Front Yard Veggie Patch Feeding the wicking beds a small harvest

Its mid Winter here in the patch so last weekend I knocked over a few jobs that needed doing before the weather starts to warm up.
The asparagus plants got a good trim & the beds were feed some home made compost & aged horse manure. Also planted out a few extra broccoli to see if we can squeeze in another crop before summer.




This weekend it will be a few beds out the back that get the same treatment. Also have some ginger & turmeric to harvest so am looking forward to that.
Cheers all.

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Backyard Farm garden update Air Pruning Compost plans for the patch 18th Dec 2014

Time for a bit of an update on the veggie patch in our little Backyard Farm now that Summer has well & truly hit SE Queensland..  
Was working on a few clips but they unfortunately got lost when the hard drive crashed so I thought Id give you a quick look at a few of them all in one clip.. 

Will have a follow up post on the wicking beds & how they fare during the high temperatures we had during Spring posted in the next day or so ;-)

If anyone in Australia is interested in purchasing the Root Pouches you can find a tab to our small store under our banner above..

Cheers all & have a great one.. 

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A couple of updates on the patch

Backyard Aquaponic update, more plans & jobbies. 29th April 2013
Not much happening with the aquaponics of late other than plants growing & fish swimming.. The radial flow filter is yet to be included into the main feed line to the grow beds.. It needs a few minor alterations so it can be cleaned out more effectively before that can happen though..



Have been inspired to start off a small 2000L/530gal fish farm so am making plans to clear some space to include it next to the aquaponics.. Hope to make a start on that as soon as I can save up some extra coin :)

Wicking bed & Straw bale garden update.. 1st May 2013
Really love the growth the garden puts on at this time of year but with the milder weather creeping up on us I think I will be wishing it was spring soon enough.. The hay bale bed looks to be working just fine & am looking forward to planting out some spuds soon using Peter Cundalls no-dig potato method ..



Have made a proper start on the hoop house extension & hope to have all the frame up by next weekend so you should see some progress on that in the next update..


For more regular updates & pictures from the patch come visit us on our Bits Out the Back Facebook page..
Have a great one All...

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Grow Bucket Update with a quick walk through the patch

Just a update walk through Clip....

& an update on the Bucket experiment... (lazy I know....)

Shall do a proper post soon on whats been going on in the patch later this week...

Have a great one all!!!

: )»

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Wander through the patch

Update Video...
 The Monday morning update video might become a regular occurrence to help us keep track on the gardens progress as a whole me thinks... If Im too boring let me know & I shall try to incorporate a jig or square dance in the middle to liven it up...

Have a great week all....

: )»

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The Potted Veg Patch

Thought I would just put up some Pictures of our first garden that we put in when we bought this house.
We did have an awesome potted Veggie garden at the last rental we had which we put down to using Wetpots and Worm castings. Unfortunately We  lost our supply of cheap worm castings not long after buying here.  As a result the plants never did as well and we gave up gardening for about 4 years.  : (»

       Large Wetpot Enveloped by roots.     Inground, Small & Large Wetpots.

The system was feed water from the above Garbage Bin reservoir.  The Wetpots kept the plants going but due to our lack of knowledge and the before mentioned  loss of our worm casting supply, the plants just never preformed that well.
Knowing what we do now, I think we could give it a good shot and replicate our first results if we gardened in pots with Wetpots again.
  
  Wetpot watering system can be purchased through  http://www.productivegardens.com.au/wet-pot-olla-watering-systems/
Please note, Im not affiliated with Productive Gardens or Wetpots in any way, just think theyre an awesome way to irrigate your potted veggie patch.

Have a great One.

: )»

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Catch up Time Aquaponics Chooks a wander through the veggie patch

Has been a while since I ventured over here to blog land so thought I would do a bit of a catch up post..Think we shall start with he Fish..

Aquaponics...
I did a "What is Aquaponics" style clip a few weeks ago to help a friend explain aquaponics to her family members.. Not a real in depth one but it will gives a rough idea on how the system works including the relationship between the fish, bacteria & plants.. It also shows a bit of the growth in the system if your interested on how its looking at the moment..

Not much has happened with the aquaponics of late which is a good thing on one hand but frustrating on the other... The fish are all well & happy (so they tell me) with the growth in the beds travelling along fine.. The celery is still being picked every couple of days & the strawberries have been fruiting well..

Harvested our first aquaponic pepino last weekend which was great.. There are a load on there with a few easily 50% larger than the fruit above :D
Really hoping to get the grow beds sorted out into their new positions by the start of spring.. First a wicking bed needs to be pulled down & the ground levelled to make room for them.. The new configuration should free up some space to try out a few new ways to grow plants with the system..

Hanging with the Chooks...
The chooks are at the top of their game at the moment.. Greedy decided to moult at the start of winter, which was a bit of a concern to us, but grew back back a fine set of feathers just in time for the few cool nights we have had this winter.. Have started to make up 2-3 lots of sprouted wheat a week for the girls.. I think they now recognise the sprouting jar as there is much flapping & excitement when we go wandering down to the pen with it.. Have also had a go at growing them some wheat sprouts as a fodder crop in the aquaponics but have shelved that idea for a little while :)

Hope to make a start on the modified feeder & shall do a bit of a report on that once it is done for those interested..


Wandering the patch...
Have got stuck into a few jobs around the place of late getting the patch ready for the warm season crops.. There are some tomato, eggplant & capsicum seedlings that have just started to germinate which is a great sight to see..
 

Some water chestnuts have also made it into some small 100mm pots to give them a bit of a head start before going into the sedge bathtub bed that will be set up near the aquaponics..

 The yacon are starting to throw up shoots  & I think we will have more than enough for our purposes this year.. Have quite a few earmarked for other people & have already given a fair few away.. 

Made a decent start in setting up the new front yard garden beds as well.. There are now 4 IBC wicking beds along the front retaining wall with another 4 going in over the coming weeks.. The first 2 beds have the asparagus in them with some heirloom corn planed for at least one of the other beds..  Hope to do a post on them by themselves once they are in & growing :)

Garden walk around clips..
Have a couple of clips on whats happening in the patch at the moment... The first is of the front yard last week before the new beds went in..

The pigeon pea still havent been harvested but when they have I shall post about our attempt at making humus with them...Should be interesting methinks..


The second clip is of the backyard patch with a bit of a quick look at the 2 new pineapple flowers that have just started to form :)

Hope to make a proper start to the insect house extension soon as well (looks at list of jobbies).. After last seasons success with keeping the fruit fly out I think we might finally get a chance at growing some decent tomatoes & capsicums :) 

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Well that brings us roughly up to date... Shall post some project updates over the next few days to bring the blog up to speed all proper like ;)
Hope all are well & happy out there & have been having fun in the garden..
Cheers,
Rob..

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A wander through our Subtropical Veggie Patch The early Winter edition 2015

Hi folks. 
Had a few people ask how things are going in the veggie patch & finally managed to do a "quick" clip on the hoop house section of our veggie patch. Funnily enough our Winter veggie patch here in the Subtropics looks very similar to many friends that are growing in North America, the UK & Europe at the moment.





Am looking forward to harvesting the first of our winter veg like cauliflower & broccoli. Still have a few summer crops that need to be harvested like the yacon, turmeric & ginger as they take a bit longer to mature in our climate.  Hope to post some harvest clips on them soon.
Hope everyone else is having a great season,
Rob.?

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Jobbies for the patch

WOO HOO !!!!!

I have the day to myself tomorrow so I shall be doing all the little jobbies around the yard I have put on hold because of rain or other disruptions...
There are seeds to sow, plants to plant, Barrels to Wick, a pond to make & a little bit of landscaping to do...
I have an inkling that the onions seeds I have planted out on the 17 & 18th oh march may have failed as I have only seen 1 variety sprout.... It may just be me being impatient but am going to plant out some punnets of seed just in case... They wont go to waste as they will just be popped in throughout the patch & yard if the others have failed...

List of jobbies.... Shall come back & mark these once they are completed...
- Pot out Pineapple top
- Plant out Elephant & Glen Large Garlic  Saturday With B?
- Plant out Dill with Cucumbers  Monday afternoon
-Sow Broccoli seed in with Cucumbers Monday afternoon
- Sow onion & Carrot tape in bathtub bed Saturday afternoon
- Transplant B?s Comfrey & some Aloe vera around the Lemon Tree
- Re pot Amish Paste Tomatoes the same way Ray does on his Praxxus You Tube channel Monday afternoon
- Pot up Chilli seedlings
- Watch countless more You Tube gardening clips Might wait till after jobbies are done...
- Wick up a garden bed for family member
- Investigate for root growth on the Eggplant, Sacred Basil & Tomato cuttings we took on the 17th of March & re pot if needed
-Cut down Barrels, wash then make 3 Wicking Barrels & 1 pond from them (Video on Wicking Barrels on this in post above...) Friday & Saturday afternoons
- Attach wire to the top of chook yard roof Saturday afternoon
- Plant out Panama Red Passion fruit in Wicking Barrel in chook Yard Saturday afternoon
- Make up more Compost Tea after current brew is used Saturday afternoon Monday afternoon
- Harvest top tray of Castings from old Worm farm
- Remove some of the shade cloth
- Pot up Lemongrass for friends Monday afternoon

Thats all I can think of for now but shall add extra when I think of them as there is always more...

Pale-headed Rosella...

We got a visit from this lovely yesterday so thought I would  share... They normally visit in pairs but this one was flying solo so may not of found a mate as of yet...

Have a great one all...
: )»

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Casual weekend planing out the patch

Getting ready for Spring...

 Its that time again when we start deciding which winter plants are ready to cull, which beds need a good feed & which if any need to be moved or removed... If we dont make a start now we will be behind the 8 ball for the Spring plantings...
This is a rough plan of what we would like to have done by the end of Spring... There are a few more beds I would like to add in the next few months but they will have to wait until the Aquaponics system has been set up.... Have also started to look out for plans to make a Black Solider Fly farm to grow some more food for the Fish & Yabbies to make it easier on the wallet & healthier for them...





 Decided to start with the Brussels Sprout barrel as it just wasnt preforming very well... Have also made a tentative start on the IBC Aquaponic system... Well,  moved the pavers, levelled off some soil & pondered the layout over an ale with B?...

Will be laying off the fish feed for a day or so to see what happens to the levels...

Also cut up a few barrels to turn into Wicking barrels but really didnt accomplish as much as I wanted but thats always the way... Such is...

Harvest Shots...

The Swiss Brown Mushrooms have been a tad slow in producing so I am hoping that moving them into a warmer spot might aid in better growth... Have only gotten 300 or so grams in the past 2 weeks...
I might try a method I read about in the Simple Savings forum where you grow your own using chopped up "ripe" Mushies that are dropping their spores to start up another farm... Always up for playing around...

We harvested the last of the Dragon Carrots from Bed #1.. They will be vacuum sealed & frozen.. The lemons are being picked every few days & many a Lemony treat has been made for home & B?s work in the past couple of weeks.. Always nice to share with work mates & family... The Sugarsnap Peas are starting to get woody & are not as sweet as the past few harvests so 1 lot was pulled & the second has been left after getting a good feed with Fish, Seaweed & Rock dust fertilisers to see if we can pick them up a bit... A large handful of baby Spuds was taken from a bag

  We also got our first bug/maggot free Capsicum!!!!! **DOES BIG HAPPY DANCE**   It will go well in a roast Lamb & Quinoa salad me thinks... The Cape Gooseberries are slowing down a bit... We are getting 5-10 every few days so its a race down to the patch to see who can gobble them first at the moment...
Feel free to ask questions or offer advice...
Have a great one all...
: )»

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Update Walk through the patch 5th of April

Update Video... 
Another walk through the yard...

Compost Tea...
Oops....Forgot include the Tea into the Video... I did up a smaller, more concentrate batch using the air stone & molasses... I didnt really notice a difference between the control plants & the watered ones this week but will give it 3 more weeks/batches of the tea & then report back...

Other bits...
 There are a few jobbies I need to finish off that were not done on the weekend like potting out the Pineapple & removing some shade cloth but should have them knocked off by the weekend...

Harvested to first of this batch of Zucchini yesterday along with a Cucumber & 2 smallish Eggplants... The Zucchini & Eggplant are going into a sauce in about 10 min... : )»
We had some soil & sand delivered to make up some more Wicking barrels & accidentally got too much sand so it looks like we might just have to build another bed in the next few weeks... Such a shame... Hope B? doesnt mind...                 **very cheeky GRIN**
We put the batch of manure we had into the barrels last weekend so got 8 more bags on Friday... B? hasnt seen them as of yet..  Have also thought up another stage in the compost screening process, shall be built later this week, that should make the job of breaking it down faster...
We are also putting the finishing touches on our first pond in the garden which should be stocked with some Pacific Blue Eye fish & some plants later today....
**Does BIG HAPPY DANCE**

Thats about it for now...
Have a great one all....

: )»

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Finishing off the front veggie patch home made compost

& now there are 6...
As mentioned in the last blog I have been rather busy over the past few weeks trying to get the front garden beds up & running.. Added another 2 beds over the weekend just past to bring the total number of beds up to 6..

The last 2 beds will be made up in a few weeks time after we pick up a couple of ½ tanks that have been offered to us (Thank you sir).. Once they are all in Bianca & I will decide on what sort of cladding will be added to them to finish them off..
I have decided to keep using the wicking beds in the front yard after seeing how invasive the onion weed has been in the hay bale & lasagne style beds.. Not sure we will use IBC or tin style beds in the lawn as of yet & still have some tin put aside if we want to go down that road.. The compact dimensions of the IBCs would suit the slope of the land better but the tin beds wouldnt need to be clad so it will be something we think about later..

Wicking IBC beds...
Have been using the IBCs as wicking beds for a while now & have come up with a few modifications on the way they are being put together so they can store water in the reservoir..

Will be interesting to see how they go over summer once it kicks off.. I have a feeling that the corn in particular will be very appreciative of having the extra water available to it..

Harvesting the compost...
We have had 2 "slow cooking" piles of compost going in the patch now for close to 8 months.. As I ran out of horse manure on the weekend I decided to raid these piles to help add some organic matter to the new beds.. One pile was actually supposed to be a "Back to Eden" style wood mulch that just "cooked" a tad too much..

Must say that was very pleased with the way both batches had broken down & have already used over ½ of the composted timber pile.. There is a fair amount of the clipping compost left & think that most of that will be used in the last 2 IBC beds planed for the front yard..

Super fast manure mulching...

As you may have guessed by now I love using horse manure in the gardens & as an edible bedding for the compost worms.. The manure we normally get has been sitting in a pile for a few weeks before it is bagged up so is semi composted & normally very moist.. My local supplier was out of his finest pony poop when I stopped in on Saturday but I was lucky enough to get a few bags the next day from local farm gate.. Some of these pellets had been "sun baking" for a bit becoming rather hard to push through the screen so the big guns were brought out to process it : )»

Have tried the lawn mower method before with the moist manure but it just didnt want to cooperate by clumping up & stalling the mower.. Am thinking that I might be sun drying the moist manure for a few days in the future then running over it with the mower.. Will also save the gloves from extra wear & tear methinks...

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Looking at playing around with a chook feeder this week so shall do a quick post on that once its built..
There is also our Bits Out the Back Facebook page that we post mini updates on the worms, fish & veggie patch if you feel like a visit..

Have a great one all..

: )»

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Hot stuff from the patch Sambal oelek Chilli Paste

We have been very lucky so far this year in that we have had no **crosses every digit * fruit fly strike any of the chillies in the patch.. The bell chillies near the house were my big concern as they have no protection unlike the the large chilli in the hoop house.. 
A few weeks ago I decided to use up the collected chillies in a chilli paste so went searching on the interwebs for some inspiration.. An online friend (Tar Joy) pointed me in the direction of one she had tried & liked.. It looked promising but we were missing a few ingredients so I decided to make up my own using the recipe as a rough guide..
Below is what we came up with & am quite chuffed to say that the sugar & vinegar are the only ingredients we didnt grow ourselves :)»

Sambal Oelek...

• 500g/1 lb chillies, chopped
• 300g/10½oz galangal, peeled & chopped (some ginger would be nice as well as or instead of the galangal)
• 300g/10½oz garlic, peeled
• 4 stalks of lemongrass, chopped
• 2tbsp of grated lime skin (we use our kaffir fruit)
• small hand full of Kaffir lime leaves
• 350ml/1.5cup coconut vinegar
• 200g/7oz rapadura sugar
  
  

Add all ingredients, except for the sugar & vinegar, to the food processor & chop on high for about 30 seconds.
Slowly pour the vinegar in while the processor is on high until a smooth paste has formed.
Move the paste to a saucepan & bring to the boil.
Slowly add the sugar & stirred through until dissolved.
Reduced the heat & let simmer on low for 5 minutes. Adding a lid at this stage will aid in the clean up later as I found out ;)»

 This batch filled 3 sterilised 500ml jars..  2 of these were added to a hot water bath for 10 or so minutes so they could be stored for later use with one being gifted to some friends..

We have been very pleased with the fresh citrus flavour off this paste.. We have used it to spice up some leftover roast pork & also to make an AWESOME coconut prawn curry.. Cant wait to experiment with the next batch we make up..
Nice & easy Chilli paste..
A simple no frills recipe to make up this basic yet versatile paste..
Thanks to Granny Mel for a few pointers on the paste..
250g/½lb Chillies, chopped in ½
125ml/½ cup Vodka
15g/½oz salt
2Tbsp water



Process chillies on high for 30 seconds or until finely chopped.
Add to saucepan with water & salt then bring to the boil.
Reduce to a high simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Turn hotplate off & allow past to cool for 5 minutes.
Stir Vodka through paste then add to sterilised jar & seal.
I would recommend storing it in the fridge.

This is such a basic recipe that only takes 15 minutes to whip up & can be used in so many different styles of cooking..

Shall post the other chilli paste recipes later if I think they are tasty enough..

For more regular updates about the patch come visit us at https://www.facebook.com/Bitsouttheback
Have a great one All...
:)»

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Wednesday Walk through the Veggi patch Buckets

Wicking Vs Global Buckets...
Have been watching a few clips on You Tube on the Earth Boxes & the DIY versions including the Global Buckets... I have decided to give the Global Buckets a shot as I can see the merits of the system... I wanted to do a comparison between the Global & Wicking buckets just to see which method will produce the best crops for us due to the limited garden space I am allowed...

Will be following the Buckets progress in the weekly Walk through the patch just to show the growth between the 3 lots of plants...

Walk through the Veggie Patch...

It has been 7 days since the seeds were planted into punnets & placed into the mini makeshift hot box but still no sign of any shoots so a bit disappointed there...
In the Box I put,
6 Purple Cauliflower
6 Sugarloaf Cabbage
3 Dwarf Kale
3 Red Russian Kale
3 Yellow Capsicum
4 Perennial Capsicum
4 Udumalapet Eggplant
We have had cooler nights so a Styrofoam Hot Box may be built to give them a kick start...
 
New Seeds...
We received some more seeds from Eden Seeds this week...
Snake Bean, Black seeded
Bean, Blue Lake climbing (organic)
Eggplant, Rosa Bianca (organic)
Eggplant Udumalapet
Cauliflower, All Year Round
Cucumber, Muncher Burpless
Cabbage Walking stick...

The a few seeds of the Walking Stick Cabbage, 2 beans, Cauliflower & the Rosa Bianca Eggplant will be planted out into punnets today... Will be a tight squeeze in the patch but not too worried as there are 4 Wicking barrels that can be made up if need be + the old Sweet Potato bed can be cleaned out...


I have been told no more gardening until some chairs get fixed & a chair rail goes up in the dining room... Must get to it me thinks...

Have a great one all...

: )»

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