Sweet Reds

My 10 tomato plants are cropping. I've around 6 or 7 varieties, everything from cherry tomatoes to big red ones. Basil planted among them - good companions both in the garden and in the kitchen. The bowl above is the first harvest, with dozens more clusters of fruit still on to be picked. And the taste! Why buy tomatoes from the supermarket - picked months ago and speed-rippened under artificial conditions - when you can grow your own? And totally organic!

Trapped

The Final Harvest

My broad beans are no more. After many a fine bucket load of beans, the small forest of broad bean bushes began to wilt under the increasingly hot days. In addition, their leaves were developing something that looked like rust. The chances of these leaves spreading disease was too great, so the whole lot was dug up and removed from the vegetable area. However, I managed to harvest one last time, and the results can be seen above. Three large containers stuffed full of beans. Delicious!  I am going to plant carrots in the vacant garden bed left behind. I was raking the topsoil and applying potash  to the bed this morning (root crops prefer extra potassium, which stimulates root growth,  rather that extra nitrogen, which stimulates leave growth). I'll plant three rows of carrot seed and lay some newspaper on top, keeping the paper moist, and wait (carrot seeds take a relatively long time to germinate). More photos to follow!!

Beanz Meanz Sharkz



My son took this photo this morning, before work. Although the beans have been heavily pruned back - they were getting out of control - they are still almost as tall as me!



Five weeks ago we went to Sydney for a couple of days. The pic above was taken from the balcony of our room. The "curvy'' look is a camera effect which enables me to get the whole scene in the shot.  It shows Darling Harbour - Sydney Aquarium in the foreground, the pedestrian walkway over the harbour to the Maritime Museum in the background.





The Sydney Aquarium is really special. Visitors can navigate walkways through enormous fish tanks, with sharks and rays swimming underfoot and overhead. See the pic above. The shark was about two feet away from me when I took the photo. Cool.

Hope you like these. Remember to click on each pic for an enlargement. 



It's Getting Warmer

Ok, the days are getting warmer now. It's been a while since I last blogged. The primary reason for my indolence is that I like to post pics with my writings, but often forget to take the iphone/photo - computer connection to work. So I'm going to write something anyway, and maybe supply the photos later.

Like I said, it's getting warmer now. The air conditioning isn't working properly at work, so work is a drag. Hope they get it fixed soon. It's ok at home, though.

My vegetable garden:

1. The broad beans are cropping magnificently. I've had 4 or 5 buckets of beans already! The crop is slowing now, though. Broad beans don't like warm weather. I'm going to pull them all up, put them aside, empty my compost bin and spread the compost around, and then start composting the broad bean stems and leaves. Plenty of those!

2. Tomatoes. I have 9 tomato plants in my garden, all varieties. I've dusted them, they are flowering, and the first fruit is now showing. On track for a good crop this year! I've also companion planted basil between the tomato plants.

3. Spinach. Bit slow, these boys. I gave them a dose of seaweed extract this morning so that should help. They've been growing in the shade of the broad beans (the 2 metre tall broad beans!) but since I've pruned the beans back a bit the spinach is receiving more consistent sunshine.  They are growing next to my radishes which began well but are now slowing a bit. The weather again, I suspect.

4. Lettuce. Last season I grew Cos, a pretty safe variety, and the crop was superb. This year I have Cos, but also a couple of other varieties. They all look good, although need a lot of water all the time. Shallow roots. Very thirsty. I might organise a bit of shadecloth to cover them during peak heat stress hours if the weather gets any hotter.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to get some pics posted soon.

Adieu.

Vegetable Garden Makeover

The weather here is wonderful at the moment - warm, with the odd hint of a cool breeze. Great weather to plant more seedlings into my vegetable garden. Remember to click on each photo for enlargement.

The broccoli grew to an impressive height, but the heads were disappointing. I think the whole crop bolted due to the unseasonably warm weather. In the pic above they are pulled up, piled in the foreground.

See the broad bean plants in the picture below. Amazing! I have put the "wheelie" bin next to them to indicate scale. And they are still flowering. Imagine the crop from this forest!





In place of the broccoli I have planted 24 lettuce - three varieties. Here they are mulched with pea straw.





To the right of the lettuce I have planted 4 tomato plants - "Mighty Red" variety. My method is to dig a trench, then drive climbing stakes, then plant the tomatoes. Tomatoes hate root shock, so it's a good idea to get all construction and clearing done before planting. I can then trickle water into one end of the trench and water will flow to all plants.
Saves time and effort.

I also have 4 other tomato plants to put into my garden. These are cherry tomato varieties. I haven't cleared the ground for these yet so the planting will have to wait until the school holidays which begin in three days.

Hope you found my vegetable garden interesting.

I'm going to leave you with something which emerged in my front garden recently from a bulb I'd planted a year ago:



New Layout

As my regular readers will be aware, I've redesigned this Blog's layout - a new header and sidebars full of ferns. It's Spring where I live, and the warm weather is intoxicating. Hence the visual spring cleaning. 

Some New Music

I don't normally post this kind of thing, but these albums are particularly good. I bought them on CD recently:

This is my first Zevon album. I might have to get his back catalogue.

Miles Davis - Tutu. Not very spontaneous, in fact a lot of 80s synth and drum machines, but actually rather good.

This Original Album Series is excellent. Dr John's first 5 albums for $20! Each disc in an original artwork minisleeve. Bargain.

I've been meaning to buy this on CD for years, having worn out my vinyl and cassette copies. Finally!
Motown doesn't get better than this masterpiece.

Beans, Beans and more Beans

While my broccoli is quite disappointing - it's growing , but bolting because of the recent warm spell - my broad beans are thriving. Whenever it rains, they seem to grow a couple of inches overnight! Actually, I have no idea how to cook the beans once I've harvested, having never used them in meal preparation, but I'm willing to try.

Beans in forground, broccoli behind (a lot of weeds too!).

These are starting to flower, so beans must be on the way!

2 minutes ago the England cricket team were confirmed as the number 1 Test cricket team in the world. How sweet it is!

Dumbing Down

Why does everything have to be dumbed down? Yet more evidence: Go to the BBC website or the ABC (Australian...) website and look for a category called "Arts". You won't find one. Sure, they have "Business" and "Sport" and "World", but no "Arts". No, the editors of these prestigious organisations have seen fit to file the Arts - poetry, dance, literature, classical music, painting, etc etc - under "Entertainment". ENTERTAINMENT! When I listen to Beethoven, or browse the drawings of Rembrandt, or read some Wallace Stevens, I don't look to be "entertained'! Sure, some art can be entertaining, and some entertainment can be artful, but PLEASE! Yes, I know that Entertainment is now the opium of the people, but this is further evidence of the long decline into barbarism.

I Want to Live Here

AMAZING!
The full story can be read here: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage=all

Beans and Brocolli: a match made in heaven

My brocolli has reached new heights. It's very windy here in the Hunter Valley but my vegetables respond to my loving touch. The beans I planted weeks ago have sprouted. Next door the brocolli is thriving:

Two rows of beans

Thriving beans, with brocolli next door

Facebook

I've decided to deactivate my Facebook account. After reading a little about Facebook's shady business practises, and discovering that Facebook owns the rights to everything posted on its site, including personal pictures, I've decided to opt out. I'm also quite sick of hearing about Facebook. It's all some people (usually people under 30) talk about. I'M FREE!

Recent Artworks

I recently finished some artworks. I call the series "Landscapes".

How were these created? I've written an instructional article. Read it here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Making-Art-on-the-iPhone-4

My Town

If you'd like to have a look at the town in which I live, check out an article I wrote for the internet:
Morpeth, NSW
You could also have a look at my other articles while you are there. Cheers!

Another win for England

Is England the best Test Cricket team in the world? The latest astonishing result, thanks to a double century from Trott, centuries from Cook and Bell, and stunning bowling displays from Swann and Tremlett:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/31/3231234.htm?site=sport&section=cricket

Broccoli

The beans have withered away. All things must pass. I have planted broccoli in their place. Here they are mulched with pea-straw:

Oops

London in Paper

My latest card model is Tower Bridge. 100 pieces - it took a while to build.

As the Lettuce Fades, So Shall the Beans Rise

The lettuces have served us well but now they have gone to seed. Meanwhile, the beans are flourishing.

Behind the lettuce are planted capsicum. In the small pots behind the beans are planted broccoli.  

Lettuce in the background tower over the dwarf beans.

Latest Card Models

I recently constructed some paper models:

I'm building card models rather than plastic because it's cheaper, there are less paint fumes, and the unfinished models are easier to store.

More Vegetables

My lettuces are now the size of rugby balls! We cut leaves from the outside of each lettuce as they are growing - crisp and sweet. Two minutes from garden to dinner plate - it doesn't get any better than this! (To zoom into the images click on each pic)

A couple of weeks ago I planted some dwarf beans in an adjacent bed:

Hope you enjoy these pics.

My Lettuces are Getting Bigger!

My first harvest in a sandwich. Deeply satisfying!!

My Vegetable Garden

I used to have a substantial vegetable garden. Then I let it fall to ruin. But lately I've cleared away the weeds and started again.

Some of the weeds removed. Basil in forground will be retained.



More weeds.



The same garden bed with weeds removed. Now we are getting somewhere!

A long section of bed was partitioned. About three inches of topsoil was removed, then compost poured in.



Rich black compost!



Into this compost was planted Cos lettuce seedlings. The planting was carried out on a mild overcast day, with light rain all day. Perfect for reducing the shock of transplantation. Then a light watering.

The final stage - a dressing of pea straw mulch. Then a good soaking with lots of water. Now comes the hard part - keeping them watered and pest free.