Our self-imposed challenge was to grow our own vegetables (from seed) successfully enough that we needn’t buy them at the supermarket for a whole year. Three months later? Here’s our update….
As you can tell by our bold header, we think we did pretty well!
In September the backyard was a grassy slope. After measuring up some timber for retaining boards, digging a few holes, and moving 9 cubic metres of top soil (that’s 200 barrow-loads from front driveway, up steps, over deck, down steps, navigating washing line, to garden) and we had ourselves a garden, and a few blisters.
While garden antics were underway we had begun to quietly grow from seed in the greenhouse we’d built back in August in order to give the garden a head-start. This worked exceptionally well. By the time the garden was ready, we had seedlings ready to plant.
Potatoes- Corn
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Mixed lettuces
- Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Onions
- Tomato
- Beans (broad, dwarf purple, green)
- Peas
- Radish
- Capsicum
- Jalapeno
- Melon (watermelon and honey melon)
- Spring Onion
- Basil, Coriander, Parsley
Bean supports were put in place (bamboo and cable ties), home-made tunnels where created (legs of old trampoline and insect netting), and seed packets were carefully re-read to ensure the spacing was accurate.
For the record, we didn’t follow the instructions (seemed excessive spacing at the time) and now we know why!!
Everything is growing madly. Particularly after Labour Weekend with the heat and heavy rain combination, the soil temperature is high and literally everything is growing wild.
We had assembled some water-butts to collect rainwater from the greenhouse roof (from $10 garbage bins and a recycled wheelie bin, with a few bits of pipe) and everything is so far going to plan – although we’re not complaining when it rains, as literally ‘the garden needs it’.
Within three months we’ve been able to grow our own salad — lettuce, radish, carrot, spring onion, peas, beans. No tomatoes yet — but we reckon these are just weeks away from ripening.
Tomorrow it’s harvest day for the beans and peas as if we let them grow too madly they’ll get a bit old-stale tasting, or spoil. We can’t have that — not after three months of garden love.
It has taken time, determination and commitment (a bit like parenting) and we are delighted how our garden grows.
