The Garden Share Collective has grown in numbers and we now have a an international section. At the bottom of this post you can visit your country or skip around the world looking at other eager gardeners. We have added a hashtag on twitter #gardencollective so we can interact any time to complain about the weeds or sing a victory song when you pick a plentiful harvest.
My Garden
This month seems to have slipped between my fingers. My to do list kinda got done (not), we did plant out our fruit trees and did finish another section where the spuds were going to go in. However the last section is yet to be ploughed, tilled and planted. Soon, soon.
I spoke about the difference of planting with the moon calendar with root vegetables like garlic and potatoes and below is a photo that shows you the difference. It’s amazing to think that we only planted them 4 days apart. The first one on the root day and then the second lot four days later. We are still waiting for the rest to poke their heads out of the ground in the section that were planted four days later. My garlic is thriving now with these cooler nights we are having it reached 4’c last week. We have had plenty of rain again this month keeping this garden well watered as we don’t have any water access to this garden as yet.
Potatoes after four weeks in the ground.
Just to show you that we did finish mulching and planting here is the before from last months blog post and the now. The first bed in the garden is tomatoes, kale, broccoli, sweet potato, the second bed behind is the potatoes and garlic we planted with the moon calendar. Then the one behind that is the second lot of potatoes and behind that which you can’t really see (lucky) is work for us to do a bed that is now growing kikuya grass again. 🙁
We have had over 80ml of rain this month, I don’t mean to rub it in but I am grateful that I don’t have to water my garden everyday or start draining my tank to keep the veggies happy. Above is (a bad photo) the growth of my cabbages in four weeks. Two weeks ago I applied some organic fertilizer pellets while it was raining to give them a boost. Now I just need to spray them with some dipel to keep those pesky caterpillars off. The good news now that is colder the bugs have not been as prolific in the garden and most of my veggies are still in tact and not chomped at.
JULY in the Garden: To Do List
The dreaded to do list. This month Roy and I are finishing off our last bed and digging a new one to get ready for August planting. The millions of cobblers pegs on our property are shooting up in clumps throughout the veggie beds. It’s a bit easier to pull out a clump of them instead of them being spread evenly through the mulch. So I have plenty of weeding to do over the next four weeks. We are at the stage of making more garden beds and getting them ready for August, this means ploughing and turning the soil as much as possible. We also hope to build at least two raised beds in my lower veggie patch to start some organised gardening. I like things neat and tidy it is easier to manage – I think.
Garlic standing up proudly after planting only a month ago.
Bottom veggie patch: red kale, kale nero and curly kale and broccoli. You can see the spuds in the next patch over.
I picked my broccoli about six weeks ago and have left it in the ground to re-shoot from the sides. It sprouts more florets, they are not as big as the first ones, however they are the size of broccolini and just as delicious.
Other Garden Enthusiasts:
| AUSTRALIA
Gourmet Wog – NSW |
CANADA
NEW ZEALAND UNITED KINGDOM Life in Mud Spattered Boots |
If you would like to join the collective please send me an email liz@strayedtable.com or pass it on to anyone who maybe interested in sharing their vegetable garden.
26 Responses
Your garden is huge! Thanks for allowing me to join the Garden Share Collective. I am looking forward to exploring everyone’s gardens.
Thanks Kyrstie, and I am glad you have joined. Looks like you have a lot to share with us all with your garden experience.
Hi Lizzie, thanks for inviting me to the collective, its been a fun morning checking out the other gardens and I saved yours for last! This moon planting thing intrigues me, I half tried it, but if you’re not gardening/farming fulltime if can be very difficult to fit planting times around other schedules. Do you really find that it works? (thinking I should try again and do it properly this time!). Do you use the biodynamic method? Or just the simple moon-phases? As for my radishes, in salads, cooked or in fermented pickles, they seem to get used up some how! Cheers, Liz
Honestly Liz, planting root vegetables like the garlic and spuds makes all the difference. The root days for planting only come around once a month, so I plan for mine in advance. The difference in growth has been astounding and I am yet to see how the harvest turns out too. I don’t get to technical with planting, so I don’t use the BioDynamic method of exact timing – More general is my style.
hello lizzie, and thank you for undertaking the big task of rounding us all up. it’s such a wonderful thing to do.
first i have to saw how lush and green everythign looks. all that rain – it is great not to have to water. i’m so envious of your rows of garlic, and that beautiful beetroot – well, it’s just beautiful. over summer, beetroot was one of my favourite things to cook. i havenlt been successful in the past with growing them (i eat dad’s, he grows delicious big monsters) but i am inspired to have another attempt. happy gardening!
Thanks for your kind words, I look forward to seeing your efforts with the beets. Mine are still small, I think it may be our soil. Will see.
Your garden looks wonderful, so much going on in there. Looks like a busy month coming up. I always enjoy creating new garden beds. Strangely enough I enjoy the weeding too.
Sadly Jacuqi, I have bouts of weeding love. Not always do I want to do it.
Lizzie, what an amazing garden with Garlic looking so good. For those who want to plant Garlic it is now or it’s next season
looking forward to picking up a few tips from gardening friends
Enjoying my travels around the world to look into everyone’s gardens – lovely that some things grow everywhere and that things that seem exotic to some are just commonplace to others. The moon planting sounds interesting; I’ve often read about it but never tried it so maybe it’s time to take action.
Hi Lizzie, thanks for including me in the collective, it’s brilliant to meet some new people and be introduced to some wonderful blogs! Your veg garden is very impressive and I’m really interested to read about your moon planting trials, it’s something I really want to try, you have inspired me! I look forward to popping by regularly. Alex.
Hello Lizzie, once again your garden is amazing and I am in awe of the lush surrounds! I love the different varieties of kale and your potatoes look so healthy. Beautiful photo of your beetroot too.
Great to see some overseas gardens join the collective. I forgot to use the hashtag on Twitter when I posted a link to my blog…next time.
Thanks Jane, I want to start making my garden photos more pretty. I can take a killer portrait and food snaps yet the veggies I just have not mastered yet.
Thank you for welcoming me to the Garden Share Collective, it is an enjoyable experience, sharing and enjoying the pleasure of gardening with others. Your beetroot is gorgeous and your top photo should win a prize. I have never entertained the notion of calendar root gardening and it is intriguing that you can see the results. You have beautiful vegetable gardens. Is it organic or good old fashioned garlic that you grow?
Thanks for the invite Lizzie. Is it possible to grow vegetables through winter in Australia? Silly question maybe, but never talked to a gardener not in North America.
Wow, you’ve gotten so much done already! Would be fantastic to see how your kale and potatoes develop over the next month. Any idea when would be a good time to harvest?
Harvest kale whenever the leaves are big enough, and harvest potatoes when the leaves start to die back.
Thanks for putting the Garden Share Collective – it has been a lovely little hop around. I intend to get a moon calendar for next go around (and be a bit more involved in the getting it all together end of the gardening, rather than the pretty harvest end) and so look with interest at your outcomes.
Wow Lizzie what a difference a month has made! I can’t wait to see your first garlic harvest (even though it must be a while away).
Where did you get your seed potatoes?
I got my seed potato from Kookaburra Organics – they do post orders. Yes the garlic is a fair while off, I am looking forward to see how it goes in the next few months.
Lizzie, you have such a wonderful space and everything looks to be coming along nicely. I’m keen to see if the moon planting makes a difference long term, I know a couple of people who own vineyards down south and they swear by it.
Sorry to hear about the kikuyu – I guess the downside to having a large space is the weeding. It’s good for clearing the mind though, right?
Thanks for inviting me to be part of your garden share. I’ve really enjoyed being able to spend some time out in my own garden, taking stock of where things are at and seeing what I need to work on. Looking forward to getting into the swing of doing this more regularly.
Glad to have you on board Erin. Yes weeding is very good for the mind.
I love the garden and the produce, especially the broccoli
It’s really interesting the difference in the rate of growth when you plant according to the moon calendar! I’ve never done it, but you’ve got actual proof that it works – 4 days shouldn’t make that much difference. Great looking garden! Lot of work, but a lot of reward. 😉
I loved seeing your garden so much when we visited! Your garlic looks amazing! Everything seems to be growing so well! I’m definitely going to look more into moon planting!