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Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

A Veggie Post

My veggies are doing really well this year. I have put heaps of mulch and added extra shade to the beds and over head to help keep the moisture in.

 It looks like tent city, but hey it does the job J

They promised us rain yesterday and today, but all we received were black clouds, a lot of loud noise from the thunder and strong winds that brought a whole lot of dirt with it!

Hubby has promised to put a solid shade over the veggie garden after "his shed" is finish. That could be a while yet, so for now the "tents" will have to do.  He has hooked dripper hose up to the garden beds, but I haven't used them yet.

 
Now for a look at what is under all that shade.


Kale doing really well, this is great for our green juice. There are no aphids among them this year.  I read somewhere to lay onions in the bed to deter them.  This I have done and so far so good.

Sweet potatoes.

Beetroot

This bed contains a mixture of pumpkins, 
tomatoes and capsicums. The tomatoes and pumpkins came up themselves out of the compost that I mixed into the bed.

Cucumbers are a bit slow, but they have some little cukes on them now J

I have tomatoes, these came up themselves,
 


and are doing nicely.


More sweet potato in the tub.

Pumpkin. I think.  It came up on it's own.


Zucchini's. 
I am picking these daily.


I am picking plenty of tiny tomatoes.
 

These go well in salads.

The carrots are in there.

Rhubarb, celery and pumpkins in there.
The rhubarb has gotten huge since putting shade cloth over the top.  And so has the celery.

The celery has gone to seed and is trying to push through the shade cloth. I will be chopping it back in the next couple of days.

There is beetroot in this bed, and one potato plant so far.
 I have planted more potatoes, just waiting for them to appear.

Today's pickings.

The kale and celery will go to make Mean Green Juice.
The recipe being;
 a bunch of Kale, 4 stalks celery, 2 apples, 1 cucumber, thumb size piece of ginger, and 1/4 lemon.  Put through the juicer starting with the kale and celery, followed by the rest. Can be watered down if too strong.
Enjoy!

I planted two passion fruit vines earlier this week. The sun has scorched them a bit, but they are still doing okay. I did put shade over them but I think 41C (106F) was too much so soon after being planted. If only the rain had come!
I am hoping these will grow nice and tall to make shade for our outside entertainment area.

My next lot of compost is brewing in these barrels. We couldn't get hold of another compost bin, so we used a regular one with the bottom cut out.  I turn the compost every so often using the yellow handled stirrer thingy in the bucket.

How is your garden growing this summer?


10 comments:

  1. Shade cloth veggie patches work - and rule :) Mine works a treat - protecting the veggies from too much sun and wind.

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  2. Its all looking great.
    Could you let some of the celery go to seed and harvest the seeds and dry them .. you could use them (the seeds) in your cooking to give flavour.

    Vicky x

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  3. My Lordy, you have a lot going on. Love those freeby veggies, dont they grow well when they are left to their own devices. Tent city is your saving grace. I dont like the look of mine with its shade cloth everywhere but such is life for now and the future with climate change. Do your green drinks taste nice or do you hold your nose drinking them. Love the jar glasses.

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  4. The green juice is quite nice Lynda, so long as you don't add too much kale or celery, otherwise it has a real kick. I learnt the hard way!

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  5. You deserve a medal or ten as I know how discouraged you were a couple of years ago. What a fantastic difference the shade cloth has made...it's inspirational and proves you can still have a great garden in the outback.
    I put some celery seedlings in for Twitch and they've been great thank you, I haven't had to buy any for weeks and weeks(I owe you $40 lol)
    Love from Sue

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  6. Goodness me - this is a testament to the whole world about just what can be done in otherwise forbidding circumstances - your garden of Eden in the desert!

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  7. Hi Tania I love what youve done to the blog!
    I am so impressed by your vegie garden. The shade must make the world of difference. Once I understood your rainfall I felt amazed you could grow a garden at all and here you are with a lush vegie section. I have never grown sweet potatoes I will have to ask you about those as we love to eat them.
    I have a good recipe for Haloumi and zucchini fritters that are really good if you want it. Zucchini are very useful and versatile so that is a handy thing to have heaps of. Well done! xxx

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  8. I love when I get to see your veggie plot. The differences make me smile. I'm trying to keep mine out of the wet and get as much sun as possible, wheras you have to shade yours! I don't even shade the greenhouse as some gardeners do either.
    Not sure I fancy your drink though!

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  9. I think if you had "Doomsday Preppers" on television over in Australia, you and your husband could have a whole one hour segment about your garden. I've seen people really be bragged on in segments of that show who couldn't hold a candle to what you have done.

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  10. I am in awe at what you are growing in that heat!! Hope you have a lovely Christmas and happy new year, Tania. Thanks for all your lovely posts this year.

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Your comments really make my day. Thank you for taking the time and for being so kind.