ragdall
Global Moderator
Posts: 1,685
|
Post by ragdall on Jan 18, 2009 9:23:33 GMT
For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, what is happening in your garden?
|
|
alliekiwi
Member
Where's the bug spray?!
Posts: 52
|
Post by alliekiwi on Jan 20, 2009 9:43:49 GMT
We've tried to get a bit of a vege patch going this year, although Simba cat decided the hubby had loosened the earth specifically for his sanitary requirements, so the supposedly-neat row of carrots is now bow-legged due to some furious digging disrupting the line of seeds. *rolleyes* Also, the Pukekos (see picture here got in and dug up a few of the bean plants as well, so the hubby had quardoned off the area with netting. He got a bit carried away with the bean seed packet as well so we have beans and more beans... and then a few more rows of beans for good measure. (anyone want some beans??) Let's just hope the plants produce actual veges as good as the foliage they're currently sporting. Then we've got leeks growing becuse I'm a fan of leek and potato quiche. We've planted Canna lilies on our bank and they are flowering beautifully under the palm trees by our orchard. (Plums came ripe just in time to celebrate the new year, so guess who was plum jamming madly?) I just wish we could get some blood-red cannas as those are gorgeous but difficult to come by as everyone loves them. We currently have various shades of orange, peach, pink, yellow, yellow/orange mix and an orangey red. Some with green leaves, some with brownish. Allie
|
|
|
Post by jennieg on Feb 14, 2009 23:50:44 GMT
It's raining - that's the best thing we can have at present! It's been a hot dry summer so rain is very welcome, our grass (I hesitate to dignify it with the word lawn) has been burnt dry and brown but is growing greener as we watch. The native shrubs will love this rain too.
|
|
|
Post by Pip Freeman on Jun 25, 2009 11:35:40 GMT
As I've been missing for a while there's a lot to catch up on in the gardening world.
We have had very good weather and having a lot of sunshine and rain when it was needed and together with Jon's irrigation system everything has grown well. The only disaster has been early blight in the potatoes, yesterday I harvested one plot of 'Charlottes', so today I must spray the rest and all my tomatoes with Dithane. I have planted out, spinach, rainbow chard, leeks, beetroot, salad stuffs, borlotti beans, celery and have fast growing runner beans and peas. We have been busy making cages to cover the cabbage, sprouts and broccoli plants as last year they were devastated by cabbage white butterfly caterpillars. We had a good crop of delicious asparagus this year, also strawberries and now raspberries, the trouble is that I keeping grabbing a few to eat on the way past!.
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Aug 12, 2009 2:06:39 GMT
This would have been my best garden ever because of the frequent rains.........but I was away so much this summer that I just gave up on most of the gardening.
EXCEPT the tomatoes...I have 15 plants, and they are loaded with perfect tomatoes. I'm giving them away everyday.
|
|
|
Post by Pip Freeman on Aug 12, 2009 10:33:08 GMT
I too am finding it difficult keeping up with the garden and especially keeping up with dealing with all the produce. I have sat out until dark stringing and slicing runner bans for the freezer, picking and cooking spinach and chard for the freezer. Drying and bagging onions, red onions , shallots and garlic (a great crop this year) I achieved four sacks of potatoes, the Charlotte variety was particularly good.
Jon's new cages he built for me are succeeding in keeping the cabbage white butterflies at bay.
A big disappointment are the stone-fruit trees, only a small handful of plums, greengages, damsons and cherries and no apricots and peaches at all. However the soft fruits have flourished, mountains of raspberries strawberries, and and a good 25 pounds weight of blackcurrants which have been converted into jam, jelly, sorbets and ice cream and ten big bottles of concentrated syrup. No pears but loads of apples to come.
As you can imagine housework is well down on my daily list of 'TO DOS!
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Sept 29, 2009 22:25:11 GMT
The nights are cooler now, so all the ferns were brought inside. The geraniums like the cool nights as long as it doesn't frost. The garden is finished, just a few green tomatoes.
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Jul 5, 2010 5:02:05 GMT
4th of July here
No ripe tomatoes by the 4th this year....but the garden is doing great. I've been giving away beans for a little over a week now. The cucumbers were planted a little late, so I'm waiting to make pickles. A friend gave me some blackberries, so I made jam for the first time in my life (used to watch my mother and grandmother make it). It was so good that I ate toasted bagels and jam all week! One sunflower has started blooming. For some reason all the pepper plants have done poorly this year. The corn is almost ready.
|
|
ragdall
Global Moderator
Posts: 1,685
|
Post by ragdall on Jul 5, 2010 7:00:10 GMT
Mary, My mouth was watering as I read about your wonderful blackberry jam on toasted bagels! I love blackberries! It's too cold here in the north for the plants to survive but they grow wild anywhere there is vacant land at the Coast and on Vancouver Island. I spent the past two weeks in those areas and was disappointed to see that with the cold weather, they are still only in bloom. No fat juicy ripe berries for me to pick and eat while waiting for ferries. rags
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Aug 3, 2010 1:30:17 GMT
I was at the beach for a week, and my garden got ahead of me! We've had such hot weather that everything pretty much stopped growing, except the weeds. For some reason the beans and tomatoes didn't produce very well. I had plenty of beans and tomatoes for me, but not much to give away. The cucumbers have been prolific, and I'm making pickles everyday. I planted lots of gourds and pumpkins, and they took over the week I was gone. I hope to have some white pumpkins and gourds this year. The sunflowers, as usual, are a big hit with the granddaughters.
|
|
ragdall
Global Moderator
Posts: 1,685
|
Post by ragdall on Aug 8, 2010 11:22:59 GMT
Hello Mary, I hope that you enjoyed your time at the beach?
You must have a wonderful garden with so many things that you can grow there. Are the beans and tomatoes finished for the season, or might they still produce more now that you're home to care for them?
rags
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Aug 8, 2010 22:20:32 GMT
Here are some of the small sunflowers. I'll get pictures of my granddaughters when the giant sunflowers bloom.
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Aug 8, 2010 22:21:30 GMT
Here is one of the orange pumpkins.
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Aug 8, 2010 22:23:07 GMT
Here is a pot of geraniums I bought at a nursery. The bought ones do so much better than the ones I keep overwinter.
|
|
|
Post by maryinkentucky on Aug 8, 2010 22:24:58 GMT
Here is my crapemyrtle (there are 3 red ones) that I planted in my memory garden in memory of my mother. I planted the dwarf ones, so I'm not sure how big they'll get. I surrounded them this year with periwinkle.
|
|