We had a heap of rain this week - 191.5mm or over 7.5 inches - which was great for the garden, but unfortunately it meant I missed my Moon Planting window of opportunity for transplanting leafy green seedlings (tatsoi, mustard greens and lettuce). Ah well, the period from the 9th to the 11th (and the 14th) are great for sowing and transplanting fruiting plants apparently, so in another couple of days I will pot on the luffa and pumpkin seedlings, and plant out into the garden the golden squash and broccoli seedlings I have already potted on. The broccoli looks pretty spindly sadly (below); I think I may have left it in the greenhouse for too long with not enough direct sun? It's hard to judge these things when you are a beginner like me!
In other news, putting the tomato seedling tray on top of the hot water unit last weekend encouraged three little Rouge de Marmande seedlings to emerge, so that's better than nothing I suppose, LOL. They look spindly too so I've moved them back into the greenhouse to get some more sun, and I will pot them on later in the week too.
I gather the Rouge de Marmande tomato is a more cold tolerant variety, so perhaps that's why I am yet to see anything from the Tommy Toe cherry tomato seeds. I'll keep my fingers crossed though, you never know your luck - my Sweet Bite cherry tomato that over-wintered in the garden is on it's last legs and I'm going to miss it!
In the rest of the garden, the citrus are starting to flower again ('cause you know, I'm running out of lemons ;-)
And look what I found this morning:
The first ripe blueberry of the season! Shhhh, don't tell tell kids I ate it ;-)
10 comments:
(conspiratorial whisper...I ate most of last year's ripe raspberries too!)
re: carrots. I've read that thinning carrots gives pests a nice little access point and that it's best not to. Can't advise either way.
I can't believe how much rain you've had. We tipped 53mm out of the guage yesterday and felt lucky!
Lisa x
your sprouting seeds look great!
I've two tommy toes pop up on my window still in the past 48 hours.. they look spindly like your tomatoes too... but they look like that every year so I assume that is just how tomatoes look when they first sprout!
as the grower and nurturer i say you deserved it 100%. carrots are perfect size for thinning now, they hate their roots disturbed so if you let them grow to big and then thin, the ones left behind also suffer. thin now leaving the circumferance width of a grown carrot between each cotelydon.
Thanks Julie, I had a great day. Your broccoli looks a little like mine. I too have some tomato seeds still awaiting germination, but at least the self seeded tommy toes & purple russians are doing great and are now about 20cm tall. I had to take a shelf out of the hothouse just to accomodate them!
I agree with Kel, thin now or the others will suffer later.
I was going to write a post today about the fantastic 14mm of rain we got yesterday and the 10mm we received today, but you really have come up trumps in NSW. We are really suffering here in Vic, with the drought still in full swing.
Gav
oooh that blue berry looks soo nice!!!
great blog :o)
congrats on the blueberry, mine is just covered in flowers
Hi Lisa,
LOL, how good are raspberries ;-) I don't blame you! I was thrilled with the 54mm we got in the first two days too - then it kept going! Bit of a waste really. We've had nothing substantial for months and then it pours and mostly runs away into the stormwater drains...
Hi Kate,
Thanks. The tomatoes that self-seed in the garden look sturdier than the greenhouse ones, so I think I left them too long. They might come good though *shrug* We'll see!
Ah excellent, thanks for the carrot advise Kel, that makes perfect sense (of course ;-)
Hi Gavin,
Glad to hear you had a good day :-) Your tomatoes look fabulous in the pics you posted recently! Hope mine grow that well. Like I said to Lisa, I would have been happy with much less rain, it's all running away and being "wasted" as the ground is saturated and the tanks are full. I'd prefer an inch each week rather than all at once, LOL.
Hi Leanne,
Mmmmm, it was good ;-)
Hi Nicole,
My blueberries are the earliest varieties (Misty and Sharpblue) so you'll be enjoying yours after mine have finished I'd say.
Cheers, Julie
Wow, they look scrumptious, and I love baby seedlings, there's something miraculous that a small hard brown dot of a seed can when mixed with water grow a plant.
I love your new seedlings that are coming up. I know this is a very broad question, but HOW do you start an herb garden?
My "Tuesdays boss" is a Landscape Architect who does a couple of Farmers' Markets on the weekends and he had a herb class scheduled, which he couldn't attend so he asked me to go in his place. I've never been exposed to herbs (other than the ones in plastic containers at the store, sadly enough!), but I learned quite a bit about specific herbs and even came home with some lemon basil and lemon thyme (I picked those because they smelled so good). Now that I'm inspired by the thought of growing something on my own that can save money, be better for my family and help the environment in more ways than one, I'm not sure where to start! I know you're a busy lady, but who better to get tips from? If you can send anything my way, I would appreciate it!!!
~Eve (http://eve1.wordpress.com)
Hi Eve,
Oooh, those are two of my favourite herbs, don't they smell divine?
Most herbs have the advantage of practically looking after themselves, which is handy :-) Most don't take up very much room in the garden either, and many are very pretty so you can use them in an ornamental garden without looking out of place; for example I used to have a border of chives around one ornamental garden, and curly-leafed parsley around another. Chives also have a pretty pink flower when they go to seed, quite lovely.
So, if you have the room, why not pop in a seedling herb or two amongst the other plants? They'll need to be somewhere that gets a of of sun (about 6 hours day or more), unless you chose a mint (like common mint or peppermint for example), that will do better with less, and would be suitable if you have a position that doesn't get very much sun (but be careful they can become quite rampant!). They will also need to be watered regularly, and most will do much better for you if you apply a weak liquid fertiliser every fortnight throughout spring and summer.
If you don't have room in the garden, pots (near your kitchen for easy access, or on a sunny windowsill inside) are also great, and most herbs (especially basil, parsley, chives and the like) will do really well, providing you keep up the water and fertiliser.
I hope this helps you out a bit! Herbs are an excellent way to start growing your own food, and really there's nothing better to turn a nice meal into an outstanding one than using a few fresh herbs in it :-)
Cheers, Julie
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