Well, all but one of my expensive 'sticks' has bloomed. When I say sticks, I mean the fruit trees I bought and have been anxiously waiting for them to flower and greenify. The exception is one raspberry cane, which definitely just looks like a prickly stick.
A few of the trees have flowered and well as growing leaves, and I wonder if they'll actually produce one or two edible cherries, apricots, nectarines, apples, or greengages this year? I proved last year with dear little Figly (the Genoa Fig tree) that I'm unable to pull off fruit in a tree's early formative years simply to encourage growth, so they definitely have to be edible.
In regards to the artichokes mentioned in the previous post, since I last blogged I've had 5 more smaller artichokes to play with. They're wonderful boiled for 20mins in salted water and then eaten with oil and balsamic. Just watch out for the boiled baby slugs curled up in the 'petals'.
As I mentioned in a recent post, I'm having a few image transfer issues. I hope to post photos of the trees and get back to more illustrated blogging soon. What's the fun in just words?!
Showing posts with label aphids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aphids. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Brassicas and Composting
I pulled out all my cauliflowers a couple of weeks ago. My inability to judge when to eat vegies meant that I missed the short period in which the flowers are tight and good to eat, and so a lot of them went to seed. They were riddled with aphids. Due to the aphid problem (which couldn't be fixed with white oil, derris dust, or any other organic housemade mixture found on the internet), I'm not sure if I'll grow them again the near future. For me, aphids are just too hard to rid of on cauliflowers.
Anyhoo, I had these massive cauliflower plants with their quite sculptural heads, and I was about to stuff them into my already very full compost heap when I remembered that I'd read somewhere that cauliflowers (and other brassicas) shouldn't be disposed of in compost heaps. This is apparently for the same reason why you should wait 3 years before planting brassicas (cauliflowers, broccoli, cabbage etc) in the same garden bead - they carry brassica-specific diseases in the soil. So I guiltily squished the mature plants into my garbage bins, aphids (+white oil) and all. Does anyone know if this 'no brassica in the compost' rule is true?
On the topic of flowering plants, I've left quite a few of my vegies to go to seed, and as a result I have a stunning flowering display in one of my vegie patches. The rocket flowers are particularly lovely: tiny brown and white flowers on tall stems. The bok choi has tiny yellow flowers, which are lovely against the light green leaves, and like the rocket, the plants are now huge. I suspect that I'm going to have to get a bigger compost heap...
Anyhoo, I had these massive cauliflower plants with their quite sculptural heads, and I was about to stuff them into my already very full compost heap when I remembered that I'd read somewhere that cauliflowers (and other brassicas) shouldn't be disposed of in compost heaps. This is apparently for the same reason why you should wait 3 years before planting brassicas (cauliflowers, broccoli, cabbage etc) in the same garden bead - they carry brassica-specific diseases in the soil. So I guiltily squished the mature plants into my garbage bins, aphids (+white oil) and all. Does anyone know if this 'no brassica in the compost' rule is true?
On the topic of flowering plants, I've left quite a few of my vegies to go to seed, and as a result I have a stunning flowering display in one of my vegie patches. The rocket flowers are particularly lovely: tiny brown and white flowers on tall stems. The bok choi has tiny yellow flowers, which are lovely against the light green leaves, and like the rocket, the plants are now huge. I suspect that I'm going to have to get a bigger compost heap...
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Goodbye dear sunflowers
I realised that I'd been at the art school too long the other day when I rationalised to my neighbour that I was retaining the blackened and aphid-infested giant sunflowers in my front yard as "a reminder of my own morbidity." It was in part true; however, there were a few other reasons why I left it 'til today - council green waste day - to remove the majestic creatures.
Firstly, I was so proud of them - most grew bigger than me, and they fed bees with their pollen, then birds with their seeds (the birds would sit on top and swing upside down), then aphids, and by consequence, ladybirds. It seemed a waste to remove them while the leaves were still green, despite the fact that the flowers - the reason for planting them - were black. They also created some height in a garden that is filled with low (albeit growing) plants.
I'm also ashamed to say that it had a little bit to do with the neighbour. He's nice, but he and his wife are the type that has a perfectly manicured yard, with hedges that have not a leaf out of place and cut with the assistance of a spirit measure, a weedless lawn, and grey painted concrete. He also has the unfortunate habit of giving me business cards of the local mowing company every time my grass dares to grow beyond 2cm high. As a result, when he suggested to me that it might be time to remove my sunflowers because the flowers were dead, I told him that I liked them like that, and that I had no intention of removing them. I also added that I liked the way that the aphids were attracting ladybirds to my garden.
In all reality, I'm not a annoying neighbour. For a Y-gen I'm pretty quiet - I don't listen to loud music until 4 in the morning, throw weekly parties, or let the weeds grow higher than my sunflowers; however, I take a rather organic approach to gardening and don't mind if I have natives mixed with cottage garden plants, or if trees grow larger than expected, or plants sprout in the wrong place. Letting the sunflowers live out their natural cycle was just an extension of this gardening philosophy.
I look forward to planting them again next spring. They're certainly amazing (even if ephemeral) additions to a garden.
tied up with string on the nature strip [sob]
Firstly, I was so proud of them - most grew bigger than me, and they fed bees with their pollen, then birds with their seeds (the birds would sit on top and swing upside down), then aphids, and by consequence, ladybirds. It seemed a waste to remove them while the leaves were still green, despite the fact that the flowers - the reason for planting them - were black. They also created some height in a garden that is filled with low (albeit growing) plants.
Frontyard sans sunflowers. It looks so bare!
I'm also ashamed to say that it had a little bit to do with the neighbour. He's nice, but he and his wife are the type that has a perfectly manicured yard, with hedges that have not a leaf out of place and cut with the assistance of a spirit measure, a weedless lawn, and grey painted concrete. He also has the unfortunate habit of giving me business cards of the local mowing company every time my grass dares to grow beyond 2cm high. As a result, when he suggested to me that it might be time to remove my sunflowers because the flowers were dead, I told him that I liked them like that, and that I had no intention of removing them. I also added that I liked the way that the aphids were attracting ladybirds to my garden.
In all reality, I'm not a annoying neighbour. For a Y-gen I'm pretty quiet - I don't listen to loud music until 4 in the morning, throw weekly parties, or let the weeds grow higher than my sunflowers; however, I take a rather organic approach to gardening and don't mind if I have natives mixed with cottage garden plants, or if trees grow larger than expected, or plants sprout in the wrong place. Letting the sunflowers live out their natural cycle was just an extension of this gardening philosophy.
in their prime (RIP)
I look forward to planting them again next spring. They're certainly amazing (even if ephemeral) additions to a garden.
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