We are finally getting some sunny days – not many, but a few. It’s still chilly, but it is wonderful to see the sunshine!
Most of the fruit trees are covered in blossom, even the tiny little miniature peach tree I bought on a whim a few weeks ago. It’s called a Pixzee Mini Peach, and I could not resist its adorable tininess when I saw it at the Big Green Shed.
‘Pixzee’ Peach Tree
Bees are going absolutely crazy out there – they don’t know where to start, whether it’s the apricot tree, the plum trees, or the rather spectacular Crimson-Flowered Broadbeans. These heirlooms will produce regular looking broadies but look super cool in the veggie patch.
I’m also growing a big block of dwarf broadies, which also look lovely – but not as speccy.
In weather like this, I want desperately to be in the garden, yet it is still too cold to plant anything in the ground. So all I can do is get ready for warmer times.
Celeriac
I’m growing celeriac in one of the wicking beds – a bit of an experiment to see if root veggies will do well in the greenhouse. Of course, I should have tried something that a) grows faster and b) I have grown before. But I am always adventurous, and I had the seeds, so I gave them a crack. The thing with celeriac, is that it is glacially slow. It takes well over 100 days to reach maturity. I might not have the patience for that, tbh.
Celeriac is such an interesting plant, with its cool warty roots and lovely nutty taste. It’s also pretty expensive to buy – at my local greengrocer, which is not overly expensive, individual roots were selling last week for eight dollars each!
The plants have grown beautifully and look super healthy – but they are not yet swelling at the roots. To help boost them along, I thinned the plants out today, which I hate doing, but it really needed to be done to give them the space they needed to expand. Then I trimmed some of the extraneous side leaves so the plants would put more energy into root development. Lastly, I gave them a side dressing of granular fruit & vegetable fertiliser.
Seedlings
I’ve been growing eggplants, tomatoes, chillies, basil, and capsicum from seed in the greenhouse for the past month. With the warmer weather, they have started to take off!
One variety of tomato, Violet Jasper, was ready to be pricked out into larger pots today. This year, I’m experimenting with recycled yoghurt pots as the Stage 1 pot – they are a good size (not too big not too small), free (free-ish anyway, given we buy the yoghurt, but we do that anyway), and will reuse the pots several times before they go in the recycling bin. My husband drilled drainage holes in the pots for me, and I filled them with my proprietary blend of equal parts seed raising mix, perlite and coarse propagating sand.
As only the Violet Jasper were ready, I used the remaining pots to plant some zucchini Cocozelle, pumpkinGolden Nugget, and cucumber Poinsett. There are varying opinions about whether growing zucchini and other curcubits for planting out is a good idea – some say not, others yes. I’ve done both ways, and my opinion is that it doesn’t matter very much. I want to take advantage of the greenhouse to start my plants while it is still cool outside, so I’m doing it this way. It’s so much colder where I live than on the plains, so taking the risk of transplant shock is worth it to me.
I also planted out a feijoa (Pineapple Guava) tree in a pot. My husband is originally from New Zealand, where the feijoa is beloved. They don’t really appeal to me (I don’t enjoy the strong perfumey flavour), but he will love having them around and I’ll enjoy growing the tree. I do quite enjoy feijoa jam, so if the tree produces enough I may make that one day.
As my husband had his drill out, I asked him to help me build a new climbing frame for climbing beans (similar to the one below).
Climbing Frame
He also fixed the passionfruit vine trellis, which was sagging due to the heavy weight of the passionfruit. Next week I will lean the axe against the passionfruit as a reminder that if it doesn’t produce any fruit this season, it will definitely get the chop.
I also built several trellises for my future pumpkins.
Picking
This time of the year is not as abundant in the garden as the Summer months, but we are still picking some veggies to supplement our diet. We are picking heaps of greens (lettuce, spinach, herbs), rhubarb, and cumquats.
Cos Lettuce
To fill in the hungry gap, I planted more lettuce seeds and spring onions today. About two weeks ago I also planted more bok choy and some rocket. Hopefully these will keep us going until the Summer plants take off!
I’m so excited for the next few months in the garden!
How about you – what are you doing to prepare for the warmer weather in your patch?
As I have already mentioned, this Summer, pumpkins will feature heavily in my patch.
However, these will not be the only veggies I will be growing in my garden. I have tried not to go overboard buying seeds this Season (a bad habit of mine), and have also tried really hard to only buy seeds for plants I really want to eat. I have been given to garden experimentation in the past, but this season I really wanted to focus on giving up now my increasingly precious garden space to veggies that everyone in the family will really want to eat and that grows well in my microclimate. So I’m farewelling okra, even though we quite enjoy it, because it is just not productive enough in my garden to give it garden space. I’ll buy a bag of frozen okra if we want some.
Aside from the pumpkins (Anna Swartz, QueenslandBlue, Butternut, Buttercup, Jack Be Little, and Galeux D’Eysines), I will grow climbing beans, a melon or two, cucumbers, zucchini/squash, tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum, basil, and chillies. The varieties are:
Eggplant: Rosa Bianca, Ping Tung Long, Listada de Gandia, Tsakoniki, Caspar;
These will be planted in the patch (pumpkins, zucchini, melons, beans), in containers (chillies, capsicum) and in the greenhouse (the rest). I have already planted the tomatoes and eggplant seeds in the greenhouse so they get an early start. As they grow into seedlings I will pot them on into larger pots so they develop stronger root systems before planting out in large wicking beds in the greenhouse. I find that even in the hottest of our Summer days, eggplants, cucumbers, and tomatoes do better in the greenhouse than in the patch – in fact, before we had the greenhouse I could never grow a single cucumber. My mother, who lives about half an hour away on the Adelaide Plains, is the queen of cucumber growing – I could not work out why I couldn’t grow cucumbers successfully.
Part of the issue is our elevation. We live on a hilltop at an elevation about 200m above sea level, compared to the Adelaide Plains (elevation about 50m above sea level). While our elevation does not compare to the hills and mountains we saw on a recent trip to New Zealand, it does make a difference. Family members living on the Plains report ripe fruit on tomato bushes and mulberry trees at least six weeks before our trees even show immature fruit. My cousin, who lives about an hour and a half north of us, is already picking asparagus, while mine is yet to poke its head up (my asparagus is also not planted in the best spot – I will need to move it in Autumn). My eldest daughter, who lives 15 minutes away downhill, has ripe fruit on her apricot tree several weeks before we do on ours. Our backyard microclimate is quite a lot cooler than her sunny backyard just 15 minutes away.
Understanding the impact of microclimates can make such a difference to growing success in your patch. I can’t grow pumpkins in the greenhouse (too humid, not enough space), but being fortunate enough to have a greenhouse means that I can grow other fruiting vines that need an extra boost of warmth.
What are you planning to grow in your veggie patch this Summer? Let me know in the comments!
There comes a point when one has a dreaded lurgy, and it will differ for each person, when the thought of staying in bed one moment longer is just unbearable.
That moment was yesterday (Saturday) morning. The sky looked blueish enough, my cough was less hacky, and I thought, enough.
Rugged up well so I would not make my cough worse, I ventured outside, where I discovered my daffs and jonquils were in full bloom. I usually don’t pick them, because I love them in the garden, but there were so many I decided I could afford to fill a vase.
Saturday
My first job though was to dig over the chopped down green manure beds. Last week, I had hacked back the green manure and left the roots to release their nitrogen. This weekend, I dug them into the soil. I will leave them again for another week before digging them over again.
I was very pleased to note that when I dug over the bed near the chicken coop, I only found a small handful of roots and rocks. Last time I dug over that bed (in Autumn), I dug up a whole bucketful of horrible roots and rocks. I also noted that the soil right across the veggie patch is returning to a healthy state after my experiment with no-dig gardening went awry.
After digging these beds over, I sprinkled them with pelletised chicken manure and rock dust, and raked each one over.
Rock dust soil improver helps to remineralise the soil
Soils around the world, including Australia, have become progressively demineralised. While agricultural soils are the most impacted, home garden soils can also be affected. Rock dusts are a relatively, cheap, accessible, and organic method of improving the mineral content of the soil.
You can buy rock dusts from a range of sources, but I bought this bag from the Diggers Club when I ordered some seeds and plants recently. I do not apply rock dusts annually – I think I last applied some a couple of years ago. However as I am trying to repair my soil, I decided I would do it again this year.
It’s easy to apply. Just choose a clear day with little wind, mask up so you don’t breathe any in, and sprinkle it lightly on top of your soil. Instructions say a ‘handful per 1 metre square’ – however I have little tiny bird lady hands, so that doesn’t help me much. I just sprinkle what I think looks about right. Scientific!
Rake and water in. That’s it!
I also sprinkled a little on each potted fruit tree. I have four fruit trees in pots at the moment, including a new pink finger lime and a mini peach tree that I bought because it was so cute. I don’t even know what kind of peach it produces.
Then the rain came, and I headed inside so I would not get crook again.
Sunday
Sunday was supposed to be wet and horrid, according to the AI (Google Home), but my standard boring human intelligence informed me (by looking out the window) that the day had dawned clear and perfect. So out I went again, determined to spread sheep manure around my fruit trees, a job that I do every Winter. I am late to this task, preferring to do it in July rather than August, but better late than never.
You know you’re feeling better when you can spread sheep manure.
Every tree received a sprinkle of organic fruit tree fertiliser, a sprinkle of rock dust, a bag of sheep manure, and some mulch. What lucky trees!
I feel so dang virtuous!
You know what else I feel? Actually better – as in, well.
I honestly believe that spending time in the cool, fresh air and sunshine, surrounded by some healthy dirt and sheep poop, was the cure I needed.
How can I bottle that, I wonder? Maybe I should start a wellness Tik Tok. SheepPoopGirl? ManureMama?
The blog, like my garden, has mostly lain fallow for the past few months. I had a major project deadline to reach, which meant I worked 12 weeks worth of hours in 4 weeks. When I finished the project I decided to take a few days off, and predictably fell ill with the plague a nasty cold. All my gardening plans fell by the wayside while I languished in bed, cursing.
But resting makes time for planning. In between watching old episodes of Bones and reading delightfully silly Sookie Stackhouse novels, I also did some planning for my Spring and Summer veggie patch.
You might recall that I decided to grow green manures and legumes in my veggie patch over Autumn and Winter, letting my soil rest for the whole cool season. This was after my disastrous ‘no dig’ experiment, which left me with a rocky, dry, rootbound patch of sad looking soil.
Planning for Water
I am hoping that after this season of rest, my soil will be much happier and willing to take on some heavy producing plants. Think pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins. Last season was incredibly disappointing for pumpkins, which I mostly put down to the terrible weather. However, I do not believe that was the only reason. I think that the dodgy soil and my watering regimen was also a problem. I hope that this season’s soil repair efforts will make a big difference, but I have also decided that it is well past time to give up my old-school watering system (hose and sprinkler). This is just not serving me well anymore, partly because I am getting older, and partly because it takes way too much time (the part-time gardener’s most limited resource), and most of all because it just not efficient. This last year was the driest on record. My water bill for the Summer quarter was our highest on record. Something has to give.
From my sickbed I did some desktop research and contacted the highest rated and most consistently well-reviewed irrigation company near me, and asked them to quote. They contacted me five minutes later, and I organised for them to come out a few days later, when I was not so cooty-filled. They said they were not worried about my cooties and came out two days ago. While I sat in the weak sunshine feeling sorry for my snotty self, they measured and took photos, and then sent me an incredible quote (think about 25% of what I was expecting to pay) for an irrigation system for the entire veggie bed and all my backyard fruit trees. They are coming to install next week. If they do a good job, I will ask them to quote for the front yard fruit trees as well. If this system shaves down my Summer water bill and saves me time on watering, it will be money very well spent. If it improves my pumpkin growing experience, it will be worth its weight in…pumpkins. Which are quite heavy.
Last year was a singular disappointment in the pumpkin department. I refuse to live that disappointment again. That is the main reason for investing in the irrigation system. My brother had a spectacular melon patch last year, and he had installed a watering system. Pumpkins and watermelons are cousins, so I figured it was time to stop being a cheap stubborn old biddy and just do it already.
If you build it, they will come. Pumpkins, that is.
Planning for Spring
Spring is a great time to grow a quick cheeky crop of greens
The idea that we have four seasons that correspond to European seasons (but backwards) does not really fly in Australia. The Kaurna people, who are the traditional owners of the Adelaide Plains and the lands on which I live, describe four seasons, but start about a month later than we traditionally believe (i.e. Wirltuti or Spring, starts in October, not September, and Summer or Warltati starts in January, not December). That makes a lot of sense to me, when you consider that our September weather is still often so cold we have continue to run the heating at night. The soil is still often not warm enough to plant tomatoes outside until mid-October.
That means it is possible to plant a crop of cool season plants in Spring, if you plan well.
I don’t plant cool season veggies that take a long time to reach maturity in Spring (i.e. no cabbages or anything that has to form a head), but it is still worth planning to grow quick growing cool season veggies that will fill the so-called ‘hungry gap’ between the Spring and Summer harvest. This Spring I am planting:
I ordered a batch of el cheapo bargain seeds from one of my favourite suppliers, Happy Valley seeds, when they had a $1 a packet sale. Even if a few of these run to seed when the warmer weather hits, it doesn’t really matter much. At $1 a packet, if I can harvest a quick crop I will have done well.
I still have a healthy crop of spinach, bok choy, coriander and dill that I am harvesting now in the greenhouse, and a small crop of celeriac in a wicking bed that I am keeping my eye on. That may not reach maturity before the hot weather hits – it was always a risk to grow it in a wicking bed, but I am hoping it will start growing lovely warty roots soon.
Planning for Summer
Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins
I have a clear plan for my Summer garden this year, and it involves pumpkins.
Pumpkins, you say?
Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins.
Also, beans, eggplants, chillies, zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
But mostly, pumpkins.
To be honest, I love growing pumpkins much more than I love eating them. They are so beautiful, have so many varieties, and are just fun.
This year, in addition to the old faithfuls (Butternut, Buttercup, Queensland Blue), I am going to try:
All ordered online from the Diggers Club, the home of funky heirloom pumpkins.
On the bean trellis I am trying several kinds of climbing beans. I enjoy eating fresh green beans more than I enjoy eating pumpkins, to be honest, but for some reason, growing pumpkins is just so much more fun. So most available garden space will be handed over to the pumpkins. I may try a melon in with the pumpkins, despite my annual vow to never grow melons again.
Everything else (tomatoes, eggplants, etc) will go in the greenhouse. I ordered the eggplant, cucumber, and tomato seeds from Diggers Club and they arrived in less than a week, along with a native finger lime and lemongrass plant that I ordered on a whim, just coz.
On one sunny day when I felt slightly less like death warmed up, I staggered out to the greenhouse, masked up to avoid breathing in any dust and crud, and planted some eggplant and tomato seeds. Then I crawled back into bed.
Manure is a critical ingredient in your soil health – both animal manures and ‘green’ (plant-based’) manures. I use both – but it can be confusing to know which kind of poo to use in your garden.
Green (Plant-based) Manures
Healthy Crop of Green Manure in my patch
Green manures are nitrogen-fixing plants that feed the soil from the nitrogen nodules on their roots. There are many different green manures – you can buy them easily from most nurseries and online. This season I planted a few mixes and a single species variety (fenugreek). Plant in a bed where you have had a heavy feeding crop like tomatoes – just bear in mind you will need to leave that plot aside for about 10 weeks. You won’t need to do much to it in that time while the green manures grows.
The trick with green manures is to cut them off at the base before they set seeds – either just before or just as they flower.
Chopped Green Manure
Once you have chopped them down, leave them alone to sit on top of your bed for another week or so. Don’t dig over the bed.
A week later, come back and dig the plants into your bed. Don’t be tempted to dig out the plants. This is when the magic happens! The nitrogen nodules will release their precious nitrogen into your soil at this point.
Come back a week later and dig it over again. Then let the plants continue to rot down. They will build structure into your soil.
You should do this in late Winter or early Spring, at least a month before planting Spring or Summer veggies. My soil here doesn’t warm up enough for Summer veggies until mid-late October, giving these plants plenty of time to rot down. I’m going to follow up these beds with a sprinkling of rock dust minerals and a bag of sheep manure and compost from my bins for extra nutrition and organic matter.
Animal Manure
Animal manures are useful in the organic garden. Vegans choose not to use these, as do some vegetarians. While I sympathise with these viewpoints, as a vegetarian I personally do choose to use these poos. Animal manures are a waste product and are a valuable soil amendment and compost activator. Aged and well-composted, they are safe to use in home gardens, including in soils used to grow vegetables and fruit.
Moreover, if we do not use animal manures to improve and amend our soils, where will the poo go? Landfill! Once there, manure will either break down anaerobically and create harmful greenhouse gases, or leach into waterways. In my opinion, not using manures is wasteful and harmful for the environment.
Some manures are better for the home garden than others. Different poos have different uses, and there are some I prefer to avoid (although some people do).
Compost Activators
I use some manures to activate compost. Compost is made up of ‘greens’ (grass clippings, kitchen waste, coffee grounds, and garden cuttings and weeds) and ‘browns’ (cardboard and paper, straw, dried leaves). A good blend of browns and greens is needed to make good compost – too many greens, and the compost will become anaerobic and smelly. Too many browns, and it will be too dry and will not compost quickly enough. To help your compost get moving and heat up, it helps to add some fresh manure.
I believe that the best manures to activate home compost are chicken, pigeon, rabbit, donkey, and horse.
Pigeon
Pigeon manure is the king of manure, in my opinion, but it is hard to get. My neighbour used to race pigeons and still has a coop. Every now and then, I find a bag of pungent pigeon poo at the bottom of our steps. No, he’s not sending me a message to get out of town – he’s giving me a bag of poop because he actually likes me, I promise.
Pigeon poo is very rich in nitrogen and must be composted for several months before it is ready to be used, or it will burn any plant it touches. Half a shopping bag in each compost bin sets the microbes to work like nothing else. Turn the compost once a month and in a few months it will be gorgeous.
Chicken
I also have ready access to fresh chicken manure mixed with straw from our coop, providing a mix of poo and browns in the compost bins every couple of weeks. Chicken manure is also very high in nitrogen, but not strong as pigeon. Every couple of weeks, I take a couple of inches of muck and crud off the top of their run, and dump that in the compost as well. That is also basically half-rotted chook poo and plants, and activates the compost almost as well as the pigeon poo.
Rabbit and Donkey
Very occasionally I receive a bag of rabbit poo from my brother-in-law. Rabbit poo is not high in nutrients but is light and dry and provides structure to the compost. Donkey poo is quite similar. You’d think it would be similar to horse manure, but actually it is quite dry and light, and provides both nutrients and structure to the compost. Due to the high likelihood of weed transference, it must be composted for at least six months.
Horse
Lastly, I occasionally add a couple of bags of horse manure to the compost bin. However, generally it is my preference not to use it. Horse manure can carry a lot of weed seeds. While their manure has value from a nutrient perspective and it adds good structure to the soil, it can bring weeds to the garden and must be composted for quite a while before use. I can get horse manure easily for free from the nearby race track, but for the most part choose not to because I have access to other manures. If I did not, I would use the horse manure, but would have to compost for longer than other manures.
Manures for use as a soil amendment
The only time I add manures directly to the garden without composting are already aged cow or sheep manure, which I buy from a trusted supplier, or pelletised chicken manure (for example, Dynamic Lifter). I never add manure that has not been well aged or composted directly to the garden. This is because fresh manure can cause several problems:
It can carry diseases that can transfer to the soil and the plants;
It can contain ungerminated weed seeds that can infest your garden;
If it is very high in nitrogen, it can burn plants.
My preferred aged manure is well-aged sheep manure, used as an amendment around fruit trees in Winter. Sheep manure is gentle, high in potassium but lower in nitrogen, adding structure to the soil without the risk of burning plants. There is a risk of some weed seeds transferring, but I have not had this issue.
Cow manure is also acceptable. Like sheep, they have four stomachs, which means their food is pretty well-digested by the time their manure is produced. As such, most weed seeds have been digested or killed off by the time they come out.
Dynamic Lifter or similar pelletised chicken manure products are commercially produced organic fertilisers, safe to use on the garden and high in nutrients. I use these directly on the garden at the start and end of each planting season to replenish the soil and feed the plants. While it is high in nitrogen, it will not burn plants due to its slow release, pelletised form. I use a similar organic chicken manure-based product to feed my fruit trees during Spring and Summer.
Poos to avoid
There are some manures I avoid. I believe that pig manure is a risk to the home garden, as it can harbour more disease than other manures. The home compost bin does not reach a high enough temperature to destroy these. Also it stinks like hell, which is a risk to neighbourly relations. I could end up with a less friendly bag of poo on my doorstep if I started using pig manure.
Cat and dog poo are not safe to use on the home garden, although there are composting units available specifically for dog and cat waste, these are to break it down so you don’t contaminate landfill, not to use it on your vegetable garden. Cat poo can carry diseases such as toxoplasmosis and should not be used in any garden where produce is grown for consumption.
It should go without saying, but human waste should also not be used on the home garden. Composting toilets have been in existence for many years, but most homes do not have these specialist facilities.
When we first moved into our place about ten years ago, I knew I wanted to grow fruit trees. Our block is not ideally situated for this, in all honesty. It slopes awkwardly, and the front yard is North facing. The soil was very poor limestone. It was planted with eucalypts and palms, with weed matting throughout. The backyard was closely planted with huge conifers and agaves. We paid an arborist to remove the trees and my husband tackled the agaves, and with a blank slate, we planned the garden. Our goal was to have a mix of productive and sensory plants, with the intention to always have something edible to pick from the garden at any time, whether it be herbs, fruits or veggies.
A decade later, we have a large herb, sensory, and veggie garden on rich soil, and about twenty different fruiting trees. In the front garden, this includes a black mulberry tree, which was planted nine years ago.
I love mulberries, but you can’t buy them in the shops. I have fond memories of visiting my friend’s house in the Summer, climbing her huge mulberry tree and sitting up there and searching around, finding the little black jewels. I still like ferreting around the tree, searching around jewel-like fruits to find the black, ripe berries. They look like they belong in a fairy story.
Mulberries are not a commercially viable crop. Picking them takes ages, as the berries ripen at different times. You have to walk slowly around the tree to find the couple of berries per branch ready to pick. They don’t transport well, and the shelf life is not long. So if you want mulberries, you have to grow them. And they are an acquired taste. Not really sweet like commercial berries, mulberries are tart-sweet with an underlying metallic taste that some people do not enjoy.
However, they are hard won. I was not expecting to have much of a crop for the first couple of years, but in the past few years we have waited expectantly for fruit that never came. We have had a couple of dry, tasteless berries each season, then the birds have carried off the rest. Last season, I was despondent, then threatening. I told my husband, “That bloody tree has one more season to produce some fruit, or it’s gone!” Then I thought, as with many garden-related issues, maybe the problem isn’t the tree – maybe it’s the gardener.
It didn’t fill me with joy to admit it, believe me. I don’t want to accept that perhaps I had been neglecting the tree. After all, the apricot tree gave us a bumper crop last year. So did the lime tree. Clearly, I could get a tree to produce fruit. But just as different kids need different parenting techniques, so might different fruit trees. So, I read up on mulberry trees. Any info I could find on mulberries, I consumed. Of course, there were differing opinions. Some said prune. Some said don’t prune. But almost all the experts agreed mulberries needed two things in abundance.
Water and fertiliser. Not so revolutionary after all. Turns out, I had been underwatering and under-feeding the poor tree. I upped the water, which makes a lot of sense on our north-facing hillside (deep water, once a week), and increased the nutrition. From early Spring, I fed the tree with a couple of handfuls of organic fruit tree fertiliser every month around the base of the tree, watered in well.
I’ve been a bit late to planting this season, because I’ve been working non-stop, seven days a week. Unfortunately, just at the best possible time of year to be out in the garden, I am also usually the busiest, work-wise. My little office overlooks my front garden, and I have been watching the Spring garden bloom away while I have been working away. It’s kind of a bummer, to be honest. But not having any money is also kind of a bummer, so I have sucked it up and looked forward to the time it all settles down and I can get back out there.
That time is now, before the next major project starts (any day now). Carpe diem, my friends.
This weekend I spent the first full day in six weeks out in the garden. There was a *lot* to do out there, from digging up the used brassica plants, to a heckton of weeding, to feeding and mulching, to planting. Let’s just say at the end of the day I was in some state of pain. Seven days a week sitting at a desk is not good conditioning for a day spent digging and weeding.
It was lovely though, to be outside in the sunshine, not thinking about the election of schmonaldschrump and focusing on what I can personally do to make my little patch of the world more beautiful and sustainable and healthy.
I tried to make some ruthless decisions about what to plant this year, based on experience about what has continually succeeded and failed in my garden over the past couple of years. I’m kicking out melons this year, and have carefully selected the type of eggplants, chillies, and capsicums. I tried to reduce the number of tomatoes but I have to admit I failed at that, big time. I’m trying to grow a lot more beans (both bush and climbing).
I am continuing the okra experiment, but it is not going well at all. After transplanting from the greenhouse, they are spindly and slow-growing. My husband thinks they will do better in the greenhouse as it is more humid, and he may be right, considering their natural habitat. I might plant some in the greenhouse and compare their growth to the open garden beds. I know that the cucumbers do not do well in my open garden beds, but in the greenhouse they do really well.
The cucumbers are getting even more greenhouse space this season – we love them fresh and pickled, but it does depend on the pickle recipe. I did both sliced and spears last season, and the spears recipe was not very tasty (waste of delicious cucumbers!). We still have some and I will get through them, but it makes me a bit cranky when I make a pickle recipe that is not as delicious as it should be. There is no excuse for a bad pickle, when they could be so good.
Zucchini, squash, and pumpkins are also getting generous garden space. Last year’s pumpkins were a bit average. I love growing pumpkins, but I grew an heirloom variety that did not do well and wasted a whole season and a heck of a lot of garden space (Wrinkled Butternut – way less productive than the regular tried and true Butternut and much less tasty – my recommendation is not to bother). This year I am still experimenting with an heirloom (Musque deProvence) but also growing the tried and true Kent, which always kicks butt in my patch. From now on, I will combine an experimental pumpkin with a trusted variety so if the experiment does not work out I will still have the trusted pumpkin in pocket.
This year I am growing:
Beans: Kentucky Wonder Wax (Climbing), Cherokee Trail of Tears (Climbing), Goldrush (Bush). When I spotted Cherokee Trail of Tears I knew I had to grow it. This was apparently the bean that the Cherokee brought with them from their homelands and carried it with them all along the Trail of Tears – heirloom seeds tell a story of the people that have grown it, and this is a devastating story of horror but also resilience. To grow it and save the seeds is to honour their resilience and history;
Cucumber: Marketmore, Dragon’s Egg, Jefferson, and another one I can’t remember the name of! I grow Marketmore every year, it is a real trooper of a cuke, good disease resistance and is prolific;
Tomatoes/Tomatillo: Black Cherry, Black Russian, Jaune Flamme, Costoluto Fiorentino, Azoychka, Tomatillos;
Zucchini: Tromboncino, Ronde de Nice, Cocozelle.
This year’s planting decisions were made based on: what we like to eat and the cuisine we mainly cook (Indian, Italian, Mexican, all vegetarian), what grows well in my garden, what I have space to grow, watering requirements, and what I have the time to take care of.
How about you – what are you growing in your patch this Summer?
Still picking chillies almost at the end of Autumn
It’s been several weeks since I’ve been out in my garden. I’ve been working almost non-stop for six weeks, punctuated by one heck of a respiratory virus that knocked me on my butt. So, six weeks has gone by with little more than a wishful glance outside my window to watch the leaves on my pomegranate slowly turn golden.
Technically, it’s Autumn. I say technically, because with the change to our weather patterns, mid-May is still dry and quite warm in our part of the world.
We have had almost no rain since late January, and the long-range weather forecast is for very little rain to the end of the month and the start of Winter. These warm, dry autumnal conditions are sadly becoming the norm in Southern Australia.
While this has enabled me to continue to grow some Summer veggies into late Summer/early Autumn, it has also delayed planting of cool Winter veggies. I have planted turnip and swede seeds, and I have planted out some brassica seeds. But I am also picking tomatoes, tomatillos, and chillies, two weeks before the start of Winter. And I don’t mean from the greenhouse – I’m talking from the outside garden patch. That should tell you how warm the soil and air temps still are.
Summer Garden Duds
At the end of the season, I always review the season’s successes and duds, to help me think about what to plant the following year.
This year, the absolute losers have been the eggplants. It breaks my heart to tell this tale yet again (last year, they were the losers as well).
I adore eggplants, but honestly all my efforts have led to a couple of meals-worth of mixed eggplant from about 15 plants.
Why were they duds, yet again?
The cool start to the Summer season was the main reason. They grew slowly, not putting on much growth until quite late. As they took so long to pick up, pests set in, particularly the little jerk spider mite, which has been the bane of gardeners in our region this year. After I got on top of the spider mite, the aphids have set in to take advantage of already weakened plants.
I think the other reason is that I was lured by the seed catalogues to try fancy heirloom varieties instead of going with old faithfuls that are known to do well in our areas. Instead of going with the classics, such as Lebanese or Bonica, I just had to try the bright red, white egg, and Thai ball varieties. This is nothing against heirlooms. I love growing heirlooms, particularly tomatoes, and most do very well in my garden. But you do have to select carefully, and I think I was not careful enough in my selections. The varieties I chose just don’t do that well in our region. Next year I’m reverting back to the classic varieties that have stood the test of time in South Australian gardens.
Another dud was again, as usual, melons. If I say I am trying melons ever again, someone send me a comment or message to remind me that I cannot grow melons in my area. It doesn’t seem to matter if it is in the garden bed or the greenhouse, it doesn’t matter if it is an heirloom or a hybrid, full-size or a mini – if it is a melon, it just ain’t fruiting in my garden.
The other dud in my patch this year was, unusually for me, pumpkins. I understand that this has been the case for many gardeners in our region, so will try not to take it personally. Usually, I have a good run with pumpkins of all types. This season, perhaps again due to the late start to the season, I had healthy vines but not that many pumpkins. In the end I picked seven pumpkins. That’s not terrible but not great for me.
My mother has had a bumper crop of Butternuts from her tiny courtyard garden down the hill on the Adelaide Plains, which goes to show it can be done.
The lower early Summer temps also caused some issues with Summer squash. This year I had a few nice, big, Bennings Green Tint squash before they just started fasciating due to the low temperatures. Fasciation is a rare mutation that can occur in certain plants exposed to lower-than-normal temperatures. Squash and zucchini can be affected, causing contorted flower production at the end of a stem. Several squash plants started off well, produced fruit, and then fasciation set in. It did look quite cool though.
Summer Garden Wins
I have had some great wins this year though. The biggest winner was our Travatt apricot tree, which went bananas (er…apricots) and gave us the biggest crop of fresh apricots we have ever had. We gave away, we dried, we stewed, we bottled, we jammed, we gorged. If apricots were dollars, we were filthy rich in golden orange goodness for about a month. It was awesome.
The other winners were chillies, tomatoes, cucumbers (yay), tomatillos, and zucchini.
I wrote about chillies recently. We have had an excellent crop this year, and they continue to produce.
While tomatoes have not been prolific enough to make sauce, they have been really delicious. We grew three varieties this year: Green Zebra, Riesentraube, and Mysterioso, which I have mentioned before is an unknown beefsteak variety I grew from a storebought tomato. All three have been good, although the Green Zebra has outperformed in terms of productivity, while the Mysterioso is my favourite for size (huge! One slice fits a piece of toast or a sandwich – crazy!) and flavour (so sweet). My husband prefers the Green Zebra, as he loves the firm texture and tang. We have planted another crop of both in the greenhouse. My friend K has a crazy prolific cherry tomato plant that popped up in their garden – I have saved seeds from that and am giving it a go. Will let you know how K’s Tomato does on the productivity and taste test – seedlings went into pots last weekend.
Related to the tomatoes are the lovely tomatillos. I have not grown these for many years, but when we were in Tasmania last year, I bought some seed at Salamanca Markets. The other seeds I bought at the same stall turned out not to grow too well in my region (Hobart and Adelaide – not being very similar, weather wise), but the tomatillos have done well. We have a freezer full of salsa verde, and another bagful of whole tomatillos in the freezer ready for when we run out of salsa. Considering how often we eat Mexican food, I would say that will be pretty soon. Aside from the usefulness and deliciousness, I love growing them for their lovely flowers and beautiful growth habit.
Cucumbers were another great win, and probably my proudest. I have not always had success growing cucumbers. I love them – particularly pickled – but also fresh for snacks and in salads, and homegrown taste so delicious. But my efforts have been very pitiful, until this year. I have grown a huge number in the early season, that we enjoyed in salads, as little snacks, and then I made pickled spears and sliced cucumber pickles for burgers and sandwiches. I could not have been prouder of the jars of cucumber pickles in my pantry – not so much for the pickles, but because I actually succeeded in growing enough cucumbers to make pickles! I grew several varieties, including Marketmore and Mini White, and Gherkin. So far Marketmore and Gherkin were the winners for productivity and resistance to powdery mildew.
Zucchini have always been a bit hit-or-miss at our place. Some years we have a good crop, and other years, quite average. This year, I took a chance and planted Tromboccino, an heirloom zucchini that is a bit like a pumpkin, growing on a climbing vine that spreads all over the place. It produces long, skinny fruit with a bulbous end (like a trumpet or trombone – hence its name). I love this plant. Zucchini is one of my favourite vegetables, but when they grow too large they can become quite watery. Tromboccino stays lovely and firm even if you forget to pick it, makes delicious pickles, curries, or pasta, and keeps for a long time. You need space to grow it though, as it will run rampant across the garden. It produces for months.
I did try a couple of other zucchini this year – Rondo, Black Beauty, Cocozelle – but tbh none of them really took off like the Tromboccini. Given garden space is at a premium and that Tromboccino takes up so much of it, next year I will just grow Tromboccino and let it go hard. I will keep trialling some Summer squash though.
How about you – what were your garden winners and losers this year?
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!
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.
Catskills Brussels Sprouts
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 DiffenbachiaReflector 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.
