Bounty from my garden

Against all odds we managed to have our first meal from my square foot garden.  In spite of the army of green worms, the colourful 'Jiminy Crickets' and the vervet monkeys, I was able to harvest a handful of baby sweet corn, egg plant, peppadews, spring onions, garlic chive, baby tomatoes, basil and wild rocket.
We had boiled sweet corn on the cobb, a rataouille of egg plant, onion, peppers, chives and tomatoes and a green salad with a few lettuce leaves, bite sized tomatoes, shredded red cabbage leaves, basil and rocket.

I have also been able to pickle and bottle three lots of peppadews.  There's definitely some genetic satisfaction in growing and harvesting your own food, even in such small quantities.  We savoured every mouthfull having nutured, protected, rescued, harvested and prepared these little miracles from a 1.5m X 1.5m garden. 
The cucmbers are growing fatter and longer, the gemsquash have shot up the makeshift trellis like Jack-and-the-beanstalks and the green peppers have little green lantern bells on them. 

I made three little jars of basil and rocket pesto using two cups of basil and wild rocket, a handful of garlic chives, a cup of chopped walnuts, olive oil and some grated parmesan cheese.  On Friday night we had gnocchi and pesto with a salad from the garden - Yum!  And I was able to give Tammy and Patty each a jar of home made pesto.

Heat, caterpillars and vervet monkeys!

 

Its not only farmers who have to battle the elements and nature.  Many challenges face a Square Foot Gardener.  After spraying the cabbages and brinjals (egg plants) with Margaret Robert's magic muti, the worms disappeared and new leaves started to sprout from the centre of the cabbage plants. 

The sweet corn stalks grew taller and taller and after displaying a bushel of seedy flowers at the top, little bearded corn cobs started poking through the base of the leaves on the stalks.  The Gem squash looked all but dead and then after one heavy day of rain, new green leaves miraculously appeared and tiny tendrills started searching for something to cling to.  I erected a trellis from the other half of the wrought-iron arch (the rest of it is now holding up the cucumbers) and strung twine across it so that they have something to climb up. 

The brinjal plants all produced large lavender, bell like flowers.  All looked good in my 1.5m X 1.5m Garden of Eden.

But then ....  disaster.  Another onslaught of green worms attacked the new cabbage leaves and once again they have lacey centers. I've had to spray again.

Grasshoppers landed on the brinjal leaves chomped through huge holes, resulting in some of the leaves curling up and drooping.

But, worst of all, a troop of hungry vervet monkeys found the sweet corn and stripped all but four of the almost ready to harvest corn cobs. 

Some they ate, some they partially ate and the rest were discarded on the front lawn and in our courtyard. 

I don't really know what to do.  Should I abandon growing anything that monkeys like to eat?  Should I erect a large cage over the garden?  I saw a fence that had been erected over a SFG to keep out rabbits on another blog and this person erected an electric fence around his garden to keep out the squirrels but I don't think it will help with monkeys!  http://timssquarefootgarden.com/gardentips.htm

There might be a second crop of sweet corn on the stalks so I'll leave them in for a while but I can see that I'm going to have to do something to protect my vegetables from the onslaught of large and small invaders!  Its all out war in the Sqaure Foot Garden!

Battling an army of baby caterpillars!

I had to help babysit my little grand-daughter this week and although my dear husband did his best to water and tend to my veg patch, an army of little green caterpillars hatched and have almost devoured all the plants! 
The cabbages have gosamar, skeletonised leaves and when I examined them today I could see clusters of bright green, tiny worms chomping away on whatever is left.  There were some on the brinjal plants, a few of the corn leaves  looked a bit ragged and there were even a few on

the cucumber vines.  I've got two hairy baby cucmbers clinging to life on the vines.

The lettuces have been totally wiped out so I'll start from scratch once I've managed to wage war on this army. I didn't want to bring out the Agent Orange but if I don't do something, there'll be nothing left to harvest. So - I bought a bottle of Margaret Roberts biological caterpillar insecticide for the control of leaf-eating caterpillar larvae on various edible crops, ornamentals, roses, bulbs and lawns.

The blurb says that it "targets destructive leaf-eating larvae of Lepidopterous spp. No harmful toxic residues. No secondary poisoning. Harmless to bees, birds, fish, pets, wildlife, beneficial insects and natural predators. Can cause harm to young larvae of butterfly species, has no effect on adults. Avoid spraying onto plants visited by adult butterflies. Harvesting of edible crops directly after application."

Finn measured out 5ml into our 5lt spray bottle, pumped it up and sprayed the whole vegetable garden with it.  An hour later I went back to have a look at the results, fearful of finding a killing field, and there were a few determined, stubborn green wrigglys still clinging to the undersides of the cabbage leaves!  I then took over the spray bottle and gave the cabbages another going over with the spray.

I've had a nice crop of bite size tomatoes and the peppadew bush is groaning under the weight of the fruit (vegetables?).  This website says that it is a fruit and that "Peppers are a fruit—a fruit is defined as a vegetable that holds its seeds internally (avocados and cucumbers are fruits too, as are all of the chili peppers)." The Peppadew is being "touted as “the first truly new fruit to be launched on the world market since the kiwi 26 years ago."

Well, let's hope Margaret Roberts will help me to wage biological warfare on the pesky larvae and that I can soon get working on my 2nd square foot garden box.
PS:  Only the Basil seeds grew in the 'Herb-in-a-can' gardens on my window sill.  The Oregano and Thyme didn't sprout at all so I might gro something else in them.  The Reel-garden beans, beetroot and corn have all grown but the carrots never really got going.  I think I'll stick to the square foot gardens in future.

Hot+Rain+Sun = Fast growing seedlings

I can't believe how fast everything in the SFG box is growing!
Those sweet corn plants - especially those that get the most sun - have doubled in size in 10 days.
The gem squash is starting to go on walk-abouts and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about them.
The basil started bursting into flower but I've nipped them all off in the bud and new shoots have sprouted all over the bush. 
The packet of mixed herbs I sowed in a trough of Mel's Mix has exploded and all the little plants are crammed together.  The packet didn't specify what herb seeds were in the packet but I can make out coriander, fennel, dill, thyme and a couple of mystery plants coming up!

Something has been eating my tomatoes.  They crawl in from the bottom and the fruit turns black.  I'm picking the spoiled ones off and leaving them close by on the ground - hoping that the little pests will enjoy the free buffet instead of grazing on the plants.

The Peppadew bush is pregnant with minature green bell peppers.  Some have a red blush on them and when they turn deep red, I'll start bottling them.
On the other side of the garden patch, the cucumber plants have also got flowers.   I've erected a makeshift climbing trellis using an old wrought-iron

arch and nylon string. 

All the little seedlings in the seed trays are bursting out and I don't know where I'm going to plant them.  Methinks I'm going to have to start another SFG box.  We've got some old facia boards that I can use and I've asked Finn if he can make them for me next week. 

I think he's getting worried that I might want to erect SFG boxes all over his lawn!

Happy gardening!

Reel Gardening and Herbs in a can

With my interest in vegetable gardening, my family gave me some interesting and inovative Christmas gifts this year.

Greg and Sharon gave me three novelty cooldrink sized cans - 'Herbs in a tin" - Basil, Thyme and Oregano (supplied by Fuzhou Premiere Crafts.)  Each can has to be opened at the bottom and the plastic cap replaced, then the lid is peeled off the top to reveal a potting medium which has to be kept moist.  They also come with a tiny packet containing a few replacement seeds. Besides herbs they also sell 'Tin-can Flowers' and one website showed Pointsettia, Cosmos, Lavender and small Chrysanthemum daisies in cans.  I've placed the tins on my kitchen windowsill and it'll be interesting to see how long the seeds take to germinate and how large the plants can grow in a cool-drink sized can.

The other gift was from Jeff and Gail, my brother and his wife. This is a spring/summer planting pack of 5 vegetable seeds on 1m long reel of paper. Now planting seeds in strips of paper is not new and you can read about many different projects glueing seeds to strips of toilet paper, or growing sprouts in tissue paper.  The 'Reel Gardening' process is a more advanced version of this type of germination of seeds in paper. 

Reel Gardening was an award winning science project of Claire Reid, a 16 year-old girl from South Africa.  It involves a pre-fertilised seed strip that encases seeds in biodegradable paper.  The strips indicate the correct depth that the seeds should be buried with a coloured line at the top and the seeds are placed at the correct distance apart from one another inside the strips. Each strip is colour coded e.g. Tomato is red, Beetroot is purple etc.  The paper strip is 3.5cm wide and is purchased in metre strips.  Each package has a specific amount of metres.  Instructions are printed on each strip in English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Sesotho, Sepedi, Setswana and Xhosa.

 Visual instructions are also printed. The strips are very easy to understand and can even be planted by children.
Her invention was entered into the Eskom Young Scientists expo which won a gold medal at the national finals. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry nominated Claire’s invention for the South African Junior Water Prize as it reduces water wastage by 80% and Claire won. Claire then represented South Africa  at the 2003 Stockholm Junior Water Prize where Reel Gardening came first out of 24 countries.

My pack contains Carrot, Tomato, Beans, Sweet Corn and Beetroot seed strips. The package shows a 2m X 1m area for planting but I decided to use up the remaining Mel's Mix in plant troughs and have planted the strips in those.  They are the same depth as the box garden so the carrots (up to 20cm long) and beetroot should have enough space to grow.  On the ReelGardening website they say that the Sweet Corn will reach maturity in 80 days but there are no eta dates for the other vegetables.  We'll just have to wait and see.

 

 

Everything is Growing, and growing, and growing...!!

Two things have happened since I set up the square foot garden 12 days ago.  We had the house painted and the roof pressure cleaned.  Nothing to do with gardening except that the garage roof slopes down to below head height and almost overlaps the vegetable garden.  If you've ever seen a high pressure cleaner in full stream you'll know that the force of the water can destroy anything in its path.  So, we rigged a high plastic canopy over the garden to project the new seedlings from the water spray and from the debris flying off the roof.  It worked and the garden is no worse for wear! 

The second thing that happened is that everything is shooting off - all above the grid.  The lettuce have  large, floppy leaves and look as though the stems are not strong enough to hold them up. And, the gem squash, although still small plants with only a few leaves, have all sprouted flowers.  How can they develop fruit when they are still like pubescent girls - small and under-developed?  The sweet corn especially look like Jack-and-the-beanstalks!  

I had enough of the Mel's Mix to fill a few seed trays and a trough where I planted a packet of mixed herbs.  They have all emerged but the packet doesn't say what they are so I guess when they get bigger I'll have to do a smell-and-taste test on them.  Just hope there aren't any noxious weeds hiding out amongst them!

IN THE BEGINNING

Wiki:  Square Foot Gardening is the practice of planning small but intensively planted gardens. The phrase "square foot gardening" was popularized by Mel Bartholomew in 1981. The practice combines concepts from other organic gardening methods, including a strong focus on compost, closely planted raised beds and biointensive attention to a small, clearly defined area. Proponents claim that the method is particularly well-suited for areas with poor soil, beginning gardeners or as adaptive recreation for those with disabilities.                    

Finn - my dear, kind husband - says that I have green fingers but that only applies to things I plant outdoors.  Anything I grow indoors doesn’t stand a chance.  When I was working, I hated being in charge of the pot-plants.  “You will have six month to live” I'd warn a new bamboo palm or dracaena and sure as nuts, within six months the poor plant gave up the struggle, drooped and died.  Outside though, everything flourishes and I share what I grow with family and friends – and a host of creepy crawlies that chew on the vegetables, chomp through the stems and leave lacy trails on the leaves. I don’t have the heart to poison them so as long as I can harvest a few lettuce leaves, spinach, herbs and tomatoes, I leave them be. 

I am a scrappy gardener.  I plant things in old buckets, leaky pots, dirt bin inners and even old galvanised gutters.  Because I don’t like planting in the ground, I was intrigued by an article in a friend's November issue of Garden & Home on ‘Square Foot Gardening” (SFG). Planting is done in a wooden frame, placed either on the ground (with cardboard and paper at the bottom to keep out the weeds) or raised (with a plywood base). Your box can be any size, with a wooden grid on top giving you perfect 12” squares (a square foot) to plant in.  You don’t use potting soil in the box – the growing medium is one third each of peat moss, vermiculite and compost.  This is called 'Mel's Mix' after the retired engineer, Mel Bartholemew who started the SFG movement.  

The photograph in the magazine showed a smiling young woman, kneeling proudly next to an immaculate boxed garden, displaying her beautiful herbs and vegetables.  I was hooked!

The first thing I did was ask Greg - my dear, kind older son who works for a building supplier - to make me a box frame 1.5m X 1.5m X 20cm deep with a wooden grid on top. You can use old timber from a junk yard but its best not to have chemically treated or painted wood on the inside of the box.  Finn  painted the box for me with 4 coats of linseed oil.  

Then the filler.  Builder’s Express sell Supaflora peat moss from Germany, vermiculite and compost.  I felt like I needed a maths degree to work out how much filling I would have to buy! First I had to determine the volume of the box - 1.5m X 1.5m X 20cm = 450 litres. But, only the peat moss comes in a litre bag, the vermiculite comes in kg bags and the compost in dm bags.  It is such a long time ago that I did maths that I struggled to find out how much of each ingredient I would need.   So, I used that good old standby - women’s intuition!  I bought 4 bags of peat moss (20L) 4 bags of vermiculite (2kg each) and 4 bags of compost (30dm each).  Its probably not the real McCoy but it will have to do.  It wasn't cheap.  Rounded off to the nearest Rand the peat moss was R84 a bag, vermiculite R52 a bag and Gromor compost R17 a bag so the filling cost me R612.00.  I couldn't wait to start planting! 

I visited the Farmer’s Market in Shongweni on Saturday morning where they have the best seedlings for sale and bought sweet corn, red cabbage, gem squash, capsicum (don't know what colour) red, frilly and butter lettuce, brinjal (egg plant) and spring onions.  I also bought some cucumber which I've planted elsewhere.

There is a planting grid on the Wiki website which shows you that you can plant 1 to 6 vegetable seedlings per square.  While I was planting there was a sudden shower overhead so I didn't have to water the seedlings. The next day I found paw prints in the box and one sweet corn plant missing!  Carling - our Labrador - had decided to invesitgate this new sand pit and obviously sampled the green leaves of the sweet corn seedling.  So, I have planted a red cabbage in the places of the missing sweet corn.
I can't wait so see how everything grows!

Watch this space!!