House & Home The Vege Garden Thread 2020

Make chillies pickles (1 part vinegar 1 part sugar-water) so yum

 

As well as all the usual things I’m having a go at growing a few varieties of capsicum at the moment. Perennial, Hungarian sweet wax, yellow banana and mini’s. The commonly grown capsicums seem to often fail (fruit rots in the later stages) here in our wet subtropical location. And chillies which do well here.

And of course the new love in my life, growing mushrooms. Harvested this 0.5 kg bunch of grey oyster mushrooms this morning:

 

Lots happening in our little garden (and over the fence)



These passionfruit are wierd - they are yellow on the outside with red pulp (not that sweet either).



Lots of grape tomatoes happening - both in tubs and in the ground



Beans gave a decent crop and the second crop is a little smaller



What can I do with all this oregano?



Carrots & more tomatoes coming on



A couple of garlics and melons in an experimental tub (melons are about to flower, then I will work out what they are)


I even managed a strawberry

 

Nice. Where do you get your spores from. I found this subreddit where they trade spores internationally. It has 107k members
A place to buy sell or trade spores and mycological supplies.

 

Hi folks - asides from frekin' hot atm - my wee herb garden is overtaking the courtyard with masses of rosemary, parsley, chives, soooooo much basil, sage, thyme and coriander - but my main question is for advice from those who grow on sandy soil. Literally. Sand dune soil (can't really call it soil).

Every other property has had heavy clay, so I'm an old hat at breaking up solid soils with plenty of organics, and assume treating sand is similar - organics - lots of organics - beg the neighbours for their compost and grass clippings - masses of bought in green waste compost - lucerne hay mulch - green manure crops ... and a drip watering system on a timer.

Fortunately we are on a slope, so I'll easily be able to build partially raised retaining beds as they move down the hill ... but happily accepting any hints and tips

 

What? No rosemary?

 

Yep ... definotely rosemary ... using it tonight on rosemary and salt oven fries

Guess lotsa of organics and lotsa reading

Growing in sand
35 Best Plants to Grow In Sandy Soil - Gardening Channel

 

Are they passionfruit or tamarillos?

Tamarillo - Wikipedia

 

Definitely a passionfruit - hollow on the inside with pulp

 

I posted the following elsewhere but reposted it here:

I used some oyster mushroom stems from those grown awhile back. Given oyster mushroom stems are tough the stems are usually discarded. It’s quite easy to use these stems to create spawn which is then used to cultivate the next round of mushrooms. With a little knowledge it costs bugger all to do but one can pay up to $60 a kilo at the supermarket for these. We eat a lot of them as we love Chinese food.

Or one could simply buy a few oyster mushrooms from the green grocer, keep the stems to create spawn then eat the mushrooms. After that you’ll never have to buy mushrooms again. Simply keep using the stems from those you grow. Of course there are numerous online spawn suppliers.

This has become a wonderful hobby for me. I’m looking to start cloning other types mushrooms where the previous simple technique doesn’t work eg shiitake / chestnut / king oysters etc in the future using more advanced techniques such as a syringe / needle biopsy in liquid culture. All very cheap and not that difficult to do but hygiene is critical.

Amazingly if one is wanting to keep costs extremely minimal all that’s required to cultivate oyster mushrooms is some stems, 100% paper pellets (kitty litter), weetbix, liquid soap (preferably builders lime) and water.

 

We eats lots and lots of garlic. We try to grow enough to last most of the year. Quite a bit gets minced and stored in oil. Then use both the infused oil and garlic in cooking.

 

If you grow a long storing variety, such as from a creole or artichoke group, you wouldn't need to mince and oil ... the common turban varieties are short storing but the others will store 10-18 months

Home | Australian Garlic

 

Can you expand on that please?

We live in a warm, wet, humid subtropical climate (SE QLD hinterlands) so storing longer term has been a problem. Around the 4 month mark they tend to shrivel and dry out them start to sprout. Hence we mince, bottle in oil then freeze same container as an extra precaution for use roughly after that 4 month period.

Creole doesn’t grow well here but a favourite of ours is Italian pink stripe which does well with large cloves which we like, easy to use / process.

 

I bury all my fruit and vege scraps for free fertiliser and free fruit and vege plants. I end up with a huge amount of mango trees. I have tried putting my weeds in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks then using it but it gets stinky and gross so only do occasionally. I’ve just started occasionally making banana skin water and tea water. Supposed to be good. Occasionally I dig in ground coffee when Bunnings coffee shop puts it out. I add wetta soil to my gardens every summer. Cheap clay kitty litter dug into sand is supposed to help. I bought some betonite clay to add to gardens that cop the western sun. I fertilise my plants with cow manure. I prefer it over shep manure as it gets quite hydrophobic.

 

Follow the link. Artichoke groups are sub to tropical grown garlic (Italian Pink belongs to this family) ... time in ground rather than day length .... two specific to Australia are GlenLarge and Southern Glen, developed at Gattan in Queensland

You can find planting stock fairly easy via the web

 

I like the kitty litter idea! At our temporary abode I've got one compost bin, but I really need 2-3 as I compost everything organic from cardboard upwards

 

compost tumbler?

 

Looks more like the lotto number machine

 

I go the inground ones ... so the wormies have access. Gotta look after the worms

The temporary accommodation (while we build) is or holiday rental accommodation ... so I'll leave the composts to rot down for a few months after we leave and then take the bins

 

Yes you really need two compost bins to do it properly. A lot of local coffee shops advertise free coffee but better composted and best in bulk for acid loving plants. I dug some in with My frangipani when repotting and they were happy. My friends big on composting get the local lawn mowing contractor to drop clippings off every time they pass.