Gardening with kids

Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@profwicks?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Ben Wicks</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/four-children-standing-on-dirt-during-daytime-iDCtsz-INHI?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>

This weekend my nibling and nephew (aged 9 and 11) came to spend some time with us in the garden.

Gardening with kids is one of those things that, if you get it wrong, you can put them off gardening for life. Make it too boring or hard, and they may never want to do it again. Give them the opportunity to have fun while learning, and perhaps they will look back on that experience in a positive light. Even more hopefully, they may decide to take up gardening themselves one day.

We knew they were coming for a finite time, so my husband and I brainstormed a little about what we could get them to do. The activities had to be safe, first and foremost, and engaging enough to keep two kids occupied for a couple of hours. My garden is a large, working, productive veggie patch. While I do have flowers in the garden, and while I think it is beautiful, it is not really a place devoted to decorative plants. Kids often think ‘flowers’ when they think ‘garden.’ That might be disappointing for some kids. I did consider popping out to the nursery to buy some flowers for them to plant, but I ran out of time. These two kiddos know my patch pretty well though, so I thought they would be OK not planting flowers. In fact, they might have been disappointed if that is what I had suggested.

These were the easy, entertaining, safe, and helpful activities I had two curious kids help me with in the garden:

Watering the balcony garden;
Spraying aphids with potassium soap spray (non-toxic and easy to do);
Watering the greenhouse plants with liquid fertiliser (again, non-toxic – I did the measuring out and he did the watering);
Watering all the pot plants in the patio;
Planting broad beans and lettuce seeds;
Hand-pollinating cucumbers and eggplant;
Feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs (a perennial favourite with kiddos).

After watering – we used watering cans, not hoses (we have learned from experience!) – we spent time showing them how to hand pollinate different plants. They were fascinated that some plants need a male and female flower (cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins) and some plants are buzz-pollinated (eggplant, capsicum, chillies, tomatoes). They loved feeling the spiky-soft cucumber leaves, and were interested in how droopy they were because they needed water. After we showed them how to buzz pollinate an eggplant with an electric toothbrush, and hand-pollinated the cucumbers, we looked around the garden at other plants that have different pollination methods.

I think it is so helpful for kids to see how the plants they eat are formed and grow. My nibling was fascinated by the cucumber plants, and searched out the baby cucumbers among the vines. They were very interested in the different types (I am growing three different varieties at the moment), and the fact that homegrown cucumbers have little spikes – so different from the smooth cukes they are used to from the supermarket.

After hand-pollinating the cucumbers (and a promise they could come back to see the growth later in the week), we moved on to planting seeds.

I chose to plant broad beans and lettuces with them because the seeds are so different. Broad beans are large (larger than a child’s fingernail) and lettuce seeds are tiny. Lettuces also often have funny names, and these were no exception: Flashy Trout Back and Great Lakes. It was a good experience for the kids to plant the broad beans as deep as their knuckles (or phalanges, as my nephew informed me, lol), and then lightly sprinkle the lettuce seeds on top of the soil and lightly cover with seed-raising mix. Planting seeds of different sizes helps kids to learn about biodiversity.

My kids are grown up now, so it was lovely to spend some time outside with young ones. I got to show them some of the crazy veggies I picked this morning, like the bowlful of Tromboccino zucchini. I had them guess why they were called that, and pretended to play it like a trumpet – uber daggy – but that is what crazy gardening aunties are allowed to do.

Tips for involving kids in the garden

Plan activities that kids can do – think about their age and abilities. If a child has a disability, plan activities they can manage, or make the task accessible for them.
Remember, safety first – don’t have them using power tools!
Choose activities that are fun and keep their interest. Plan specifically for the child you will be spending time with. Some kids might enjoy weeding, while others will complain mightily about that task. A couple of autistic kids I know (including my own) love weeding and will happily do that for ages.
Plan a list of short, active tasks with a quick reward or payoff. Kids (and tbh, many adults) will be more engaged if they can see the results of their activities – for example, watering, planting, or picking. I did not get them to pick zucchinis today because a knife was required for that task.
Stand back. While some tasks need you to closely supervise, it’s best to give them the space to try things independently. Because we chose safe tasks, we could take a step back and give them the space to do the tasks themselves.
Split them up. We had a 1:1 ratio of adults to kids. These are two well-behaved kiddos, however any kids can bug each other after a while. For some activities, we split them up. For example, one kid watered the balcony and another the greenhouse. That kept water horseplay to a minimum. For planting and pollinating, they came back together.
Don’t forget to break up the time with cold drinks, ice blocks or fruit, and chats. We always keep a stash of juice ice blocks in the freezer for when they visit.
Remind them to wash their hands after gardening and before eating and drinking if they have been in the garden. Soil is full of microorganisms that can carry nasties.

A Chilli Summer

So, we love chilli.

We love chilli so much, there is a whole shelf of our fridge dedicated to all things chilli: hot sauces, gochuchang, chilli pastes, chilli crisp, chilli oils, curry pastes, sriracha, salsas, chilli pickles, sambals…to be honest, it’s starting to take over other parts of the fridge now too. We also make our own chilli pickles.

We eat chilli with every meal. Our family has South East Asian heritage, so we grew up eating Indian meals very regularly, and at home we eat curries a couple of times a week, along with Mexican food at least once or twice a week. The other nights, we usually have Korean (spicy), Chinese (spicy) or Italian (spicy). We sprinkle hot sauce or drizzle chilli oil on our breakfast eggs or drop pickled chillies in our tomato and cheese toasties at lunchtime. There is not really a single meal that chilli does not touch. Possibly dessert, although if they still made those awesome chilli Tim Tams…(that’s a hint, Arnott’s).

For the past couple of years, a nearby town has hosted a chill festival each February, and for the past couple of years, we have attended. It was on again last weekend – and we rolled up once more, because we love, love, love chilli. It’s such a fun event, made more special this year because a friend was promoting her business, Uu-Mah-Mia at this year’s event. Her Chilli Crunch product is locally made in Alice Springs, and is fabulous.

Other great products there were our local favourite, Salt Gang (we love their Italo Crisp chilli oil, which is amazing on pizzas, pasta, on eggs – we go through it faster than any other condiment in our fridge), and this Victorian mob that grows and produces their own chillies and tomatillos to make hot sauces and Cowboy Candy and Toffee from jalapeños. OMG – it’s amazing stuff.

And when we got home from the Chilli Festival, after tasting multiple types of chilli products, buying more chilli plants and with chilli crisp, hot sauce, and Cowboy Candy in tow, my husband decided it was time to make chilli paste. He made a sambal from our homegrown Habaneros and Devil’s Tongue chillies, and it just about blew the roof off the house. We might need a biohazard sticker for the jar.

Chilli Varieties

In addition to the chilli fridge, we also grow a lot of chillies – at least twelve different varieties at last count.

It’s rare that I find a chilli I don’t enjoy, although it occasionally happens. I have a high tolerance for heat, but I don’t want a chilli that is so hot I don’t enjoy the flavour. I like a hot chilli, such as the Scorpion or Habanero, but I want the chilli to taste delicious as well. Conversely, I enjoy some milder chillies, such as the jalapeño or Curly Toenail, if they have a lovely bright or sweet flavour.

What I don’t like is a chilli with a flat, unpleasant, or dull flavour, no matter the spice level. Three that I have grown recently and found very unpleasant or boring are the Purple Maui (very hot but not very tasty), Dragon Roll (no heat, dull flavour) and the Mango (spicy, very prolific, but very unpleasant flavour). I’d go so far as to say I hated the Mango chilli and would never want it near my garden again. What was even more annoying was that it grew like crazy, was totally pest-resistant, and we were inundated with the little monsters. At least it was attractive. Mango and Purple Maui might be worth growing for their decorative fruit, I guess, if there were not other chillies equally pretty and with much better flavour.

My favourites this year have been (in no particular order):

Jalapeño – it’s a classic for a reason. Delicious, versatile, warm but not too hot, great for eating fresh, pickling, in salsas and curries, resistant to pests, and keeps on producing for months;
Curly Toenail – of course, the name is a winner, and the way it grows is so fun – long and skinny and curling up at the end. But it also tastes lovely, with a nice heat – but not too much. Versatile for Mexican and Indian food. Not super prolific, but enough to make it worthwhile. I overwintered this from last year’s Chilli Festival and it has kept on producing.
Anaheim – a mild, large chilli with a delicious flavour, great for Mexican food. For the flavour fans, not the heat freaks.
Devil’s Tongue – a lovely, hot, vibrant yellow-orange chilli with great flavour. Spicy, tasty, bumpy, prolific, one DT will heat a whole curry easily. Not very easy to find, worth seeking out from specialty suppliers.
Cayenne – just so pretty. What we think of when we think of ‘chilli’ – long, red, glossy, gorgeous. Warm and delicious. The classic chilli.
Habanero – a hot little monster, used to be considered the hottest in the world at 500,000 Scovilles (the heat measurement for chillies) until it was usurped by the new range of extreme chillies (i.e. the Carolina Reaper). But I prefer it to the extreme chillies because it has a lovely flavour and brightness, in addition to the heat.
Mustard Habanero – a variety of habanero, yellow-orange in colour instead of the darker red-orange of the traditional habanero. The fruit is also larger. Flavour and heat profile is similar, but I love it because it is so pretty as well.
Fresno – Similar to a jalapeño, but larger and fatter, and quite hot when it ripens to red. Delicious sliced up on a pizza, if you like your pizza with a little heat.
Scorpion – Hot, fresh tasting and quite juicy, pest-resistant, and prolific.

I won’t bother growing the Serrano, Siam, Bhut Jolokia, or Joe’s Long again next year – they were either just ‘ok’ or were too susceptible to pests to make the grade, in my opinion. Siam grew really well, but I didn’t enjoy the texture – it had a tough, waxy texture that I found a bit unpleasant, although it tasted alright. Joe’s Long was pleasantly flavoured and definitely attractive, but was not hot enough. And Serrano and Bhut Jolokia just attracted too many bugs. In fact, after I publish this, I am heading out to dump the last of these in the compost.

Growing Chillies

I grow almost all chillies from seed, purchased either from Happy Valley seeds or the Digger’s Club. I did buy a couple of plants from the Big Green Shed or from the 2023 and 2024 Chilli Festivals, including the Scorpion, Anaheim, Fresno, and Curly Toenail. The Chilli Festival is great for finding some unusual or hard to find plants.

I raise the seedlings in tubs in the greenhouse in August/September, pricking them out when they are a few centimetres high and hardening them off in single ten centimetre pots. Once they are well-established, I plant them out into larger pots.

Chillies are really easy to grow both in pots and in the garden bed. I mostly grow them in pots on my balcony and in the greenhouse. Next season, I will skip the greenhouse and put them on the balcony only – while they love the warmth of the greenhouse and grow prolifically there, in that warm, humid space they are more likely to fall prey to pests, namely aphids, white fly and the ~~little jerk~~ spider mite. On the open air balcony, they are less productive but are largely pest-free.

In my experience, some chilli varieties are more prone to pests than others. This year, the Bhut Jolokia (also known as the Ghost Chilli) and the Serrano have been most pest-prone – we have barely had a single fruit from these plants. The most productive and pest resistant have been the jalapeño – which is great, because it’s also the most useful – and the Scorpion. I bought that last year at the Chilli Festival, and it overwintered really well and then exploded into a profusion of pale orange and very hot little fruit. We find that half a Scorpion is lovely in a pasta dish; a whole Scorpion is good for something spicier, like a curry. Don’t pickle them though! I make a delicious lime and fresh chilli pickle that usually requires green chillies (jalapenos or other fresh green chilli). I ran out of the full quantity for a double recipe, and topped up with ripe Scorpions. I think my husband burned a hole in his oesophagus.

Chillies are fairly un-fussy plants: grow in full sun in a decent sized pot (although they will not really complain if the pot is not very big), pop some slow-release fertiliser for veggies in the pot, and give them a regular liquid feed every two weeks. If you are growing them in a pot, make sure to water them daily so they don’t dry out.

You can overwinter your favourites at the end of the growing season. In March, cut them back hard, and leave them in a sheltered place. Then wait for them to re-shoot in Spring, and then repot with fresh potting mix. If you don’t want to give them that space, save the seeds from a ripe chilli by drying them out on a plate, and save in an envelope, and plant out again next year. I will be doing that with my Anaheim, Jalapeño, Fresno, Cayenne, Curly Toenail, Mustard Habanero and Habanero, and Devil’s Tongue this year.

Is there a chilli variety that you love to grow – or one that you really dislike? Let me know – I am always looking for new chilli plants to try!

Late Summer Gardening

February is a strange time in Southern Australia. It’s usually the hottest month, with many of the summer veggies such as beans and cucumbers almost at their end, but at the same time, it is usually too late to sow any new Summer plants. This year however, the late start to the season has the tomatoes, capsicums, eggplant, and chillies just kicking off. We are stuffing ourselves with fresh tomatoes in salads, salsas, on toast, and in pasta every day, and eating delicious fajitas with homegrown zucchini, drizzled with salsa made of tomatillos, green zebra tomatoes and jalapenos, pulled out of the garden that morning. It’s bliss – everything I have ever wanted in a garden.

To keep the Summer abundance going, I’m risking some late plantings with the hope of a longer season. I’ve planted more cucumbers, taking care to choose varieties that can apparently resist the powdery mildew (Jefferson’s Cucumber and Dragon’s Egg). I’ve planted a heap of dwarf beans (Dior bush beans) all over the garden in spots where I could poke a seed, with the hope of a quick extra bean harvest, if I’m lucky. We have eaten so many green beans this year, it has been fantastic.

I’ve raised some extra squash and zucchini plants, hoping we can get a couple of rounds of extra zuccs, as they are just my favourite veggies along with eggplant, and I live in hope. I’ve even taken a punt and planted some more tomato seeds – I have a greenhouse, so I think I can get another full tomato harvest before Winter sets in. I’m trialling late plantings of cherry and saucing tomatoes (Black Cherry, San Marzano).

Preparing for the Winter garden

Oddly at the same time I have just planted another round of tomatoes, I’ve also started planting brassicas for Winter. I have never grown Brussels Sprouts. I’ve always believed that our area is too warm for them to be successful. That might still be the case – but I recently read an article about growing them and decided to have a go. Brussels Sprouts must be started in February for success, as they need a long growing season, so today when planting my extra tomatoes I planted the first batch of Catskills Brussels Sprouts seeds. Hopefully they pop up soon and I can put another round in. If I succeed in growing Brussels Sprouts, I will be bragging so hard.

I also planted more Cos lettuce and dill seeds. I have recently discovered the wonder of fresh dill, and now all our salads are sprinkled with fresh dill and basil. My kids aren’t really fans of it, so I have to soften the dilly approach a little.

Some Summer garden duds

There have been some duds though, I’m not gonna lie. The Red Ruffle Eggplant have been a huge disappointment, and so have the Turkish Red Eggplant – in fact, eggplant in general have not responded well to the cool, wet start to the season. I have picked enough for one meal so far – definitely not the eggplanty-dreams I was hoping for. A batch of Armenian Striped Cucumbers fell prey to powdery mildew as soon as I planted them, without even offering a single cuke. Once again, melons have been a disappointment – why, oh why, do I keep planting them? And I have been battling ~~the little jerk~~ Red Spider Mite in the greenhouse for half the season. A mild soap spray seems to be doing the trick, but I have to be on top of it constantly.

Bye-bye Pepino

Speaking of garden duds, about two years ago I bought a pepino plant from the Big Green Shed and put it in the patch against the fence. To say it grew prolifically would be an understatement. That thing quadrupled, then quadrupled again. It saw off several passionfruit that came only to say hello, then gently expired. It flowered, and flowered, yet only bore mature orange fruit a handful of times. The fruit did not really appeal that much to anyone, tasting like a weird mini rockmelon. And still it grew. By mid-January this year, it took up a square metre of back garden space. And that is when I decided its number was up. That much garden space is far too precious to be taken up by a freeloading plant that no-one likes.

I think it took me well over an hour and a thousand calories to dig the thing up, but it has now been removed to the green bin where it belongs, and several squash and zucchini plants are sunning themselves in its place.

Good riddance.

This is a lesson to me not to be suckered in by something promoted by a garden centre, and to do a bit of research before planting something in my edible garden. I should have read up about how large the pepino grows, and what it tastes like. If I had just googled ‘what does a pepino taste like’ the first result would have informed me that it is ‘a delicate combination of cantaloupe and honeydew melon.’ I dislike both of those flavours, and so does my family. So, note to self: check these things.

But if you have plenty of space and you love melon, I can recommend a fast-growing bush apparently known as the “Year-Round Rockmelon”!

What to do in the garden with the time you have this week

Houseplants need attention this time of year. During Summer, houseplants are in growth mode, and are also prone to drying out in the warmer weather. Indoor houseplant gardening is still gardening, and requires focused attention to keep things looking good – in fact I would argue it requires more care and attention, because a dodgy looking houseplant is more annoying on a daily basis than a dodgy looking zucchini plant.

If you have an hour

Take cuttings and propagate in water. The warm weather is ideal for propagating houseplant cuttings. This weekend I took cuttings of Harlequin (Marble Queen) Devil’s Ivy (a gorgeous variegated Pothos with lovely marbled leaves), Scindapsus Golden Queen, and Dragon’s Tail (Epipremnum Pinnatum), and have placed them all in water to strike. I was careful to take the cuttings under a node where the plant will easily sprout a root. These plants strike very quickly just in water.

If you have 2-3 hours

Clean, water, trim, and feed your houseplants. Houseplants should be cleaned regularly, as the leaves collect dust, which prevents transpiration. In a tub of tepid water, add a drop of olive oil. With a soft cloth or paper towel, dip in the water and olive oil and wring out and clean the leaves of dust. The olive oil will give a gentle shine.

Using scissors or snips, remove dead or bedraggled looking leaves. Feed the plants with either slow-release prills such as Osmocote (my preferred) or Thrive for pots or planters, or a liquid feed for pot plants (I use the Powerfeed spray for indoor plants), and water your plants.

Depending on the number of plants you have, this task can take a couple of hours, by the time you clean, trim, water, and feed everything. I have quite a few plants, including hanging plants, so it generally takes me about two hours to complete, every couple of months. I know it is time to do it when my favourite houseplant, the beautiful giant Diffenbachia Reflector in my bedroom loses its lustre and bright neon and green colouring.

My huge spotted Begonia was also looking peaky, so I placed it in a bucket in the laundry and soaked it overnight in a tub of water. I find this treatment, once every six weeks or so, keeps it happy.

If you have 4-5 hours

Around this time of year, you will find some of your houseplants need re-potting. I have been looking at my houseplants since Christmas (and ignoring them), fully aware that about ten of them needed repotting. These included my Fiddle-Leaf Fig, Harlequin Pothos, a Silver Sword Philodendron (philodendrum hastatum) that was looking about as miserable as it was possible to look, and a floppy Monstera.

Repotting is easy but messy, so do it outside. Fill a bucket with water and some seaweed extract. Remove the plants from their existing pots, and soak them, soil and all, in the bucket. I was shocked to see how dried out some of them were. Let the plants soak for fifteen minutes, or until the water has penetrated the soil and roots. While it is soaking, give the plant a trim of dodgy looking leaves, and if you want to, take a cutting or two to propagate into new plants. I find that most houseplants can be easily propagated in either water or in sand or seed-raising mix. The easiest plants to propagate in my experience are pothos (Devil’s Ivy), spider plants, and spotted begonia (in fact these last two are so easy that I have had to stop propagating because I have too many).

Meanwhile, take new or recycled plastic pots in the next size up, and half fill with fresh potting mix.

When the plant has had a lovely soak and are wet all the way through, tease the root ball out a bit – not too much – and place it in the new pot. It’s ok if some of the existing soil comes along for the ride. Backfill with new potting mix and add a tablespoon or so of slow-release fertiliser for pot plants. Place the plastic pot in a cover pot, and water.

Remember that when you increase the size of the plastic pot, the cover pot you were using may no longer fit your plant. You may have to do some moving around.

Wash the old pots well with water mixed with a splash of methylated spirits or rubbing alcohol to clean properly, so you have pots for next time. Then clean up all that mess!

Again, the time this task will take depends on the number of plants you have to repot and the mess you make. I’m notorious for making a big mess (I figure, make a mess, apologise later), so I usually have a pile of old dirt, pots, and junk to clean up afterwards. But that is half the fun. Compost the old potting mix, recycle the pots, and try to waste as little as possible.

You can move your newly potted plants directly indoors, or if you want to you can also put them in a sheltered position to acclimate to their new pots. I tend to immediately place them where I intend them to live.

Summer Daze

The long hot, El Nino-dominated Summer we were promised has not really eventuated: instead we have been hit with a coolish, damp, stormy season – more reminiscent of the sub-tropics than the warm temperate climate we are used to in Southern Australia. I feel like the weather has not honoured the bargain I make every year: I agree to put up with the cold and wet from late Autumn until mid-Spring, and then I am rewarded for my (admittedly grumbling) forbearance with a lovely warm Summer in which to bask. I guess climate change is making fools of all of us, and there will be no more handshake deals with the weather from now on.

There have been some benefits and downsides to this lower temperature, wetter Summer. The benefits are obviously more water around, which has kept trees and plants hydrated well into January. My garden looks lush. Usually by mid-Summer in our area, things are starting to look a little dusty. This year, the extra water, followed by bursts of warmth, has led to heavy, lush growth, so my backyard resembles a little jungle of tomatoes, squash, and beans. I have never had a bean crop like I have had this year! Obviously, I have been too stingy on the water in the past – if I want to replicate the results of this year, future me will need to increase the water ratio in the veggie patch.

Apricotapalooza

We also had the largest apricot crop we have ever had. I think that is both due to the abundance of water, and a heavy late-Summer prune my husband gave the tree last year. We had about 200 kg of apricots from our one Travatt apricot tree. It was delicious, amazing, and overwhelming. We gave away about half the crop to friends, family, and neighbours. We preserved them, jammed, dehydrated, stewed, and ate them fresh. We made ice cream. We ate apricots until we were almost orange. At one point, I called my sister, begging her to come and get some apricots. She popped around to take some off my hands and took some for her friend as well. It was a great problem to have, but seriously, it was a bit overwhelming.

To save the crop from the wet weather and the parrots, we had to pick them as soon as they started to blush. Apricots continue to ripen off the tree, so it is fine to pick them a little underripe, and it is also preferable to preserve them when slightly underripe.

It’s Tomato Town

Just as the apricots finished, the tomatoes have started to ripen. This year I grew four main varieties: Riesentraube (a cherry tomato), Green Zebra (my favourite heirloom, green and yellow striped, sweet and tangy), San Marzano (an heirloom saucing tomato), and Mysterioso – a tomato I grew from saved seed and had forgotten both the colour, flavour, and name of. Now that it has fruited, it appears to be a Black tomato – possibly a Black Russian, a lovely black ribbed beefsteak tomato that is sweet to eat and can grow as large as my hand. We are eating tomatoes every day for multiple meals – on toast for lunch, with pasta, in salads, as salsa. When the San Marzano ripen, we will make sauce.

The tomatillos have also started to ripen. Tomatillos are also known as husk tomatoes, although they are not actually a tomato. They look a bit like a cape gooseberry: they grow with a lovely papery husk around them. On the bush they look pretty, like little paper lanterns.

Once ripe, the husk dries off and they are ready to pick. Peel the papery husk off (the fruit feels sticky once peeled, so do not peel until you are ready to use) and wash before making salsa verde (green salsa). I’m currently testing different recipes to see which is the best way of cooking these. They are incredibly prolific. I have about six plants and they are going off. I intend to can as much salsa as I can for the later months. We eat a lot of Mexican food.

Mulberry Success

After five years of disappointment, our efforts with the mulberry tree have been rewarded by an actual mulberry crop! It’s not a big enough crop to make mulberry jam or anything like that, but we are picking about a cup of mulberries a day at the moment. Unlike previous years, the mulberries are fat and juicy. When we pick them, the juice runs down our hands. I put this down to diligent watering and feeding over the past year.

Thanks to the prolific veggie patch and fruit trees, we have not had to buy any veggies or fruit from the supermarket, except mushrooms, onions and potatoes for over a month – not a bad effort at all!

This weather has also caused problems though. The storms, rain, and wind, followed by warmth, are a perfect breeding ground for powdery mildew on squash, zucchini, and pumpkins. I have had to pull out vines just as they start to produce because the mildew has taken over. I can’t manage it with usual fixes (Ecofungicide, diluted milk spray). The weather is also causing plants like zucchini to produce only male flowers or only female flowers, creating pollination problems. And the cold-warm-cold weather is wreaking havoc on hot weather loving plants like eggplant, that are taking forever to produce anything at all. So while the green beans are happy and producing, I have sulking eggplant and mildewy zucchini. A vegetarian can’t live on green beans alone!

I’m choosing to see the positives. I think we can expect a longer period of this weather, heading into March and April. So, I am planting up another batch of cucumbers, squash and zucchini seeds to take the place of those I have already lost to the powdery mildew – I think I will have a good chance of a second crop. I have sought out some seeds of varieties that are supposedly more resistant to powdery mildew to see if they can last out the season – I’ll report back how they do. I intend to keep the greenhouse going in tomatoes, chillies, and cucumbers as far into Winter as I possibly can. In a few weeks, I will also start my seeds for brassicas for Autumn and Winter. Last Season wasn’t really productive in terms of the broccoli and cauliflower, so I have plans for different varieties, and also for a lot more root crops next season because I know these always do well in my garden – lots of turnips, swedes, and parsnips.

Managing the greenhouse

I’m a lucky duck – I have a big veggie garden and a greenhouse. The greenhouse was converted by our builder from an old tool shed. He removed the old tin sheets, and replaced with poly sheeting and white shade cloth for ventilation. Doing this mini-renovation on the old shed, which we were going to remove anyway, saved us about five thousand bucks and has created a much more sturdy and larger greenhouse than we could have had if I purchased a flat pack model online (which was my original intention). Thank goodness for innovative builders!

I love it. I mean, I love it. I can’t wait to go outside every morning to water it and see what has happened inside over the past 24 hours. I’m obsessed.

I grow almost all edible plants in the greenhouse, with the exception of a few ornamental cuttings I am striking. Aside from that, it is an oasis of fruiting plants and vegetables, especially this time of year.

But it’s also been a bit tricky to learn how to manage the greenhouse, compared to growing outside in the open. Last year, which was my first Summer with the greenhouse, I was inundated with aphids and it was not a fun time. I left it too late to treat them, and I could not stop the invasion. This is because I was used to growing outside in a very large space, where a bug here or there doesn’t matter much. Everything balances out. But in the greenhouse, which is its own little micro-climate, things don’t balance in the same way. It’s warm and humid, and the aphids and white fly just love it. Predators do come in, but they are also busy outside, where there are more flowers and other plants for them to work away on.

This year, I have been much more proactive. I keep yellow sticky strips in the greenhouse all year round, which has helped to keep the population of whitefly down. I have noticed that the whitefly attract the aphids, so keeping their population down helps. When I water, I keep an eye out for both, and if I see them I either squish them or give them a quick squirt with the hose as soon as I see them. If they still proliferate, that is when I spray. I found out the hard way that the recommended homemade soap spray (water mixed with dishwashing detergent and a little cooking oil) is fine in the open garden, but burns and kills plants in the greenhouse, due to the soap and oil hitting tender leaves in an environment of high heat and humidity. In addition to the hosing and squishing, I have been trying a homemade spray made of chopped tomato leaves soaked in water. That has been quite successful.

Soak tomato leaves in a bucket of water for several hours, up to overnight. I just filled the bucket with a many leaves as I was willing to pull off the tomato bushes and then topped up with water, then left to soak. Strain and pour into a spray bottle. I have found that the aphids steer clear, when combined with hosing them off pretty regularly.

The other pests I have struggled with recently is spider mites. These little buggers are much worse than aphids, as you can’t see them with the naked eye and you don’t notice you have them until the leaves of your plant start to show the telltale signs of damage (silvery leaves, tiny webs). I hate these jerks. They are really hard to get rid of and they spread quickly. A soap spray is the recommended treatment, but as I have already mentioned, in a greenhouse that is problematic. I have to choose a very cool day and hope for the best, or if the plant is too far gone, put it in the green bin.

Watering the greenhouse

Watering the greenhouse is a big job. While you can get away with skipping a day or two in the patch in hot weather, you can’t in the greenhouse. It is several degrees hotter in there, and everything is in containers. They must be watered or they will die. Simple as that.

When there were fewer pots in the greenhouse, I could manage with a couple of watering cans. Now, I need to use a watering gun and hose. We spent about $40 on a strong steel and brass watering gun, with the hope that it will last quite a few years, and now watering takes about ten minutes instead of half an hour – and I am not lifting heavy cans of water.

Be careful with saucers in the greenhouse as well. I have found that in they are susceptible to algae growth due to the higher humidity. While saucers may be preferable when growing containers on balconies or patios, I have mostly removed them in the greenhouse.

Pollination

Pollinators do come into the greenhouse – it’s not hermetically sealed (so do birds, and I think some other critters, judging by a couple of overturned pots I have found). I have spotted native bees and hoverflies in there several times. But my open veggie patch is a pollinator’s paradise, thanks to all the herbs and flowers I plant, and my mini-meadow. So the greenhouse gets short shrift from pollinators.

Things still fruit in there, but I needed to think about how I can increase pollination rates. I have came up with a few solutions.

The first is hand pollination of cucumbers and zucchini. This is easy: just strip off the petals of a male flower (the one without the swelling at the base) to expose the pollen filled stamens, and poke it in the female flower a couple of times. Some people are much fancier than me and use a paintbrush to delicately remove the pollen from the male flowers and dip it into the female flowers. You can do that if you like. I’m a little less refined than that.

The other thing I do is mimic the buzz/wind pollination process for tomatoes and related plants. Tomatoes are self-fertile but require wind or the visit of a busy bee to buzz alongside them and shake their pollen loose. The greenhouse is not as exposed to wind, and while bees do visit, most of them are buzzing around the borage outside. To address this, I have a cheap electric toothbrush (sans brush). I have taped up the poky end so as not to accidentally stab myself, and I gently buzz the top of each tomato flower. I don’t want to brag, but I can see the little puffs of pollen shake loose when I do this, so I think I am easily as good as a bee at this job.

Of course, it’s hard to explain to others. Like when my sister called and asked what that buzzing noise is. And I had to admit what I was actually doing. She said it sounded like the world’s most boring porno.

With all this effort, is it worth having a greenhouse?

I’m not going to lie, a greenhouse is an expensive exercise. Firstly, there’s the expense of building it in the first place. Then there’s the set up. This can be minimised in a couple of ways. We did this by converting the old toolshed, as I mentioned, and by recycling pots and shelving. We did buy some shelving and raised troughs online, but we have also sourced a lot of pots, shelving, and stands from our local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. That has reduced the cost significantly, but there are still other expenses, such as the potting mix, water, and time. I can’t pretend it’s not a luxury, or that my five cucumbers yesterday couldn’t have been purchased yesterday for much cheaper than it cost me to grow them. However, once the greenhouse is built, and all the pots and shelves are in place, they can be reused almost indefinitely. The cost of the set up is spread over years, and the value will be maintained. The ongoing expenses of potting mix, water and time will remain.

Growing plants from seed also reduces the amount of plants I buy in seedling form, which does save money – so long as I resist spending too much on seeds. I can grow almost anything from seed in just a couple of weeks, which is amazing. 95% of the veggie garden this season has been grown from seed. That is so exciting to me, as a gardenerd and obsessive.

Aside from the fun, I can see the difference in plant size and productivity between plants in the greenhouse and in the open garden. I have cucumbers I planted in the greenhouse and in the garden at the same time. I am picking cukes from the greenhouse while the cucumbers I planted in the garden are still having a little chat with each other about whether they might possibly consider growing another millimetre this week. I have eggplant flowering in the greenhouse, while the eggplant in the garden are having a little stretch. It’s not that they can’t grow, it’s just that the weather is still so unpredictable this season, they are not sure why they should. Whereas the greenhouse, with its stable lovely warmth is just so conducive to growth.

So is it worth it? For me, it is, simply because gardening is my main hobby and great pleasure in life. Some people love cars, or music, or movies, or art. I love plants. If I had all the free time in the world, I would spend it in the garden. In real terms, it is a relatively cheap, and certainly an active and healthy hobby. I just wouldn’t suggest a greenhouse unless you have the space, money, and time to spend troubleshooting the challenges that can arise.

A perfect weekend of gardening

After a month of busyness, both personal and professional, this was the first weekend I had two full days off, and I chose to spend them doing my favourite thing in the world: gardening.

On Saturday, I spent the whole day in the backyard, tidying up the veggie patch and pottering about in the greenhouse, repotting plants and generally having a lovely time. After a month barely spending an hour or two a week in the garden, it was a blissful time. I downloaded hours of gardening podcasts (local and international), and listened to various gardening experts natter on about compost and fruit trees and rainfall. I picked four cucumbers, half a dozen beets, some spuds, a handful of green beans, and an armful of rhubarb from the monstrous rhubarb plants that appear to be untameable. Nothing could have been better.

The only way to demonstrate the size of the rhubarb is to show my hand on a rhubarb leaf. That is one leaf, and my hand. Admittedly, I have fairly small hands, but even so. I picked about two kilos of rhubarb, cooked it up with some blueberries and frozen cherries, and made a pretty great rhubarb cordial. And I still have half of it in the fridge. Lawks, as Nanny Ogg would say. I only picked some of what is out there. Might have to make some jam next weekend!

Rhubarb leaves are toxic of course, so I don’t feed them to the chooks, but it is great for compost. Not sure why, but my compost always speeds right up when I add rhubarb leaves to it (I also find that pineapple bark and cores are spectacular for compost, but I assume that is the bromelain).

I planted out a bunch of seedlings I have been raising in the greenhouse: sunflowers, okra, and more capsicums. I think the veggie patch is officially full. It is starting to look lush and gorgeous, with a mix of beautiful green veggie plants of all kinds and flowers such as cosmos, petunias, alyssum and calendula creating a colourful display and attracting the bees. Sunflowers are on their way, which is always very exciting to me – I just love their cheerful colour.

We are almost at that exciting time of year when all the veggies we eat come straight out of the garden. That is my favourite, favourite time of the year. Last night’s dinner was soft tacos, with black beans and jalapeños, roasted potatoes, beets and broccoli, served with cucumbers and tomatoes. Everything but the broccoli and tomatoes came straight from the garden. I heard a podcaster today say that there is a name for the flavour profile of food from your garden: ‘smugness.’ Classic.

Gherkin cucumbers growing like the clappers

Speaking of smug, check out these flower trusses on the Riesentraube tomatoes in my greenhouse:

This prolific flowering is a feature of the Riesentraube, according to the tomato bible, Amy Goldman’s The Heirloom Tomato. She writes the Riesentraube (which is a cherry tomato) “sets fruit on large sprays bearing as many as three hundred flowers and buds, although only 10 to 20 per cent of the blossoms bear fruit.” It’s certainly the most prolific flowerer of the tomatoes this year, although I’ve got to be honest, the crazy flowering is not why I grew it. I just liked the name: Riesentraube. It means “a giant bunch of grapes” in German. I picked it out of a seed catalogue for that reason alone.

Today (Sunday) I determined to tackle the much less fun, but important task of tidying up the front yard in time for Christmas. We are hosting this year, so it did have to be done. The Spring flush is over, and many plants required deadheading and generally tidying up, especially a Pineapple Sage bush that had never been trimmed and was nearly as tall as me. I actually don’t mind these tasks, but if it is a choice between playing in the greenhouse or deadheading the roses, I know what I would pick. Happily, as I had both days this weekend, I could do both!

Salvias and sages should be trimmed annually, but ideally not this time of year – that is a bit naughty of me. Wait until Autumn preferably, and give them a really good haircut then. I just did this one because it was looking very ratty and it has not been too hot and dry this season. Don’t be like me – give salvias a prune in May, not December.

I even started weeding the pavers – now that is a job that is bloody boring and no one should have to do. But I did make a start, and I have to say, it already looks much better.

I rewarded myself for my hard work by spending a last half an hour planting some seeds: dill, zinnia, bush beans, more zucchini (Rondo de Nice – a funky round zucchini that is just fun to grow), and some cos lettuce. Yes, I know I said the patch was full, but these are just in case. And just because. I’m sure I’ll fit them in somewhere.

Weekend gardening jobs, 18th November 2023

It was a stunning morning in the garden today – lovely and warm, sunny, and not too hot. I had exactly two hours to spend in the garden before a family event, so I spent time feeding the pots in the greenhouse with liquid fertiliser and planting out more of the seemingly endless capsicum seedlings I have grown from seed. I also sprinkled organic snail pellets around the patch. This is the first year I have ever had much of a problem with snails. Usually, a bit of snail damage does not bother me, but they have been really having a go on new seedlings. A new organic iron-based pellet has been released on the market. It’s not harmful to other critters, and breaks down to harmless iron in the soil.

I have also been diligent keeping up with the mulch in my front and back gardens. Organic mulch decomposes over time. I topped up the bare patches that have broken down since the start of Spring with chopped sugar cane mulch. Keeping up the mulch is critical at this time of year as the weather warms up and because it has been incredibly dry all Spring. According to the long range weather forecast broadcast on ABC radio last week, the dry weather will continue for the rest of Spring. This is not good news for we gardeners, especially those of us that do not have a rainwater tank. I have been watering my garden since September, as we have a lot of fruit trees that need regular water through blossoming and fruit set. Mulch is necessary to maintain all that good work and save water.

I threw a couple of handsful of fertiliser under each fruit tree – in the Summer growing season I try to do this each month.

Walking around the garden mulching, hand weeding, and feeding, I can keep an eye on changes in the garden.

This week I noticed baby quinces growing (above – so exciting), the Violet Queen beans have started to flower (so pretty), and I picked two Pepinos and four cucumbers already! Cukes are my garden white whale – I think I built the greenhouse just so I could successfully grow cucumbers.

I’m also happy to see that the squash and pumpkin plants I planted about six weeks ago (probably too early, tbh) have almost all survived the snail onslaught and are starting to put on some lovely new growth. I usually have good success with pumpkins and limited success with squash (the mysteries of life!) but I really hope this year that I do well with both – I love steamed summer squash with butter or olive oil and a little salt. I could eat just a big old plateful of them for dinner and be very happy! The squash plants look as good as I have ever managed, so fingers crossed!

Capsicums (Sweet Peppers)

This year I am growing a lot of capsicums (in the US, known as sweet peppers). I am mostly growing the long Italian-style capsicums, used primarily for frying and cooking, rather than the salad-style capsicums (although I am growing one sweet salad variety, Sweet Chocolate, which I like because it grows a lovely dark brown when ripe).

I personally find capsicum really easy to grow from seed, and more fun because you have access to more interesting varieties than the standard Californian Wonder you can buy from nurseries. However, I do have a greenhouse, so that does make it easier to grow them from seed.

If you do want to try it, use seed-raising mix in trays (I like the Yates seed-raising mix best – but it is pricey – and I also think the Seasol brand is good), and plant as many seeds as you think you will need, plus a few extra. Water well and keep damp until seedlings emerge. Keep the seedlings going with a weak liquid feed every week or so, and then when they are about half as tall as your iPhone, prick them out gently and replant them into pots to harden off. Keep them watered and fed weekly until you are ready to plant them out into the garden – or you can grown them in larger pots. They will be happy in pots throughout the growing season. Just make sure to grow them in a warm, sunny spot and keep them well fed.

For chillies – just do the same! I find chillies fruit earlier and more prolifically than capsicums though, so don’t be surprised if you find you have chillies well before your capsicums have even flowered – they are related, but chillies seem to have started their run before capsicums have tied their shoelaces.

What to do in the garden with the time you have this week

I am flat out this week! It’s deadline time for the next two weeks – so I will barely have any time in the garden – as with today, I will be carving out a set period to spend in the garden, and that will be that.

If you are like me, and time-strapped, here are some suggestions for what to do in the garden this week with limited time.