Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Ahh, lovely clouds.

I don't want on harp on, but this bit of rain is great. It isn't enough to do anything towards filling the dams but it just feels good to have a bit of the stuff.
During summer it's just too hot and dry to establish new plants so it's fantastic to be able to go out there and grow a bit of food.
Growing your own vegetables and fruit is an important thing you can do to reduce the carbon emissions needed to provide your food. It's ridiculous that so much food is flown to us from other countries.
Buying locally produced foods is another way to reduce your impact.
The Fremantle Markets has a great selection of locally grown (and some imported) fruit and veg. I like to get exotic ingredients occasionally, but generally only get local grown.
Jerry's Organics has lots of good organic, biodynamic and conventional fruit and veg.
He's been selling veg there a long time. Good bloke!
There's a good organic health food shop down South Terrace, too, called Manna Wholefoods. They sell organic and biodynamic fruit and veg and dry goods.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Autumn rain, make my seeds germinate.



In the last week or so it has seemed like a good time to get some veges started. The heat has backed off and the soil is good to grow a few tasty things.
I am trying out some Brussels sprouts and broccoli, while the silver beet is coming along nicely already.
It also seems like a good idea to grow leeks and spring onions. Both these onions are expensive in shops and so I don't eat as many as I'd like to; they are easy to grow, and delicious.
I reckon that I'm gonna grow some of the leeks hydroponically too. It will probably make them go a bit faster and they won't have a lot of crud inside them.
There is also a stainless steel sink full of potting mix that has some carrot seeds waiting to germinate. I've only grown tiny carrots before, so it will be interesting to see how big ones go. Our soil isn't that flash, so thought potting mix may be okay.
I always reuse the mix anyone, beefing it up a bit with some manure or something for potting plants up into.


The other day we had a tree out the front cut down by our arborist friend and have replaced it with two young Grevillea plants - G. "Honey Gem" and G. "Pink Surprise". I'm really looking forward to them growing and flowering. They will be quite beautiful and will attract more birds to the garden.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Slightly autumn.


Despite the weather report saying it would reach 34C today, the season is changing. The angles of the sun have prompted the need for some of our unruly Acacia saligna trees to need pruning to let sunshine onto the ground.
The dragon fruit is growing well, but is in the shade now. One of the other dragon fruit plants in another part of the garden managed to make one fruit. It grew on a piece that was hanging over the fence and was getting the morning sun. The fruit wasn't a large one, but it was very yummy.
We are lucky to have the red-fleshed dragon fruit. It is a little sweeter than the white one.

It's difficult gardening when you want to grow trees and also want to grow some food.
Veges and fruiting plants mostly need quite a lot of sun.
In Perth some things need protection from the worst of it on a summer afternoon.
This year a lot of plants had leaves burnt by the 42C days. The leaves are just not expecting that kind of prolonged heat.

More Grevillea species for the garden.
In place of an Acacia saligna out the front we are going to put in two more Grevillea species. One is Pink Surprise, the other Honey Gem.
These will be stunning in full flower and should grow fairly quickly to provide a screen from the road. Not to mention the many birds that will come along and have a feed.