Gardenjournal: tropical rainforest mode and the long-suffering vegetables
From now until the middle or end of January, it tends to rain daily here and everything grows madly.
The zucchini has had its first flowers and as the saying goes: grow zucchini and the whole neighbourhood eats zucchini. I tried to prevent that by only planting one. This year, the aim is to keep them pumpkin fly free. I'm hoping that the extremely cold winter that we have had will have killed off the eggs in the soil and now I must make sure that I remove any stung marrows immediately to break the life cycle. I also didn't grow any last year to hopefully reduce the pest level. It's impossible to grow pumpkin here because of the flies but marrow can be harvested before the flies ruin them.
Luckily the plant's leaves don't look that bad, we have had a lot of hail. Apparently our hail occurs in 8-year cycles and this year is a bad one. The succulents have been taking a hammering too
The kale gets totally smashed and the brinjals are also struggling this year. Note the sticks to keep the cats from ruining the small plants.
The beans have been bearing well but then they got attacked by christmas beetles so the combination of hail and beetles isn't pretty.
The horned melons are growing slowly but steadily. They are a wild plant so they take their time growing.
I noticed that the artichoke flower opened today although I don't know what happened to the leaves, it had a whole lot of leaves earlier but they died off after I transplanted it from the pot to the soil and this is what I am left with. Clearly they don't like having their roots disturbed, @riverflows, what's going on?
Now that the lemon tree is finally in the soil, I will have quite a few lemons this year so that's a plus. Although the internet is full of videos and articles about growing trees from seed, it takes many years before they finally bear fruit. I also didn't take good care of it all the years it was in a pot so its great that it's finally free to do its thing.
Although my climate isn't exactly conducive to growing photogenic vegetables, just look at the weed crop!
I need to get in there and weed seriously before they start seeding, it's a constant battle at this time of year. I'm also trying to get it under control by growing groundcover. I have started growing Daimona margaretae in this corner and hopefully it will spread and outcompete the weeds.
Daimona is an indigenous drought-resistant groundcover plant with yellow flowers that I'm hoping will manage in my yard. I'm determined not to have a lawn that needs regular manicuring.
Growing vegetables at my place is only for the brave but after a lot of work to improve the soil, I do manage to have something fresh to eat all year round.
That's my December update, @mipiano and @gertu, why not join us, there are still about 4 days left: take a look : https://hive.blog/gardenhive/@riverflows/christmas-garden-journal-special-show-us-your-christmas-selfie-to-win-a-bonus-prize
@nikv, it's a wonder we garden at all, what with battling cats, bugs, rabbits, and dragons. But the joy we get out of it - that's another thing. Great to see your lemon bearing fruit! They can be fickle things but when they get going, boy can they produce! I have no idea what's wrong with your artichoke - I could abuse mine for hours and it'll still happily grow! IT's probably putting all it's energy into the flower. They can look scraggly at that stage - then I just trim the leaves and the fresh leaves grow from the root stock, so maybe let the root find it's ground first before you write it off.
Ah, the great zucchini occasion - balance must be found somewhere between one plant and six. Six is too many. One is too little. But how many to plant so you're not overrun? That's the rub!
Thanks for the reassurance with the artichoke! I'll see whether 1 or 2 plants are the magic quantity with zucchini but the plan is to pick them before any develop maggots
Thanks for that @riverflows I checked this morning and saw that it is in fact starting to make shoots from the rootstock so my despair that I had a dying plant was premature
Sorry for the plants!
And in Cyprus hail every year!
Have a nice harvest!
Thank you! We also get hail every year but some are worse than others
I like to watch when there is hail, but I don’t like it when it pours holes in my plants :-)
Zucchini, I love it, also kale is one of my favourites! haha, yes, sticks are noted, hope it will prevent the cat-damage ;) Oh, hail and beetles.. the combination indeed made harm to the bean leaves.
Well, you will have some nice job cleaning from weed, hm you say Daimona margaretae and I checked, so it is endemic in South Africa as you say and it should make that carpet so you have less work later.
I dont remember the name of such a similar kind of plant, my mother-in-law has got... She planted it and it made that effect of a carpet not allowing the weed to grow. Really dont remember the name of it ;/
There are quite a few plants that can be used this way. The trick is to find one that can tolerate the climate
It seems that sometimes no matter how much nurturing we do, mother nature has a different plan for our beloved plants.
If you get too many zucchinis you can always make bread.
The lemon bush looks like it likes being directly in the dirt. In your picture I see 3 lemons, it may be time to celebrate with an adult beverage and a slice of one of those bad boys.
Now that's the best suggestion I've heard!
It looks like your plants have definitely been taking quite a beating from the weather and insects @nikv. It's amazing how the weeds thrive so much and yet other plants like the vegetables have such a difficult time in the same environment.
The lemon tree seems pretty hardy and like its been handling the climate and bugs pretty well. It's nice to see this producing some lemons for you :)
I'm hopeful that your attempt with cutting down the weeds with the Daimona margaretae will be a successful endeavor. This seems like a very logical approach to combating the problem in a way which will reduce your toils over and over again.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes to you with your gardening!
Thank you! Your indoor gardening is looking good too
My first string beans were also killed by pests (my first time to plant), now that I have a surviving black seeded string bean I am so curious about the little things that see on them because I do not want a repeat of what has happened before.
Post pictures and I'm sure someone will have advice
I will, thanks (^_^)
I would like to plant zucchini and have them grow like yours. I don't know what my soil lacks to produce zucchini.
Too bad about your succulents and beans and artichokes.
Wow you have a lot of green weeds spreading.
I forgot about this contest. Thanks for the reminder. I'm off to the garden now to take my photos. My regards dear nick.
My soil is poor but the zucchini grows well. It seems to me that it likes heat, lot of sun and regular water
I will plant it where the sun hits it, thanks for the information.
Regardless the fact that earth is round, it's still unusual to me to read that something's grow madly while we're having snow and ice rain 😄😊
And to speak seriously, your results in growing vegetables are quite good!
Thank you. I also like looking at pictures of summertime when it is midwinter here
I feel you, that's what I do with my plants here too, for you is just cats but mine are cats and chickens 😅.
I think chickens are even worse than cats, how do you even manage?
I just let them be, If they stepped on my plants I fix them and they do it all over again. However, some of my favourite ones I place where they can't reach and some I made fence with bamboo sticks.
Ahh, that picture of your zucchini plant was balm for my soul, probably because in the next twelve hours I am supposed to be buried in over a foot of snow.
Seriously though, I think you have a new cultivar on your hands, Lacey Beans! LOL!
I loved scrolling through your garden journal, and I especially can't wait to see future posts about the lemon tree's progress! Good luck with the weeds:)
I'm so glad it doesn't snow here: on the rare times it has, I find the iciness of it unbearable.
Poor beans! Damn christmas beetles! I need to find a predator for those.
I have a new policy for the backyard; use the downstairs toilet, which entails going outside and at every toilet visit, I spend 5-10 minutes pulling weeds. The progress is appreciable
I just love how adorable you both are together - "lovely colors, details, and fun! Thank you for the article.❤️
God bless you dear @nikv
Thank You!
Poor soil, my favorite subject, haha!
We are dealing with this matter, too, so it is encouraging to see green color on your garden! I hope that all plants will recover soon from hail, beetles, transplantation shock or anything! You know what they say, "the shadow of the gardener is the best fertilizer" and I can definitey see a lot of love there :)
Thank you :)
The best remedy for the poor soil has been to clean the stones out - I also live on a stony hillside and then as much compost as possible. Luckily I cut down a giant weedy tree with soft wood and it has been very good food for the vegetables
A yummy weedy tree, such a delicacy for the garden :)
We are renting a wood chipper this weekend, so we are going to have some fun soon, although the noise is too loud!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Wood chips are great improving water retention for the soil. That's a problem when you are using terraces
Oh yes! And since you are in Johannesburg and we are in southern Greece we share the same problem, high temperatures and lack of water... It is amazing how similar these two parts of Earth are!