Green Thumbs Gardening

[Rags]

Well,
I wouldn't say I have green thumbs, but a few of us here are interested in gardening,
so I thought I'd start a thread where we can exchange news, ideas, pics of our
gardens, whether it's a 500 acre acre avocado farm (if only), or herbs in balcony potplants,
swap the odd recipe for white oil, compost heaps and cooking veggies.

So, please join in.
I'll kick off with...
this coming Saturday Mr Rags and I are going to a dinner where everyone is using
local produce for their dish.
I'm getting a watermelon from Gav down the street plus my own tomatoes, basil etc to make
Yotam Ottolengi's magnificent watermelon and tomato gaspacho.

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/tomato-and-watermelon-gazpacho-shop

I'm getting some bread from Paul, and wait for it.... going to take my very own home made butter!!!!
(Cream, Kenwood chef, beat till it separates, rinse with cold water and hey presto!!!!)
Going to get some cream from a local dairy so it will be genuinely local produce.
Made some earlier to-day. Easy as 22/7.

20150209_171008.jpg

Others will be providing chicken (probably bought), lamb (ditto),
eggs, pav, lots of roast veggies and salads etc.
Should be a good night. everyone showing off what they've grown.


Spirit, was it you asking about finger limes?
Here's some information for you.
They are a native rainforest plant from Queensland and northern NSW

http://www.wildfingerlime.com/

Here's mine... poor thing. It should by now be about 6 foot high and laden with leaves and fruit.
Don't know what got to it as there's my kaffir lime right next to it, healthy as anything (after the bloody deer got to it last year)
It's only about 18 months old..

20150209_171134.jpg20150209_171134.jpg

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Watch out in the next Green Thumbs for:
Backhousie citriodora: never use lemongrass again and
Humidity. the bane of my veggie patch. and,
River Cottage ramblings. Who loves Hew?

[Sunbeam]

I am in the pit of winter, another snowstorm last night, thanks for the read!

[paulywogg]

Beautiful pics,looks like a lot of fun unfortunately I live in the desert and have a brown thumb but some people do really good growing here it just takes a lot of work

[Rags]

Hi Pauly,
Yes, that would take a bit of effort to grow things in desert conditions.

Ahh, Sunbeam,
We are in a hot and humid summer where I am.

[Mick]

hiya rags ....yep into gardening... heres my gaff...........20140927_070240.jpg 20140927_070336.jpg 20140927_080613.jpg 20141003_084512.jpg plus the view is ace......20140807_060606.jpg

[Spiritfree]

Beautiful pics,looks like a lot of fun unfortunately I live in the desert and have a brown thumb but some people do really good growing here it just takes a lot of work

Pauly -Hey, what about different types of cactus -or, are they difficult to grow also? I am not trying to be a smart arse. I am just curios. SF

[Spiritfree]

hiya rags ....yep into gardening... heres my gaff...........[ATTACH=CONFIG]746[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]747[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]748[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]749[/ATTACH] plus the view is ace......[ATTACH=CONFIG]750[/ATTACH]

Awesome!!! Thanks for posting.

[Spiritfree]

Hey Rags -I thought that I might mention some fruits/vegetables that are especially helpful for someone who is in early recovery:

From an article titled: "Quit Drinking? Now Eat Your Veggies! Understanding Alcohol-Related Oxidative Stress and the Role of Antioxidants" "Vegetables and fruits are great sources of antioxidants. In virtually every situation, increasing your intake of antioxidant-rich whole fruits, veggies and whole grains will improve your health and reduce your risk of many serious diseases.

You can’t go wrong with natural dietary sources, such as these powerhouse antioxidant packed options:
•To get lutein, eat: green leafy veggies, like spinach or kale
•To get beta-carotene, eat: orange foods like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe, mangoes or squash or leafy greens like kale, spinach or collard greens
•To get lycopene, eat: tomatoes, guava, papaya, apricots, pink grapefruit or blood oranges
•To get selenium, eat: Brazil nuts, wheat and meats
•To get vitamin A, eat: mozzarella cheese, sweet potatoes, egg yolks, liver, carrots and milk
•To get vitamin C, eat: citrus fruits, berries, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and many other fruits and veggies
•To get vitamin E, eat: almonds, vegetable oils, seeds and leafy greens4

Some antioxidant super foods (foods with very high levels) include:
•Red beans
•Blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries and strawberries
•Kidney, pinto or black beans
•Purple or red grapes
•Artichokes
•Prunes, plums or cherries
•Red delicious, gala or granny smith apples
•Pecans or walnuts
•Russet potatoes
•Tea5"

[paulywogg]

Mick,you're just showing off with those pics haha,Spirit, my goal is to make my backyard a nice sanctuary, with flowers, some veg,it's just the soil is clay like, we did dig down and resoiled and had a beautiful bouganvillia,unfortunately it froze in Dec,cactus may grow but my 2 year old grandson plays back there

[Rags]

Hello Mick,
Gee that looks a lovely garden but I couldn't get the pictures to enlarge very much except the last one
with that beautiful luscious green grass.
Looks like you have rhubarb growing in the first pic. Am I right?
I was watching a repeat of River Cottage last night with Hugh doing things with rhubarb and apples.

[Rags]

Hello Spirit,
Wow!
Thanks for the veggie list.
It's quite a lengthy list. Lots of choices.

At the dinner last Saturday I served that watermelon and tomato gaspacho.
There was one family there (who only eat meat and potatoes and pavlova and ice cream) who wouldn't even try it.
There were a few people there including the guy next to me who had never had cold soup before.
Think I go t a few converts.
And they went bananas over my hand churned butter. So, overall, a success.

And as luck would have it, the guy sitting on my other side was an agronomist/ botanist, who is a mad keen veggie and landscape gardener,
so we got into deep conversations about all things vegetative in the local garden.

Mick, what veggies do you have in your garden at the moment?

[Sunbeam]

I just bought a new grow light, and will start some slow growing annual flower seeds today. Temperature didn't get above zero (Fahrenheit ) yesterday outdoors, we are in a real deep freeze.

[Mick]

hiya rags..will see what I can do with the pics...no it isnt rhubarb in the first pic....its chard...leaves are quite bitter ,can be cooked like spinach etc or shredded in a salad..pauly mine is clay too,thats why I built the raised beds,plus it gets a lot of water as it runs down the hill,so basically now its above the flood level...

[Spiritfree]

I was hoping to post some photos of my father-n-law's garden from last year -but I am having tech difficulty uploading.

Maybe next time.

He has already started growing his 250+ tomato plants from seedlings and is beginning to get excited about the year garden. We first have to get through this approaching ice/snow storm. And, at 80 years old, my FNL is truly amazing. He lives for his garden and the admiration of so many people who receive his tomatoes. He makes some money selling his crop, but he would do it for free if that was his only option.

[Rags]

250 tomato plants!!!! Wow. That's an awful lot of tomato soup.

Hello Sunbeam. What annuals are you growing?
Mick, your view is absolutely wonderful.