Old faithful

This is one of only two plants we uprooted from our old house to bring with us here. We planted it in a pot and hoped for the best. For months it struggled and looked half dead. Finally there were signs of improvement, however the chillies produced were small in comparison to the 'old days' and also often had no heat. Well, I can say that it looks like our beloved chilli plant has finally accepted the move. Look at these gleaming big red and green chillies pa

cked with flavour and punch! :)

Our first leak

Okay, so it is a bit of a shorty... but who am I to talk?

Mint

As I learned from my attempt to grow mint at our previous house, I can say that if you are not a very confident gardener, start by growing some mint... it will boost your ego! ;) Be warned, it grows out of control so keep it contained. I previously grew a chocolate mint variety, but have decided that I like the ordinary mint better (it has more uses). There is nothing like a fresh glass of water (or homemade ice tea) flavoured by adding some fresh mint leaves from the garden. Oh, and another thing... just make sure you keep it near a water source... it likes regular watering.

p.s. You will see our first "Christmas" stawberry plant in the background and our first Iceberg lettuce (bought as a seedling).

Our first olive

The olive trees are growing and seem to be happy where they are... yipee!

Veggie beds update

So, remember how over winter I prepared those two veggie beds? Well, after about 3 failed attempts things finally started growing. I've learned (as a 'green pinky') to rather start off with planting seedlings rather than seeds. When I become more of a professional I will try the seeds. I have had success with seeds in the past, but the 'organic' ones I bought failed (not sure if it was a bad batch or something I maybe did or didn't do!). Something else I learned is to have patience! I planted way too early this year and that also contributed to the failures. So, although my crops were not as great as anticipated, I have been blessed with a hugely successful baby marrow crop, the cucumbers are taking off and the leaks did not do too badly. I've recently also planted yellow pepper, brocolli, beetroot and a new cherry tomato plant so we will see how those go. :) Check out these pics of the 'before' and 'after'...Not too bad for our first summer of planting hey?

!

My first cucumber

Check out how this baby has grown just over a few weeks! We've harvested it and it tastes amazing! Crunchy and full of flavour.. and it seems this is only the beginning because many new babies are popping up on the two plants which I have!

Tomatoes

So far my tomato crop has not been overly productive. Although the tomatoes are incredibly sweet and fragrant, they are rather hard and lack seeds, although they seem to be getting better with the progression of summer. The tomato plant looks terrible but it is producing fruit. I've been growing another plant which is starting to produce fruit now...(in one of my veggie beds) perfect timing to take over from the old one which is now on its last leg. I think I have discovered why I had such a problem with the first tomato plant. The pot it is in is like a sieve (water just drains out!) and I also did not apply mulch. I am going to empty the pot and replant after I have lined it and next time will mulch and put peat moss around the root ball (a new discovery I made at the nursery)

Pink lady with her prize

As I brought in some lavender from the garden I discovered this little pink spider toating around a bee nearly double her size. I managed to take some snapshots.. here is one of the best.

My first baby (marrows)!

Would you like some plastic in your tea?

I couldn't figure out what all these sheets of plastic were that I kept finding in my vermicompost. Turns out it is tea bags!! We wrote to our local tea company and I will post their response when I get a chance!

Little Grinnie

Thank you to my brother who helped me source this little grinadella. I finally collected little Grinnie from Marty last weekend and planted her behind the baby clementine. I'm going to find something to use as a lattice so that the grinadella can grow alongside the clementine (street facing side, along side the drain) to also help create a natural screening for privacy. Now to wait for these babies to grow!!! What is also great is that when the grinadella sheds its leaves, it will provide a nice mulch for the tree beds!

The Incredible Tomato Seed

This little surprise tomato seed popped up in my window box one day. It grew into a strong little seedling. In the first month of winter I took the very bold step of transplanting the seedling into a pot on my back patio. I sheltered it from wind by placing a board behind it and two bottles along side it. A basil bush sheltered it from the front but still gave it enough light and room to grow. From time to time I pruned the lower branches and gave it some love and worm tea. Look at her now! She made it through winter and I'm looking forward to my first crop soon this spring!

Impatience

Okay, so I simply couldn't wait. In early August I planted some seeds into trays to see if any would come up. Needless to say, most didn't however, the mange tout peas and leeks did! Once they were big enough I planted them into the veggie beds and covered them each with an upside down milk bottle to create a little 'greenhouse' effect to protect each seedling. It looks like it is working! I also added grass clippings as mulch and lots of egg shells to help keep the snails at bay. Although I am using plastic bottles, it is just for a short period during the cooler months to protect the seedlings until they grow strong enough, so I do not believe it is harmful.

Backyard Free range Eggs

Have a look at these beautiful free range eggs my neighbour gave to me today! They have four beautiful laying hens and they have inspired me to get my own. I'm still in the research phase, but plan on getting two hens soon... can't wait (check out this informative website on this topic)! After visiting my local grocery shop today I asked the store manager why they have been out of stock of free range eggs for two weeks in a row. He said that the demand for them is so low that when he buys a batch most of it ends up being thrown out because no one buys them! :( Well, yet another good reason for me to get my own!

Monkey Puzzle Mulch

After all my pining over lack of pine needles in my area (from what I have read, I need pine needles to help condition my soil type), I discovered that I have my own take on pine needles here in my very own back yard!... The big monkey puzzle tree in the corner of our back yard has been shedding. I managed to collect enough to distribute it over the fruit tree beds as mulch. Okay, so yea, maybe not pine needles but hey, bet it will do the trick! :)

My Women's Day Clementine

The hubby planted this Clementine tree for me on Women's day... what a gift!

Recycling old bricks

My neighbour's building rubble came in handy!

Local Organic Farm Produce

To my absolute delight, I found a farmer around the corner from me who farms organically and sells to the public from his small holding in Kraaifontein. 'Oom' Thys was such a breath of fresh air! He was very honest about which of his produce was organic and if he was not sure, he would say so (whatever veggies he does not grow himself, he buys in from other local sources - not all organic). His prices were also competitive [I bought organic beets [R8 a pack], a large butternut [R5], lemons [R3], bunch of leeks [R9] and honey [R35] - not bad for organic!]. In addition to veggies, he sells honey for one of his neighbours and free range eggs for his other neighbour. He said he also sells free range lamb and his wife makes delicious 'farm style' home cooked meals (not nec. organic) for sale at very reasonable prices to the public. On top of all this, he offers free delivery for his regular customers. To get to 'oom' Thys's place, take the N1 heading to Paarl (from Cape Town) and then take the Maroela Rd turn off (the turn off immediately after the Brighton Rd turn off). At the T junction turn left. You will pass the nursery on your right. Follow the signs on your left (take a left shortly after the nursery at the sign). The house will be further down on your left at sign.

Wooden Flowers?

These look great in a vase and require no water! Where did I find them? We went for a walk and noticed these dead bushes bearing wooden flowers! We finally figured out that they are dead protea bushes. We cut a few dead twigs off the dead bush and ended up with a bouquet of wooden flowers! [I think it is illegal to pick live proteas in the wild in South Africa, so we made sure these bushes were dead and that the flowers were empty (i.e. the seeds had already been carried away by the wind before we picked).]

Bay & Garlic

Well, sadly it looks like the bay tree didn't make it. Also, my garlic didn't survive either :( Well, better luck next time! :)

Poor man's Pesto

This past summer I managed to only make one small batch of pesto, but surprisingly, I was rewarded in early winter and managed to get out another batch to last through winter. I was a bit short and substituted the shortage with wild basil. Because of the price of pine nuts, I substituted them with whatever nuts I had in the house. Freezing pesto in ice cube trays is great, especially for grabbing cubes to defrost and make sandwiches or to throw in thai green curries, pastas, etc...

Type of soil and Improving Soil

I did a bit of research on this and found a few ideas. Apparently your soil can be too acidic or too alkaline and apparently this does not necessarily depend on whether your soil is clay or sandy. Also remember, in different areas of your yard, the soil condition may differ. I conducted a test by placing some soil from the garden in a bowl then adding about a cup of vinegar. If it starts fizzing, apparently this means you have alkaline soil. If there is no reaction, take some soil and put it in another bowl and add some water (distilled if possible) and a cup of baking soda. If it starts fizzing that means your soil is on the acidic side. To make acidic soil more alkaline, add woodash or ground limestone. To make alkaline soil more acidic, add pine needles or sulfur. [Learn more about how to alter the acidity or alkalinity of your soil here] Find out more on this diy test here.Note: Remember, some "fussy" plants need either acidic or alkaline soil to do well. Also check this out: Understanding Soil PH.

Preparing Veggie beds for planting

Last Saturday (?) I started filling the veggie beds with organic stuff. So, I layered grass clippings and leaves with a bit of wood ash and river sand (using sand because of clay soil - not necessary for sandy soil). Greg is mowing the lawn this weekend, so more grass to follow soon!

Worm Tea

The great thing about winter is that because the air is not so dry, my worm farm produces much more 'worm tea'. In summer, it all seems to evaporate before I can get to it. Today I harvested almost one whole bucket full of concentrated worm tea. Some call this stuff "liquid gold". It is great food for plants, including veggies. Today the garlic, chillies, spinach, tomato plant, lemon tree, basil, rosemary and oragano got a good dose of the stuff!

Veggie Beds

Because of the clay soil struggle, I decided that, for our veggie beds, we will definitely have to go with 'raised beds'. We found these two 'easy-to-erect' beds on special at Builders (half price!), so decided to go for it. Here they are assembled in the yard in a nice sunny spot. Ideally when deciding on a spot for veggie beds you should also consider having their long axis running from east to west and if situated on a slope, the beds should be facing across the slope, not down. I was so tempted to start planting, but since winter has just begun I decided not to chance it. Instead, the plan is to start filling the beds with organic material from the garden to prepare them nicely for spring planting (in Sept).

Sun in the rain

This was the second sunflower that bloomed (our first big one)! On the misty evening of our friend, Leona's housewarming party, we delivered it to her for her to enjoy in her new home. :)

Guavas

Guava trees generally do well in South Africa, or atleast in the Western Cape, anyway... It is not uncommon to have a neighbour who has a tree, if you don't have one yourself. My brother and sister-in-law have one at their new home and it has already rewarded them with bags full of fruit. Sunett, my sister-in-law gave me a bag and told me how to bottle them with syrup. So easy!...and what a treat for dessert with a bit of plain yoghurt or cream!

First, sterilise your glass jars by boiling them for a while in water on the stove. I also dip the lids in the boiling water towards the end to make sure they are clean. You then peel the ripe fruit and take out any bad fruits from the batch. [Don't be shocked if you find a little worm from time to time]... Cut your peeled fruit in half, put them in a pot, just covering the bottom and fill with water, just covering the fruit. Now add sugar, more or less the same as how much water you used (i.e. 2 cups of water = 2 cups of sugar). I tried it with brown sugar and it also worked well. Now boil and stir from time to time. It shouldn't take very long, just a few minutes before they are done. Once done, bottle them and add the syrup. Don't fill the fruit right to the top of the jar because you need a bit of room for the syrup. [Sunett says she saves the left-over syrup to use in a next batch.] Next, Sunett is going to teach me how she makes guava jam! Will let you know how that goes! :)

Garlic update - Look how much they have grown in 1 week!

Sunflowers

Melisha, thanks for the idea! I know that I can't be too sure about the integrity of the seeds, but I bought a huge bag full of sunflower seeds (still in the shell) from the local store (being sold as hamster food!). So, I just threw the seeds in the garden where I wanted sunflowers to grow (just before the rains started) and presto! Here is a pic of the very first sunflower I have grown. Today a second much bigger one has also bloomed (still to take pic). I have also decided to scatter seeds along the backyard wall (behind the baby olive trees) so will see if some of those come up before the birds find them. Note: If you have lots of seeds like I do, try sprouting them. These sprouts are referred to as "Sunnys" or "Sunflower Greens". They are yummy on sandwiches and salads and really nutritious! Here is a link to a website that explains how to sprout them.

soil erosion

We've got a problem at the drain in our front garden, running along the front wall of the house. Because our property is on a hill and our front yard slopes down towards the house, we get soil erosion. I suppose, in this regard, we should be thankful for the clay soil otherwise the erosion would be worse. I plan to build a little retaining wall with two rows of retaining blocks along this drain. First I needed to create a little foundation for the planned "wall". So, my neighbour who is building a garage on his property has given me his left-over brick "off-cuts"! It wasn't as tough a job as I expected... finished it in less than a day! :) Now, just to get the blocks to build the wall!

Drying herbs

Okay, so I know nothing about this, but I am giving it a go and so far so good! :) I harvested some thyme from the garden, rinsed it well (this step probably not necessary for most but with this clay soil, I had to wash off the soil residue), then shook it out and hung it upside down in a very dry place where it gets indirect sun. I've now bottled the thyme and managed to get out a 3/4 full spice jar! Now I have done the same with some orageno and will soon be stripping the dried orageno off the stems and bottling!

Growing garlic update

This pic was taken this weekend. It is one of the cloves I planted about 3 weeks ago.

"Sunshine", our lemon tree

There may yet be hope for our little lemon tree. This wonderful gift received from friends Justin & George on my birthday/our housewarming last year (June 2010) was planted close to our backyard porch for easy access. It was also the best place for it to receive a nice amount of sun. Needless to say, it seems to be growing very slowly due to the heavy clay soil (even though I did dig a big hole when planting). I realise now, that it might just need more 'tlc' because have a look at those beautiful little buds coming out! I've placed some logs around the base and kept adding lots of organic matter and worm tea around the base. I'll be feeding it more regularly now and with the winter rains, it will hopefully be thriving soon.
p.s. Once your lemons are growing, check out 'Greenlivingtips' awesome tips for lemon's many uses.

3rd and Final Attempt at saving the Bay

I am really struggling with the precious little Bay Leaf tree. It was in a pot and after a while the leaves started going brown and falling off. The stem then turned black from top down. I repotted it with lots of bonemeal and compost/potting soil and found that there were grubs attacking the roots (those fat white worms with yellow heads!). The bay did not recover, but I could not accept that it was dead so, this weekend, I have now replanted it in the ground (where the dead conifer was, next to the olive trees). I know it is probably a lost cause (no sign of green in the stem at all!), but I am hoping for a miracle! Oh, well, will have to wait and see! In meanwhile, I'm trying to grow an avocado tree from a pit, and if I succeed will plant it there if bay dies.

Olive Trees

Ma, you will be proud. I've finally cut back the two young olive trees you planted for me in September last year (Sept 2010)! As you know, they were branching out all over the place and looking more like bushes than trees. At one point I was worried about them because their leaves were going brown, especially the one, but they seem to be on the mend again. Only thing is I cut back the one that is growing slower more than the big one so it is looking a bit pathetic at the moment (not including a pic of that one!). It was tough because I had to cut branches off right at the base (almost below ground level). Luckily at the last minute I thought to remove some of the soil where I cut (at the base) so that those cut openings could dry out (don't want rot to set in!). AFter a nice warm dry weekend, we are expecting rain again, so hopefully the little openings have had enough time to seal naturally.

Garlic

So, I've been wanting to try this for ages. Never knew how to grow garlic, but found this great website giving some tips. I couldn't find 'organic' garlic anywhere, but I finally found some 'sprouting' garlic cloves at my local grocery store (the normal garlic you buy with green shoots appearing at the top of the cloves).

I planted each individual clove separately, just under the surface of the soil with my spinach in a big pot outside. Because winter is approaching I covered each clove with a plastic bottle (bottom cut off) to act as a little 'green house'. I planted my first batch towards the beginning of April and some more this past weekend (last week of April). Will let you know how it goes!