fruit trees update

The vegetable patch in our backyard is still producing. It's in that lovely self-perpetuating state where it's growing from neglect (which suits us fine!).  There is plenty of room for more planting and tending mind you - but the things that are growing - are growing really well - particularly our cherry tomatoes.

Our fruit trees on the other hand - well, they're taking their time..  We did some more measurements this afternoon to check that they are actually growing, but they're not producing any fruit yet (and still a fair way to go I'd say).


Lemon Tree
Details: Citrus x limon "Eurekea"
Rootstock Swingle (East Coast Citrus, NSW)
Plant height today (23rd Oct 2011): 1 mtr 76cm
(Growth of 73cm over 13 months)

Lime Tree
Details: Lime Tahitian
Rootstock Trifoliata

Plant height today (23rd Oct 2011): 1 mtr 27cm

(Growth of 10cm over 13 months)

Lychee Tree
Details: Litchi chinesis (Bowsworth 3)
Plant height today (23rd Oct 2011): 72cm

(Growth of -28cm over 13 months - there was an incident and the lychee tree got struck by a wayward branch, hence the decrease in size this year))

Mandarin Tree
Details: Mandarin Emporor
Rootstock: Trifoliata
Plant height today (23rd Oct 2011): 1 mtr 30cm

(Growth of 27cm over 13 months)

Please start to grow Fruit trees?

I'm in a sewing 'lull' at the moment (I blame it on burn out after the 'frenzy' that created Lola's quilt) but I have spent a bit of time in the garden.

Our tomato plants are producing loads of awesome tomatoes and I love this photo that shows how busy things are underneath all the foliage (is it just us, or do all home gardeners use whatever they can find to support their tomato plants? in our case it was a broken clothes line)..

But I really wanted to use this blog post to keep a record of how our fruit trees are going. It feels like they've been planted for ages (when really, it was only the beginning of April that we planted them - which is 5 months ago).. but with Winter just ending - I feel like the 'growing' is about to begin..

So I have photographed them and measured them for record keeping purposes :) and now I'm going to record their specifications on this blog post (click away now if other people's citrus trees bore you..)

Lemon Tree
Details: Citrus x limon "Eurekea"
Rootstock Swingle (East Coast Citrus, NSW)
Plant height as at Sept 2010: 1mtr 3cm

Lime Tree
Details: Lime Tahitian
Rootstock Trifoliata
Plant height as at Sept 2010: 1mtr 17cm

Lychee Tree
Details: Litchi chinesis (Bowsworth 3)
Plant height as at Sept 2010: 1mtr

 
Mandarin Tree
Details: Mandarin Emporor
Rootstock: Trifoliata
Plant height as at Sept 2010: 1mtr 3cms

The first day of Spring..

Beautiful image borrowed from Dave Ingram's Natural History blog

Today was the first day of Spring, and we spent all afternoon in the garden planting sunflowers (how very 'spring-y' of us!) and preparing the vegetable garden for Round 2 of planting.

For some great pictures of sunflowers at different stages of opening, head on over to the All Things Quilty blog

Lover Carrots

Do these carrots look lovers?  I like to think that they grew together and developed a mutual love and respect for one another. It's easier than accepting that I overplanted and they were forced together. I'd feel awful if they didn't even like each other? I think they love each other - whiskers and all.

Everything is growing..

Things are growing at an alarming rate in our little household these days...

The vegetable patch has gotten out of control (don't you love 'action girl' in this shot)

We've been eating fresh beetroot (round 1 of the vege patch planting has highlighted a slight issue of overcrowding - so these biggish beets were a surprise)

The tomato plant is 'finally' starting to produce (although nothing is ready to eat yet)

The father of the house has gotten 1 year older

Baby Andrew is now 21weeks developed

And of course our sweet daughter Lola is just growing by the day (as is her new fascination with dress up clothes?).. lucky we have plenty on hand from her cousins

My crafting is coming along again these days, and I'll have some images of the quilt I'm making for Lola in the next few days. It's very exciting :)

The vege patch - Round 1 (Autumn 2010)

The gardens have been built.

The soil has been prepared.

The seeds have been received.

The crop has been planted.

The waiting has begun. 

Garden Bed 1:

Lettuce Salad mix (Yates)

Coriander (Diggers)

Carrot All Seasons (Diggers)

Beetroot Bull's Blood (Diggers)

Dill (Diggers)

Garden Bed 2:

Mint (donated from Kat's garden)

Broccoli (Lily - MIL - gave to me)

Heirloom Bean Lazy Housewife (Diggers)

Parsley (from Lily)

Rosemary (from Nana)

Chilli (from Lily)

                 

Garden Bed 3:

Grosse Lisse Tomatoes (Diggers)

Tomato 5 colour Heirloom pack (Diggers)

Thyme (Diggers)

Sweet Basil (Diggers)

Broccoli Green Sprouting (Diggers)

                

My new life as a gardener..

They say having a child changes you. Whoever 'they' are, I should congratulate them because they're right. Otherwise I would never have sectioned off an area of our back yard and built some garden beds for a vege crop (and when I say 'I', I really mean 'my husband and father in law' built the crop - but it was under 'my' supervision)
I originally planned to make them all no-dig gardens, but because of the cost of creating the no dig gardens, and the fact that our soil isn't too bad (it leans more to the clay'y end of the scale) I decided to try 2 as regular gardens, and the big one as a no-dig. Ironically, here's me and my boobs digging in the no-dig garden.
A couple of weeks later I created the no-dig garden, and boosted the soil quality of the other two gardens in preparation for planting.
I decided there was no great hurry getting seeds into the soil, as February is not the best time to plant.. Here are the results of what my folks did to amuse themselves the morning after I created my gardens (I think it was payback for the flies I attracted with the bags of manure and hay!).
So - I've got the garden ready, I've read the Diggers website back to front, and my Stephanie Alexander "Kitchen Garden Companion" book, and once I get the seeds - I'll be ready to go. I'll keep posting updates on how the vege garden progresses over the coming months. Hopefully it will become a bountiful patch of goodness in no time :)