Any 2018 harvest yet?

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@Dutchs yes we are another family that hates waste too, and we preserve everything around here and all our vegetable scraps also get trench composted back into the soil and even our dried grass clippings and leaves and herb prunings also get mulched up with the Lucerne hay and used for garden mulch as well. If we have excess we also sell it and if we still have more we give it away to people at church and our neigbours after we supply ourselves with a years supply.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
@Dutchs yes we are another family that hates waste too, and we preserve everything around here and all our vegetable scraps also get trench composted back into the soil and even our dried grass clippings and leaves and herb prunings also get mulched up with the Lucerne hay and used for garden mulch as well. If we have excess we also sell it and if we still have more we give it away to people at church and our neigbours after we supply ourselves with a years supply.
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Wise..very wise. I particularly like that you give to your church community. I completely understand taking care of you and your's first. Otherwise you would never have anything to give back...... I find you to be a wise individual from talking to you here.....Well done. I too am working on composting. It can be a very harsh environment here from time to time and the soil needs all the help it can get!
 
Bacpacker said:
Very nice harvest Dutches. I have melons on the vine, but the biggest is about the size of a softball.
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Thank You bacpacker....I went ahead and took all of those even though I am sure some aren't totally ripe. I am seeing them burst from so much rain on the the vine so i figured get them and eat them ripe or not rather than let them waste. I have a whole other row i just planted 3 or so weeks ago as well on the watermelons that appear to be coming along nicely. A very nice individual on another website sent me seeds for a Cross pollinated WhiteWonder/ Orangeglo variety that seemed very interesting and they seem to be very much enjoying the Florida weather!!
 
Bacpacker said:
Dutches, do you do seed swaps? I used to with some folks on another forum. That seemed to go over well.
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I am a member of SEED SAVERS EXCHANGE. I just joined and have just bought my first seeds there but I am definitely game to the idea. I have tons of seeds right now. I have a lot just because I'm obsessive and just bought what ever I thought would be something i like. Now i am sure I have more even then i will probably use. I need to reel in my obsessive/compulsive side. My wife says I'm nuts.....She may be right but I am having a ton of fun being that.....
 
I tend to go off the deep end like that at times. I've got a lot of older seed I need to cull out. But just can't bring myself to. I've never joined Seed savers, but I do look thru there stuff sometimes. I like baker creek seeds, lots of heirloom types. There are many others like that too.
I liked the one on one swaps pretty good. We always would work out a swap for something we didn't have. That might be a challenge with you though. LOL
 
The last time someone trusted me with a rare seed... a rare variety of a speckled pea... I had a severe drought that summer and killed 5 deer to keep them out of the pea patch... The next year the handful of seed I harvested didn't germinate. The lady who entrusted me passed away from cancer...

I felt so bad, I failed her legacy. :(

I wish I could find a strain of "chick peas". I haven't seen those since I was a kid.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
What a good idea @Bacpacker & @Dutchs to have or organise a garden seed swap :) . Just wondering if I can send saved seeds to the United States from Australia though ?, anyone know what your import rules are ?.
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I don't know of any issues. I get Bulbs direct from Holland and have seen many places overseas from America selling on Amazon and E-Bay. I suppose there may be some exotics restrictions but between friends i don't see an issue.
 
Not a harvest here yet but some very nice growing plants IMO.....
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Nice melons and peppers Dutches. What kind of melons are those? They look like Charelston Grey's to me.
I have no idea about import/export type stuff. I know there are restrictions on produce and plants, but not sure about seeds.

We picked 3 gallons of okra last 2 days, 5 more gallons of cukes, and 4 gallons of patty pan squash. I should have some cantaloupes ready in the next week or two. Sugar baby watermelons not long after that.
 
Bacpacker said:
Nice melons and peppers Dutches. What kind of melons are those? They look like Charelston Grey's to me.
I have no idea about import/export type stuff. I know there are restrictions on produce and plants, but not sure about seeds.

We picked 3 gallons of okra last 2 days, 5 more gallons of cukes, and 4 gallons of patty pan squash. I should have some cantaloupes ready in the next week or two. Sugar baby watermelons not long after that.
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A fella from another forum sent me the seeds. Seems he cross pollinated White Wonder and Oranglo. I'll cut one open so you can see it soon. Seems they are orange inside.
 
Harvested two beautiful glossy eggplants and two very first unfertilised zucchini.
There aren't any male zucchini flowers blooming atm so I picked off the female flowers with their tiny
undeveloped fruit and ate them raw or they'd rot on the plant.

Both lots of tomatoes are setting fruit.
I have lots of Hakauri turnips but I'm leaving them and just eating the greens.
Lots of red russian kale, giant spinach and multi-coloured chard.

Snow peas are setting flowers and I'm out there every day grazing on growing tips to keep it
from over growing the top of the trellis.

No luck yet with dill seeds germinating.
I'm going to buy seedlings AND a packet of seeds from a big box hardware store
next pension now that I have a few spare dollars.
 
@Tank-Girl sounds like your garden is going really well :) . Our snow peas and early Massey peas are setting blooms too and I will have to go down and check if we have any to pick yet. We have a few turnips but some of them have been hit by the frosts but still have turnips on them. We will plant some more in a more sheltered area shortly.
 
I've had sweetcorn for a week now, pulled the first ear yesterday that was past it's prime... shame, with this heat, only a few days left for sweetcorn, My okra isn't anywhere near ready. We replanted 3 times before we go a good stand and it's coming along nicely. The squash is gone. My 20 rows of purple hull peas are in full bloom so maybe by the first of august...
 
Got 1 pint of cherry tomatoes and 2 medium sized zucchini.
Also got the first pint of blackberries from the bushes today. Think I have another 2 or 3 pints before they're finished

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@NannyPatty we are currently at -5 oc overnight here and around 13 - 19 oc during the days here. We live on a mountain plateau inland on the east coast of Australia. Summers here are average day temperatures of around 30 - 45 oc and winters anywhere from - 11 oc - 3 oc in the mornings to 13 - 20 oc during the days we vary during every year. The first year we moved here the summer was 45 oc and the first winter was -11 oc in the mornings.

In winter we plant most of our frost sensitive plants such as tomatoes so they are somewhat protected from frosts near fences etc and silver beet and capsicums under the canopies of eucalypt trees which seems to be working for us. I saved the seeds from heirloom cherry tomato seeds that survived the frosts over 4 years and now we have sort of our own acclimatised breed of frost resistant cherry tomatoes we eat fairly much all year round unless we get hot summers.

I freeze cherry tomatoes whole after washing to get us through the hotter summer months.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
@NannyPatty we are currently at -5 oc overnight here and around 13 - 19 oc during the days here. We live on a mountain plateau inland on the east coast of Australia. Summers here are average day temperatures of around 30 - 45 oc and winters anywhere from - 11 oc - 3 oc in the mornings to 13 - 20 oc during the days we vary during every year. The first year we moved here the summer was 45 oc and the first winter was -11 oc in the mornings.

In winter we plant most of our frost sensitive plants such as tomatoes so they are somewhat protected from frosts near fences etc and silver beet and capsicums under the canopies of eucalypt trees which seems to be working for us. I saved the seeds from heirloom cherry tomato seeds that survived the frosts over 4 years and now we have sort of our own acclimatised breed of frost resistant cherry tomatoes we eat fairly much all year round unless we get hot summers.

I freeze cherry tomatoes whole after washing to get us through the hotter summer months.
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Thank you! I’m only used to the Fahrenheit here, so I’ll have to look your temps up!
 
Meerkat said:
Thats it, Dutchy! First the melons now another of my favorite's okra! I can't take much more of this. :( Showoff.

Looking great .:gardening::great:
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Sorry MK! I've just been so happy that anything at all has grown. I only get to tend it during the weekends and it's my first REAL garden. If it's any consolation I have had some failures. My Eggplant didn't take. My garlic ..Nutin! I tried bunching onions twice and didn't work either time. My second crop of potatoes failed and my Beets were dismal! Trial and error is fun though and I think I'm getting better at it and really learning a TON on the way! It's a lot of fun to me.....
 
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