Who else likes gardening?

[ecomama]

Hi everyone

I hope you're staying well today.

Who else likes gardening? I would love to connect with people here who are happy to share their gardening adventures.

For me I know that gardening helped heal my soul during tough times. I hope it will again.
Then with other things going on, it became a jungle.
I'm part way into rediscovering it again and doing A LOT of hard yakka atm, when I am motivated.

I have new dreams and ideas to put into the many bare places, as I remove thickets of lantana etc. This will all be on a tight budget and I'm ok with that.

I want to create a peaceful place where I can be.
I would like to grow food again (tell 'er she's dreamin' atm lol).
I would like to re-establish my worm farms and compost heaps.
Autumn is such a beautiful time of the year in the garden.

I'm 'alone' in my gardening journey and would love to share and hear about other's gardening antics. Hopefully we can troubleshoot any issues in our gardens and talk about any healing we're feeling too. There's a lot of knowledge we can share. I hope this thread can brighten your day!

Love Ecomama

Please

[Lillylane]

Hi EM,

The chook palace sounds amazing 🙂

I’m sure they will love it.

Yes a great time of year to get work done in the garden and there’s even been a little rain here which we don’t normally get at this time.

Did some weeding last weekend down the north side of the house. Felt good to get that done. Need to tackle some in front of the house next.

LL xx

[ecomama]

Hey Lilly, I might even put a bed in the Chook Palace and sleep in there myself lol.

I'm pretty sure our girls will be very happy in their new place.

Weeding is pretty satisfying, do you think?
Then a bit frustrating if that's ALL I do lol.

I have some deadly nightshade but I rarely pull that out, only if it's growing big all alone.
Miraculously it seems to be a marvellous trellis for my surprise tomato vines. They seem to be Companions.

Besides some monster stumps of lantana still having the cheek to leaf up in front of me lol, I only have the odd false Dandelion way up the front oh and some bindii but less and less as the mailman comes less and less lol.
He would always spread bindii in his motor bike wheels right across our lawn, grrr.

Actually there's more... my gardener calls it a Mickey mouse plant that I thought was a native fuschia but was WRONG. lol. I get that out when I see it very little, asap. It's SO PRETTY but apparently noxious so it's going.
Also still a few dreaded tobacco trees. Gosh they're difficult to rid a garden of. Only a few left but I'm super careful taking that out. Every little hair on it's leaves is a SEED. I've taken thousands of seedlings out of our garden.

I'm pondering where to place a bath for a worm farm. It has to be in the shade. And the plug hole over a bucket, so a slope is best. Tricky decision to make for me.

The other bath will be plugged up for it to hold water and FROGS. Maybe some reeds, gingko biloba & water chestnuts like I had. I'd LOVE some water lilies but they're so hard to find.

Removal of the pool liner and lantana is all I'll be doing for a while except for observation.

EMxxxx

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hey EM and everyone,

EM, I actually spent time in the garden, this week! I genuinely can't remember when I last did anything much in the garden. Mostly I just tackled the lawn/soursobs (it's about a 60/40 mix, haha), which was getting quite overgrown. Pain in the bum job, my mower is on the fritz (and it was too long anyway), so I was out with the whipper snipper. I don't recommend it. Still, I got the front yard done, and about a third of the back yard, which is quite large. The rest can wait for another rare warm day in which my back has stopped hurting.

LM came home while I was still out gardening, and by some odd co-incidence brought home a plant. He saw a little stall offering free plants near where he had an appointment that day, and acquired an Italian parsley, which I planted near our compost bin. Plenty of nutrients and a little shade for it there. Fingers crossed it does well in that spot.

That little moment, standing in the sun, LM was ignited with enthusiasm for developing our garden space - planting some veggies and companion flowers, and lots of natives to attract birds and bees and butterflies (he is much more keen on them than the grass we have now), ruminating on having things like a water feature and a big bird feeder, and an orange tree... I haven't heard him speak like that before. I think he's finally starting to see the house and garden as ours, and not just mine, and that maybe we're collectively beginning to step out of mere survival mode after his surgery and starting to see things we want for the future.

We also talked about your chook palace, EM. (LM says "hi" and that he loves the idea of the chook palace.) He has often commented that he would love to have chickens some day, when we're a bit more up to managing their care - rescues of course.

The plan is to start with the orange tree - something we should be able to establish and maintain pretty easily (the other fruit trees have held up okay so far, apricot has a few flowers, now, and has produced some tasty fruit the last couple of years). Then plan and set up irrigation for the veggie patch before we plant anything - we definitely need to streamline the watering process, I haven't done so well keeping up with it manually in the past. Then companion flowers, then veggies, and so on. Very excited about the possible transformation of our space. I really hope this momentum holds.

Blue.

[Paw Prints]

Hello Em, wave to everyone,

Well my indoor plants finally arrived on Monday... they look ok considering it took over a week to get here in the post... I gave them a good drink when they arrived & am giving them a day or two to settle before re-potting them...

Lots of plants mentioned here that I don't know, so some googling required. I do know Mother in Laws Tongue... I did consider getting one of them, but I need to work out where I could put it... being in a small cottage with a Great Dane means anywhere I place a plant needs to be safe from him sending it flying.

Katy I saw lots of air plants in mini terrariums when I googled them... it's good to hear that they actually do well in one... I had wondered if they were just in them for the particular look of the photo... hmm... it seems I need to do more online shopping... lol

Em I feel for you trying to get rid of the tobacco plant... my brother in law was given a seedling plant & told it was something else... when it grew & my sister realised what it was out it came... but she battled for ages to get rid of all the seedlings that sprang up everywhere...

I'm curious what is a "fungus woodheap"???

Paws

[Jstar49]

Hey everyone,

wow, Blue, nice to see you here- but where's Mark?? Is he ok? (Are you ok Mark??)

Spring is in the air and it's gotten me out in the garden, along with all of you-yay!

Blue I could see you and LM dreaming your beautiful garden space- that's sooo lovely! Parsley is the perfect! plant to start your garden with!

I had some time to spend in a big town today, and with the state in lockdown, the only shop really was Bunnings! So, guess who came home with lots of plants!! Yep, me!

French lavender, rosemary- the tall spikes variety;watercress-gona see how it goes in a wetspot in a pot, and keep it well watered;more thyme and marjoram, cos the chooks nearly killed the others; and a beautiful waxflower- WA native I think, so lovely. Oh and chillies! Birdseye.

I got into the garden a couple days ago, tore out the tomatoes- remember my experiment?? Well my collected seeds have done well, running rampant over one bed. I missed my opp to tame them, but they seem happier this way.They're a smallish yellowish fruit. The others- not so good. Despite all my careful, if not timely, trellissing... And the toms that survived got eaten by birds- grrr! Oh well! Back to the 'drawing board'!

My stinky weed tea was NOT a hit with H, when I poured it all around.....little does he know I have another batch on the go!!LOLLOL! Waiting to see miraculous improvement with my citrus!

Katy-Indoor plants-yes! I have more stories! I have recently regrouped all our indoor plants together in one spot- H had scattered them around, but they weren't happy, esp the monstera adansonii. Now I spray them all, nearly daily, so I will see if this helps. I think plants like to be together...? Your hoyas sound amazing!! There is a native hoya I've always wanted, apparently its a butterfly attractor.....I rarely see it for sale tho. Next time I do I shall buy it and think of you- maybe I can try it out inside....But it will need to be outside for it to attract butterflies lol!

Em are your neighbours being nasty? Shame on them! Is that who's pestering your lovely birds?? Hope the palace/fortress has arrived and is installed now and you have some peace of mind. Poor darlings. I love seeing chooks roam around, I can't understand anyone having a problem! Even their poo isn't highly offensive- until it's gathered up in huge heaps and steaming in the summer heat...then it's pungent fertiliser!!!

I'm going to try cucumbers and beans in my garden next. Alongside the cabbages.

Cheers,

J*

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hi J* (& EM & everyone),

Sad to say I haven't seen Mark around since an incident in the "How can we improve the forums?" thread a while back. I was hoping he would see the support being shown after and know he is welcome and valued here. He is such an integral part of this thread, it is sad not to see him.

Thanks for your encouragement, the parsley is doing well, even though I accidentally stepped on it a couple of times! It's right by the compost bin. I've put a marker beside it now so I'm a bit less clumsy when I'm getting compost for my other plants!

I love the sound of all the plants you brought home, I hope they grow well. I hope to get some more herbs planted once we get irrigation organised. Rosemary can grow just about anywhere, even in my dense clay soil, without too much effort. Sounds like your tomato experiment was semi-successful. A boon for the birds, anyway. Sorry they didn't share.

I had a chuckle at your "stinky weed tea", we got some Seasol to fertilise our citrus with, fingers crossed we get some results from that. Our poor lime looks a bit sad after last Summer, we're trying to nurse it back to health. It hasn't borne any fruit yet since I planted it a few years back, and Seasol was recommended by the guy at the nursery, along with I think sulfate of potash at the start of fruiting season.

The thing that makes gardening this time around so beautiful is that I remember LM saying before we moved in together that he'd do what he could around the house but the garden was going to have to be my domain - his health was far too bad at that point to allow him to do anything required for garden work. So it just never occurred to me, even after the surgery, that I wouldn't be on my own with the gardening - it just looked like a big job to me, and during the surgery and the aftermath of that, all the work I'd done previously had been undone; paths, fire-pit and bark chipped areas overgrown with weeds, most of what I'd planted hadn't survived the Summer, etc. This one sunny day and a little parsley plant have changed so much for us.

We planted our new orange tree, yesterday. Lots of home-made compost in the hole, and a handful of gypsum top and bottom as recommended by the nursery guy, to help make the clay more hospitable for the tree. It looks beautiful. Did some weeding, composting and fertilising around our other trees, too. Progress!

Blue.

[ecomama]

Hello Happy BB Gardeners!

What a beehive of activity going on for us all. I LOVE reading about everybody's garden adventures!

Nup. No sign of the Chook Palace yet, sad to say lol.
Hey LM! OH YEAH it's gonna be the BEST playground for my darling girls like EVER.

Yes 2 ppl in our neighbourhood to be specific had been extremely cruel.
Not my direct neighbours thank God. But they're "out there". Horrid ppl.

LOVE the indoor plant info. Paws SO HAPPY yours arrived. I'm certain they'll love living at yours lol.
A "fungus woodheap" - well it's a naturally occurring feature of many of not all forests and bushlands.
FUNGUS IS INCREDIBLE for our gardens and us too.
The Netflix special "Fantastic Fungi" is crammed full of incredible research on it.
I've just grabbed a few logs around 10cm thick and added some banana trunks for moisture.
Will nurture it "somewhat" in a Permaculture way which kinda looks like neglect to some, but with carefull thought through systems, it's just clever....

"maximum output with minimum human input" being one focus of Permaculture.

With my chickens being free ranging for so long, they've not allowed much to happen in the way of GRASS lol or fungus. In less than 2 weeks of them being babysat / enclosed, the grass and a few weeds are growing back.
No watering or rain, just life springing back.

I need more health in my soil and fungus is one way to support this.

J* AWESOME. Wow love getting new plants lol. LOVE the skewer type Rosemary. Have fun!

Blues HOW SWEET! I could really see through your story telling how LM is now allowing himself to plan for your future and awwww love that.
You know the trick for citrus?
Not bought in a shop lol.
NITROGEN. LM could come in VERY handy for a great dose of Nitrogen directly on to the soil around your citrus.
Many a Citrus tree has been revived after a BBQ!

Oh J* heavens don't tell H lol... one cup of WEED TEA in a watering can is good ratios.
No more than once a week for nitrogen loving plants - like leafy greens.

I tidied up my garden and moved my weed tea bucket, which would overflow DOWN the garden when it rained. Now? Because I moved it? All the plants below are dying! good info there... I need to put it BACK.

P.son said "so you're not going for aesthetics in the back yard?" LOLOL and I thought he knew his mama.
No I never really have darling! haven't you noticed that before now?

MAXIMUM YIELD, great health and lots of fun.

Love EMxxxx

[Jstar49]

Hi all,

Lol Em, p.son asking about aesthetics gave me a giggle. I tend to roll my eyes when H talks about the 'look' of things in the garden-esp if it's in the vegie garden! I mean, what has that got to do with anything, really? Sometimes it does look nice, like now, with it all weeded and a new blanket of mulch down, and a new batch of seeds in. but it's not very productive. The messy times concide with the productive times!

Hmm, one cup in a watering can- I think I may have exceeded that lol- I was keen to empty the bin and start a new lot. I did water it down, of course, just not sure how much...

Hey Em, if I use it weekly on my leafy greens, can I still harvest? Won't it taste yuck?

Yes, Blue, I concur with Em, being able to garden is def about seeing a future. When I was debating being here, I lost all interest in my garden. I'm so GLAD (Pollyanna GLAD!!) for you both. Your garden sounds awesome, esp the firepit.

I didn't catch the kerfuffle in the improvements threads. I'm sorry that it seems to have caused Mark to withdraw. I hope he comes back... What shall we do here without him? He's such the resident expert!

Got more cow dung today! My fave manure for dry garden beds! And, I remembered to water my lettuce seeds. Day one and counting....

Cheers,

J*

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Hmmm not sure how I’d feel about consuming that citrus, EM! 😂

Well I’m early to bed, after another tiring week. Popped my head out the door and wished all my succulents good luck surviving the next few months neglected lol. Sitting here reading the gardening thread instead…

Ive googled the above mentioned indoor plants. Always nice to learn about new varieties. I don’t have to worry about pets eating them - my fur friends are too old to reach anything off the floor. I noticed today that I have fungus gnats again though, so will need to sort them out!

Lots to enjoy here. Thanks everyone who’s shared.

(Ps - agree it’s a shame not seeing Mark around!)

[Jstar49]

🤣Katy! Just be sure you get whomever to water the ground, not actually the leaves of the lemon tree. My H was a bit confused LOL! (It's much easier for the blokes to do it!)

I also watched the fungus doco- sooooo good! Surprising! Who knew how good Fungi were!

J*