Gardening 2013 Part 4

My very own raspberries. It seems that we pick a handful daily. Perfect! I freeze them for my smoothies...mmmm....

Luscious berries. What can I say... I'm so very pleased.

Zucchini. From MY garden. Ah what bliss. So, I read that courgettes (zucchini) should be picked when the size of your finger, any finger really. They say, that when they are self grown they are the sweetest and, if left to grow larger, they become tasteless and dry. I slice up one every morning into my 1 egg and 3 egg white omelet.

The sweetest carrots I've ever tasted.

My radish, all shapes and sizes. Funny thing is, I can't remember what I did with them? Maybe added them into a coleslaw...

Gardening 2013 Part 3

In this post you'll read about the new scary addition to our vegetable patch and about how we made a SAFE fungicide and pesticide.

Well, we have had a few set backs. Sigh! One, is the thieving crows and two, is the mildew growing on my zucchini plants.

Set backs, set back, but very educating ones. Firstly, I've needed to expand the little knowledge that I have on gardening, and secondly we get to build our very own custom made scare crow!

The weather has not been the best, little sun and lots of rain. It looks like my garden has taken a long pause and my pea plants have not grown a millimeter since I transplanted them. BIG sigh.

There is not much I can do, but to wait. Wait for the sun, hope the crows stay away and hope I can save my plants from mildew.

Two ways to fight fungus (mildew) on your plants. One is to mix 50:50 ratio water and milk into a spray bottle and spray generously over the leaves. Second is to puree an onion, a head of garlic and 4T cayenne pepper with 4L of water, let it sit for a hour and strain the water into a bucket and then some into a spray bottle. This can be used as both, pesticide and fungicide. Don't spray too wildly with the garlic concoction, it kills the good bugs too. 

Oh, I have a ton of reading to do tonight! I think I just might make it, just maybe. I am slightly hesitant about dreaming of canning our own produce.

Until next time!

Gardening 2013 Part 1

It's here, finally! Growing vegetables and herbs of my own, organic, with love! Below are a few pictures of what's going on and ideas and advice to share with you guys.

 Our little strawberry patch. We used lime to keep the slugs out and also sprinkled eggshells around the plants.

 Little ones. Hope they produce lots! 

 Crushed bay leaves repel ants...

 My oregano. How beautiful, even if I say so myself...

 Chives. They always remind me of my Mummo (Gramma)... Miss you so much! 

 Hubby toiling the soil. He does the hard labour and I do the detailing of the garden... Thank God! 

It's hard work! Catching his breath! And burning...

Getting ready for zucchini and cucumber plants.

I want to share with you a few ideas which we've applied into our growing vegetables and herbs this year.

1. Egg shells. We collect, crush and sprinkle them on the soil beds and garden for "slow release fertilizer" (brings flavour and sweetness to your berries, especially!) and to keep away slugs. Apparently, they repel slugs!
2. Basil and Tomatoes are buddies! Planting them side by side enhance the flavours of your toms, yum yum!
3. Plant Tarragon and Marigolds freely around your vegetables. Smart and pretty pest control.
4. Strawberries like "sandy" soil. This I have witnessed with my own eyes. They went from floppy-droopy to "OH HELLO!" in 10minutes after transplanting them.
5. Create a ring around your garden with lime (alkaline) to keep slugs and snails away, completely.
6. Make a wasp trap out of water, sugar and rice wine vinegar. For how to, click (HERE)

That's all for Gardening 2013 Part 1