HI folks,
This blog is all about creating an urban garden in a previously grass and concrete lot in suburban Australia.
Basically i'm trying to do a post a week updating the progress. Sometimes a vlog and sometimes text, sometimes both. Basically we are really trying to document our progress.
As a general rule the video blog and text blog mostly contain the same info. Its just so you can watch or read as you wish.
Week 15 the text and video is combined... even though its like now week 18... sigh... im slack
So i am posting this on the last day of august 2022 but i filmed it first week of August.
Don;t count this for the SPRING HIVE GARDEN challenge... i'm writing that now.
- a quick tour of the garden
- Update on thechickens
- Chicken cam
So for those of you that know this... skip to the June Update section.
We have been in this house for 6 years now and it is a concrete wastleland of concrete and grass with a pool. we decided that this needs to change and are creating a little urban farm in.
We had a very GREEN back garden but it was just yukka plants. AND they planted this big rooted trees right on top of retaining walls. They are huge and are pushing on the walls. They needed to come out. Roots and all down into the earth we had to go...
You can see here the view when we moved in.,... green... but not "pretty and productive.."
Certainly no biodiversity. Not good for bees. Just green yick.
WHAT ARE WE CREATING?
We are trying to create a little mini urban farm.
- Fruit and vegetables
- Chickens Worms and Mealworms
- flowers
- Bee haven and maybe bees
- biodiversity
- pesticide free where possible
- native plants as well. So not JUST food but also food for the insects that will live in the garden.
So i would love it if you would follow along
GETTING READY FOR SPRING - POOR WEATHER
So Here is Brisbane Australia we are nearing the end of winter. Its been a funny old winter. Normally as we live in a subtropical climate, our winters are dry. However this winter has been bitterly cold, windy and rainy.
Im blaming the housing development behind us for the wind as all the trees have been taken down. I'm sure the provided a wind break.
The cold weather however had badly upset the winter crops. We never normally get frosts... but frosts we have had... or certainly temps that are 0 -3 degrees VERY often. This has meant NO cherry tomatoes to speak of at all.
GARDEN TOUR
The Potted Garden
While we have been waiting for the big raised beds to be ready (filling the bottons with sticks and scraps before soil on the top) we have been gardening in raised pots on the concrete. Because... that is "What we go"... so we are making do.
Reminder that the grass to the left is actually a drive for the shed, so we need to have it clear of gardens.
As you can see we have lots growing here at the end of winter.
the green leafy mustard in the center front (photo above) is the BEST mustard i have ever had.
GARDEN TOUR
The Potted Fruit Trees
The fruit trees that we planted a couple of weeks ago are doing well. No problems with the transplants. We watered every day and they always looked great. No concerns at the moment.
they are really starting to produce fruit buds. WE are likely going to have to remove these as the plants are really too small to be supporting oranges and grapefruit at this time.
It makes me sad to remove fruit... but gotta do the best for the plant i guess.... cries...
Some have slightly light green new growth, i will keep an eye and make sure it is usual and not a trace element deficiency.
I have some liquid trace elements to hand it so.
GARDEN TOUR
The Back Garden bed progress
So these are the new big raised garden beds that we put in a few months ago.
As i said above, they have been "resting" filling up slowely with soil so we can use what we got and not spend $1000 on soil to fill them.
Back left raised bed
The back left has peas in it... (not very full bed) and some green manure. We are going to be squashing this in soon and filling with soil to replant.
Back right raised bed
the back right with the divider is the compost bin.. Back big section is for creating and the smaller section is for completed compost. Right now it is cold and not working well... lol.. needs to be heated up a bit... better get on that as the biting ants are invading and those suckers bloody hurt when you get bit!! YEOUch!
the front left
this is the first bed that we are planting. It will be a mixed bed of flowers, tomato, zucchini, eggplant and cucumbers? basically the first plant... The we will wait 3 weeks and plant out the next bed.. and so on in sucession plantings.
The Front Right
This will be the next bed planted after the front left above. It is still not full yet. Have just topped with the last of our batch of compost. It is full of worms and all sorts of good things.
THE BACK OF THE SECTION
The Dismal Wasteland... lol
this area is still .... um... a "work in progess"
it will boast two tiers of gardens with vine plants like pumpkin and watermelon as well as ornamentals.
but now... its a wastleland
We still need to remove all the stones... wash them on the concrete.. and put them back in the areas that need them..
stone washing in progress
we try and use the actual rain, not tap water
Individual plants
the amazing boc choi
The Amazing dill it is soooo tasty in dishes
Microgreen experiment
The super superb chili
This is STILL GOING STRONG
i can't believe it. Such a valuable plant for us. So much fruit.
16
The herbs
THE POOR CHICKENS
As i said last time, we have had issues will illness with the chickens. This is the last video where poor Snowy is alive. She passed a few days after this video. Poor bubba... she was unwell.. we tried... but she was still so affectionate and happy eating.
19
20
HEre is POOR SNOWY
She looks dreadful here, but she was up and running around after this like nothing was wrong. I know chickens hide illness, but she was so sad away in a box..
Here you can see Snowy was up and wandering around happy and pecking...
but it was not to last... poor chicken....
CONCLUDING MESSAGES
Just another very busy week all in all. I will now sign off and start the next video.. lol... as its already late as well
talk later
happy gardening
Sarah
Anyway thanks so much for stopping along and reading my posts I am just loving my HIVE experience so far. Such a fun platform for sure.
For those that don't know my i'm currently focusing on Daily painting and somewhat amusing my self and my family with Acrylic pouring.. lol.. i wish i had a separate studio for that as it is so messy.
My other HIVE interests are:
- cooking
sunset photography (i take photos of the sky every night)
Art
Graphic Design
Gardening (just a smidgion)
Ballet
Sewing - I make Tutus and ballet costumes too...
Here are a couple of snaps of some of the stuff i do outside what you see up in the posts above.
Too bad about Snowy 🙁 I love the splashes of color the flowers add to your beds 🙂 We have some super productive peppers right now too but mostly are swimming in tomatoes. We didn't have to remove the fruit from our new fruit trees because they weren't pollinated. Great looking garden 👍
Yeah the kids were a bit sad, although the 3 year old keeps telling everyone that Snowy died and went back to the pet shop. Keeps asking when she is coming back???? kids???
we have 100's of little native bees and some honey bees floating around. i would imagine we would get a bit of fruit set if we left them on. will see how we go. Not all our limes have been pollinated. But many were there when we didn;t have all the bees.
we will see how we go. I can't wait to get fruit though. I spend a fortune on peppers atm... my kids devour them. lol. Wish we were swimming in tomatoes as the kids love them too.
Hopefully no more frosts as i really want the garden to get moving. Such a crazy year! i bet after a freezing winter summer is going to be hideous hot
thanks for stopping by
It's nice to see someone's getting some sun!
not today... cloudy and drizzle... lol... but at least not freezing!!!! its it yucky your way too?
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I love this part of your garden, the rectangular containers make it very neat and easy to organize.
Wow, you're gardens look spectacular and you grow such a variety of herbs and veggies.
Using the rain water is a great idea and at this point it may be the only water we can trust has not been contaminate by humans. We do the same, but also use the water from our private well which we had thoroughly tested 5 years ago. Being that we live in the middle of nowhere the chance of the water being contaminated by pollutants is very slim.
I know that I mentioned it last month when I enjoyed your #gardenjournal, but I'll mention it again. I'm totally impressed with everything you've got going with your raised beds, watering system, composting, and so much more.
You've sure packed a lot of gardens into the available space.
My only question is, what are you going to do with all of your spare time after you've finished turning your back yard into a paradise?
From the list of other things that you mention you enjoy doing this may be a stupid question. 😁