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Vege patch
Topic Started: Nov 18 2009, 01:14:31 PM (965 Views)
Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

Why I decided today was the day I'll never know. Its 34 degrees and the ground is hard and is full of lemon tree roots, but hey ho. Flynn and I had to go to Bunnings for some wire and we ended up buying seedlings of water melon, zucini, pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumber, egg plant, snow peas and silver beet.

Does anyone have any do's or don'ts? I'm not planting them till this eve when its cooler and obviously they'll need water everday (we have a tank) What about compost? fertilizer? water saving granuels? etc etc?

I'm strangely excited by all of this.. :crazy: :blushing:
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Melibeam
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Sorry Hevs, have no advice to offer, as do not have a clue about gardening or growing veggies, but good luck, sounds like a great idea :thumbsup:
Edited by Melibeam, Nov 18 2009, 02:22:09 PM.
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

Ok, well the patch is cleared and we found a wire section from the old fence so we nailed that to the vegie patch fence and have planted our snow peas! We have also planted a hedge of pittostrum and some other hedgey thing along the back fence and have made a place for the compist bin and worm farm... :yu:
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Snow peas tend to suffer with that white mould stuff (forget its name )so if it appears spray once a week with 1 part water to 5 parts milk(i dont measure it & it works)
Silver beet ,watch out for wee beasties under the ground that eat them before you do,same with spinach so i grow it in pots now.

Plant marigolds ,they are supposed to have roots that are more tasty than your veggies & are poisonous to bad insects ,
buy some little poles for the tomatoes etc to grow up,
No idea why but you are supposed to grow tomatoes & strawberries with basil (actually its either to attract good insects or put off bad insects)
Get a worm farm ,kids love worms ,they eat stuff & worm wee makes my veggies very happy.
Bloody cabbage moths do not only eat cabbages grrrrrrr.
Be prepared for every snail,slug & caterpillar heading for your garden :crazy: :crazy:
Have fun :thumbsup:
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Bridiej
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Chattermonster Extraordinaire!

If you have sand like us then you'll need some potting compost to enrich the soil. Worth also putting some water crystals in the hole (you soak them first) as they do help a bit. Also yes, fertilizer a good idea - have a look in Bunnings (or garden place) and find a general vege one that you can add now.

The only other thing to think about is if you may need some shade from the early afternoon sun - now that our lovely neighbours have cleared all their plants our plot gets far too much sun so needs shading otherwise the poor old plants get scorched.

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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

Thanks Rob and Bridie x
I have a worm farm but iuts for dog poo, I also have a conmpost bin for green waste.
I use the dog poo compost on plants, but it would feel too :barf: to put it on veggies!
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Hevs
Nov 18 2009, 05:59:45 PM
Thanks Rob and Bridie x
I have a worm farm but iuts for dog poo, I also have a conmpost bin for green waste.
I use the dog poo compost on plants, but it would feel too :barf: to put it on veggies!
:barf: Had no idea you could do that!!
Make sure you give the zucchinis ,Melons & pumpkins room as they grow HUGE.
We put in a trailer load of veggie mix from the local soil place ,full of cow poo ,yum!Have gone off eating now keep thinking about the dog poo :barf: :lol:
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

lol! Yep the dog poo just vanishes! Its great. I do treat them to some veggie peeling once in a while as I feel a bit bad for them!
How much room is enough for the melons etc?
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

Thinking about it, cow poo is ok cos they don't eat meat...or nappies that they pull out of the bin.. :she:
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ohippy
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Original Opulent Optimist

:barf:
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

OK, next question...I have dug over the patch, killed me in this heat, but its not overly big. Can I grow the zuccinis up a trellis and can the water melons spill onto a path (that isn't used) so that just the stalk is in the soil and the melons are on the concrete?
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

wow im dedicated to you lot .just went out in the garden in the rain with my tape measure :crazy: .
Right im rubbish at metres so you are getting how far the spread in feet :whistle: Th e average amount a zucchini in my garden spreads is over 3 ft & the pumpkin is 4ft 9 & still walking (over the path towards the other patch) My Zucchinis all seem to come up near the base so are not growing up anything & my melon plants have only just started flowering.Do you get lots of bees???If not take a little soft paintbrush & gently rub the pollen bit on their flowers with the pollen from the other flowers (veggie sex) :crazy:
Dog poo & nappies :ooer:
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Lynnj
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Far out guys, you've got me wanting to do this now and I just don't do gardening, Dom would love to though, he is in charge of his lemon tree, mandarin tree, chillis, nashi pear and my gotacola (sp), but they are just randomly chucked in the garden.
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Lynnj
Nov 19 2009, 11:58:51 AM
Far out guys, you've got me wanting to do this now and I just don't do gardening, Dom would love to though, he is in charge of his lemon tree, mandarin tree, chillis, nashi pear and my gotacola (sp), but they are just randomly chucked in the garden.
Go for it Lynn :thumbsup: .Im a bit rubbish & have stuff just plonked in & if it grows for me it will grow for anybody :yes:
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Lynnj
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My mate has a great veggie patch, she has chooks too I call her Barbara and she calls me Margo!

I'd like to grow stuff like tomatos (home grown are sooooo yum), strawberries cos the kids love them and sweetcorn cos I love it but never buy it (why??? :crazy: ), John wants a herb garden for all his curry making and hot chillis on tap.

Heres a really daft question for you, the sort a child would ask........ how long from seedling to eating???
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Sweetcorn are really easy to grow :thumbsup: .
Usually says how long seeds will take on the back of the packet (at least 6 weeks usually more)
But its fun ,planting them in pots ,watching the first shoots ,remembering you have forgotten to water them & starting again :crazy: .
waiting for them to get big enough to plant out in the veggie patch ,thinking you have some strange tiny white maggots all over the surface of your pool ,thinking "only in OZ" before realising they are the tiny husk bits from the sweetcorn getting blown through the fence :whistle:
Getting used to seeing these things growing & forgetting to look for a few days ,going out for a quick look & theres real veggies growing there ,and thinking that maybe the fact that you have killed every house plant that has ever enterd the house was just training!!
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Melibeam
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I want to grow things now too, I am going to start with herbs in pots outside my kitchen window. Its very warm but completely shaded. I feel a trip to Bunnings coming on this weekend :yes:
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Bridiej
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courgettes (sorry, cant get used to zuchini yet :blushing: ) grow like cucumbers so they spread rather than go up.

we have a little veg patch that Malc looks after and Katie helps with, hoping to extend it though just it needs loads of manure and stuff as the garden is just sand. Also want some fruit trees and an avocado.
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rjs
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Melibeam
Nov 19 2009, 04:09:39 PM
I want to grow things now too, I am going to start with herbs in pots outside my kitchen window. Its very warm but completely shaded. I feel a trip to Bunnings coming on this weekend :yes:
:thumbsup:
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

Thanks Rob...so the melons can grow accros the path so it will save space..
Bridie, no to the zuccini, but I did get cucumbers so I'll grow those up the trellis.
Lynn, I haven't done seeds yet, but the seedlings say the weeks on them, the snow peas are 12 weeks, egg plant 9 weeks...from memory
Mel, in Bunnings the seedlings are $2.97 a punnet...depending on the plant theres between 3 and 8 per punnet.

AND! My snow peas are already sending the little green thready things up the wire :thumbsup:
I'm so proud :crazy: :ecstatic:
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Sure snow peas grow really fast :dunno: You will be picking them constantly ,my kids love them & even they got fed up finding them in their packed lunches :lol: Dont forget if the leaves start to look blotchy or grey get out there with the milk spray :yes:
Zucchinis are popping up everywhere ,we are fed up with Zucchini tarts & zucchini fritters & hiding it in pasta sauces ,so if anybody knows something good to make with them im all ears :thumbsup:
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Lynnj
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zucchini and cranberry muffins, fritters and I also made a carrott, zucchini and egg slice thing the other week that was yum.
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Like the idea of a carrott & zucchini slice ,fantastic :thumbsup:
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ohippy
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Original Opulent Optimist

I have loads of fruit trees (my nectarine is heavily laden at the mo and we haven't even used last years yet that I froze !) and was growing veggies nicely but Mutley eats everything I grow. Paul is currently building me planters out the front that I can use instead but it is a slow process :whistle:
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

ohippy
Nov 20 2009, 12:17:55 PM
Paul is currently building me planters out the front that I can use instead but it is a slow process :whistle:
You do surprise me :whistle:

My egg plant is now in and so is my baby cherry tomato...I am leaving the rest til it cools down at the weekend. They are in a soggy cardboard box in the shade.

OH...slugs? Whats the concensus...nuke them with pellets or is there a more organic way. I also have tiny weeny black bugs like mini lady birds...they are nibbling and I don't know what they are..
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Think the pellets can be bad for birds,lizards & cats .
I do the beer & as an animal lover ,i sometimes get angry when i find one on my strawberries & stamp on it :whistle:
No idea what the black things are but will swap a few for the caterpillars munching everything i have :crazy:
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ohippy
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I throw the slugs next door :whistle:
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rjs
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ohippy
Nov 20 2009, 01:25:36 PM
I throw the slugs next door :whistle:
Can i bring mine round??we could start a slug throwing competition :crazy:
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Hevs
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Miraculous Mamma Mod

rjs
Nov 20 2009, 01:22:58 PM
Think the pellets can be bad for birds,lizards & cats .
I do the beer & as an animal lover ,i sometimes get angry when i find one on my strawberries & stamp on it :whistle:
No idea what the black things are but will swap a few for the caterpillars munching everything i have :crazy:
Hmmm cats.... (joke!) So do you just put beer in a bowl then? What about when it rains?

LOL @ H! If I had your neighbours i'd be breeding them to throw over!
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rjs
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Richly Joyful Sylph

Hevs
Nov 20 2009, 05:42:29 PM
rjs
Nov 20 2009, 01:22:58 PM
Think the pellets can be bad for birds,lizards & cats .
I do the beer & as an animal lover ,i sometimes get angry when i find one on my strawberries & stamp on it :whistle:
No idea what the black things are but will swap a few for the caterpillars munching everything i have :crazy:
Hmmm cats.... (joke!) So do you just put beer in a bowl then? What about when it rains?

LOL @ H! If I had your neighbours i'd be breeding them to throw over!
Yep when it rains i am beerless,must be an easy way of doing it but not thought of it yet :dunno:
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