Blog April 2020

Latest Update 9th May 2020.

This is my latest propagator design.  Its based on my EcoPropagators, but has no self watering capacity.  After 3 years of excellent results with the old model, its proved to be more expensive and time consuming to maintain than expected.  This is mainly because the wicking medium needed to be replaced regularly to avoid pest build up, and the constantly wet environment makes frequent repainting necessary.

The new units (I have built 2) are smaller and considerably lighter than the old ones because they no longer have a built in water tank and the associated wicking apparatus.

Because of this I have been able to raise the unit to a more sensible working height (for an old codger like me), and still retain some of the old unit's best features.

The new design has a slatted platform built into the unit to support three 30 cell seedling trays.  The bottom of the unit is sealed off from pests by a layer of heavy duty shadecloth.   The unit retains the multipurpose cover which helps moderate extremes of temperature in the hottest and coldest of our weather.  Its also very effective at protecting the seedlings in heavy rain and high winds.

Currently I do my sowing and initial transplants on a bench in my shed, but I may build a pull out bench to fit under the body of the unit to make transplanting from tray to tray easier.  It's all a bit of work in progress at the moment, but so far so good.

Blog September 2019

It's Spring at last and my winter vegetables are growing well.  The tallest of these Broad Beans are over 1 metre high and are starting to set pods.  The peas behind them are nearly 2 metres high and almost finished.

This bed is filled with Alliums and Beets and a few other vegetable types.  There are 11 different varieties all together in this 1.5m x 2.55m Ecobed.  This is part of a new strategy where no dig techniques are enhanced by high density and high diversity plantings.  The main criteria in the bed now, when planting a new group of seedlings is, will there be enough direct sunlight? and are the new plants compatible with their neighbours?

My 40 Dutch Cream potatoes are almost all up out of the ground in this Ecobed.  The soil was well prepared in early Autumn with a sowing of green manure, and later, a generous layer of compost was applied after the green manure had been cut down.  Despite this I wont grow a green manure next year.

For nearly 3 years I have produced about 250 litres a month of home made compost, most of which is used on my vegetable beds.  Soil fertility is very high, and although not tested I believe I have an appropriate balance of beneficial microbes and other soil food web participants in my soil.  I conclude that a green manure is an unnecessary cost in money time and effort, and I would be far better off growing other vegetables in the space to boost my overall output, and still keep the soil healthy.

I also believe that crop rotation, which is said to prevent plant pathogen build up and depletion of minerals in the soil, tends to be hard to manage without leaving gaps in the planting schedule, and is unnecessary in healthy organic soil.  I wont be rotating my vegetables in the foreseeable future, and will rely on the soil food web to control pathogens and ensure plants get adequate supplies of minerals appropriate to their needs.

During winter, I removed a very healthy and productive olive tree to make way for drip line irrigated vegetable beds.  Its a shame really, but it was producing far more than we could possibly use and was outgrowing its allotted space in our small garden.  I cut the tree to the ground and used its branches, fruit and leaves in my thermal composter.

The soil was very rich and healthy even before I prepared it, but I still put down a double layer of cardboard to suppress growth of under-story plants, and covered it with compost and straw mulch.

The vegetables planted in the area are fit and healthy and growing quickly for this time of year (the fleece helps).  

I removed a lot of ornamental perennials in this area when my fence was replaced earlier in the year.  Its a substantially higher fence than before and we will be testing the effect of increased shade before we commit to new ornamentals.  Meanwhile we will be growing vegetables in the area.  These dwarf Broad Beans are growing well in the drip line irrigated organic soil.

The Silverbeet (Swiss Card) and dwarf Cauliflower are growing well in the same bed despite getting hardly any direct winter sunlight.

Blog December 2018

Spring is a great time for plant growth in my garden in Melbourne.  I always have lots of plants in flower during this time, but the summer months can be quite colourful too.

My espaliered apples are growing strongly, and I have been busy thinning them to maximise fruit size.

Thornless hybrid blackberries do well in my garden.

Recent rain and warmer weather brought on a spurt of growth.

I have to keep cutting the potatoes back so we can get past them.

I should get a nice crop of delicious peaches again this year.

I have planted faster growing catch crops between my tomatoes this year, including this row of lettuce.  I am gradually removing lower leaves from the tomato plants as they grow so the catch crops don't get shaded too much.

Marigolds and sweet basil make fine companion plants for tomatoes, and this group of marigolds are a pretty addition to the bed as well.

I have a blue borage plant in the tomato bed too.  I use borage plants elsewhere in the garden to attract bees and other pollinating insects to my fruit trees and other flowering perennials.  This plant mainly services the vegetable growing areas.

This butternut pumpkin will sprawl all around the Ecobin it is planted in. 

I'm happy with my climbing bean which are growing strongly up these 2m high climbing frames.

I'm growing sweet corn between the climbing beans again this year.

We are getting near the end of my crop of apricots, and as you can see, I leave some growing higher up in the canopy for the birds to enjoy.

I have lots of grapes on my vine again this year.

Blog October 2018

Spring brings warmer weather, and we have already enjoyed one day reaching a maximum of 26C.  Consequently the polycarbonate covers have been replaced with fleece and netting on my Ecopropagators, and insect netting now adorns 3 of my 4 Ecobeds.

Its been very dry this winter, but most of my ornamental plants have prospered.

I have lavender and rosemary bushes dotted around my garden.  They both look good, but more importantly they attract bees and other pollinating insects to attend to the needs of my flowering shrubs and trees.

Similarly, my Californian lilac is a bee and hoverfly magnet and looks great, especially when you get up close.

This simple combination of trees and flowering perennials looks good at this time of the year.

I have just started to harvest some of my peas and broad beans.  There is a light dusting of powdery mildew on some of the peas' older leaves.  Its not uncommon as the plant's energy is directed towards growing pods, but its usually controlled with aerated compost tea.  If the attack is severe, I may need to use an organic fungicide.  The beans usually get rust at this stage, but I haven't seen any yet. 

I have been busy sowing seed for summer veggies lately.  I experimented with seed tray cells this year with disappointing results, I have to say.  The mini-pots and fibre pots above were sunk into the composted wicking medium up to their rims and stayed moist without watering, but the trays couldn't penetrate the compost, so they just sat on top and needed regular overhead watering.  It defeats the purpose really.

This small Ecobed is producing a great crop of Broad Beans, but once it's finished, I will be decommissioning and replacing it with an in-ground drip line irrigated veggie bed.  It was designed to grow a dwarf lemon tree, and has a deeper than usual soil.  This resulted in a shallower than usual water tank which needs refilling far too often for my liking.

This bed has recently been covered with pest exclusion netting to protect the crops from the ravages of hungry insects as they emerge from dormancy.  I have been harvesting Silver Beet from this bed for some time, and it's still going strong.  The Beetroot and Carrots (front) are close to maturity and will be harvested sometime later this month. 

The potatoes are growing strongly, and we will start to enjoy small "New Potatoes" next month.  The main crop will be harvested in January.

My espaliered apples are starting to blossom, and the bees are doing their job.

We have had the best of the spring flowers in this bed, and the canopy of the apricot above which has set a potentially good crop of fruit, will soon provide shelter for the shade loving plants which will take over the bed in the warmer months.

Blog September 2018.

It's September at last, and after a cold, wet and windy August, the weather in Melbourne is starting to warm up a bit. Here are a few photos of my garden taken today.

Under the Anzac fruit tree, which is in bloom and promising a good harvest later in the season.

A close up of a flowering head on my Californian Lilac tree. This small tree is covered with buds which are starting to bloom. It attracts loads of bees and hover-flies and has an almost overwhelmingly sweet aroma. A real asset in my garden.

Not many of these are left, but both Camellias have been flowering continuously for several months now.

The Climbing peas have been flowering for a few weeks and are setting pods.

The broad beans are about 900mm tall, and I have pinched out their leading shoots to direct their energies towards pod formation.

These dwarf Broad Beans are nearly as tall as the full size variety. There are 12 plants in this 900mm x 900mm planting space, and they seem to be coping very well with the cramped conditions.

I should have plenty of time to prepare the soil for the next crop in this Ecobed since the current crop is approaching harvest very quickly. I will be sowing Tomatoes in a few days, and they should be ready to replace the Brassicas and Lettuce in not much more than a month.

The Red Iceberg lettuce are looking good, but Lil is not keen on the red leaves, so guess who eats all the red leaves. Needless to say, I will be testing some open green lettuces soon.

The carrots and beetroot were both sown in clusters, and so far they seem to be flourishing. I'm hoping this technique will substantially increase my vegetable growing productivity.

The Garlic is clean and completely free of the usual blackfly attack at this time of the year. They invade alliums like garlic by landing on the plant's leaves and laying their eggs, so this year I protected the plants with loose net covers held in position using the Ecobed's hooking points. So far its working well.

These Silverbeet have been providing delicious juicy leaves and stalks for several weeks now, and are starting to increase their growth rate.

The drip line irrigated beds are ready for a growth spurt in September as the weather warms up..

These English Spinach are ready to supply plenty of delicious outer leaves.

About half the potatoes in this bed have broken out of the soil, and are starting to grow. The catch crop of Radishes and Lettuce are growing strongly and should be ready for harvest before they are overtaken by the potatoes growing in between them.

This variety of Turnip is very mild tasting when added to soups and roasts.

Blog August 2018

Its still winter, and its cool and windy, but the plants think its spring.  In this bed I have (from front to back) Silverbeet, Garlic, Leeks, Lettuce, Carrots and Beetroot.

We have been harvesting the Silverbeet a few leaves each week for some time, and they look like they will continue to produce succulent leaves for some time yet.

We now have 180 cells of seed tray capacity in my 2 Ecopropagators.  The nearest one is new and the other recently refurbished.  They will both be needed when I start sowing spring and summer crops in early September.

This Spanish Lavender is attracting bees despite the inclement weather.

The Camelias and Daphne share this shady spot and keep us supplied with delightful fragrances and colour for most of our winter.

Our dwarf Nectarine is in bloom, and is the first of my fruiting trees to do so this year.  I just hope it hasn't made the move too early as there are few pollinating insects about at the moment.

This is a bit experimental.  There isn't really enough space in this Ecobin for 4 full size Romanesco Broccoli, but if they can reach for the light, there is plenty of space for photosynthesis.  It remains to be seen whether the roots can get by with the limited soil space.

These English Spinach, on the other hand, have plenty of space, and we have started harvesting very tasty outer leaves already.  We hope to continue harvesting them for the next couple of months.

The Peas and Broad Beans are progressing well.

These 12 Dwarf Broad Bean Plants are growing well despite the tight space.

I have been harvesting Cabbage, Lettuce and Turnips from this bed during the past month, and there is much more to come with delicious Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts and Cauliflower added to the menu over the next few weeks.

This bed is full of potatoes, but the process is slow at this time of the year and I am growing a catch crop of radish and lettuce between them as they germinate.

The above radishes were recently sown in clusters of 4 or 5 seedlings, and then transplanted here from an Ecopropagator.