Fiona&malc

we've got a Washington Navel orange tree, and a lemon tree, i also grow my own herbs cause it was getting to epxensive buying fresh herbs all the time, ive got Parsley, Coriander,Basil and Rosemary, which are doing really well

the kids have thier own Strawberry and Tomato plants which they love watering and looking after

bridie

At the moment we just have lime and lemon trees and a few chillis - I'd like to buy a couple of half wine barrels and grow a few veggies in though, and some herbs.

I caught the end of the ABC gardening programme on Saturday (cant stand that northern bloke so dont tend to watch it) and it showed a Greek guy who had this huge veggie garden - he said that actually it took less water to keep his garden going that it would if he gave it all up and started eating fruit & veg from shops... food for thought

Rarn

Ahhh I LOVE Peter Cundall the northern man....

if you mulch loads with hay, put cardboard down to rot - it helps keep the moisture - permaculture methods mean little or no watering - gotta be good in the climate!

And we all need a rain tank

alicecat

We grow basil, mint, rosemary, sage, chives, oregano and thyme (but the thyme is really struggling to get started)

We have a little lemon tree in a pot called Lotsa Lemons that produced at least 5 lemons this first year.

We also grow beans, courgettes, rocket and tomatoes (although the crop in North Queensland boiled on the vine!)

We only use tap water in the watering can on the proper water restriction days and use grey water at other times. The water collected from the shower as it heats up before you get in is also good for veges! We mulch to keep moisture in and water them straight to their roots in the evening to prevent too much evaporation.

We also have our own chickens so we get our own eggs too.

kezzabird

We grow basil, mint, rosemary, sage, chives, oregano and thyme (but the thyme is really struggling to get started)

We have a little lemon tree in a pot called Lotsa Lemons that produced at least 5 lemons this first year.

We also grow beans, courgettes, rocket and tomatoes (although the crop in North Queensland boiled on the vine!)

We only use tap water in the watering can on the proper water restriction days and use grey water at other times. The water collected from the shower as it heats up before you get in is also good for veges! We mulch to keep moisture in and water them straight to their roots in the evening to prevent too much evaporation.

lovely and you can use chicken poo on the garden, I'm told the veges love it.

annqldau

It is recommended that if you are standing your pots in bottoms that will collect water, that you fill bottoms of these with sand as well to prevent mozzies collecting in the water but still allows the water to remain for plants to suck up.

annqldau

Just found this bit about potatoes

http://www.humeseeds.com/potato.htm
You also can plant potatoes under black plastic. Cut open a piece of the black plastic, and plant a potato piece. The potato tubers will develop as they would in the open ground. However, the tubers that develop close to the surface of the soil are shaded by the black plastic and should not develop the green inedible portions that often are found on other tubers. The black plastic also will aid in controlling weeds.

There's also an interesting bit about growing in tires in there as well.

http://www.suttons.co.uk/GrowingGuides.htm Sutton seeds also have a comprehensive growing guide including veg at the end but would need to be considered with Aussie heat in mind as is written for UK.

saoghalbeag

Yeah! I usually (unintentionally) kill all plants (moved here 2 1/2 months ago and death toll stands at 6. About the same amount still living

but I've managed to grow tomatoes! At least I hope they are!! I bought a wee but of green plants at Coles and as I've got no yard, only a balcony, I dropped them in a massive bucket (that the lady at Mitre 10 told me I needed) and they've gone crazy! Two little potential tomatoes getting bigger every day!

I even went away for a week and didn't water them and they're still alive!

I found lots of basic info on the internet - especially on the ABC Gardening show page.

I love the concept of growing things, I'm just terrible in practice. It's been great for my daughter though (18mths), she is just old enough to stand there with the hose on the plants while I nip away and do other stuff, hahaha!

Mushrooms are a great idea. Never occurred to me.

And I'm living in the desert, so especially stoked to have managed at least 2 tiny fruits of my labour!!

annqldau

So short of an I'V bag what have people come up with to water there plants?

Grayling

Soapy (not detergent) water such as bath or shower water will not harm plants and are, in fact, used to control a number of pests.

G

sme

Well it pored down here this afternoon - no plant watering worries for me tonight

annqldau

Has there not been talk in the past of the bugs been taken up by the plants and found in the fruit???

youngy73

weve grown heaps of things in the past but now just grow the things we eat a lot of. toms, various lettuce, spinach, egg plant, cucumber. also got lemons, limes , oranges, paw paw,pineapples, passion fruit x2 varieties and sugar bananas. used to grow heaps of herbs but found we didnt use them all so now just got oregano, basil, mint and coriander. got ginger and various chillies to.

Grayling

Soapy water has been used for years to control blackfly.

Can't see that it is any worse for bugs than manure is.

G

annqldau

Human crap must be stronger than horse crap but def read things at one point saying that was a problem.