This is the first time in years that we have grown a crop of pumpkins. Last spring we got six pumpkin plants growing from seeds that we had saved from a store bought piece of butternut pumpkin. We actually thought that we would only need about three or four plants but we put in six because often some seeds don’t germinate. They all did and we ended up with six very strong plants! They soon got going and quickly took over a large section of the vegetable patch. For a long while we only ever … [Read more...]
May Gardening 2014: What’s Going on in My Garden!
Well now that we are getting towards the middle of autumn, and May is almost upon us, it is really starting to get cool. We have even had a couple of mornings so cold that we have had frost warnings! And as April comes to an end we now have to turn our attention to the many May gardening jobs that need to be done. One of the more major jobs that we will be doing in our garden during May will be to plant out some of the ornamental shrubs that we currently have in pots. We always seem to … [Read more...]
April Gardening 2014: What’s Going on in My Garden!
Well we have just said goodbye to March and it is now time to start thinking about the April gardening jobs that need doing. I can’t believe that April is here already – I still haven’t done some of the jobs that I planned to do in March! Despite being well into autumn we have still been having some nice weather over the last few weeks. Earlier this week we even got up into the thirties, which is quite hot for this time of year. It is starting to feel a bit more like autumn these last couple … [Read more...]
March Gardening 2014: What’s Going on in My Garden!
Gee hasn’t March come around fast! Seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the New Year and now we are talking about March gardening! The weather has certainly changed in the last two to three weeks. The days have been just lovely lately with the temperature only getting into the high twenties or early thirties. The garden is also enjoying a break from the heatwaves that we had in January and early February. Now that things have cooled off a bit we can now finally start … [Read more...]
February Gardening 2014: What’s Going on in My Garden
Oh my goodness it has been hot these last few weeks! A week or so ago we had a run of 5 days over 40 °C and the last few days have been really hot too. It has been so hot lately it has been hard to think about what February gardening jobs might need doing besides watering the plants! We reached 41 yesterday, 42 today and we have another hot day tomorrow coming up before we get a much needed cool change. We have basically been spending our days indoors because it has been just too hot to work … [Read more...]
Controlling Cabbage White Butterfly
Planting vegetables like cabbages and broccoli usually attracts the cabbage white butterfly. Protect your patch without using sprays with these great ideas. We have really been getting into the vegetable gardening this summer. It has been great to be able to go and get some fresh carrots or a cucumber from the garden whenever we need them. We have also been enjoying home grown beetroot, garlic and peas. A few weeks ago I planted some broccoli seeds and was successful in getting two nice … [Read more...]
January Gardening 2014: What’s Going on in My Garden
Now that Christmas has been and gone for another year and the New Year is upon us it’s time to turn our attention to January gardening tasks! January and February tend to be the hottest months of summer here in Victoria. So this month we will be focusing on keeping our garden as cool and well watered as we can. We have had a couple of days here and there where the temperature has been over 35 °C and some plants have struggled a bit. But it will only get hotter over the next couple of months … [Read more...]
December Gardening 2013: What’s Going on in My Garden!
This last month has just flown by – I can’t believe that December is almost upon us! As the end of November fast approaches we now have to start thinking about the December gardening jobs that need to be carried out. For us December usually means that the garden hoses are dusted off and the watering systems are checked. Nothing has changed this year because the amount of rain that we have had lately is slowly starting to ease up. While we have had a few showers, they are becoming less … [Read more...]