Oh no - you get one chance in my garden. I’m not re growing the blueberry cherry tomatoes from last year - novelty nonsense that didn’t taste great. I haven’t told that yet to the rogue one growing under my trampoline though. Nor am I growing purple sprouting broccoli again - take 140-180days to make bloody broccoli? That’s a no.
2 Likes
I’m not trying broccoli or brussels sprouts again. It tends not to grow well, and if it happens to grow okay, I get the tiniest crowns/sprouts ever, and if I try to wait until they are bigger, the deer will eat them.
2 Likes
Agree on not growing pointless plants!
It’s the change of seasons, and we’re about to plant some peas. They failed last year but I’m hopeful for this year, I have some irrigation to play with and a lot of time at home to squash snails.
1 Like
It appears my nettle farm is already thriving… 
That’s one I missed. The side yard that was previously hundreds of nettles and thistles is now mulch and hostas (hopefully)
I really really want to plant the trees I bought last weekend but i think there are bunny burrows where I plan for them to go 
Okkkkk now I am 100% sure thanks to the burrow hunter (she wasn’t allowed to go in bit she beelined straight for my question spots)
5 Likes
Anyone ever use something like this to bunny-proof your greens? Do they work?
https://www.gardeners.com/buy/chicken-wire-cloche-3-in-1/8592117.html
My raised bed at home is plastic so it’d be hard to attach bunny fencing to it. Bunnies are the only concern, we don’t have deer or anything large like that.
3 Likes
I imagine it would work fine. But I would probably just buy a roll of chicken wire and cut it into shapes that would work for me (because I am cheap). (Eg. Last year I was going to make cloches for my brassicas using old (free) wire coat hangers and cheap craft tulle, to keep the pests away, but then I sold my house so I never got to do it.)
I tried doing that a couple years ago and I couldn’t get them to stick into the ground and stay there, also I ended up with cuts all over my hands and arms from the chicken wire. So I was thinking maybe premade would work. But, I dunno if I want to spend the money when I don’t know what the garden situation will be after we move next year.
1 Like
We have a start on our compost making at the new place.
He’s called Stephanie. And he is an Australorp Cockerell (approx 5 months old). My sister’s MIL raised him from egg, my neices named him Stephanie before he crowded his first crow. He’s taking pride of place as the first livestock on Little Gem Farm. Won’t be long before he has some friends to spend the day with.
8 Likes
He’s beautiful.
1 Like
Crowdsourcing some plant ideas!
Region: Portland OR zone 8b
Northwest corner of my house. Morning shade and lots of (summer) intense afternoon sun.
I’ve already killed a tea camellia and an old lavender I transplanted there last autumn. Considering putting a fresh lavender there instead, but also wondering if there are any other options I’m missing.
Preferences: perennial, bonus if edible/pollinator friendly/smells nice. Should withstand occasional dog pee.
The spot in the morning:
And early afternoon:
The rest of the length of the house has a struggling black currant, a bunch of Peruvian lily, and a rose that needs more sun.
Edit: desired plant spot circled.
1 Like
I would think a lavender or rosemary would do well under those conditions, but in the first year you’d need to water well (but not so much as to drown the roots) until the plant is well established (I’d say all through the first summer). Mulch the root zone really well, but keep mulch pulled away from the stem. There are several varieties of lavender, since you are zone 8 you could go with something like French lavender, which does not tolerate hard freezes. There are also several varieties of rosemary, for that matter, I have always had to plant ‘Arp’ to tolerate cold winters, but there are others that are more tender.
1 Like
I’m planning on planting our tomatoes out this weekend.
I have space for 5 plants plus 2 cherry tomatoes. Do I give one of the spots over to one of the unknown varieties growing out of the compost, or stick to the plants we know?
I want to give them a chance. There is chance one could be some delicious heirloom from the farm up the road, or the same ones we grew last year, or something random from a supermarket tomato.
1 Like
So far so good! On round two…
We put little stakes around them and smeared those with vics as per the hopefully very reliable advice from the postie.
I didn’t get them all in until yesterday though, and the control plant that was left unprotected wasn’t eaten either, so maybe the possums had better things to do last night.
We opted to over plant and might need to take a few out later if they all survive.
1 Like
I bought two punnets of lettuce seedlings today, one each of cos and iceberg. I have a few packets of lettuce seeds coming my way in the mail. We are going to attempt to have a continuous lettuce harvest.
2 Likes
The unprotected tomato this morning:
One of the tomatoes with vics protection (all 8 were untouched):
I’m not sure how often to reapply. Maybe every 2-3 days? Maybe it’s just the sticks in the way that meant they survived the night 
My plants look nowhere near as good as last year.
4 Likes
Yeh ok the postman is an unreliable source of garden wisdom. Half our tomatoes are gone this morning. Back to milk bottles and then off to bunnings for a netting solution on the weekend.
3 Likes