Make, Create and Grow

I have been trying to do this post for over a month! Needless to say, it’s changed a lot in that time. In the last month, I’ve essentially striped most things from the raised beds and no dig beds. Between the wind and heat, things were not doing well. I had heard that Summer is the toughest season to grow in the subtropics and when people let their beds rest or ‘overwinter’. I am now experiencing this first hand!

In the meantime, I’ve refreshed some of the no dig beds with horse manure, mushroom compost and pelletised chicken manure, with cane mulch over the top. It has sat for a few weeks and yesterday I put some more cherry Romas and Red Robins tomatoes (bush variety). The red robin were just left over tomatoes from my parents place at Christmas. I just squished the old tomatoes and planted them whole in little pots. Lots have sprouted, so we’ll see what happens!

I’ve still got a capsicum plant in which is actually producing some fruit now. The sweet potato vine is growing like crazy, so I cut it back with the whipper snipper yesterday. I have no idea if tubers are producing, but I need to check! My watermelon vine is looking really healthy again, and has a few melons on it which I’m really excited about.

The pumpkins were taking over and we weren’t able to mow which left 5 foot high weeds and grass for a large section of the yard. I went through and whipper snipped the grass and vines, sacrificing a few half grown pumpkins along the way, but managed to harvest 2 that look good. I’m very curious to see what they’re like inside, and what they taste like. They are a variety called QLD Blue, which I choose due to the size and hardiness of the skin – so great for storing. I have heard they need an axe to open them and the flavour isn’t great, so Im’m not getting my hopes up. I think I’ll be trying a few different varieties in the future. I’d love some spaghetti squash and some butternut pumpkin. In the meantime, I’m watching a self seeded vine. I assume it’ll be a Kent pumpkin, but not sure if it’ll produce fruit or not.

In the raised beds, again I stripped most things out and refreshed with compost and manure. All that was left was the parsley, mint and sage, some self seeded rocket and a cucumber! I added the rest of the Reb Robin tomatoes and some basil, plus a few Cherry romas since I had them all sprouted. I don’t expect them all to take off, but thought I’d see what happens.

I finally (finally!) got around to looking at the irrigation for the beds. I needed some clamps to hold the dripper tape connector on the 13mm poly pipe because the pressure was popping it off, even with a pressure reducer. I think I’ll do a separate post on the irrigation, because it was a big task and learning curve for me. It’s still not perfect, but it’s been a journey to get here. It might seem simple to someone experienced, but I was absolutely, totally clueless and am proud of what I know now and how far I’ve come!

I have decided I will be moving the no dig beds at some point in the future. After watching  the space for awhile, I think it’ll be better further down the hill, where the water will run naturally and there is deeper soil (that we brought in with the original earthworks). The plan is to build a grow tunnel from shade cloth. I’m hoping this will give the protection from the harsh sun and heat and wind to allow a better growing season through the hot harsh summers. It will be a project for another time though, but hopefully have it done by next summer.

A food forest with fruit trees is very much on the cards as soon as I get the approval in the budget 😉 In the meantime, I have one dwarf banana tree that is putting out some pups. I don’t know what variety it is, so no idea how long it will take to fruit. Im excited to see it with green leaves for now at least.

While we are still so so far from my goal of being self sufficient, I’m trying to appreciate the journey for what it is. These early years of gardening are intensive with learning and making mistakes. It’s taking a lot of time and money, bringing in resources, and building our own organic matter. My time is limited in the garden with a toddler. I’d love to hear how people manage to garden productively with young children?! Having another child is on the cards in the future, and I’m trying to be realistic about what my capacity will actually be in the garden!

I’m just grateful we have access to food from markets and supermarkets while I fumble my way through this journey!