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!
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.
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?
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.
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.
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:
Riesentraube Tomato trusses
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.
I’m a vegetarian, and although my partner and young adult living at home are not technically, they are in actuality, because I do most of the cooking.
We are not vegans, because I have severe, life-threatening allergies that prevent me from being a healthy vegan. Our happy chickens produce eggs, and we eat dairy products. I don’t enforce my dietary choices on the rest of the family – they can eat what they like – but at home for the most part, we are a veggie family.
This means that how I garden has changed quite a lot. In the past, I was a bit more haphazard about what I planted. I often planted things for fun and interest rather than what we needed. Now I plant more intentionally, thinking about the plants that supplement a healthy veggie diet. We eat a lot of legume-based Indian curries, Mexican meals like burrito bowls, quesadillas, and fajitas, tofu stir fries, soups, and some veggie burgers and pasta. With these in mind, I have planned my Spring and Summer garden around the veggies that supplement these dishes.
Chillies: a mix of very hot and milder chillies, for our curries, Mexican dishes, and stir fries, and for Indian and Mexican pickling. This year our choices include Devil’s Tongue, Jalapeño, Siam, Serrano, Guntur, Scorpion, Bird’s Eye, Habanero, Cayenne, Bhut Jolokia Chocolate. Er…we love chilli!
Capsicum: Sweet Chocolate, Italian Fryer, Quadrato D’Asti Gialo. These are sweet and frying peppers for salads, salsas, fajitas, and pasta dishes;
Eggplant: Japanese White, Thai Purple Ball, Slim Jim, and TurkishRed, for curries, fajitas, and pastas, as well as for our favourite Indian Brinjal pickle;
Basil: Lettuce Leaf, Cinnamon, and Sweet for pestos, pizza, and pasta dishes;
Squash and Zucchini: Tromboccino, Bennings Green Tint, and Lebanese, for pastas, curries, and stir fries;
Cucumbers: Gherkins, Mini Muncher, and Marketmore, for salads and pickling;
Tomatoes: Riesentraube, Green Zebra, and Mysterious, for salads, salsas, and sandwiches;
Tomatillos for salsas;
Spring onions: Candy Stick, for salads and stir fries;
Silverbeet: for stir fries and curries;
Herbs: Annual and perennial herbs for everything;
Melons: Mini Yellow Watermelon, and Rockmelon Petit Gris DeRennes;
Beans: Kentucky Wonder and Violet Queen, for stir fries and curries;
Pumpkins: Wrinkled Butternut, Buttercup, and Kent, for soups, curries, and pastas;
Lettuce: Cos and Freckled Cos, for salads.
90 per cent of these were raised from seed. All of these veggies, planted across our front and back yards and the greenhouse and balconies, when combined with dried and canned pulses, grains, dairy (cheese and milk), homemade yoghurt, and eggs from our chickens, give us a healthy veggie diet. We still supplement with some purchased produce like potatoes, onions, garlic when I run out of homegrown, ginger, and other veg I can’t grow. At the height of the season we can easily live out of the garden for at least 6 weeks, not including all the pickles we put up, which last for months.
I could choose not to do this, of course, but a) it’s fun, and b) I have the space. Also, have you seen the price of a capsicum lately? I generally believe that growing your own veggies is not cheaper than buying produce, but I have to say I might be willing to reconsider that theory soon.
We are fortunate to have a lot of space that we can dedicate to a garden and chickens. If I had less space, I would focus on growing chillies, capsicum, eggplant, lettuce, and herbs in pots.
Of course, you don’t have to be a vegetarian to have veggies that are your gardening must haves! What are your ‘go to’ Spring and Summer veggies?
It’s easy to fall behind in the garden when you only have a few hours a week. I have been keeping up on basic tasks, like watering, but a big garden like ours has myriad tasks that need to be managed regularly – and I have not been keeping on top of them. These include weeding, feeding, pest management, pruning, picking and processing the harvest, and removing spent plants. My husband and I made an agreement to get up early and get out in the garden. We both broke that agreement by lazing around in bed for longer, but we got out there by about 9:30 am, ready, if not exactly raring, to go.
Summer Pruning
Most pruning is completed in Winter, when plants are dormant. However, trees in the prunus family, such as apricots and plums, benefit from a prune in Summer after they have finished fruiting. This is because they are prone to diseases like gummosis, which can get into the cuts in the wood if the weather is damp. The apricot tree finished fruiting two weeks ago, so my husband got up on his ladder and started to prune it back. We are putting the branches on the workshop roof to season for next year’s fireplace. Firewood is expensive, so any bits and pieces we can pull together ourselves from (non-toxic) prunings saves cash.
While he pruned the apricot and plum trees, I pruned the grapevine, just a little. The wet weather in late Spring caused the early leaves and bunches to rot. New healthy leaves have since grown, but I have been intending to prune off the rotten leaves and bunches for weeks now. The vine looks much happier, if a little bereft, now. Real grape vine pruning season is in Winter, so I only pruned off the funky looking leaves.
Tomato Supports
I admit to putting off tying up tomatoes, because it’s an itchy and boring job. But there comes a point in the season where it is just necessary. Rather than using stakes, I prefer to build cages. I have tried all kinds of versions of tomato cages, but my favourite (also the quickest but one of the most expensive, unfortunately) is to use steel trellis panels, which cost about $15 each when I bought them from Bunno’s two years ago. I create a cage using four panels, tied together with zip ties. These are easy to build and easy to dismantle. Due to the cost and size, I use this style of cage for the largest indeterminate tomatoes (generally Green Zebra).
Tomato cages
The king of tomato cages is my brother, who builds very impressive structures, possibly visible from space, and also has the most impressive tomato plants in the family.
When I run out of trellis panels (and I refuse to buy more because a) cost and b) storage – I have to store them for the nine months of the year I am not using them), I build other types of supports for the other tomato plants in the garden. I have a group of three plants against the fence behind the lime tree. Using a large piece of reo mesh and two star droppers, I built a trellis to support this group. I have another piece of reo I am hoarding to build a trellis for pumpkins once they grow too large. I caught one pumpkin vine climbing the lime tree this morning, so it will not be long before I have to build a structure for it.
Reo mesh support
Of course, I could spend all day building cages for the rest of the plants…but I was feeling a bit lazy, and it’s a bit fiddly. Therefore, I decided that the standard stake and stocking tie support system would be fine. I only use the stake supports for smaller tomato plants, as they can quickly outgrow stakes if they are very vigorous plants.
All of these supports are recycled from previous years. I save the reo and trellis panels each year, and reuse the ties from previous stakes. If the stakes are not damaged from the last season, I reuse them as well. Some gardeners prefer not to reuse wooden stakes, due to problems with passing on soil borne diseases. However, I let the stakes dry out in the sun for a few days. After storing in the garden shed for twelve months, I figure they are probably ok. Once the stakes are too old and broken to reuse, I chop off the grotty end and they are used for firewood.
This season I grew all the tomato plants in my garden from seed (puffs up chest). A couple of the plants I grew from supermarket tomatoes that I thought were delicious, and saved some seed. I found one of these in the garden this morning (I had completely forgotten I had planted it). It has fruited like crazy (all green right now). I really hope that it is as delicious as I remembered. If not, I will use it to make some sauce. At the moment I am only picking a couple of cherry tomatoes a day (yellow Windowbox tomatoes – they are ok, but not really tasty). Can’t wait until the Green Zebra and Black Russians ripen up.
Feeding
The day was relatively cool, so I gave every plant in the veggie garden an organic liquid feed of the old faithful standbys Charlie Carp (a liquid fertiliser made of carp, a pest) and liquid seaweed. The grapevine and avocado tree was fed a bucket of liquid fertiliser as well. My plan for the avocado tree is to keep the water and food up each month, as tbh I have been a bit slack on both over the past twelve months. For the lemon tree and passionfruit, I also dissolved iron chelates in a watering can and watered ten litres into the root zone of each plant.
Iron chelates are a trace element that do not need to be used regularly. However, the leaves on these plants were looking yellowed, and the fruit was shrivelling. Poor fruit and yellowing leaves can be a sign of iron deficiency in fruiting plants. Iron chelates are easy to apply, following packet directions, but it is important not to overdose.
Yellowing passionfruit leaves
As the other plants (tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum) are all looking healthy and are setting healthy fruit, I do not think it is a problem with the soil nutrition generally. However some fruiting plants are much hungrier feeders than others, so it seemed a good idea to give them a dose of iron chelates to see if this will help. Time will tell. Really, looking at those passionfruit leaves, it honestly couldn’t hurt – they look so bad. This is the problem with having such limited time – there is so much to do and so little time to get everything done. I was aware there was a problem, but I may have been too slow to fix it.
The Greenhouse
The greenhouse continues to be a successful growing space. I have been unscientifically comparing the progress of plants in the greenhouse to those planted outside.
These two eggplants were both grown by seed by me, and were planted at about the same time. Eggplant One was planted in a raised bed outside, in a premium potting mix. It is watered daily, and has been fed with a liquid feed at least fortnightly.
Eggplant One, raised bed, outdoors
Eggplant Two was planted in a large pot, in the same brand of premium potting mix. In hot weather it is watered twice daily, and has been fed with a liquid feed at least fortnightly.
Eggplant Two, greenhouse
As you can see, it is at least three times the size of Eggplant One, and is flowering. With all other factors being equal (type of soil, feeding regime), greenhouse conditions seem to encourage faster growth.
Previously I have used a heated seed mat to raise seeds in small trays indoors. While the heated seed mat germinated seeds more quickly than without, the plants did not have as much light as they needed, and struggled past the initial germination phase.
I planted these borlotti bush beans nine days ago in the raised troughs in the greenhouse, watering daily. They have almost all germinated, and already have their true leaves. As they are bush beans, I will keep them in the trough for their lifecycle. I have climbing beans in the garden as well, which were planted six weeks ago, and are only about twice the size of these beans.
Borlotti bush beans
I believe that the relatively constant temperatures and excellent light in the greenhouse creates optimum growing conditions.
The greenhouse is not without pest problems. One eggplant was initially affected by whitefly, and another by white cabbage moth caterpillars. These were easily controlled by manual means (squishing). Occasionally small sparrows manage to get in, and cannot seem to figure how to get out without a little assistance. But generally, the greenhouse protects plants from most pests.
It does require consistent and diligent watering. Unlike the outdoor garden, which I can leave a day if I’m busy, it is not possible to skip watering the greenhouse. This is due both to the fact that the plants are all in containers, which dry out more quickly, and the higher temperature. Leave them for a day, and I could end up with dead plants.
My other main concern is pollination. While insects can come into the greenhouse, I worry that not enough pollinators will come in. I am thinking through different ideas to attract them – if any greenhouse gardeners have some suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Of course, I still have many tasks left to complete, but there is never enough time. I still have to work, see family, exercise, be a friend and partner and parent…life is not all gardening! Hopefully what I have done this weekend will hold the garden together for a little while.
It’s finally really lovely and warm in our parts. I have had lots of jobs to do to keep the garden alive and well, including watering the containers and raised bed daily, and keeping the watering up across the whole garden. I don’t mind this, but it is a job of work.
Fortunately, I’m on a break for the Christmas/New Year period. This is my first proper break in over a year. I am taking full advantage, getting out to the garden every day.
Garden progress
The long, cool, and wet Spring stalled the progress of eggplant, zucchini, chillies, and tomatoes, which would normally be in full fruit by now. One of the cherry tomatoes I grew from seed, a variety bred for pots called Window Box, is the only one that has fruit so far. It is a dwarf breed, unusual for a cherry tomato, and has a lot of flowers and clusters of fruit already. Apparently the fruit is yellow. I’m looking forward to tasting the fruit. I have found that some of the new breeds of cherry tomatoes do not taste great (last year’s Blueberry cherry tomato was, in my opinion, yuck). I hope WindowBox is tasty, because I have about six plants. All the other tomato plants have put on good growth and have started to flower, but no fruit yet.
As for my dreams of expansive eggplant crops, it’s not looking great. I’m thankful for the greenhouse, which will allow me to grow eggplant well into Autumn. I have planted another punnet of eggplants, as well as more seeds, with plans for a long season of eggplants in the greenhouse. Fingers crossed!
Greenhouse
Speaking of the greenhouse, it’s coming along nicely. For the first time EVER, I have planted eight watermelon seeds, and have germinated eight watermelon plants. These were a gift in a seed swap from a friend (an heirloom variety called Moon and Stars). Watermelons, along with cucumbers, are my Achilles heel, so if I can even grow one watermelon from this lot I will be very proud of myself.
The watermelons were exciting to watch. In the morning I found one had popped up from the warm soil. About an hour later, my niece found another poking its head up. By the afternoon, all eight had germinated and were stretching their leaves to the sky! How fun gardening is!
I also have cucumbers popping up, more eggplants, and basil. This greenhouse is so much fun.
Chillies Galore
At last year’s Chilli Festival I bought some chilli plants (a Devil’sTongue, and a Four-in-one pot of a Mango chilli, a Lemon chilli, an Ajo, and a Curly Toenail). While I was not a fan of the Mango chilli, all the rest were great (the Devil’sTongue is an old family favourite – very hot with a delicious flavour, and prolific). Following the advice of the stall holder, at the end of the season I cut them back by 50% and let them over winter. A couple of the four-in-one did not make it, but two did (I won’t know which until they set fruit). Over Spring the others put their leaves back on and have now started flowering happily. I’m looking forward to full crops of the others.
I also raised quite a few other chilli plants from seed, including Serrano, Gunter, Jalapeño, and Chocolate chilli. These are still quite small, but I’m hoping for a good crop. We eat chilli most days, and appreciate the flavour profiles of the different chillies, so growing many varieties is worth the time and effort for us.
The orchard
Mulberry tree
The apricot and mulberry trees are ready to harvest, and we are watching them like hawks – and so are the parrots! We have the biggest apricot crop we have ever had. The tree is too large to net, and I don’t like to do that anyway – I don’t mind the birds having some of them. But if we want to save any for ourselves, we have to pick as soon as they blush – so we check daily. We go out early in the morning and pick as many as are tinged orange, then wait for 24 hours to check again. We leave them to ripen on the kitchen bench.
Mulberries are kind of a pain to harvest. They ripen a few at a time, I think because our tree is still relatively young. We pick a couple a day, then wait for the next lot to ripen. The tree itself is beautiful, so I would not consider removing it (yet), but it has not lived up to my mulberry jam dreams.
We have a big crop of passionfruit and pomegranates coming on, but they are way off yet – at least a couple of months.
Cleaning up and potting up
A big and boring part of the past couple of weeks has just been cleaning up. I dug out the raspberry canes that have not done a damn thing over the past two years, and pulled out more bits of Audrey II, the boysenberry plant, that continues to make her presence felt (even though I dug the main part out months ago). I suggest to you that if you want to grow berries, set aside a bed that is completely separate from any other part of your garden, let them go, and don’t grow anything thorny!
At this time of the year, many of the Spring flowering annuals and herbs have flowered and are starting to set seed. They are generally looking tired and ratty. I have been clearing out all of the dead sweet peas, nasturtiums, parsley plants, and anything else looking old, dead, or tired. It’s taking quite some time and filling up my green bin quickly. To fill in the gaps I have sprinkled fast growing annual seeds like Cosmos, or planted quick growing annual colour, like Petunias. In about six weeks, I’ll start planting Spring flowering bulbs.
I’ve also repotted some sad looking houseplants, including an Umbrella plant that was miserable. I’ve had it for two years, and it started dropping leaves. When I repotted it, I found it had sported two babies. So for my repotting efforts, I have three plants now instead of one. I also repotted my beautiful Spotted Begonia, moving her up to a larger pot. She is much happier now, and I removed one of her leaves to strike into a new plant. Begonias strike easily in water, and are very easy to grow in the right conditions. I have two now (one struck from the mother plant), and they flower profusely with very little attention from me.
