on growing a garden
This story begins at Christmas time 2013 when my Dad built me a stand-alone vegie box out of recycled materials – timber and offcuts of corrugated iron. It was easy to assemble and pull apart – handy considering our status as renters. But then, in the old house, it sat empty and neglected for most of the year. I grew up watching my Dad’s garden grow and whilst I had every intention of tending to my own little plot, our old backyard proved to be more of a hindrance than an inspiration. With very little direct sunlight, drainage issues (at times it was quagmire-like) and a steep sloping block, it was definitely a chore to go out there. I settled with herbs in pots on the front step and the balcony; enough to add a little kick to the evening meal.
But this new house? We chose it for quite a few reasons, one being its aspect. It’s bathed in sunlight for most of the day; a welcome relief after spending seven years in a dark and damp abode. We perched the vegie box close to one of the established orange trees so it gets direct sunlight from early morning till about 2pm; dappled sunlight from then until dusk. My Dad sourced some good quality soil, we planted some seeds and seedlings and now, four weeks later, we are reaping the rewards (thanks in part to some decent rain and a full water tank).
The capsicums, tomatoes and cucumbers are just sprouting and the kale, lettuce and rainbow chard makes its way onto the table most nights. The beetroot should be ready to harvest in a few weeks time and whilst the chillis, society garlic and rocket were planted by the previous owners, they are providing us with a constant source of spice.
Growing food is incredibly satisfying and rewarding; it’s easy to understand why people get addicted to it. The act of being on and around the earth is grounding and regardless of how successful the plot is, there is a sense of calm that comes from nurturing and tending to plants. It’s a feel-good process, that’s for sure.
Since moving to this new house we have spent so much more time outdoors; at the beach and in the garden. I will never underestimate the gratification that comes from direct sunlight – I can dry the washing and grow vegetables! Simple things.
Whilst my Dad is a constant source of garden knowledge, I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for making your garden grow. Any must read books or magazines?
It's taken me forever to get around to saying "Happy housewarming!". This new place seems really lovely with lots of light and simple features. I like it. It's nice that you can take your garden with you and established fruit trees! x
Awesome… we've loved creating our veggie garden since moving to a house with a backyard. So satisfying, isn't it? I've gotten lots of handy tips, plus ideas for kids and great recipes from Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion book.
I recently purchased The Edible Garden by Women's Weekly. I like it because it gives you tips for each season and also recipes. Still reading it!
other than the stuff you said previous owners left we pretty much grew just all the same stuff you have and it was only our second year this past summer, and i am quite a novice- husband was a landscaper in his early 20s so knows a bit about these things. anyway, my favorite part is: we happen to have good soil, planted in a place with a lot of sun and the garden pretty much did all the work. sounds like that might be what you guys are having happen. by the way the cucumbers (at least in our case) – even just two plants were overwhelming in size and crop – they tried to decimate everything around them and we could;t give them away fast enough…might be just the kind we planted. anyway, envious of your summer, sun and the citrus! so good for the growing baby too to eat all that fresh stuff…
For me it´s mostly trial and error – I do love growing things we can eat and most of the times it works out just fine. 🙂
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Jodi you are just so refreshingly relatable. Living in the Snowy Mountains my life is all about trying to dry washing and trying to grow vegies! We have to be one step ahead of the frost and keep the roos and possums out of the garden! Wonderful harvesting btw. It sounds like the new place is working out. Yay! Organic gardener magazine is helpful.
The best tip? Keep up the planting! We've had a large vege garden for the past 15 months and discovered we are not good at staggering our planting. Hence we end up with crates of cucumbers daily for three weeks then have nothing to eat again for weeks! We are just finding our rhythm of popping some seedlings into the ground every couple of weeks to ensure there is always a variety of food to base our meals on. And keep perservering….we usually have wonderful broccoli stems but the last lot bolted to seed before we even had one meal and the snow peas were decimated in a pre-Christmas storm and I've had to re-plant both. It's an absolute joy to be able to head out and pick fresh, unsprayed produce for every meal and we are thankful that our efforts are paying off. Good luck 🙂
Im a total novice too; but I love the "My Folia" website for a wealth of knowledge via their forums. If there was one thing I could have changed about it; it would be that there were/are no other gardeners in my localarea to give local info and advice.
I have signed up to an email newsletter, sent once/month which reminds me what I should be sowing, and/or what I should be starting each month and for the following month.
Otherwise, keep planting, take notes on what worked and what didn't. Try heirloom varieties, make friends with your local nursery and if it doesn't work, chuck it in the compost heap and try again next year!
We've recently moved house too and the change has seen us both gardening a lot more. Whilst my hubby knows a lot more than me, we still fall into the novice category. For us our constant source of information is Gardening Australia, both the tv show and magazine. It's pure gold. xx
I've always gardened, but there have been years – the past few – where it's been hard to keep on top of and I have had several seasons pass with not a lot of input from me, but the garden flourished anyway and still continued to produce a small harvest. Last year I took up a Permaculture Design Course on the Central Coast, loved it, and have started seeing my small plot, its surrounds and our bio region a-new. I am slowly moving toward changes that will happen in autumn, when the weather is cooler and I can put in the hard yards, but until then, it's finding cool spaces, clipping and bringing harvests indoors and watching and learning.
I am obsessed with my veg garden.
I like using the Gardenate app. It gives you planting info for your region & info on the plants.
I adore The Little Veggie Patch Co books. So simple but full of really great, useful info. And they are funny too.
Good luck & have fun! Don't be deterred if things go wrong. Just pull it out & start again. And lastly, compost & mulch are your best friends 🙂
We love our vegetable garden especially after long, tiring, particularly hot or 'one of those days' we head out to our little plot after dinner and it is as if by some sort of magic, everything feels better. Stresses disappear. We breathe, we smile, we laugh, baskets and watering cans are filled, we think positive thoughts, we make plans and we talk. And to think most of our meals incorporate food that we plant and nurture is so rewarding. Vegetable gardening is actually pretty awesome and so addictive!
We dream about more garden beds surrounded by a little wooden fence with a quaint little gate and we are still beginners but what bolts to seed is fed to our chooks and much of the rest makes it onto our plates. We have learnt to stagger our planting so don't run out of things. I like the Little Veggie Patch Co books, a quick and easy yet useful reference. I also joined the Diggers Club which is local to us and they send newsletters and seeds throughout the year! Happy gardening! x Dre
A little veggie patch is so rewarding and great therapy. Last year we grew some corn from seeds and even though we only had about 10 plants it gave us so much joy eating our home grown corn…couldn't get any better than that. I've just planted some lettuce, corn, cucumber, spring onions and have rosemary and thyme growing. Every few weeks plant a couple of lettuces so you have a constant supply. I have a small lemon tree but only has 10 lemons this season with a few more on the dwarf tree now…I dream of having a big lemon tree one day. Gardening is good for the soul. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane
I love this. We have also recently discovered the joys of the kitchen garden. Seriously, as I potter around out there I think 'Who am I???' LOL. Picking fresh ears of corn, the kids racing out first thing to check which strawberries or tomatoes have ripened – it is a simple pleasure of the richest kind. Just love it. We have no idea what we are doing but enjoying the bounty!! Having chooks is an awesome combo – they give awesome manure and keep all the bugs away and in return we feed them plenty of 'extra's 🙂
Well I think I planted some magic beans last week because they've already sprouted!
My favourite resource is called 'Guide to backyard farming' by the two Melbourne guys who run The Little Veggie Patch. http://littleveggiepatchco.com.au/ It has a seasonal planting and harvesting guide for Australia. I follow along each month even though I only have a small raised garden bed.
Have you read Alys Fowler's books? I think you'd love them. Particularly her Abundance book. She's on of my favourite authors. My top gardening tip… Compost. Create lots of compost and love your soil. Organic Matter is where it's all at – life in the soil means flourishing life above! 🙂 Happy New Year Beautiful xxxx