Ogura Beetroot

Firewood

2010-03-17T02:12:00.000-07:00

Naoko lifting firewood into the car.

2010-03-15T19:59:00.001-07:00

More posts coming soon - watch this space!

It's been a while

2009-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the garden is thriving but I had to dig up the potatoes a little earlier than expected as the foliage was all but destroyed by these little bugs. Every year they appear and start munching on the potato plants. I've been picking them off and stamping on them but they reappear in their hundreds each day. The tomatoes are slightly affected too.

A few pictures from the garden

2009-06-16T20:55:00.001-07:00

First Pizza!

2009-06-07T03:24:00.000-07:00

It took 2 hours to fire up and produced pretty good pizza (despite Naoko's effort to ruin the opening by ramming the door in) and soda bread. Even managed to 'roast' a bit of spinach while I was waiting. I think I'll keep the fire burning for 3 hours next time to extend the cooking time and get a proper pizza peel as the 'big spoon' I used didn't really cut the mustard.

2009-05-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

The parsnips have finally come through.

2009-05-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the oven is 90% finished. Leo helped out for about 10 minutes, handing me pats. I don't think Alina wanted to get her hands dirty but was quite happy having her picture taken in front of it. Everything seems to be growing fast in the garden, including the weeds which I'll have to cut soon. If only what I planted grew as fast as the weeds.

Tomato plants

2009-05-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

Tomato plants waiting to be planted out. I planted out four tomato plants over the past few days. One of them wilted and died, the others are only just hanging in there. Hopefully these will be more successful.

2009-05-21T03:50:00.000-07:00

I built the first layer of the oven this afternoon. It took me a lot less time than I thought it would. Rain is forecast for the next few days so I doubt I'll be able to start the next layer until next week.

2009-05-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Bricks down, dome built (built using mud, needs to be a little taller), weather permitting, will get started on the first layer on Monday.

2009-05-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

I've tried to make the top as circular as possible. It should be ok. Weather permitting, I'll try and put the bricks down and build the dome this weekend.

2009-05-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Things have really started to heat up recently. This seems to be the reason for the tomatoes, peppers and aubergines sudden growth spurt. I need to try and find a slightly cooler place for them to continue growing.
Planted out a couple of courgettes yesterday and added a little more concrete to the base of the oven.

2009-05-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

I spent most of golden week tidying the garden, chopping wood and digging. I 'hit' clay while I was preparing the ground for the rhubarb and managed to fill a couple of big bags full of the stuff. It should be enough. I made a test brick which hardened nicely in a couple of days. All I need to do now is make a nice level surface on top of the base, then start constructing the oven. Yeh!

I also managed to sow the rest of the seeds (Parsnip, Turnip, French Beans, Bak Choi) and started to harden off the broccoli, brussel sprouts and a few tomato plants too.

2009-05-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

I think the tomatoes should be ready to go outside in another 3-4 weeks. The courgettes, broccoli and brussel sprouts should be ready to go by the end of next week. The peas have poked through so I decided to put the poles up. No change to the pizza oven. I forgot how quickly the weeds grow. It took me over an hour to cut the 'grass' today.

Oven

2009-04-24T23:18:00.003-07:00

Well, I pressed on with the base for the earth oven, making more progress than I expected. I spent around 30 mins or so scavenging rocks from around the garden and arranging these into a circle with the help of a little cement. The base is now just under waist height so all I need to do now is make a nice flat surface, lay a few bricks, build the dome, mix the cob and go! Easier said than done. I haven't been able to find any clay around the house so, next weekend, bucket and spade in hand I'll have to go and look for some. Hopefully, it'll be ready for the first firing around July.

Watch this space.......

Beetroot

2009-04-23T22:08:00.001-07:00

2009-04-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

My cherry and acerola trees in full bloom.

Potatoes and Pizza

2009-04-16T20:33:00.001-07:00

I planted the potatoes yesterday and also managed to make a start on what I hope will one day be a pizza oven. Have a look at this link to get an idea of what I'm up to:

http://tumblebug.com/resources/homesteading/coboven.php

I have plenty of rocks and dirt but seem to be missing one of the main ingredients - clay. I've heard it can be found fairly easily near lakes and rivers. I guess I'll have to get the spade out and go prospecting.

This is a 'famous' cherry blossom tree just down the road from here. Someone almost drove into the back of me while I was taking this picture!

2009-04-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Just managed to get some beetroot and peas planted yesterday. I was going to do the potatoes tomorrow but rain is forecast for the next few days so I'll have to put that off a while.

The courgettes (zucchini) popped through the other day.

Tomatoes are doing nicely.

Piman (mini peppers) on the left and Aubergine (eggplant) on the right.

Veggie Patches

2009-04-10T06:19:00.001-07:00

I marked out the growing areas in the garden. I haven't decided where I'm going to grow everything. As long as I remember not to plant the tomatoes and potatoes in the same place as last year everything should be ok (seems obvious but I've slipped up here before!). The daffodils have just started to open too.

2009-04-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

Brussel sprout seedlings (a little leggy?)

Beautiful Day

2009-04-05T01:31:00.000-07:00

Couldn't resist getting out in the garden for a bit of digging. Leo even tried to dig his veggie patch with his snow shovel.

I've finally decided to go ahead and build a pizza oven. With a distinct lack of cash, I decided to construct an oven with material I can either dig up or steal (just kidding, I might try and raid the local quasi national park for a few flat rocks - that's not stealing is it?) The tomato, broccoli and brussel sprout seedlings seem to be surviving thus far.

So far so good

2009-04-03T01:24:00.000-07:00

Well, time to prick out the brussel sprouts and broccoli. The black cherry tomatoes are just beginning to poke through too. Not much happening to the other tomatoes. I hope they don't get too leggy. I planted a few courgette and aubergines today too. The weather seems to be improving, hopefully I can get outside and do some digging over the weekend.

Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts

2009-03-31T01:44:00.000-07:00

The broccoli and brussel sprout seedlings have come up pretty fast. I put them straight under the light but now I'm running out of space. Perhaps I'll have to invest in another one. I manged to salvage some boards that I'm planning to treat and then use them to mark out the growing areas in the garden.

Lights

2009-03-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

Not much sunlight for the next few days, so I decided to put the tomatoes under a light.

Tomato seedlings

2009-03-26T18:50:00.001-07:00

The Pomodoro tomato seeds have finally sprouted. I'm sure the recent freezing temperatures didn't help germination. The heat pad, I slipped underneath has managed to speed things up a little.

2009-03-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report in the garden. It still looks the same as it did a week ago. The tomato seeds still aren't doing anything so I spent a few yen on a cheap heating pad (designed to be sat on). I put this under the tomatoes to provide a bit of bottom heat. Fingers crossed!

Too early to sow...

2009-03-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

We've just had a few days of 20 degrees plus (very unusual for mid-march). Just when I thought spring had finally arrived and I could start getting my hands dirty and get down to the proper business of gardening and sowing a few seeds, the temperature dropped and snow is forcast once again. I started a few tomato seeds about a week ago in my makeshift greenhouse/woodwork shop. Nothing has emerged yet as the temperature is probably still a little too low. Watch this space for updates.

Compost

2009-03-19T21:06:00.001-07:00

The compost is coming along nicely. Not sure there'll be enough to spread over the whole garden. Surprising, considering the amount of waste we produced last year.

The snow has melted

2009-03-17T18:27:00.001-07:00

Well, the snow has finally melted and I'm left with reminders that I should have tidied up the garden at the end of last year. Poles and bits of plastic all over the place. Lots of evidence of mole activity too. I was going to flatten the entire area and put grass seed down but the moles would have ruined any attempt to create a nice 'English' garden. It seems that a dinosaur has also left a couple of footprints. We do get some strange wildlife around here.