What Are You Growing? 2020

[iBooz2]

@muzzy Into herbs then:

Plant a rosemary bush.  Rosemary goes great with potato wedges roasted in the Weber-Q

Cut up a heap of potatoes into wedges and put into a large bowl.

Drizzle with about ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil and toss very well to coat all sides of wedges.

Sprinkle with two teaspoons of fresh ground sea salt flakes.

Sprinkle with a couple of grinds of fresh cracked black pepper.

Sprinkle with two tablespoons (or more) fresh rosemary finely chopped.

Toss wedges to coat with rosemary, salt and pepper as much as possible.

Place in a single layer on some baking paper on your pizza tray on your pizza stone and cook in pre-heated Weber-Q at 220 C turning every 20 minutes until cooked and golden.

Serve with a small bowl of sour cream with a big dollop of sweet chilli sauce stirred though, to be used as a dip.

Sink a few beers to wash them down.

Cheers - AL

[Thirsty Jim]

@iBooz2   Yum.   You are right about the rain too Al.  I never complain about the rain but we could certainly use a few rays to get things moving.   I bought those spinach in the middle of the Covid panic.  They are in the community garden and I was under pressure from people asking for greens so when I saw them being put on the shelf at Bunnings I jumped in.  But fair dinkum they look like they had only just sprouted and I reckon they were planted 5 minutes before they were put on the truck.  That was a month ago and they still look like they should be in a punnet.  I sowed some seed at the same time but that is being very slow to germinate as well.

The only thing I have to give to the punters is my Jerusalem Artichokes - and they are kind of famous for causing 'gastric disturbances'  - and I have loads of them.  So if you hear of a farting pandemic in Bayswater you know who to blame. 

Edited May 4, 2020 by James of Bayswater
spelling

[Malter White]

7 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

@muzzy Into herbs then:

Plant a rosemary bush.  Rosemary goes great with potato wedges roasted in the Weber-Q

Cut up a heap of potatoes into wedges and put into a large bowl.

Drizzle with about ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil and toss very well to coat all sides of wedges.

Sprinkle with two teaspoons of fresh ground sea salt flakes.

Sprinkle with a couple of grinds of fresh cracked black pepper.

Sprinkle with two tablespoons (or more) fresh rosemary finely chopped.

Toss wedges to coat with rosemary, salt and pepper as much as possible.

Place in a single layer on some baking paper on your pizza tray on your pizza stone and cook in pre-heated Weber-Q at 220 C turning every 20 minutes until cooked and golden.

Serve with a small bowl of sour cream with a big dollop of sweet chilli sauce stirred though, to be used as a dip.

Sink a few beers to wash them down.

Cheers - AL

Sounds delicious, AL.

I'm already a jump ahead with the rosemary. I just snip it from my neighbours' plant as needed. They let me have chillis too.

[iBooz2]

@MUZZY so now I know why you have never grown your own, your'e a share farmer. 

Its nice to have good neighbors.

Cheers - AL

[Pezzza]

20 hours ago, James of Bayswater said:

 

James Bay mate that is one beeeeyoootiful garden bed.... Wow.  Very very nicely done... and the rotten stinking cheat Pieris rapae cabbage white can rapae off!!!

Thanks re Dipel also.  Am hopefully trying to grow things without too many grubs (that need chasing w some sort of potion) if I can steer things that way tho I do use the ol' iron chelate snail bait that is pretty benign.

@MUZZY I reckon am with @iBooz2 Boozer that maybe some festive snow peas are the go - but you need something for them to climb up...

I think James Bay is right re Broad Beans (but sadly Burbler no like Broad Beans sareee) and if you like them reckon they'd be worth a crack.

Cheers Growers!

[Malter White]

3 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

James Bay mate that is one beeeeyoootiful garden bed.... Wow.  Very very nicely done... and the rotten stinking cheat Pieris rapae cabbage white can rapae off!!!

Thanks re Dipel also.  Am hopefully trying to grow things without too many grubs (that need chasing w some sort of potion) if I can steer things that way tho I do use the ol' iron chelate snail bait that is pretty benign.

@MUZZY I reckon am with @iBooz2 Boozer that maybe some festive snow peas are the go - but you need something for them to climb up...

I think James Bay is right re Broad Beans (but sadly Burbler no like Broad Beans sareee) and if you like them reckon they'd be worth a crack.

Cheers Growers!

Snow peas sound good. Not so sure about the broad beans. I love them (there's not much I don't like) but my girls will turn their noses up at them.

[Pezzza]

19 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

@muzzy Into herbs then:

Plant a rosemary bush.  Rosemary goes great with potato wedges roasted in the Weber-Q

GOLD Boozer!  That is the one thing that survived the terrible drought... it nearly died... we cut it right back and now it is coming back joyfully!  Reckon I need to try your festive recipe!  Ripper. Nice Work!

Even the extensive weed-like peppermint all died... : (

Though am thinking I might get a cutting off a pot I gave away and grow in pot as it is fairly invasive when in a garden bed with hopefully some other things ha ha ; )

[Thirsty Jim]

1 hour ago, Bearded Burbler said:

James Bay mate that is one beeeeyoootiful garden bed.... Wow.  Very very nicely done... and the rotten stinking cheat Pieris rapae cabbage white can rapae off!!!

Thanks re Dipel also.  Am hopefully trying to grow things without too many grubs (that need chasing w some sort of potion) if I can steer things that way tho I do use the ol' iron chelate snail bait that is pretty benign.

@MUZZY I reckon am with @iBooz2 Boozer that maybe some festive snow peas are the go - but you need something for them to climb up...

I think James Bay is right re Broad Beans (but sadly Burbler no like Broad Beans sareee) and if you like them reckon they'd be worth a crack.

Cheers Growers!

Thanks Burbler,   

I am proud of that bed.  I have seven like it.  They are wicking beds too.  You can see the black overflow at the bottom left of the bed.  Everything below that level is water (and scoria).  On the far right you can make out the filling tube rising vertically.  About once a week I stick a hose down the filling tube to fill the reservoir until it spills out of the overflow.  The water 'wicks' up through the soil and effectively waters the plants from below.

They are fantastic.  Plants thrive in optimally moist conditions.  Rain still passes through the soil from the top.  It's like a big self watering pot.

The nets are very effective in keeping the bluddy white flutterby at bay.  We has a beautifully sunny day today after a week of rain and cloudy days - and the little buggers are back.  I was hoping to lose the nets but it isn't cold enough yet to stop them.  I could just about see things growing today in the sunshine but everywhere there were pairs of flutterbys going forth and multiplying. 

The beauty of broad beans is that you don't need to eat them.  Like all legumes (but more so) they fix nitrogen in the soil so I plant all my empty beds with broad beans then hack them down (not pull them up) leaving the roots in the soil to rot.  Green manure.  It is really good for tired soil. 

Snow peas are delicious, especially fresh off the bush, but they need something to grow up.  This year I am going to try to grow them with the broad beans.  By starting the broad beans first they should provide something for the snow peas to grow up.  I don't know if it will work, it could be a tangled mess but I have stacks of both seed I have collected so why not. 

[Pezzza]

3 minutes ago, James of Bayswater said:

 

Mate absolutely legendary all round!

I am hereby giving you the inaugural Coopers DIY Sociable Brewers' Site "Peter Cundall Award" for the most festive Grower on the site! 

Luvyerwork and hopefully you will get just the right amount of sun to get your littlies up and crankin'!!!

There are a whole swag of amazing people on this site with all sorts of amazing inf on brewing and kegging and cookin' and barbecuing and making smallgoods and growin' all sorts of stuff...  is a beautiful thing and great to be part of.

And lookin' forward to hearing feedback on the experimental 'broad bean trellis' for the Peas - super - talk about companion planting ha ha - great stuff.

 

[Malter White]

+1 to what @Bearded Burbler said. I'm so impressed with your garden knowledge, @James of Bayswater. It pi55es me off a little because I wouldn't know a tenth of it. Now I want a wicking bed. It'll never happen but I still want one.  

[Pezzza]

10 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

+1 to what @Bearded Burbler said. I'm so impressed with your garden knowledge, @James of Bayswater. It pi55es me off a little because I wouldn't know a tenth of it. Now I want a wicking bed. It'll never happen but I still want one.  

Muzzy one step at a time mate - and being is South Aus in the great dry land - one of those festive JamesBay u-beaut Scoria wicking beds would be just the ticket!

Plenty of time.... no use rushing things... always good to have something to work towards hey!

And in the meantime - your spinach was gold mate.... you're on the way forward!

And I am gunna be eating Radishes for a while ha ha - some more lovelies tonight... gotta get them when they are nice and young and fresh... they get a bit grumbly as they get older and eventually split...

[Malter White]

9 minutes ago, Bearded Burbler said:

Muzzy one step at a time mate - and being is South Aus in the great dry land - one of those festive JamesBay u-beaut Scoria wicking beds would be just the ticket!

Plenty of time.... no use rushing things... always good to have something to work towards hey!

And in the meantime - your spinach was gold mate.... you're on the way forward!

And I am gunna be eating Radishes for a while ha ha - some more lovelies tonight... gotta get them when they are nice and young and fresh... they get a bit grumbly as they get older and eventually split...

These one look nicer than yesterday's, Burbs. I haven't had a radish in ages. A little sprinkle of salt... delicious.

 

[Pezzza]

2 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

These one look nicer than yesterday's, Burbs. I haven't had a radish in ages. A little sprinkle of salt... delicious.

 

Ha ha Muzzy!  Pretty much exactly the same little tasty crunchy orbs - but today's guys had been washed and were under lights ha ha....

Yesterdays' were out the garden and with a nice soil-matt-finish ha ha.  Here they are in yesterday's salad w cukes ha ha... didn't scrub up too bad ?

And yes mate - sprinkle of salt... lovely. Cheers. BB

[Thirsty Jim]

Cheers @MUZZY    I regret not starting gardening when I was younger.  I have always been interested but I didn't really take gardening seriously until 3 or 4 years ago.   They say the best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago and the second best time is now.  It's true. 

You can turn just about anything into a wicking  container.    Garbage bins,  20L buckets,  polystyrene fruit boxes and bathtubs are all candidates.  Old toilet bowls work too.  The S bend services to maintain the water level as it acts like an overflow.   

Bathtubs are favorite because you don't need to make them water tight - they already are.  And if you unscrew the waste pipe and reinstall it upside down ( so that it is inside the tub ) is the ideal overflow.  You don't really need bother about a water reservoir.  Just fill the tub with soil and water until it flows out the waste.  Instant wicking bed.   

 

@Bearded Burbler  Your doing all right for someone coming out of a drought.   Enjoy !

 

[Pezzza]

Hey there @James of Bayswater James...

Yes mate where there is Water there is Life mate...  before no rain and not enough water to spare for the garden... had barely enough to live and brew.

Rain to kickstart the Garden again... and put water in tanks... has been good.  But looks like May is going to be dry so am watering again.  Outlook up here for June onwards is better for us.

You getting some sunlight for your babies down there?

[Pezzza]

Spuddlies (purple fellas this time) and Spinach... rain is the biz.

 

 

 

 

[Pezzza]

Ate that last lot of Green Stuff... think it is good for me... cooked up in a curry of sorts ha ha... so more of a good thing and some spring oniony type shoots too... curried up last night ; )

[JoeB7]

Snow peas, broadbeans, beetroot, garlic, shallots/leeks, parsley & coriander

[Pezzza]

46 minutes ago, JoeB7 said:

garlic

just plug in sprouting bulbs - or do you buy in sets to plant JB?

[iBooz2]

8 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

just plug in sprouting bulbs - or do you buy in sets to plant JB?

@Bearded Burbler I grab a garlic bulb or two (or a few) and separate the cloves then I soak them in a weak mix of Sea-sol and water until the green shoots and the roots appear.

A take away container with paper towel in the bottom then stand the cloves pointy end up and have the cloves about 1/2 covered in the sea-sol / water mix.  Stack them in so they support each other and stay upright but its not that important if they don't.   Plant out the ones that shoot first (when they have say 20 mm of green shoot) and leave the others sitting in the solution until they sprout and so on.  May take a week or more.  Some small weaker cloves will not shoot and go rotten so discard those.  May need to top up liquid every few days.  I sit mine on a sunny kitchen window sill which gets full sun nearly all day, until I have filled my garlic beds.   Plant out so the 20 mm green tip is just showing above the soil level in colder climes a bit deeper in warmer areas.  I usually do this in April (Melbourne's East) while the ground is still a little warmer.

Cheers - AL

Edited May 27, 2020 by iBooz2
typo

[JoeB7]

14 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

just plug in sprouting bulbs - or do you buy in sets to plant JB?

sprouting cloves for the garlic, seedlings for snow peas & coriander, seeds for the rest

[JoeB7]

Oh, and chillies are still fighting on with minor fruit

[YeastyBoy]

On 5/27/2020 at 10:01 PM, Bearded Burbler said:

just plug in sprouting bulbs - or do you buy in sets to plant JB?

BB,

Presume the garlic bulbs in the pantry are sprouting with green tips emerging.

To easy, separate to cloves from the bulb and simply plant the cloves pointy end up in the garden.

Let nature take its course. Come Xmas & you have a bulb of garlic.

Soaking is not required, they take off fairly quickly from March onwards so long as the rich soil is moist.

Cheers YB

[King Ruddager]

I've never replied to this thread. Is "old and weary" an acceptable contribution?

[The Captain!!]

1 hour ago, King Ruddager said:

I've never replied to this thread. Is "old and weary" an acceptable contribution?

Of course it is Ruddy