Celebrity Garden - My Parents

We've had some proper hot summer weather of late and the plants seem to be loving it. The herbs are plentiful, the tomatoes have flowers and will hopefully fruit soon and the mexican cucumber plant has almost outgrown its pot. All was on course to upload some pics of fabulous-looking plants. But yesterday was wild and windy and the plants took a bit of a beating. The flatmate brought a few pots inside as the sight of them being blown around upset her a little. Unfortunately the Violas are attached to the railing so couldn't be moved and today they look a little tired and sad. Hopefully the sunshine over the next few days helps them to perk up a little.

So in the absence of healthy plants of my own I've decided to dedicate this post to my parent's garden (perhaps not the celebrities promised in the heading, but they are very well-known in my family). This is what can happen when a backyard is in the equation. Corn, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries and more grow here. My parents and grandparents have always had something growing in the garden, I guess it's just been continuing our Ukrainian farming heritage (spuds are the family specialty). It's taken some time for the gardening gene to kick in with me, but I seem to be getting there. 

Practically enough corn to run through or at least hide a small child in. 

Tomatoes are 1000 times more tasty when eaten seconds after being picked - like nature's candy. 

Crack open the corn and be rewarded with a taste sensation. This little beauty came from the garden, was steamed and eaten as part of my dinner. No butter or salt needed, was delicious enough on it's own. 

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have some tomatoes of my own to show, but until then I'll keep raiding my parent's garden. 

Some flowers for fun

When I started on this gardening caper I had no idea that I would be giving people present ideas. With another gardening-related present received for my Birthday it seems that people are paying attention to my new hobby. Thanks!

My lovely desk-neighbour at work and fellow Green Thumb surprised me with a vertical planter that attaches to a wall - a perfect solution to the lack of ground space on the balcony. It also has the snazzy name of 'polanter' which I quite like.  

I decided to plant some flowers to add colour to the balcony and attract bees to help pollinate plants. Besides, what girl doesn't like flowers? I chose Violas simply because I thought they looked pretty. 

The next task was to assemble the integrated watering system and install it in the polanter. I am grateful for the many flatpack furniture items that I have had to assemble in my time, as the experience gained in deciphering vague instructions was invaluable to putting the damn thing together. 


Then it came time to actually plant my flowers. I was told to begin with a bit of gravel in the bottom to help with drainage. It may surprise you to know that I don't have any gravel lying around. I considered skipping this step, then spied the gravel in the laneway behind my place that had spilled over from a building site. I think this is the first time that I have been grateful for all the building and renovation happening in my neighbourhood. I went down and nonchalantly collected some gravel while the neighbours peered at me through their curtains. 

With the gravel nestled in the bottom of the polanter I proceeded to fill it up with soil and plants. Then I attached it to my railing and now get to look at this pretty sight on my balcony! 

I made a carrot!

I returned home from Christmas with the family well-fed and happy with a few gardening items in my swag of gifts. Santa (still believe, get more presents that way) gave me The Edible Balcony by Indira Naidoo and from my sister I received some microgreens which according to the box are a 'great gift of nature'. 

My lovely Dad gave me some tomato seedlings upon request - a variety of red, black and yellow and these are now enjoying hanging out on the very crowded balcony. 

But the most exciting moment was when I inquisitively pulled up a carrot to see if anything was going on under the soil, and this knobbly little stumpy thing appeared. While it looked like a baby's finger, it tasted sweet and fresh - not at all how I imagine a baby's finger would taste. And with that very wrong thought, I shall leave you all to have a Happy New Year. 

'Tis the season of gardening

To those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for the next exciting instalment in my garden adventures I apologise - it has been quite awhile since my last post. This is partly due to the fact that plants grow pretty slowly, and partly due to my laziness in both writing and tending to my plants. Since my last post I have discovered that summer is not as kind to the garden as spring. Warmer days and less rain combined with lack of attention have resulted in a few lettuces dying, but in the circle of life my flatmate has sprinkled some lettuce seeds around and new shoots have sprung up. Nice to know that when it comes to gardening there are always second chances (and third, fourth, fifth...). 

Another ingenious thing that my flatmate has done is put up some netting so our plants don't get sizzled in the afternoon sun. I'm glad that one of us is taking care of things on the balcony. 

It is Christmas Eve so I would like to switch my focus from my dying plants to the lovely garden gifts I have received over the past couple of month. A friend from work gave me some terracotta garden stakes for lettuce, carrots and tomatoes. These babies have nice large writing and pictures so there's no mistake about what is growing and as a bonus they don't blow away in the wind like the piddly little plastic labels have. 

I had my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner about a month ago and they came bearing a gift of a Mexican Cucumber plant. It produces sweet & sour flavoured cucumbers, no need for pickling! At first it was a pot of dirt with a trellis stuck in it, but after a few days some little leaves burst through the surface to say hello. 

Now it seems to be pretty happy with its new home on top of the old TV (plant doesn't like the cold so won't do well outside in Melbourne's temperamental climate; TV is way too heavy to carry down the stairs so lives in the corner of the lounge room). I can't wait for when it starts producing tasty little cucumbers!

On the giving side, a friend recently moved house and I gave her a lettuce that I had lovingly reared from seeds as a housewarming gift. I hope it is happy in its new home and provides her with lots of leaves for yummy salads. 

And that's where I shall end this (Santa is about to sing a song with Hi-5 on Carols in the Domain - a performance that only happens once a year and cannot be missed). Have a Happy Christmas, eat well and be good to one another. I'll be back in the New Year with more tales from my vegie patch xxx. 

Mother Nature Knows Best

I must confess that I haven't been the most conscientious gardener of late. I could make up excuses about the weather being bad or about how my amazing social life has kept me out of the garden, but the truth is I just haven't really been bothered. My patience started to wane waiting for plants to mature and I must confess that my twice-daily chats to the plants seem to have dropped to twice-weekly. So imagine my surprise when I returned from holiday to see that the plants have continued to grow under the care of Mother Nature, who is giving them the right combination of sunshine and rain for optimum growth. 

What was most exciting was seeing a couple of little shoots from my Snow on the Mountain. I was just about ready to give up on this plant as watering a pot of dirt was starting to feel a little pointless, but it seems that the flowers were just biding their time. 

In other news, I've finally used something other than the herbs in my cooking. Tonight I had tacos for dinner and my lettuce got a chance to shine! Well, it was more like a backing dancer to the spicy jalapenos, homemade guacamole, salsa etc. But let's face it, without the lettuce it just wouldn't have been a proper taco. Delicioso! 

Plant them and they will grow

One of my biggest joys at the moment is going into the gardening section of a store, to gaze at the myriad of pots and gardening accessories while inhaling the crisp aroma of fertiliser, and imagine the amazing things I can grow in the future. It was on one of these occasions recently that I found myself in Kmart and discovered just how cheap their prices really are these days. I walked away with a watering can (hurrah!) and a self-watering pot (which kind of defeats the purpose of the watering can). 

Back home on the balcony my lettuce was growing like crazy, as were the carrots. It was time to separate them out a little. 

My gardening-savvy flatmate is now back from her overseas jaunt and thus was able to play the role of photographer so you get some action shots this week. She also offered advice as I worked. 

She recommended using the hand-rake thing to make even holes in the soil to put the seedlings into. 

As I worked away to separate the seedlings and transfer them to their new home, Garden-Savvy Flatmate (GSF) looked quizzically at the pots and asked: Did you plant a whole packet of seeds? 

Me: Yes

GSF: Yeah, you don't really need to do that. 

Me: Oh...well, I didn't think that they would grow.

And thus I learnt that a pot does not need a whole packet of seeds. The smarter thing would have been to plant a few, then a few weeks later plant a few more to have a longer-lasting crop. You live you learn. I ended up popping some lettuce seedlings into some small plastic pots and plan to give them away to people once they mature a bit more - no better way to spread the gardening joy!

How does your garden grow?

It's been two weeks since I sowed my seeds. Every day I have dutifully put my chilli seeds outside for a day in the sun and taken them in of an evening (just like a pet). Apparently they don't like the cold and can't handle being outside until the weather is constantly above 20 degrees. As I live in Melbourne, I doubt that this will ever happen and I will forever be carting pots in and out of the house. 

My sister told me that plants like it when you talk to them, so in the morning when I'm putting the chilli outside I say hello to my plants and wish them a happy day, and in the evening when I take the chilli inside I ask the plants if they enjoyed the sunshine/rain/had a good day. I think I am developing the reputation of 'that strange girl on the top floor' as some people in the building are starting to avoid eye contact with me. But I don't really care as my plants seem to like it and lo-and-behold, I have some growth! 

Here is my lettuce after the first week:

    

This week we have had some heavy rain (love it, as it means I don't have to water the plants and/or the neighbours) so I didn't head outside for a few days. Seemed that the plants loved the soaking and this morning when I went outside my lettuce had flourished beyond my wildest dreams. I think it's time I separated the seedlings into a few different pots. 

The carrots have also decided to make an appearance. For some reason I find this quite magical. I love how carrots grow under the soil and it's not until you pull them up that you discover what they've turned out like. 

The Snow on the Mountain is yet to make an appearance but I'm quietly confident that it'll happen soon. On the herb side of things, my coriander is thriving and my parsley has a new lease on life, but unfortunately the basil seedling decided it didn't like its new home and has withered and died. Oh well, guess you can't win 'em all.