3 metre bed update

So have been a bit slack keeping updates sorry people. The 3 metre bed of various kale cultivars is pumping, supplying my family all they can eat plus we are giving quite a lot away to friends. Were eating some in a morning juice, using small leaves as salad leaves, and some as wilted greens with garlic ginger and soy being the most popular way to cook out.

 The kids eat it, my wife and I love it and the neighbours keep trying to buy it off me. If in doubt over the winter months get some kale in. From our bed we have had no issue with bitterness or woody stems, its been very positive experience. I have also pulled some eggplant and planted out a selection of garlic and leeks.

Not holding my breath with the garlic however will see if I can get some bulbs, I have grown leeks before and I am looking forward to these. This time I grew the leek from seeds a musselbough hardy Scottish variety. They are really slow from seed so stay patient.

This is one of my favourite times of year to grow, a lot of the temperate plants that won't make it in our humid summer really love it here in Brisbane right now. But all of the tropical plants are still doing great in this long hot spell.

Australian Native stingless bees

Bee keeper- the words generally conjure up images of people in white suits with mesh vales and a smoker in hand fending off swarms of agitated bees. Well organised and disciplined soldiers desperately defending their fortress. Beekeeper seem somehow foreign and a little bit crazier than the rest of us. I would love to keep real bees, but I remember running through clover and being stung as a child, I just can’t see how you can get used to that. Most of us know of European bees and the honey we can buy in the super markets, however Australia has an abundance of native bees, some of which are social and can also be kept in small hives. Our Australian native bees are much smaller and produce far less honey (however very good honey), then their European counterparts but what sets them apart and makes them so enticing to many of us is the simple fact that they are stingless. They still get cranky, they will defend their home when you want to steal their treasured honey, those of us who live on standard sized house blocks or who have inquisitive small children our native stingless bees might be right for your garden. Native Australian bees are such hard working little insects about the size of a green ant you will find them working many native flowering plants over the warmer months, they are particularly fond of small white flowers and have even been trialled as a crop pollinator for commercial macadamia, lychee and mango farms. I have found in my yard they seem to really love the palm flowers. Fewer European bees from many factors in our environment but two major factors are people spraying clover in suburbia and large chunks bush land being removed for housing and development.  A native stingless beehive in the vege patch is great for helping in fruit set and pollination and in time will give you a sweet little treat.

 

Backyard update.

The 3 metre challenge bed is starting to look great the kale has done very well and I am now starting to take a few leaves here and there for salads. The turnips I planted are growing but unfortunately I put them in a very nitrogen rich bed and they seem to be producing more leaf then tuber currently, but you like and you learn. I have built a couple more lucerne beds and they will be ready for planting for Spring. I put a layer or horse manure in the middle and top them off with mushroom compost and another layer of Lucerne. I have a few projects for Spring so getting my beds built and in order is priority for me over the next couple months. In the mean time I will be cooking some interesting dishes with Kale and doing some pickling with turnips and radish.

                      The 3 metre challenge bed so much kale the kids are not happy.

                                         Turnips more greens then root = too much nitrogen.

                                         Older kale and cabbage loving the cool change.

                                             White eggplant flowers
  

Purple corn project

I have been bitten by the corn bug, after growing an interesting landrace purple flour / hominy corn out over summer. This coming Spring I intend to put a lot of energy into producing enough of maize morado to produce my own flour.. We will see how I go. Here's a picture of  my first harvested cob and a link to a facebook page I have created to encourage people to grow this very cool and delicious heirloom landrace. Anyone interested in growing out  this corn  please don't hesitate to get in contact with me.
Maize morado co-operative Brisbane.

Back yard update three metre challenge and other bits and pieces

Well its finally starting to feel a lot like Autumn. The three metre challenge bed is hammering along with the red kale leading the charge, I will start harvesting bits and pieces this week.

 In other beds the early purple turnips have gone gangbuster and we will hopefully start harvesting these in a couple weeks. Eggplant have proven to be very heavy producers this year, along with various kale planted earlier in the year the the three metre challenge plants. I am trying my hand at garlic for the first time this Autumn, not something I have attempted before as Brisbane's climate is not traditionally ideal for the cool weather crop. I have some plants up and we will see how they go.

Lucerne bale no dig bed.

When I was a small child my mother and pop had a garden bed started from lucerne bails they spread out and let decompose into rich compost. My mother and father still talk about how successful the garden was and dad has mentioned that he went back to the house and said how the grass was still greener where the garden had been. So today we went out and bought a couple bales of Lucerne. I actually paid a little too much for them but it was good 1st cut quality not the twiggy rough stuff you get cheap late in the season. I also grabbed a few bags of stable horse manure and layered out a bed. Will be ready to grow in Spring I hope, I'll probably put a layer of mushroom compost and another bale of lucerne  on next week. I've netted it off to keep the dog out of it he loves horse manure, it will also help stop the lucerne from blowing all over the yard until it starts to break down
Can't wait for spring already.

Indigenous tuber crops

Indigenous tuber crops, what an extremely broad term. Yams, taro and or coccoyams and a various other interesting looking plants your generally not sure whether they are ornamental or poisonous. I am really interested in edible Dioscorea species yams and grow a few cultivars of winged yam a white and two purple and an air potato which I think is awesome. Most of the plants in the yard are finishing up and going dormant for the year. Putting out "seed potatoes" for next year. Its been such a long hot year they are all a month behind which I think is interesting. This summer started early and refused to stop so plants like the Dioscorea yams just kept on growing. Really attractive vining plant if you have a fence or trellis and are looking for a good privacy screen that will give you something edible back in return I highly recommend putting a yam in.