Spring Harvest & Flowers and Aphid Control

24/25 October 2011 - Cloudy and drizzly.
25 October 2011 - Pioneer bean plants (sown much earlier) emerges.
25 October 2011 - Sown more water spinach/kang kong seeds in pots.
26 October 2011 - Sunny day
26 October 2011 - Loads of aphids on the underleaves of artichokes.
27 October 2011 - Warm spring day.
28 October 2011 -  Warm and windy day. Rains expected in the evening.  It's our 11th wedding anniversary! Off to have a nice meal!

Yesterday was a warm spring day.  My boy and I spent early morning watering the front garden.  I took the advice of one very helper gardener/blogger, Scarecrow, and blasted the under-leaves of my artichoke plants.  Their leaves were virtually coated with green aphids :

There were also lots of tiny winged insects which I strongly believe are lace-wings. However, I did not take chances and blasted all of them off the leaves. I was amazed at what a strong jet could do. Fortunately I have invested in a few fantastic nozzles. When I examined the plants later, they had most of the insects removed. They were on the ground so I decided to spray them with soap solution, in case they crawl up the plants.

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck preening his feathers on the fence.

It was also a wonderful day watching the mynahs and spotted necked pigeons come feed in our garden. Oh I can stand at the kitchen window just watching these creatures. I told my son I wish I could stroke the pigeon in my hand but I know he/she would just feel feathery haha...

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck balancing on the plate for seeds. Very funny to watch.

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck decided to have a sun-bath.

I harvested more rocket from the planter. Oh they taste so yummy with sandwiches. Even my husband and son love them :

Also harvested my son's favourite herb, Coriander. He would eat them fresh off the plant :

The few pots of herbs (Vietnamese Mint, Bay, Coriander, Thyme) are doing well bathing in morning sun daily :

We were counting lady bug babies on the peach tree. There were more than 15 of various sizes. Oh thank you lady bugs for doing a good deed feeding on the aphids!!!

The first spring rose has opened. My only rose plant, a standard, was also plagued by aphids. Thankfully, my boy discovered them and we were able to spray with pyrethrum. My husband kept 'threatening' to pull up this rose as it is useless. Of course I objected because I have pruned it into a beautiful healthy plant. Was it my imagination, it actually have a mild fragrance now! :

Pak Choy flowers. Edible, pretty, dainty and very fragrant. They attract bees :

 This year, our fig (brown turkey) 'Figgy' is looking better than ever. But it only has two figs at the moment. I yearn for more! :

 Our grevillea has beautiful curly flowers.  I am going to try get some sweet nectar, just like the honeyeaters :

 As usual, the arum lilies never fail to disappoint. Such a pretty sight :

Patch Next to Garage - Fresh Faces.

This challenging patch...with its very clay soil...leaving me clueless on when I should work on it...digging is tough on dry and warm days as the soil is hard like stone...digging is not easy on cloudy wet days as the soil clumps up and hardens into lumps. But with all the effort I have put in, I am beginning to see incredible results.

The tiny pot of annabel daisy has grown 6 times. I keep on with deadheading its flowers which encourages new blooms. So far this daisy is growing faster than any plant here. I hope the space I have designated for it would be sufficient. Compare with http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/09/calendula-germinates-patch-next-to.html

The little rosemary bush is also doing well. Compare it with http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/10/patch-next-to-garage.html

So is this oregano. Strangely, I am expecting it to spread outwards but it seems to be growing upwards. I would want it to be an edible ground cover here. Compare it with what I saw in the botanical gardens : http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/02/botanic-gardens-potting-on.html

The two candy tuft plants are also well. Notice that the annabel daisy, rosemary and oregano have been mulched but not the candy tuft. I was waiting to see if I need to pull up the candy tuft plants in case they did not survive.

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Tip : It is better to wait and see if a plant establishes itself well after transplanting. If it does, then apply mulch. Better to mulch later in case you need to dig the plant up for some reason.

The Lilium LA hybrid plants are budding.

3 of the 5 gladioli plants are growing big. But 2 others have not appeared.

These 3 calendula officinalis plants are the fresh faces of this patch. I have just transplanted them here. So far very good results.

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Tip : During transplanting, minimise root disturbance and maintain potting mix shape. Transfer the whole potting mix with plant over. Water with seasol after that and make sure the plant is hydrated daily.

Here's another new face...my bay tree. It is very tiny now and it is a slow-growing plant. I have planted it in the centre of the patch and it should be the tallest and the focal point of this patch in years to come. Edible too!

Today's Work.

Strawberries in the pot are growing well. One seems to be ripening but it is a little small. I mulched the two strawberry plants that are on the ground. I use sugarcane mulch as according to the staff at Bunnings, it is excellent in reflecting the sun's light and it returns carbon to the soil.

Out of the three strawberry plants I have, one has not produced flowers until yesterday. And suddenly flowers are popping out of that last plant :

My traps of oil and water was good in catching earwigs (pests). However, there are many more under pots and I had to manually remove the pots from their positions to reveal loads of earwigs scurrying away. Last night, I found an earwig trying to gnaw on one strawberry and another parked on a strawberry leaf!

The three slow growing chilli padis have put on more growth. Yippee! Hope to harvest chilli padis soon!

This morning, I trimmed much of the two smaller pots of common mint.

The large pot which I have trimmed is putting on new growth.

However, I have found lots of caterpillar poop.

Searching got me two fat caterpillars.

This pot of bay has many leaves now. I am going to wait till the leaves mature more before pruning the plant.

Same goes for this pot.

Tomato silvery fir #1 at frontyard is growing fantastic after transplanting.

Tomato silvery fir #2 is also doing great.

This rose shrub which I have spared when I pulled up the rest are producing tiny pink flowers...not too pretty by me.

Herbs Galore!

First thing I did when I returned home after 2.5 weeks is to take a peek at my precious garden. I was very glad that things were under control (all thanks to my friend Paul for tending to it while our family was away). Great to be back to see wonderful growth of my herbs. The mints in the 50cm and two 30cm pots are so fat. I had to quickly harvest them to give them away : The two rosemary cuttings which I have propagated have also grown bushier :

The mother rosemary plant (which was attacked by powdery mildew previously but won the war) has put on so many new growth and gone bushier. Time for harvest :

Three new cuttings which I have propagated from the mother rosemary are also showing signs of growth :

My lemon verbena has grown but I wish it has grown bushier...there must be a way to do that :

The spring onions from seeds were straggly at first but after 2.5weeks (charlie carp treatment before I left), they are doing well and can be harvested anytime :

My curry plant has gone really really bushy in a neat way with all the trimmings I have done beforehand :

Bay tree put on so many new leaves...wow! :

Thyme was completely chopped off low but returned with a complete bushy hair-style. Time to harvest :

Vietnamese mint is spilling over th 40cm pot with wonderful growth. Time for harvesting again :

Progress in the Garden.

Pot of pretty nasturtiums still flowering. Makes a really pretty entrance statement every time I come home. Lavender bee pretty is also making flowers after the aphids were gotten rid of by intensive pyrethrum treatment. Fortunately my lavender leaves were not burnt by the sprays.

Wise for me to leave the rosemarys out in the open where it got sun, rain and wind. The powdery mildew is well under control.

Daffodils at vege patch will be abandoned by me at the end of the month when I move.

Chilli padis growing well and took a long time to reach this stage.

Oriental radishes growing steadily and too will be abandoned at the end of this month.

Pixee peach is producing flower buds.

Kaffir lime is finally producing new leaves. Purple ones??

Potted capsicum producing new leaves too. Spring, come soon!