I am so glad that I said I’d be a part of The Garden Share Collective. What is you ask? Well, on the first Monday of each month, a group of bloggers (feel free to join in) posts about their experiences with growing their on food in their backyard be it a small balcony or a large plot or somewhere in between like mine.
I’m glad because checking in each month keeps me on track and ensures that I actually do something each month so these posts aren’t just a whole lot of dead plants. I’ll start off with the plants that came with me from the unit. My Birdseye chili, aka Mr Invincible is still plodding away fruting like crazy despite me ignoring it. I think it likes tough love. Still need to think of something to do with those chilis. They are seriously hot stuff.
Would you believe, I planted this pot when I first moved out of home nearly 5 years ago. There was originally mint in there too but since then I have done nothing but water it and fertilise it every now and then and give it a few severe haircuts. It just keeps on going. There are even some new chives shoots coming up. I think it’s loving its spot with a little more sun and access to rainwater so it doesn’t have to wait for me to remember to water it. 
The rosemary is loving its new home in a pot of its own although I’m still trying to decide if I want to plant it in the garden. I love the idea of rosemary growing wild and somewhere where passersby can pinch a little on their walks. 
The tiny little basil plant that survived the move seems to still be going ok after its second transplant but 2 weeks after I planted some more basil seeds around it, I’m yet to see any shoots. That could be because it’s the wrong time to plant basil but I figured I’d give it a go anyway. You win nature, I’ll plant you again when you’re meant to be planted.
We used to be just a walk away from our PO Box but now checking the mail requires a visit in the car which means extra excitement if there’s actually a parcel waiting. Imagine my excitement when I received a box of seeds and bulbs from the garden of one of my lovely readers Jo. I was seriously so touched I got a bit teary then proceeded to ring my mum and grandma straight away and spoke to them about how lovely it was.
What I didn’t see when I ripped into the box in the car was a box wrapped in plastic labeled ‘worms!’ Ok some people might find this a little gross but I nearly did a little dance I was so excited!
The next day I carefully divided them between all my pots and they happily made their way into their new homes. I only wish I had a worm farm to put them in. One day I might make my own and relocate them again.
Isn’t it a wonderful selection of seeds? Mum was especially excited abut the snake beans as they’re her favourite and they’re surprisingly hard to buy. Thanks so much Jo!
Four weeks ago I started my first planter. It took me a while to decide where to put them but down the side of the house, where I can see them from the kitchen won out. I’m planting them out in stages as I buy more soil.
The first one got a row of snow peas at the back then baby spinach and lettuce and two weeks later I planted another row of spinach and lettuce. They’re growing like crazy and clearly I dropped a few snow pea seeds at the front.
For the first time I mixed some straw in with the soil to help with drainage and to keep it loose so lets hope it leads to a better crop. I’m sure the worms are helping out too.
How cute are the little lettuce leaves? They’re a mesculan mix that I got ages ago (can’t remember where from) that you can just pick a few leaves as you want them. They’re perfect for us because I’m not a big lettuce eater so there’s usually at least enough to make a little side salad for Will.
Just as side note, with all my planting, I’m trying to grow things that are one or a combination of – easy to grow, expensive to buy at the green-grocer and have a decent crop. Snow peas and baby spinach definitely fall into a few of these categories.
I planted out the second one two weeks ago and haven’t seen any sprouts yet but I’m still hopeful. It has snake beans at the back then shallots and a row of English Spinach.
My avocado tree seems to like its pot and is getting bigger by the day. Only 23 more months until it starts to fruit.
This is not edible (I don’t think) but for my mum who is overseas at the moment. While we were away she religiously pinched out the tops so we’d get lots of flowers. It worked mum. Thanks!
I’m hoping you guys can help out with this one. We have no idea what it is but some people have suggested it may be a stone fruit? Oh how I would love it to be. It’s just starting to sprout. Any ideas?
I decided that the passionfruit didn’t have enough room to climb in its original spot so I’ve moved it to the side of the carport so it has lots of lattice to grow over and hopefully I can pick the odd passionfruit when I come home. I’m still trying to work out if it’s getting enough sun but it seems to be doing ok and has grown about a foot in a month.
I’m very excited to tell you that lemon tree is blossoming again so it looks like we’re going to get another round of lemons before the end of the season. This crazy weather where it pours one day and is then sunny and hot the next seems to be doing all the plants a lot of good.
Finally is my trial corner of the garden formerly known as bush turkey corner. Mum suggested I sprinkle chili seeds to keep them away. I had two fat chilis that I kept from a bush I had to leave at our previous place so I spread the seeds randomly throughout the garden. It seems to have kept the turkeys away thank goodness and I think, fingers crossed, that this is a little chili seedling.
I also seed bombed it with red and yellow capsicum seeds a week ago so we shall see if anything pops up. I think I’ll just keep adding to it and call it a surprise garden.
The only other thing I’ve experimented with is some potatoes. I get our fruit and vege delivered because organic is a bit tricky/expensive to find in Brisbane and I may have left the potatoes in the cupboard a little too long so I planted the eyes down the side of the house. It obviously wasn’t the right spot though because they didn’t sprout but I’ll try again in another patch when I get another lot of eyes.
My plans are to just keep going and adding a few little things every few weeks so tell me off if nothing has changed when it comes to next months’ Garden Share Collective. Don’t forget to stop by Strayed From The Table to have a look in some other gardens and get some great tips and tricks.
What about you? What’s happening in your garden at the moment?
