan which tells me what I can plant where and when? 
> 4. I'm planning to have the chooks inside the veggie garden (fenced off obviously). Has anyone here done this?  Thank you!

  Here is a couple of websites that give you a rough indication of what to plant and when for your region. Gardening Australia - Vegie Guide Planting Calendar Garden calendar to keep your kitchen garden growing - vegetables and herbs to sow and plant right now 
Its not advisable to use grey water on edible plants Grey water - recycling water at home | Better Health Channel

----------


## oceanaussi

Thank you very much, finger!!!  :2thumbsup:  I will study those links and hopefully start setting up soon. 
Re the greywater: Our greywater is treated (as we're not connected to anything) and therefore clean(er) than normal tapwater. 
Everyone else, please keep the pics coming! You guys are doing an amazing job!!!  :2thumbsup:  
Cheers
Mel

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## davegol

> 4. I'm planning to have the chooks inside the veggie garden (fenced off obviously). Has anyone here done this?

     you could try this (a chicken moat!): Construct a Chicken Moat for Effective Garden Pest Control - Sustainable Farming - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

----------


## oceanaussi

> you could try this (a chicken moat!): Construct a Chicken Moat for Effective Garden Pest Control - Sustainable Farming - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

  Yes! This is exactly what I was thinking about!!! Only problem is hubby thinks it stinks right nextto the house, so I'mwondering if I should put it somewhere else.

----------


## VernJ

Suggest you check your aspect for summer and winter, what you want, ideally, is a Possum free zone in full sunlight all year.  
Cheers! and healthy eating! VernJ

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Some nice setups there, ladies and gentlemen.
Very inspiring. 
This little fella down the road from me has a number of gardens around his house, most of which are just in the ground with dug edges.
He also has a couple of "no-dig" gardens which he swear by.
As he's retired he's out there every day pulling weeds and watering and always has huge crops.
Grows just about every vegetable there is and stocks the freezer up for the year.  
Anyway, I'll put mine up, although they are no more.
Will be building something similar (but taller) in a different spot.                      
And I made these for friends of ours.
Same principle.                      :Smilie:

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## oceanaussi

Nice!!!  :2thumbsup:  
I'm going to be too impatient, I'm putting everything straight into the ground.  :Blush7:

----------


## oceanaussi

Ok, so this is my plan. What do you think? It's my first vegetable garden - everything before was grown in containers. The area is 10 x 15 m. We're 2 people and eat lots of veggies and lettuces. I hope to get a good variety and don't need to buy anything anymore. I'm interested to see what you think in regards to spacing of the gardenbeds and any other suggestions/improvements. Thank you! :Redface:

----------


## activeman

Tomatoes going great so far

----------


## activeman

> Pretty pictures

  Surely you have to put a plastic liner or similar inside, otherwise the metal will corrode, right?

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Yeh mate the sides were lined with plastic.         :Smilie:

----------


## activeman

> Yeh mate the sides were lined with plastic.

  Just checkin, cause it wasn't apparent from your photos and I was hoping that you hadn't forgot.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

As the veggie gardens are gone we're slowly filling various pots with 'erbs and stuff.  
I have all these lenghts of bamboo laying around so I thought I'd put one up and see how it would work as a planter box.                  :Biggrin:

----------


## ToneG

That looks great  :2thumbsup:  Did you put some holes in the bottom of each section for drainage? How long do you think the bamboo will last when filled with moist soil?

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> Did you put some holes in the bottom of each section for drainage?

  Yep.      

> How long do you think the bamboo will last when filled with moist soil?

  Haha, that remains to be seen.      :Wink:

----------


## activeman



----------


## terminal_stance

Have been following this thread for a while and thought I'd finally put some picture up of our last project. 
Space is limited in our backyard and so we decided to convert our unused carport into a more productive space, the site foreman kept watch over all the comings and going.    
To maximise our space, we decided to use apple crates and place them directly one the concrete, firstly because I didn't fancy pulling up all the concrete and secondly because we like the concept of no dig gardens. Plus the extra height will help to keep the site forearm and our chickens out of the veggies.     
The other benefit of retaining the carport structure is keeping the timber for the climbing plants to grow on and by removing the roof, we let the sunshine in and reused the corrugated iron 'line' the base of the crates to hopefully increase the lifespan of the timber. The left over iron went over the chicken coop to increase the shade for the ladies. We also had to resize the crates to ensure the wheelbarrow fitted between and it also meant that I don't have to reach to far into the plots. Finished size was 1200mm(W)x1000mm(D)x750mm(H).      
The initial layer in the bottom of the crates is corrugated iron with crushed rock to increase drainage, followed by the standard recipe of hay/pea straw, compost and fertiliser. We finished with a compost / soil mix and of course the watering system and mulch. Luckily the watering system can integrate nicely with our current weepers that water the fruit and citrus trees.       
All the plants are now in and the forearms done his inspections. We've ended up planting tomatoes, corn, cucumber, climbing and bush beans, radish, lettuce, beetroot, rocket, capscium, rhubarb, garlic, spring onion and a few other yummy things. I think the herb barrels are getting jealous about their new lack of attention.    
The first of our apples have now popped up and hopefully some other goodies won't be to far behind!

----------


## paddyjoy

Veggie garden seemed like a good idea at the time.   
Until the veggies took over.....

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Hello, time for this thread again. 
I had a couple of these blocks left over from a job and thought I could use them for a small herb garden.    
Didn't think they would look good with the angled corners for such a small project, so I got the bricksaw out and cut them all square...     
Laid some crusherdust for a base, whacked it good and sat the blocks on a concrete footing.    
The following 2 courses were liquid nailed on...    
The top then framed with some old hardwood I had laying around.
I cut the pieces bit by bit, attached some angle bracket on the bottom to hold it against the back of the blocks and when it was all cut to size, more liquid nails to hold it down.
Also drilled a few holes in the front corners and drove in some 8mm rod to hold it all together.

----------


## Smergen

Nice work Platypus... looks sharp. 
Just a question, how does the garden bed drain if it's on a concrete slab?

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Cheers, yeh it was a silly amount of work cutting all the blocks but it was worth it in the end I reckon. 
Only the blocks are sitting on a bit of concrete, not the whole garden.

----------


## ToneG

Thought I would capture the veggie garden before the heatwave really hits us in Melbourne tomorrow. Garden is in raised beds (made from recycled railway sleepers with very little tar and oil) as we're on very heavy clay soils that were just too much work in other parts of the garden. 
Tomato and warrigul greens are going gangbusters, and if the lettuce doesn't fry I'll be happy.

----------


## OBBob

> Vegies garden's current rotation...

  Hi Smergen ... are you still on here? I noticed your gardens seem to be built from what look like fence barge boards ... I.e. 150 x  25mm thick? I had expected full 50mm sleepers would be necessary to contain that amount of soil without bowing. Am I correct on the thickness and have they held up ok?  
I'm also looking at the corrugated iron version a few have done too.

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## terminal_stance

OBBob - our apple crates are made with boards that are roughly about 120mm x 25xmm x 1000mm. Minimal bowing when filled with soil (average just under a cubic metre), no issue after 2 yrs but I don't expect them to last 10yrs. Hope that helps.

----------


## OBBob

Thanks TS, that's a good point.  
I want to make a few, probably at 600 (or 1200) x 2400mm. It starts to look rather expensive when you add up the materials so I'm investigating options.  :Smilie:

----------


## Smergen

> Hi Smergen ... are you still on here? I noticed your gardens seem to be built from what look like fence barge boards ... I.e. 150 x  25mm thick? I had expected full 50mm sleepers would be necessary to contain that amount of soil without bowing. Am I correct on the thickness and have they held up ok?  
> I'm also looking at the corrugated iron version a few have done too.

  G’day mate, Yeah I’m still here; the little tackers keep me busy justtrying to keep on top of the garden let alone adding to it! In regards to the garden beds, they are made from eWood,which is recycled eWaste (printer cartridges and the like). It’s pretty impressivestuff, and it acts and cuts like some very solid hardwood. It also means thatit doesn’t rot at all. They may have faded a little since construction a fewyears ago, but they are still as solid as the day we put them in. There’s a couple of pics on the front page of this threadwhich shows the bracing I put in them but can post some more if needed. They were 2.4m x 25mm lengths, but I can’t recall the heightof them. Can check it out if you need. I’d certainly recommend using it, but it’s now quite pricey(or at least it was the last time I checked) but if you make it right the firsttime, it’ll be the last time you build them!

----------


## OBBob

Wow,  I really wanted to use the recycled plastic wood but it seemed ridiculously expensive when I looked into it.  Might have another check though.

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## Smergen

> Wow, I really wanted to use the recycled plastic wood but it seemed ridiculously expensive when I looked into it. Might have another check though.

  I found the link below which details the product and offers some products to buy.   eWood Solutions - Raised Garden Beds and Sleepers 
I didn't go through these guys, but actually went through the factory direct as this was an option available at the time. Unfortunately it isn't now. I simply asked for the slightly defected pieces or "less than perfect" 2.4 lengths. Given the sizes of my garden beds, I would hate to think how much this would cost... Actually using the website prices I could...  *Large (3.2m x 1.2m x 0.4m)* 11 pieces of 2.4m x 200mm x 25mm = $208.45 + postage.   *Medium (2.4 x 1.2m x 0.4m)* 8 pieces of 2.4m x 200mm x 25mm = $151.6 + postage 
So all up, our 5 main beds (3 large, 2 medium) would cost $928.55 plus postage!!  :Shock:  :Shock:  And that doesn't even include all the nuts and bolts... We certainly didn't pay that much. From recollection we paid $300-400 and I picked it up from the factory. Also, if you have half decent soil, you might only need to go one sleeper high. We've got simple bare clay out our way, so we stepped it up to give the beds as much growing room as possible. 
Having said all that, it is a great product and I have every confidence that our garden beds will be still there going strong for many many years to come. So it may not be a solution for large scale projects (unless you get a discount) but for smaller beds and undertakings, it could still be an option.

----------


## OBBob

If you want a real scare use their postage estimator... :eek: 
The price of the sleepers is comparable to bunnings hardwood sleepers or golden cyprus. It adds up though!

----------


## Chriso2

Here's our veggie garden.  I put up the corrugated iron fence (and yes, that upset the neighbors...) then put in the pallets.  I wanted a raised garden bed to stop from bending, but didn't realise how much soil needed to go in! Anyway, it's all done now, and the veggies are thriving!  
Chriso.

----------


## phild01

Feel for your neighbour :Cry:

----------


## Chriso2

> Feel for your neighbour

  The way they have reacted, I'm planning 7 more fences 4 times the height just to really make sure they're upset.  If he had have come to me and had a mature conversation, I would have pulled it down, but no, he has and is continuing to be a violent, rude, uneducated excuse for a man.  Anyway, needless to say....we don't speak anymore, and we have our backyard getting the way it should be.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for peace and harmony, and I consulted him, he even helped me pull out the trees before I built the fence!  Now, he can get stuffed.
I'll think of him when I'm chowing down on my awesome veggies!
Chriso

----------


## phild01

Did you let him know what you wanted to do before you did it!

----------


## OBBob

> ... I'm planning 7 more fences ...

  Cool ... you have an octagonal block?

----------


## Chriso2

> Did you let him know what you wanted to do before you did it!

  Yep, full consultation....

----------


## Chriso2

> Cool ... you have an octagonal block?

  Nah, just expressing my level of frustration with my neighbor!!

----------


## phild01

> Yep, full consultation....

  ...and they said they don't mind the look of a really high corrugated iron fence!

----------


## Chriso2

> ...and they said they don't mind the look of a really high corrugated iron fence!

  He didn't suggest any issues, like I said he even helped prepare they area. But I will admit, that in hindsight, a pailing fence would have been a much better option for all involved. I do accept your point...

----------


## phild01

> He didn't suggest any issues, like I said he even helped prepare they area. But I will admit, that in hindsight, a pailing fence would have been a much better option for all involved. I do accept your point...

  Maybe their vision of what would be built is different to what resulted.  A corrugated fence can look good but it needs to be stylised or framed to some extent and maybe not so high.

----------


## phild01

Did you retain the garden soil at the fence or is it pushing against the iron.

----------


## Chriso2

> Maybe their vision of what would be built is different to what resulted.  A corrugated fence can look good but it needs to be stylised or framed to some extent and maybe not so high.

  He has since covered up his side with some bamboo sheet. I can't do much now....except live with his aggressive behavior. Oh well, live and learn..

----------


## Chriso2

Here's a little update of our veggie garden.  It's going off!  Oh and also you might see the Lillie Pilly's against the iron wall.  They are not getting any taller....anybody know a solution to get them growing?  I've fed them, watered them and put mushroom compost in the holes when planting? Any ideas? 
Cheers Chriso.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> Lillie Pilly's against the iron wall.  They are not getting any taller....anybody know a solution to get them growing?

  
How long have they been in?
Do they get enough sunlight there? 
apart from stuff like soil PH (which I can't help you with but someone else might) you could try giving them a trim.
Take about 1/3 off  heightwise and see if that gets them going....   :Smilie:

----------


## Renopa

Platypus is on the money....give them a light trim overall and feed them with some chook poo...or any other animal poo and stand back!!  LOL

----------


## phild01

...and if the lilli pilli I am familiar with, in 20 years become a complete gigantic pest!

----------


## Renopa

Not something I've been guilty of planting either.  Have ripped a couple out though!!

----------


## Nifty Nev

Gave mind the chainsaw treatment - the mess made when the berries drop is unbelievable.

----------


## Marc

An iron fence right against the veggie patch is not such a good idea. You get heat reflection from the fence in summer and burn your veggies.

----------


## OBBob

So I decided to try using EcoWood and corrugated Iron to make some viggie patches in this sort of style.    
Ultimately I wasn't happy with the outcome of the prototype and changed direction. The EcoWood would work well as simple sleepers (as used by others above) but if you want to rip it and do anything a little more detailed I didn't find it that friendly. I had also not considered all the black bits of plastic that it leaves everywhere instead of sawdust and the not so timber-like smell. So I binned that idea and decided to try just corrugated veggie gardens.  
Off the shelf oval garden beds aren't cheap (given I wanted six large ones), so I contacted a local roofing supplier and asked if he could roll some sheets to my specification, which he said was no problem.    
The sheets arrived and I used a drill mounted nibbler to rip each in half so they were about 440mm wide (painted all the cuts with coldgal). Then joined them end to end using nuts, bolts and riverts to create the ovals. I then added some electrical conduit hoops to support shade covers in summer and plastic in winter. I imagine the conduit is not very UV resistant but is very cheap an not hard to replace if required. We used fine golden mulch on the ground around the garden beds.  
Here's the result, which I am quite happy with! The pic is a little old ... they are flooded with growth at the moment.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> So I decided to try using EcoWood and corrugated Iron to make some viggie patches in this sort of style.

  
Looks familiar.....  http://www.renovateforum.com/f82/sho...tml#post898639    :Smilie:

----------


## terminal_stance

OBBob - when the conduit wears out replace it with 25mm blue strip poly water pipe. Bit more flexible and lasts longer (also cheaper). We've been using pipe and a combination of netting / exclusion nets from greenharvest.com.au to good effect. Another things that's been working well for us is the standard outdoor umbrella which sits between our beds and helps shade/unshaded quickly throughout the day (got sick of pulling shade cloth on and off.

----------


## OBBob

> Looks familiar.....  http://www.renovateforum.com/f82/sho...tml#post898639

  Inspirational!

----------


## OBBob

> OBBob - when the conduit wears out replace it with 25mm blue strip poly water pipe. Bit more flexible and lasts longer (also cheaper). We've been using pipe and a combination of netting / exclusion nets from greenharvest.com.au to good effect. Another things that's been working well for us is the standard outdoor umbrella which sits between our beds and helps shade/unshaded quickly throughout the day (got sick of pulling shade cloth on and off.

  Thanks ... yes then novelty of the shades will probably wear off in due course and then I'll be researching automated solar shading ... ha ha.

----------


## SilentButDeadly

> Looks familiar.....  http://www.renovateforum.com/f82/sho...tml#post898639

  
Ours are yet another variation on this theme...and nowhere near as heavily built!   
No internal frame...just two extra posts in the middle on the outside.  Ends of the sheets are joined onto 40 mm PVC pipe with roofing screws then the pipe itself is batten screwed to the post on the outside.  Top is trimmed with red gum sleeper sections.  Works a treat.

----------


## Smergen

It's been a little while since my last update but another garden bed has been constructed... 
After replacing the border fence I had a heap of panels lying around as they would have been very expensive to dump. With a bit of space made in the back yard, I wondered how I could convert them to perhaps another garden bed... So, some work with circular saw and a hammer and we're off...   
I went inside to make up some lunch and get some drinks for my labourers, and came back out to find this... Made completely out of the off cuts... I must admit, was pretty proud.  :Smilie:    
Using some old roofing sheets to line it, a bit of digging and physical persuasion she was in place. Then up with some soil from the bottom of the yard and we're pretty happy with the end result.  *Net cost: $0* Now beautfully sprouting some pumpkins, cucumbers and corn, with a berry tree of some description in the middle. The Minister for Domestic Affairs said this is her favourite garden bed yet as it's just that little bit taller.

----------


## OBBob

Nice!

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> Ours are yet another variation on this theme...and nowhere near as heavily built!

  
I've been known to over-engineer things from time to time.....   
mmmmm 
every time, actually...   :Wink:

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> It's been a little while since my last update but another garden bed has been constructed... 
> After replacing the border fence I had a heap of panels lying around as they would have been very expensive to dump. With a bit of space made in the back yard, I wondered how I could convert them to perhaps another garden bed... So, some work with circular saw and a hammer and we're off...   
> I went inside to make up some lunch and get some drinks for my labourers, and came back out to find this... Made completely out of the off cuts... I must admit, was pretty proud.    
> Using some old roofing sheets to line it, a bit of digging and physical persuasion she was in place. Then up with some soil from the bottom of the yard and we're pretty happy with the end result.  *Net cost: $0* Now beautfully sprouting some pumpkins, cucumbers and corn, with a berry tree of some description in the middle. The Minister for Domestic Affairs said this is her favourite garden bed yet as it's just that little bit taller.

  
Gotta love that! 
recycling and making something useful from it.
Top job!   :Smilie:   
"Minister for Domestic Affairs"   :Rofl:

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## PlatypusGardens

How come when you quote the post, the pics appear full size? 
this forum is weird when it comes to photos in post and thumbnails etc.....     :Smilie:

----------


## OBBob

LOL ... sort of relevant to this thread.

----------


## Uncle Bob

> How come when you quote the post, the pics appear full size? 
> this forum is weird when it comes to photos in post and thumbnails etc.....

  Haha. If folks use the built in uploader (not off site pages) Mods can edit the posts and may them bigger.

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## OBBob

^ ha ha ... other forums want everything hosted offsite, it gets confusing.  :Smilie:

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## Marc

Where did you get seeds to grow chicken?

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## PlatypusGardens

> Where did you get seeds to grow chicken?

  Not seeds, eggs... 
D'uh    :Wink:

----------


## Renopa

I've got some chicken chips in the pantry....would only need to add gravy!!  LOL

----------


## OBBob

> Where did you get seeds to grow chicken?

  Heirloom chicken seeds... nothing better.

----------


## OBBob

Looking for somthing different to grow? Tromboncino.  :Smilie:

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> Looking for somthing different to grow? Tromboncino.

  
Errr....  
what?   :Confused:

----------


## OBBob

> Errr....  
> what?

  he he ... it's like a cross between a pumpkin and a Zucchini. Bigger than a zucchini, doesn't have any seeds except in that bulby bit at the end. Grows very quickly. Quite nice with some butter and salt.  
BTW we are at 37.88kg of zucchini harvested so far this season  :Yikes2:  ... unsurprisingly we have a few recipes for their use.

----------


## Renopa

LOL....we did the Zucchini thing some years ago.  Planted both green and yellow, a great visual mix in a stirfry, and like you had soooo many we used to swap for tropical type fruit (or other fruit/vegs we weren't growing) at the local fruit store.  Had to pick the Zucc's twice a day otherwise they would grow too big!!

----------


## OBBob

> LOL....we did the Zucchini thing some years ago.  Planted both green and yellow, a great visual mix in a stirfry, and like you had soooo many we used to swap for tropical type fruit (or other fruit/vegs we weren't growing) at the local fruit store.  Had to pick the Zucc's twice a day otherwise they would grow too big!!

  Yeah it's crazy.  
- Zucchini Chocolate Brownies;
- Zucchini Bread (rather like banana bread); and
- Zapple Pie, which includes no apple.

----------


## Renopa

Stuffed Zucchini....cut off the end, scoop out seeds and fill with mince and other vegies which have been stir fried, close off the end and bake in the oven.  
Used to make a Zucc slice, can't remember the recipe though, would probably be online somewhere.  Was like a savoury biscuit type slice cut into squares.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> he he ... it's like a cross between a pumpkin and a Zucchini. Bigger than a zucchini, doesn't have any seeds except in that bulby bit at the end. Grows very quickly. Quite nice with some butter and salt.  
> BTW we are at 37.88kg of zucchini harvested so far this season  ... unsurprisingly we have a few recipes for their use.

  
Yeh I googled it after seeing that pic.
Some get HUGE!

----------


## Specialized29er

We've just had a clean up before the 6 cooler months set in and have pulled down the 15 year old railway sleeper garden bed and replaced it with this new one.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> We've just had a clean up before the 6 cooler months set in and have pulled down the 15 year old railway sleeper garden bed and replaced it with this new one.

  
Nice   :Thumbsup:    
Why is the image file named "hippo"?  :Smilie:

----------


## OBBob

Beetroot harvest!

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## PlatypusGardens

Yum yum yum yum YUUUUUM  
(where's that LIKE button?)

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## OBBob

It's cooked ready to be frozen... apparently that works (like the square eggs we froze).

----------


## Cuppa

The first veg garden here is at our last place. It was just paddock when we first went there. Lots of organic matter added over the years to improve the soil. This garden kept us self sufficient in veggies for about 6 to 7 months each year.       
The second veggie garden is where we are now. This was our first year here. Very thin top soil over the top of clay & a much hotter drier climate saw us struggling with a number of failures. we did do well with pumpkins, sweetcorn & runner beans however, & are still eating them. With the work weve done, including adding soil, lots of horse poo & a green manure crop of barley & peas & compost we are hopeful of doing better this year. Have recently planted pumpkin, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, snake beans, runner beans, sweetcorn,  strawberries, parsley, carrots, lettuces, pak choi, silver beet & coriander.

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## OBBob

Corn did well! We did that last year but left it a touch too long and it was a bit dry. Will try again.

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## PlatypusGardens

Some nice setups there, Cuppa. 
Good stuff.

----------


## notvery

well while we are showing them off...this isnt a veggie patch as such its a herb garden.. and no not of the good bob marley kind...its in a shadey area.. but gets enough sun(hope) for herbs so they wont go to seed immediately! used to be the shade house for the previous owner for her planting etc but was run down and a bit creepy and its just outside the back door so the missus wanted something less attractive to housing snakes and spiders...
it was also my first attempt at brick work as the layer and not the navi. i think it went ok... but would have been better had i remembered to brush the cement mess off the bricks before it set hard...mah details  
close enough is good enough for the country...  
Lessons i learnt.  i would not make money as a brickiemy back will not lastmy son doesnt not understand the words "dont step on the bricks ive just laid"My missus does not understand the words "dont step on the $#%@ing bricks ive just laid!!!"whenever i tell someone that i built the wall they have to kick it. i assume that they believe that one little kick from their foot will bring the whole thing crumbling down. haha thats 45 kicks and the wall still stands! seriously i mean everyone kicks it its very disheartening..Making triangular beds wasnt as good an idea as it seemed at the time. although it is a nice effectmy string line wasnt straight i must have used a bent bit of string.

----------


## notvery

well while we are showing them off...this isnt a veggie patch as such its a herb garden.. and no not of the good bob marley kind...its in a shadey area.. but gets enough sun(hope) for herbs so they wont go to seed immediately! used to be the shade house for the previous owner for her planting etc but was run down and a bit creepy and its just outside the back door so the missus wanted something less attractive to housing snakes and spiders...
it was also my first attempt at brick work as the layer and not the navi. i think it went ok... but would have been better had i remembered to brush the cement mess off the bricks before it set hard...mah details  
close enough is good enough for the country...  
Lessons i learnt.  i would not make money as a brickiemy back will not lastmy son doesnt not understand the words "dont step on the bricks ive just laid"My missus does not understand the words "dont step on the $#%@ing bricks ive just laid!!!"whenever i tell someone that i built the wall they have to kick it. i assume that they believe that one little kick from their foot will bring the whole thing crumbling down. haha thats 45 kicks and the wall still stands! seriously i mean everyone kicks it its very disheartening..Making triangular beds wasnt as good an idea as it seemed at the time. although it is a nice effectmy string line wasnt straight i must have used a bent bit of string.

----------


## OBBob

^ rofl ...

----------


## PlatypusGardens

That's gold

----------


## dmac

Here's my attempt at a Veggie garden.  The Cockatoo's ripped every thing out first time around so I had to cover them up with netting.  Boss wants a third one apparently...   
Dave.

----------


## notvery

Wow another triangular veggie patch hooray im not alone! Why did you make yours triangular

----------


## OBBob

> Wow another triangular veggie patch hooray im not alone! Why did you make yours triangular

  You can see his wife has a plan (that he's not aware of yet)... it's going to be a full circle of triangles! "... just one more triangle dear".  :Tongue:

----------


## dmac

The full circle was in the back of my mind.  I'll go one more triangle which will make nearly half a circle. 
I liked the triangle idea as it's easy to access the veggie's and looks a little different. 
Just gotta work on the soil now as it's a bit to Alkaline. 
Dave. 
Edit:, Notvery, I like the gravel idea as wipper snipping around them is already getting thin.

----------


## Marc

Action in the veggie garden  :Smilie:

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## OBBob

Great quote

----------


## PlatypusGardens

> Great quote

  
Or 
"Bugger the lot of ya, I'll make it work."    :Rofl:

----------


## OBBob

> Or 
> "Bugger the lot of ya, I'll make it work."

  Ha ha... yep a lot of effort in that quote too PG.  :Biggrin:

----------


## OBBob

Onions! Been in the shed drying, now ready to eat.

----------


## OBBob

... and chicken and leek pie (our leeks but not our chickens... this time). Mmm ...

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Good stuff, Bob

----------


## Smergen

Been a while since I've been on RF... Been out and about enjoying life with the family. As a result the garden has been taking a beating. Still, we're back on the horse... until our next adventure... 
One of the problems in getting away is finding a way to water the garden efficiently. Also the better half has a way of leaving pumps/taps on and running us dry so I'd also like it robust so as to give us a few days grace. Whilst up at my brothers for Xmas I noticed he had an innovative ollas system he bought online which we thought was cool. After we saw the price though, and given the size of our gardens I thought "not so cool". But the Minister for Domestic Affairs didn't give up so easily and said we should be able to do a DIY. So in true team fashion she went and bought some cheap pots and made a few different sizes up. It was then up to me to work out how to get them working... A few bits of black tube and 90 elbows and the results are below as to what we came up with. A test out in the sun showed the water coming through the pots nicely so we thought we'd throw them in a "test bed" to see how they worked in the field... Fingers crossed for some positive results... Once we've proven the methodology, we'll work out pot spacing and sizing to effectively irrigate the bigger beds. 
If anyone has experience with using Ollas I'm more than happy to hear tips and tricks. At the moment we've outlaid a grand total of ~$35 on the test scheme (pots and plates) so it's not a costly exercise... yet.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

So does it work?   :Unsure:  
I thought they were supposed to be more like a bowl in the ground...did you seal the pot off at the bottom?

----------


## OBBob

Welcome back. That's cool! Is it just gravity fed off that little black tank?  
Our system is overhead spayers on each be but beneath the shade cloth covers, so it turns into a pretty good little humid greenhouse. Your system is interesting though.

----------


## joynz

> So does it work?   
> I thought they were supposed to be more like a bowl in the ground...did you seal the pot off at the bottom?

  My query too.  Hard to tell from the photo, but are there two pots glued together at the rim to create the 'water well'?

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Hmmm 
In the pic where they're sitting on the lawn it looks like maybe there's a saucer at the bottom.
...and expanding foam?

----------


## Smergen

Morning gang, 
The bottoms are sealed using the saucer the pots come with. We used waterproof Tarzan grip as shown in the photo to seal the pot and the tube at the top, so they are fully enclosed. The test on the lawn confirmed there was no leaks through the joins in the hose or the pot/saucer interface. That water is beading through the pot itself. 
I had a quick check of the test bed early this morning and saw the soil was moist around them. It will be a little bit compromised though as there are very few plants in that bed to draw the water out of the soil. So we have to keep that in mind. 
And yep, it's gravity fed of the larger black tank. Other links and research we saw simply had the top of the pot at ground level and you fill it with a hose. I figured why not join them with a hose?

----------


## Cuppa

In a still new (to us) hot & dry gardening environment we thought *lots* of mulch would be a good idea. Lesson learned is that it is both possible to ‘over mulch’ & to use the wrong medium to do so.  :Frown:   Rather than using the cane mulch we used previously, we bought bales of pea straw & distributed it generously around most of our vegie garden. Despite watering at least once daily, often twice, growth of many things has been very disappointing compared to our first season here last year. Eg. Our sweetcorn has only reached about 2’ tall & is flowering & forming small single cobs - last year we had 5’ to 6’ plants & harvested over 80 cobs.  Our potatoes are disappointingly small.  What I have now realised is that pea straw is very absorbent  & has done a great job of absorbing most of the water I have applied, leaving the soil underneath it very dry. 
Oh well, lesson learned, once we have harvested what we can I’ll dig the pea straw in & next time use a less absorbent mulch media.

----------


## PlatypusGardens

Very good Smergen.
I like it

----------


## OBBob

So what are the thoughts on how close these pot things need to be to plants. Say it's a 2m x 1m veggie patch ...

----------


## Smergen

> Very good Smergen.
> I like it

  I think it's quite handy, but I'm yet to be totally convinced. My brother's garden was flying using his system but his a smaller beds square beds where we need to reach a far greater area.   

> So what are the thoughts on how close these pot things need to be to plants. Say it's a 2m x 1m veggie patch ...

  Not sure mate. That's why we're using the unused bed as a bit of a test to check the spread. I want to see how much difference the size of the pot makes too. I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes. According to the better half, the tank dropped about a third in depth last night.

----------


## OBBob

Not veggies but probably a good place for this. Painted the new chicken coop I built over Christmas.

----------


## Cuppa

Wow! That’s an impressive chicken palace! 
Our veggie garden has been a relative disaster this year despite lots of work done to the soil & plenty of watering. The problem has been a lack of bees so although there has been plenty of vegetative growth & flowering, pollination rates for much of what we planted has been low. The exception being Zucchini, squash & pumpkins which ants & hand pollination have been successful.

----------


## OBBob

> Wow! That’s an impressive chicken palace! 
> Our veggie garden has been a relative disaster this year despite lots of work done to the soil & plenty of watering. The problem has been a lack of bees so although there has been plenty of vegetative growth & flowering, pollination rates for much of what we planted has been low. The exception being Zucchini, squash & pumpkins which ants & hand pollination have been successful.

  Quite a few little beehives scattered around where we are. We've (and by that I mean my wife) has been very successful with cucumbers, zucchini (of course), potatoes, eggplants and lettuce ... except during the swap from the old to the new coop the hens sort of devoured much of the lettuce.  :Frown:   
you going to get a beehive?  :Smilie:

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## Cuppa

Would love to have a beehive, but it doesn’t really fit with our travel plans. Maybe if/when we give up the gypsy lifestyle & settle back down. Interestingly I have been seeing a few bees for the first time this season just in the past week & noticed that the flowers on the runner beans have started developing a few tiny beans rather than the flowers being ‘wasted’ as had been occurring, so there might still be a bit pf produce to come. It would also help if I could get rid of the bl**dy rabbit who snuck in & has taken up residence underneath one of the raised beds inside the rabbit proof fence!

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## Smergen

Olla update... 
So the test bed worked well, if a little haphazard. We didn't care too much for planting locations but more did it work. Suffice to say the plants thrived and even survived the particularly hot period over Xmas without an issue. We didn't hand water this bed at all, and simply topped the tank up as required. So we were inspired to try it on a large scale.   
So onto one of the large beds on the weekend, and I took the oppurtunity to turn it over and work in some compost. We were comfortable with the spacing and the little pots rather than the larger ones. Also improved the sealant as well as  I think the original ollas were leaking a bit through the top. Added a bit more chook proofing and I reckon the beds have come up a treat. Combination of seeds and seedlings in this on so we'll see how they turn out.

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## goldie1

> Quite a few little beehives scattered around where we are. We've (and by that I mean my wife) has been very successful with cucumbers, zucchini (of course), potatoes, eggplants and lettuce ... except during the swap from the old to the new coop the hens sort of devoured much of the lettuce.   
> you going to get a beehive?

  Nice chook house  whats that pipe arrangement underneath is that a feeder

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## OBBob

> Nice chook house  whats that pipe arrangement underneath is that a feeder

  Thanks. The one below the coop is a pellet feeder... I had to cut it shorter to fit with the new coop but now it doesn't have enough gravity to move the feed well enough. It'll require more thought.  
The one down the end of the run is a water feeder using chicken nipples, which are highly recommend if you haven't come across those.

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## PlatypusGardens

> Olla update... 
> So the test bed worked well, if a little haphazard. We didn't care too much for planting locations but more did it work. Suffice to say the plants thrived and even survived the particularly hot period over Xmas without an issue. We didn't hand water this bed at all, and simply topped the tank up as required. So we were inspired to try it on a large scale.   
> So onto one of the large beds on the weekend, and I took the oppurtunity to turn it over and work in some compost. We were comfortable with the spacing and the little pots rather than the larger ones. Also improved the sealant as well as  I think the original ollas were leaking a bit through the top. Added a bit more chook proofing and I reckon the beds have come up a treat. Combination of seeds and seedlings in this on so we'll see how they turn out.

  did you camp in the yard while trying it out? 
24 hour monitoring....?

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## Smergen

> did you camp in the yard while trying it out? 
> 24 hour monitoring....?

  Ha ha... wasn't sure what you meant at first but then spied the swag. Just bought it so had it out on the lawn weathering it up.

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## Smergen

One month on and the garden bed is flying... The chooks wander around the bed eyeing off all the kale... The seeds got taken by some birds of flight (or perhaps the soil was too damp?) but either way, we've save a fair chunk of water, time and effort with these things. Going to set the other two beds up over Easter I think.

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## terminal_stance

Hi Smergen, you've inspired me! Can I ask about the size of your pots? Looks like you've got the 17cm size? Also what width / length is your veggie bed - I'm guessing about 1.2m x 3.6? 
We're currently running 10 apple crates with a slow release dripline but the water just runs straight through despite the normal remedies. Seems Ollas could offer another solution. 
Tim

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## Smergen

Hi Tim, 
My brothers set up (who inspired our homemade version) actually has his in apple crates and they work fantastically. 
The pots are the small ones from Bunnings, like the ones kids paint in the arts and crafts section... I'll check the exact size if you like tonight. But we found the larger ones in the test bed didn't really offer that much more of a benefit and took up a chunk of the planting area. I also thought the boss had planted the vegies a little far away from them originally but I've since been proven wrong (again...). 
The garden beds are quite large and yes, 1.2 by 3.6 by two sleepers high. We did fold in another bin load of compost with this garden bed so that would have helped too. 
The hardest part of the whole bit is getting the pots adequately sealed around the hose, but I think I'm getting better at this. Currently drill the drain hole out larger to wedge the 13mm pipe in before sealing with plumbing sealant.

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## phild01

Thread re-opened

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## Cuppa

Well well, this was a surprise, I received an email notification of this thread being re-opened. 
Unfortunately we have no garden to nurture at present apart from lots of grass to cut around the homestead area with a big zero turn mower, & on the air strip with tractor & slasher.  We have been travelling around Australia for around 4.5 years now, living the 'gypsy' lifestyle. Currently we are care-taking at Moreton Telegraph Station near the top of Cape York for the wet season (our 4th wet season in the north) & loving it. Wet season caretaking gives us a roof over our heads & an opportunity to be in interesting & remote places for longer periods.  A bonus is that I have access to a reasonably equipped workshop. Hi to anyone who remembers me.  :Smilie:  
regards
Cuppa  Our Blog - A Nomadic Life

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## Uncle Bob

Welcome back Cuppa! Great to see you re-visit  :2thumbsup:

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## phild01

I think the 'T's are too far away to be back now :Biggrin:

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