All it needs is a bit of sunshine and water

 

Today I am thankful for the gift of nature and how therapeutic it is to plant, nurture and watch things grow and the great promise of new life that it brings.  Our dream of having a space which provides an opportunity for our children to learn through play, explore and  establish a connection with the source of their food is becoming a reality. We couldn't be more pleased! Happy Growing....

Do you also feel grounded and inspired when planting?

 

x Grace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

What started as a humble vegetable garden....The final installment

After three and a half years of looking into the backyard and dreaming of a fully functioning vegetable garden today it finally became a reality.

It has been a labour of love for our little family and everyone has had a role to play, even Alfie who took on the position of "foreman" sitting in his walker watching over proceedings.

There were one or two dramas along the way including a power line being taken down by a tip truck who delivered our soil. But I guess that is all part of the fun and what memories are made of.

My husband Adam or master builder as we like to call him has been so dedicated chipping away, single handily constructing the raised vegetable garden made of concrete sleepers.

Today was quite special as we were able to complete the final task of planting our seedlings which we will enjoy nurturing and watching grow...

One of the main reasons we decided to invest in such a big project was because we wanted our children to grow up in an environment that enables free play, spontaneous learning and that which would have long term benefits on their health. We feel that this humble vegetable garden will be a great addition to their daily lives for the following reasons

• Planting seeds and watching them grow will help them learn about the growth process, the environment, the food they eat and have an influence on their future health.
• Weeding, watering and taking out the food scraps to the compost will provide opportunities for learning, ownership and responsibility
• This garden has already provided many opportunities to work together as a family and create special memories and we look forward to creating many more

So here is a list of what we have planted and look forward to harvesting in due course;
Lettuce, snow peas, broad beans, carrots, leeks, spring onions, garlic, buck choy, silver beet, celery, parsnip, cabbage, lemon grass, coriander, rosemary, basil, parsley, thyme, brussel sprouts, chick peas.

Have you planted your autumn vegetable garden? What tips and tricks do you do to keep out the snails?

X Grace

 

 

What started as a humble vegetable garden......

Those who have been with me since the beginning will remember in my first post  that one of my many aspirations for 2015 was to breathe new life into the concrete sleeper that have lay lifeless in our backyard for the past year and get cracking on the vegetable garden.

I am fortunate to have a very handy husband. In a previous life he must have been on a construction site or a master builder because he seems to be at his best when he has a project on the go and a hammer or shovel in his hand. I recently encouraged him to start thinking about a new project that he would like to work on since he had successfully reroofed the shed and had started looking alittle lost without a new project on the horizon.

To my delight one afternoon after returning home from work I found Adam and his apprentice Adella measuring and digging holes in preparation to commence the mammoth task of building our  vegetable garden. My husband Adam never does anything in halves so what started as a humble vegetable garden has turned into a structure that will outlast us both!

A new daily highlight for me is returning home from work and checking on the progress.......

x Grace

 

 

 

The Humble Passionfruit: A lesson in Patience

Typically, at the beginning of any planting season I have an uncontrollable urge to head to Bunning's with my  scribbled down list of plants, herbs, seedlings that I desperately need in an effort to fulfil my ambition of becoming a backyard farmer with a respectable crop. You will note from my first post that the concrete sleepers that were purchased with great intent are growing mould and are yet to fulfil their full potential, however I have been assured by Mr  that this is a work in progress.

Normally this phenomenon happens around or on the 1st day of Spring when the sun finally decides to show its glorious face from what seems like an eternity of clouds and icy weather, the birds are chirping encouraging me through their sweet songs and there is something in the air that ignites a desire to get my hands dirty, plant, nurture, watch and in the end enjoy the fruits of my labours.

 I seem to have romantic ideas of Adella going out to the vegetable garden and being able to pick items which we can use in our cooking, hosting a tomato sugo making day where all our friends gather together to make/ bottle sauce, drink cold beer, enjoy each others company and listen to great music (perhaps this is not an original thought but highly influenced by Looking for Alibrandi?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9NcWQH-ec, pickling, preserving and harvesting lemons to make fresh lemonade.

In principle all these are fabulous ideas and things that I would wholehearted love to do but somehow something always seems to hinder my best intentions. I will give you a few examples of my amateur farmer fails;

- The day I decided to orchestrate a mother/daughter planting of the snow peas. In my head I had already been awarded the gold star for motherhood as Adella began to dig in the soil and position where we were going to but in the plants. What could possibly go wrong? Pointing out to your daughter a worm in a effort to  make exercise educational/sensory. Daughter misidentifies worm for snake, becomes hysterical, runs inside and refuses to go anywhere near the area or at the very least venture into the backyard for the next 2 weeks. Clearly a rookie error.
- Forgetting the most essential component of backyard farming..... Plants need water.... not just every now and than or when they look like they are on deaths door but every day.
- Setting up a herb garden with great enthusiasm only to discover that within 2 days they had been attacked by monstrous beasts otherwise know as snails.

In all these occasions and many more, my knight in shining armour husband would always rectify the situation as he is quite handy and knowledgeable, and encourage me that I just need to give it another go.

In a moment of nostalgia I remembered the pure joy as a child of venturing into the very depths of the backyard to discover the uncontrollable passionfruit vine had swallowed the fence and was spitting out fruit for all to partake in. The admiration for the small branches which looked like fingers that would cling on for dear life to the fence, supporting the weight and allowing the vine to further grow. The excitement to cut the passionfruit skin and enjoy the sweet delights held carefully inside. With this in mind I decided it was time we invested in a passionfruit vine. Our childhood vine seemed to take care of itself with very little effort. How hard can it be?

Well.... anyone who has bemoaned the difficulty of growing passionfruit will be pleased to know that we have travelled this hard road too and am very proud to report, have come out the other side to the promised land of passionfruit sponge and passionfruit on ice cream.

Here are some lessons that we have learnt about the humble passionfruit;

- Problems usually occur when growing grafted varieties. Rootstock, chosen for its resistance to pests and disease, will often throw out heavy sucker growth; meanwhile, the graft, from which the plant flowers and fruits, struggles. Finally, you're left with a tangled mess and no damn fruit. To avoid this from happening, steer clear of grafted varieties.
- Choose a spot that collects full sun and prepare a free-draining soil with compost
- Water the new plants at least 2-3 times a week when they are establishing
- Due to short life span it is a good idea to plant a second plant the second year around to guarantee some longevity
- If you get flowers but no fruit consider hand pollination (not as scary as it sounds)
- When flowers appear, start increasing the amount and frequency of watering
- As the fruit begins to shrivel- the process where the jelly like pulp is drawing the last moister from the skin- the fruit is ready!

A great book that I has taught this novice a few simply tips and has given me the confidence to give it a crack in The Little Veggie Patch Co's guide to Backyard Farming http://littleveggiepatchco.com.au/

Happy planting and harvesting!

Grace xx