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rosellas became jam and violet cake

I added too much water when boiling the calyxes to make jam, so it was sieved out. The juices had an intense raspberry colour and was slightly viscous, like okra. After cooked in a yogurt cake recipe, the colour turned taro purple and changed the cake texture to become more like a steamed rice cake.
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plump calyxes of rosella

Native to Australia and commonly made into jams is a plant called Rosella. It's related to hibiscus. I have never e…

last of the hugelkultur planter boxes

Filled the last two planter boxes with sawn branches from the front conifers, plus compost, old potting mix, a handful …

march - seeds sown

4 March seeds sown: climbing bean 'kentucky wonder', snowpea 'oregon sugar', sugarsnap pea 'cascadia…

welcome to the native bees

Freshly split hive of native bees have been brought home. They had a bit of a bump on the ride back so I'm hoping t…
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first peanut

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push, little oysters, push

Day 11. Almost fully colonised, fruiting bodies just starting to push through.
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... but nature won't wait for you

This was the aforementioned bitter melon. This variety should be creamy white - which it was when I first saw it - but …

bittermelon surprise!

Bittermelons sometimes can grow on trees, so don't forget to look up every now and then.  (The frail little vine cl…

feb - seeds sown

20 Feb seeds sown : basil, amaranth (calaloo), tomatoes (mystery 1, 2, 3 and throwing tom).  seeds sown last week : warri…

seed storage

Rather than alphabetical, it's much more practical to store seeds by planting season. Just a thought.

first sting (since childhood)

First big honey harvest today - a full 10 frames, for about 12l of honey. Another first was getting stung. It was prett…

notes - February 2021

There's been many changes in the garden in the past month, most of which haven't been documented here. It may b…
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new goals for the new year

I made this garden design based on permaculture principles and what I've learnt in Science of Gardening, and the id…
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EOY GARDEN UPDATE (POST-TAS) - PSP

Continued from previous post, pictured below is the PSP.
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EOY GARDEN UPDATE (POST-TAS) - FPL/R

Continued from previous post, pictured below is FPL and FPR.
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EOY GARDEN UPDATE (POST-TAS) - FWS

Continued from previous post, pictured below is the FWS.
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EOY GARDEN UPDATE (POST-TAS) - DWP

Continued from previous post, pictured below is the DWP.
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EOY GARDEN UPDATE (POST-TAS) - WTP

Continued from previous post, pictured below is the WTP.
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EOY garden update (post-TAS) - BSC

Two weeks away from the garden, and after some heavy rainfall, I came home to lush green foliage everywhere. To organis…

Green (mung) manure

I scattered some mung bean (from the pantry) and mustard seeds in the WTP as a green manure.

rainwater tank is empty again

So, a full tank only lasts two weeks...

dog vomit slime mold

A couple of blobs of dog vomit slime mold turned up in the garden bed today. Thick and foamy, and a bit like scrambled…
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nut grass, like a string of pearls

This is a plant that grows relentlessly in the Northey St beds. They propagate via underground rhizomes, so each of the…
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swarming for a new queen

Today I learnt that bees "swarm" when the colony has reached capacity and a new queen bee is born. Half the c…
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first snake beans of the season

Snake beans are so much yummier than normal green beans, I'm not even sure whether I should bother growing other b…

ghost of the harlequin bugs

The insect that makes the fig tree ghost white each year might be harlequin bugs, a kind of stink bug. The fig had a fl…

irrigation (part 2) water trickling system connected to hose

The idea: a 13mm pipe connected to a hose (which then connects to either the mains or water tank tap) runs the length o…

irrigation (part 1) gravity-fed olla pots

The idea: a series of olla pots connected via 4mm flex tubes to an "interim" water storage container. This sy…
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scat attack

Who's the culprit that came by the driveway to take a dump? It was only noticed in the morning, so they came, presu…
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collateral damage: rhubarb

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bird friends

A pair of spotted turtle doves have become regular visitors to the backyard. They usually perch on the back fence, but …
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All hail, thunder and rain

The afternoon was a cross between first snow and a mass shooting. It was pretty magical. The thunderous clinking of the…
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I think it's a mouse

Sneaky little bugger.

Forget not the comfrey lookalike

The mystery plant from  this post  is indeed NOT comfrey, nor any of the other hypothesised plants. It is, in fact,  Cynog…

cover crop for the nematodes

Got some black and yellow mustard seeds for the root-rot nematode-infested BSF patch. I broadcasted these seeds as wel…
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where are you really from?

Centres of origin of major food crops. (Note: there are more than 30,000 species of edible plants. See Bruce French'…
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quail eggs!

A fellow Northey St composter shared her quails' eggs with us! How wonderful to have pet quails.
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grape leaves and dolmades

The grape vine was growing out of control and need a prune... and what do you do with all these fresh grape leaves?  Di…

growing tips from the xu's

Hardy perennial greens

Brazilian Spinach Surinam Spinach Cranberry Hibiscus Hibiscus Spinach Cassava Sweet Potato leaves Pumpkin vine leaves Sorrell …

morning of mourning for the young Simba beans

I found nothing but itty-bitty stems this morning. Today is a sad day.  Grown from seeds given by a friend, the Simba be…

seed saver - rockets, daikon, cherry tomatoes

Wild rocket (the one with yellow flowers) has thin pods and very small seeds, while garden rocket (beige flowers with b…
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chicory, chicon, endive

I was harvesting "chicory" leaves for the food co-op, but what I had was red-veined dandelion-looking leaves …
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the city of three summers

Seasonal Vegetable Growing in the Humid Subtropics (Brisbane)

peckish birds

Amaranth tips on the Pool Side Strip were mysteriously - and skilfully - cut off a few weeks back.

spotted: a blue-banded bee

A new native bee was buzzing around at the chives this morning, and it's a pretty one too: the blue-banded bee ( Ame…
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another flower identified

This is a cornflower. It was number 3 from the mystery flower mix .
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beef, steak, and nematodes

Many little caterpillars were nesting and having a merry time inside the beefsteak tomatoes (some caterpillars found a …
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cosmic carrots and purple dragon beans

This bunch of carrots seemed to have sat in the soil for ages. They were under the broad broccoli leaves, so perhaps no…

fertilising routine

Note to self.

diabetes plant

I have planted two Gynura procumbens in the garden, courtesy of a Northey St friend. Info found about this plant:  Diab…

the rainwater tank is empty

The time has come to do the rain dance.
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way-too-alkaline compost

It might be due to too much nitrogen content, I've been told.
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inside a marigold

Pictured here is a budding blossom whose [spawning] potential was cut short.
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sweet potatoes, emerging like a zombie

Buried some time in August and since long forgotten, the sweet potato has risen and is back with a vengeance.
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little big compost bins and a fancy worm cafe

This is another small step towards making the place look more amenable, as up until now, it's been looking like my …
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might it be a compost melon?

A seedling sprouted amidst the amaranth plants. A generous layer of compost was sprinkled under the newspaper/mulch, s…
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stink stank stunk, but now there'll be pumpkins

I was hesitant to write about having emptied the third compost bin that was becoming anaerobic because I'm not sure…
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dragon beans

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the silver lining is dried leaves

The front yard has been less than picturesque these months. The jolly juniper trees were pruned down in early winter an…
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mad red brain

Like a mad red brain the involute rhubarb leaf thinks its way up through loam. "April Chores" by Jane Kenyon, fro…

helpless and vulnerable on windy days

The howling winds thrashed through the neighbourhood yesterday and invaded the garden grounds. Its invisible might, as …
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a deep purple cosmos

rainwater is finally pumped up and ready to go-go

I can safely say that I'm a decent small-scale plumber now.
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milk and mildew

Powdery mildew is officially the worst "bad guy" of the garden. It first appeared on the tomatoes in the Back…

first kombucha, first fermentation

The SCOBY is looking pretty healthy, so it's about time I make some actual beverages.
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surprise! have a grape

On 13 July , I used a babushka technique to pot up some grape cuttings. After two months (but probably more importantly,…
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do blue borage buds glow in the dark?

No, but they do during the day.
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miss muffet's soil bacteria (LAB culture part 3)

Treacle (aka molasses) is added to the whey to stabilise it (1:1 ratio), so it can be stored in room temperature. I pou…
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LAB culture (part 2)

Previously, in Part 1  of the LAB culture series, 7-day-old rice water and milk was combined in a mixture in a ratio of …
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chilli on a stick

A neighbour gave us this cutting when he was pulling up his garden. He had to clear out the whole plot because the land…

big bark, bigger bite, sore muscles

Setting up a productive edible garden is hard work. There's the mandatory watering tour, then all the maintenance, …
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plant identification for a comfrey lookalike

This is a plant that had popped up in the front weedy square. The leaves looked and felt a bit like comfrey, so I kept …
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marigold blooms

Big bushy marigolds. I'm not sure what variety they are, but they don't look quite like the ones I've seen …
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bad butterfly, please go away

There's been a couple of cabbage white butterflies fluttering around these days. Some little holes have started app…
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purslane is yummy, unlike pigface

Purslane, yogurt, citron confit, cumin works well together in a tzatziki. Purslane itself when raw is really crispy and…
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fermented family

Left: Red cabbage, dill, kaffir, black pepper, starry apples (thanks, Ppf).  Centre: Pigface, lime. Right: Papaya, kaffir…
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please come, mr ladybug

Scattered some alyssum near the kale and front gailan, and some cosmos in the peanut driveway. This garden needs more y…
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a real garden salad

This is a garden salad because the following ingredients:
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LAB culture

EM, soil bacteria, LAB serum, LABS... Many names exist for a mix of lactic acid bacteria which is beneficial for the s…
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green coffee bean

I had soaked and planted out a few of these green coffee beans that had been hiding in the hessian bags I had swapped f…
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some more garden friends

- black native bees - orange/yellow native bee
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got some more seedlings

Raising seeds takes a lot of patience, and I just couldn't resist a run to Bunnings for some plants I couldn't …
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layering mint runners

The garden mint had a lot of mould on its leaves - perhaps because it's just below the blighted tomatoes. Solution:…
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chaoshi kangkong

Bought some kangkong (aka morning glory, kongxincai) from the supermarket today. Then at home, I cut the stems just be…
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grevillea cuttings

The kind folks at the Crowther Community Seedlings Hub (Josie and little Andy) let me take a few cuttings from their gr…

**spring/summer 2020

New plans for the upcoming spring and summer months.
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off with your broccoli-head

Lightly blanched broccoli is yum.
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the importance of pinching out

Pinching out the main stem of a plant activates and encourages the growth of its auxiliary buds, resulting in a bushie…
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seed saving - nasturtiums

Pretty pretty. Three seeds to a flower; green = still growing; brown with brain wrinkles = just about ready; brown and …
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seed germination (and experimental greenhouse systems)

Germination isn't necessarily difficult, but it takes a fair amount of precision in creating just the right conditi…
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***update - 30 August

A few snapshots of what's in the garden this week.
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native bees like daikon flowers

Native [stingless] bees, many of which to a novice looks like an ant-fly holding pollen, have been hovering around the …
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radish harvest

Seeds were sowed on 11 July, harvested 50 days later (could have been harvested earlier - of the 17 radishes, a couple …

wanted (sept '20)

wanted now:
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re-cultivating a scoby

Starting date: 25 August. Black tea with cane sugar, cooled, mixed with the leftovers of two store-bought Buchi kombuch…
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self-wicking pots

Made with food-grade tubs, water bottle, empty yoghurt tubs, and a hessian bag.

propagation via hibiscus cutting

My hibiscus cutting rooted successfully - a nice swirl had even started at the base of the pot. How do I know this? Wel…

midyim copper tops

New addition to the edible collection: Midyim berries, a native bush food that has white-grey berries. No idea what the…
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chinese apple seeds

Some seeds of the most delicious types of (fushi/fuji) apples* have miraculously germinated. We ate the apples and Moth…
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worm tower - trial no. 1 pt. 2

Worm Tower 1 is installed, shown below. Worm Tower 2 (located in the WTP) as well as Worm Tower 3 (located in the PSP) i…
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little seed packets

I've devised a way to fold little papers into origami seed packets. It's a modified hybrid of the folding metho…
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oi-ya, I made an olla

An olla is an unglazed clay pot that's buried in the soil and filled regularly with water, as a way of irrigation. …
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eat my leaf

Here are a few cabbage white butterfly caterpillars that I found and left out on the grass as a gift to some lucky Will…