Gardening 2024

[Michi]

Just pulled a bunch of habanero chilies off the bush.

That's the second lot I've harvested, and there is more to come.

About to make a bunch of hot sauce

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

I’ve got poblanos, pasillas and piquillos growing at the moment (taking a while to ripen in our milder summer down here in Melbourne):

And a hedge full of sweet basil:

What do you typically do for a winter crop?

 

[Towerguy]

Looks great.

 

[jjlotti]

Now here's a topic I can dig.... Cept this little boy got the jones!
Maybe 3 nights in the last month above freezing, so hanging on the winter herbs for a sniff.

 

[Michi]

I’ve got poblanos, pasillas and piquillos growing at the moment (taking a while to ripen in our milder summer down here in Melbourne):

Bloody hell, those poblanos look awesome! Where did you get the seeds/seedlings? I've been looking for poblanos and have come up empty-handed so far.

And a hedge full of sweet basil:

Oh yeah!

What do you typically do for a winter crop?

I don't know. That's because I'm a beginner gardener. I got serious with this only about six months ago. Prior to that, it was just herbs and a few chillies. Now I got the bug and I'm trying to grow all sorts of things. Various tomatoes, lettuces, beans, cucumber, okra, capsicum, silverbeet, plus a large assortment of herbs and around a dozen different chillies. Still very much in the learning phase, throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks…

 

[jjlotti]

Watermelon is so satisfying and rewarding to grow!

 

[jjlotti]

One of these cheapo detectors is invaluable especially if your working on your systems..... Biggest mistake I see with new gardeners is soil not being light enough

 

[Bodine]

There’s always something growing in my garden, this is a winter version, Dicon, radishes, mustard, greens, pock, choy, bok choy, arugula, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, red sale, lettuce, and cilantro
I have to eat all this by March 15 then it is time to plant my spring garden.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Bloody hell, those poblanos look awesome! Where did you get the seeds/seedlings? I've been looking for poblanos and have come up empty-handed so far.

Thanks mate! It’s a bit of a labour of love, especially with the Melbourne climate.
What you’re not seeing are the guajillo seedlings that didn’t make it. Or the Thai purple ball eggplant seedlings that got trampled by the local possums.
I’ve also got some tomatillos growing in the next bed over with the mini romas (for the kids). I’ll get a photo of those when the sun’s up for you. That’s my first time growing tomatillos and they’re quite a surprising plant. Picked a single plant up from the nursery of all places, and it’s gone bonkers.
I love Mexican style food, it’s light and fresh and makes me smile. My wife however isn’t big on hot chilli’s so the pasillas are great for me to substitute in place of a hotter chilli (and then I just add it to mine at the end).
I use chilli seed bank for all my chilli seeds:
Ancho / Poblano
I germinate with a heat pad over winter using the wet paper towel and zip lock bag method, then raise them indoors with a light until the weather is consistently warm enough to plant out. I think this is my fourth year, and very happy with how it’s turning out.

Oh yeah!

Summer is pesto season….

I don't know. That's because I'm a beginner gardener. I got serious with this only about six months ago. Prior to that, it was just herbs and a few chillies. Now I got the bug and I'm trying to grow all sorts of things. Various tomatoes, lettuces, beans, cucumber, okra, capsicum, silverbeet, plus a large assortment of herbs and around a dozen different chillies. Still very much in the learning phase, throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks…

Awesome!
Yeah we’ve had a lot of trial and error, but a lot really has to do with the combinations of our soil / amount of sun / climate / whether or not we like the vegetable / available time / interest / etc.
There’s been stuff we’ve planted that have done well that we’d never bother again with, and there’s things like the guajillos that I’ve never had great success with, that I continue to try every year.
If you’re looking for some seed joints, I get most of my non-chilli seeds from these two places:
https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/And
https://www.happyvalleyseeds.com.au/

 

[MrHiggins]

I found some extra pepper seeds in a drawer (a few types of habanero, some Thai birds, and scotch bonnets). Without any plan, I started them in early November. (I have a seed starting set-up under my work bench).

Now they've outgrown their pots and putting on dozens of flowers and buds. It's the dead of winter here and I won't be able to put the outside until at least May.

I'm hoping that I can just keep pinching off the buds and that they'll still be okay when spring comes.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Tomatillos in the back against the trellis and mini romas in the foreground

 

[Keithpaints]

My avocado got as cutting in small pot. Transfered to large pot for almost a year. Put it in the ground about another year. Have to stay on top of it. Place has good drainage & sun light. Have to neem oil leaves. Put it in a very windy place young tree bent over by winds. Used large tomato rack anchored poles to pull tree more upright also to lift some of lower limbs that were almost touching ground. Last month it finally surpassed my 5'8" height. Today we have 35mph winds tomorrow they say stronger.

 

[MrHiggins]

My avocado got as cutting in small pot. Transfered to large pot for almost a year. Put it in the ground about another year. Have to stay on top of it. Place has good drainage & sun light. Have to neem oil leaves. Put it in a very windy place young tree bent over by winds. Used large tomato rack anchored poles to pull tree more upright also to lift some of lower limbs that were almost touching ground. Last month it finally surpassed my 5'8" height. Today we have 35mph winds tomorrow they say stronger. View attachment 297958

I'm routing for you guys!

 

[NickMinton]

Wife and I got our first house this winter and thankfully with some land (1/2 acre). I’ll be following this as we plan to put in a garden or two and some wildflowers

 

[nopomo]

I found some extra pepper seeds in a drawer (a few types of habanero, some Thai birds, and scotch bonnets). Without any plan, I started them in early November. (I have a seed starting set-up under my work bench).

Now they've outgrown their pots and putting on dozens of flowers and buds. It's the dead of winter here and I won't be able to put the outside until at least May.

I'm hoping that I can just keep pinching off the buds and that they'll still be okay when spring comes.

View attachment 297895

You could prune, root the cuttings and have clonal backups to these. It’s as simple as sticking a piece of stem with some leaf nodes into moist media.

 

[Michi]

What you’re not seeing are the guajillo seedlings that didn’t make it. Or the Thai purple ball eggplant seedlings that got trampled by the local possums.

Yeah, I don't post pictures of the stuff that gets eaten by possums or caterpillars either

I’ve also got some tomatillos growing in the next bed over with the mini romas (for the kids). I’ll get a photo of those when the sun’s up for you. That’s my first time growing tomatillos and they’re quite a surprising plant. Picked a single plant up from the nursery of all places, and it’s gone bonkers.

Keep in mind that you need at least two for them to set fruit. Even though each plant has male and female flowers, they need the DNA from another plant to become viable.

I'm a huge fan of tomatillo. Sadly, they are almost impossible to buy here (other than in tins). I have three in the garden right now that I grew from seed. They are going strong, first fruit are just starting to appear.

I use chilli seed bank for all my chilli seeds:
Ancho / Poblano
I germinate with a heat pad over winter using the wet paper towel and zip lock bag method, then raise them indoors with a light until the weather is consistently warm enough to plant out. I think this is my fourth year, and very happy with how it’s turning out.

I haven't done the heat pad thing yet, but I bought some pads recently. Plan is to get the seeds in early next season in August so, by mid September, I can put fairly well-established plants into the ground early, instead of waiting until late September until it is warm enough to germinate seeds outside.

I've ordered from Chilli Seed Bank before. Will grab a packet of seeds, thanks!

If you’re looking for some seed joints, I get most of my non-chilli seeds from these two places:
https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/And
https://www.happyvalleyseeds.com.au/

Yes, both of those are on my list, too. The Seed Collection in particular is a place I like. Good service and good-quality seeds.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Keep in mind that you need at least two for them to set fruit. Even though each plant has male and female flowers, they need the DNA from another plant to become viable.

I'm a huge fan of tomatillo. Sadly, they are almost impossible to buy here (other than in tins). I have three in the garden right now that I grew from seed. They are going strong, first fruit are just starting to appear.

Ohh right. Well, looks like I’ve had another errored trial then! Thanks for the tip. Not sure I’ve got the space for two tomatillo plants.

 

[Michi]

Ohh right. Well, looks like I’ve had another errored trial then! Thanks for the tip. Not sure I’ve got the space for two tomatillo plants.

I made the same mistake last year. I actually started out with two plants, but one of them died. The second one survived, but produced only three tomatillos. Those three were really delicious, but I wished I had three hundred instead

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

The sunflowers will console me as I patiently await a meagre crop of tomatillos then!

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Oh, in case you need it, this is the video I was talking about sprouting chilli seeds in paper towel. It’s how I do most of my non-cold climate seeds now. The heat pad is great.

 

[Michi]

I've heard of this method, but never tried it. Currently, my favourite way to plant seeds is in small peat seed pots. I tried various sizes, smaller and larger, and these fit the bill. Large enough to hold sufficient moisture to prevent them drying out too quickly, and small enough to transplant the whole thing into a somewhat larger pot to let the plant grow a bit more before planting out in the garden.

The nice thing about these is that there is no transplant shock. You just stick the whole pot into the ground or into a larger pot, and the roots grow right through the sides. Eventually, the pot disintegrates into soil.

 

[Keithpaints]

Supply of tomatillo essential for good verde sauce.

 

[Michi]

Found this one yesterday on the mandarin tree in the garden. The arms of the X are about 10 cm (4") long.

 

[RonB]

Here in VA we have a similar spider. It's a type of orb spider and our local name for it is writing spider. I don't think ours gets quite as big as yours.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

St Andrew’s Cross Spider. The web and leg shape is to make them look bigger than they are. Got them in my garden too. They freak out the kids sometimes but seem pretty benign (in the Australian spider rankings of deadly stuff that will try and kill you).
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/st-andrews-cross-spider/

Found this one yesterday on the mandarin tree in the garden. The arms of the X are about 10 cm (4") long.

View attachment 298439

 

[Michi]

Just pulled off the first few tomatillos of the season. And the habaneros keep on giving.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Looking good @Michi
Sadly you were right, I’ve not had any tomatillos this crop, mainly due to the damned possums which appear to love eating the tomatillo flowers.
Got a good crop of pasillas though.

 

[Michi]

I've been growing a few carnivorous plants lately. Venus Fly Trap and Sundew:

The Sundew is currently flowering:

I'm also growing three types of pitcher plants. They are still immature at this point; will post photos once there is more to see.

 

[Keithpaints]

My over two year old avocado tree after flowering put out little avocado starters. Don't know if tree large or strong enough to bring them to term.

 

[OyakoDont]

I love Mexican style food, it’s light and fresh and makes me smile. My wife however isn’t big on hot chilli’s so the pasillas are great for me to substitute in place of a hotter chilli (and then I just add it to mine at the end).

Please tell me, what Mexican food are you making that is light? I like it, but I have a hard time finding food light enough to eat consistently. I generally cook for the week, so it's nice to have something that is not heavy. I picked up a book recommended here, Oaxaca: Cooking from the Heart of Mexico, and while the food is great, it tends to be fairly heavy.