Vegetables in January - What to do?

Vegetable sowing and associated new works for January are less than other months. This month is more about harvesting and maintaining existing crops. Our 77 tomatoes plants (Acton Smallholding), for example, are looking very promising. The vines are bursting with fruit. First harvest should be in a week or two. Care on these plants will mean keeping the watering even over the month of January. Without even watering tomatoes can develop split like scabs to the top of the fruit.

What new works can be starting in January? Two very important ones: Silver Beet and Swedes. January is the time to prepare the beds and sow for a winter and spring supply of these two vegetables. Personally I would not 'throw a party' for Swedes but Silver Beet I love.

Silver Beet Recipe:
Wrap a piece of cheese - 'coon' for example - in Silver Beet. Steam till the leaves wilt. Serve with Cape Grim Beef. The cheese melt surprise inside the silver beet has put the smile on many a child's face, including mine when mum served this to us as children.

Both Silver Beet and Swede will occupy the group for about six months. It is therefore important to have a well-prepared and manured soil. Doing so you should expect to provide food for the kitchen for half of the six months these plants will spend in the ground.

Ultimate Manure Delivery

We absolutely LOVE a new shipment of manure @ the Cambridge Division. Chicken poo is definitely the manure of choice. After shoveling a ute load you come to understand why the plants grow so quickly once this is sprinkled around them. The stench is astounding, any plant just wants to grow fast to get away from it!

Garlic Harvest

Cambridge Farm finally had the opportunity to harvest the first fruits of the garlic crop for 2010.

With plenty more to come and also the Elephant Garlic this year the winter stews and roasts will certainly be tasty so make sure you put your order in... (especially when cooked in the pizza oven).

The harvesting was a pleasure as was the braiding (see image).

New Additions to Cambridge Farm

We are PROUD to announce we have some new additions to the Cambridge Farm: QUAIL!

Born on the 19th of December 2010. The video at 1 hour old shows they are very healthy. 8 in total were born from our incubator, with some more eggs still to hatch.

The Leisure Center Nears Completion

Over @ the Cambridge Division the Outdoor Leisure Center is very close to its first chance to entertain!

After a hard days work/exercise in the lovely surrounds @ Cambridge Farm or @ the Acton Park Small Holding nothing quite beats relaxing under the Ole Oak Tree whilst sipping some home brew and enjoying home grown pork sausages and chicken on the BBQ.

As time passes the wood fired pizza oven and the built-in roasting oven and webber will provide ample cooking facilities.

The Escaping Wallaby

Where's Mushi when you need him? Can you see the wallaby escaping from our vegetable garden? Tasmania is abundant in wildlife, and they enjoy early morning trips to the vegetable garden, just like us. This morning I also spotted a rabbit and two potoroos.

We protect the garden with a chicken wire fence held up with star droppers, driven into the earth. Kangaroos and wallabies have been known to jump our fence, a future goal is to build a stronger 6 foot high fence. With rabbit and possum protection to bottom and top of fence.

Bee Hive II not looking good

A brood box frame has very dark brown comb.

Our second hive doesn't look good. Very dark brown/black comb in the brood box. The supers have a similar look. But there are some eggs in the cells and on the top photo you can see drones walking around, maybe the queens there somewhere. 

Our bee keeping books says, the tan/brown cap is brood. That means there should be little baby bees under these brown caps. You can see this in the bottom photo.

Brood in a super

There is a lot of bees in the hive so I hope it will be ok. But when I compare this hive with the other hive it looks poor. The other hive is dripping in honey! Heavy frames loaded with capped honey! We really don't know what we are doing, so I wonder if there is something wrong. Perhaps the hive swamped and the brown comb is because it's old and they are re-building the hive with a new queen.

Pinkeyes for sale

This makes us feel good - Our babies finding a good home in your kitchens!

Pinkeyes for sale at Source, Sandy Bay

A Seen of Devastation

Came by Jill & Matt's smallholding to see the progress of the "garden entertaining deck". I thought to myself, "That is looking fantastic, most of the framing done. what is that Ute doing near the bee hives....?"

Is this a seen of devastation or what? Matt wasn't around to ask, but it's made my morning more interesting.

To make it more challenging, we have the two bee hives just in front of Ute. I wonder how they will react to horde of people trying to get a bogged Ute out. Better let Matt borrow my bee suit. Better wash it afterwards too...

Pruning the Tomato Laterals

Phil shows as where the lateral is as he removes it

First Fruits - Yes!

Promising start, first fruits appear

Beekeeping for Dummies

Jill owns this book; Beekeeping For Dummies

We need as much help as we can get on bee keeping!
At my current skill level I should get this one too: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beekeeping

Willies Wasp Trap

Willies Wasp Trap - Hang a bottle, as shown, from the lower branches of the fruit tree. Put a hole in it and a little water. Willy says pests drown in the water. Give it a go, and tell us how it works for you.

Gardening Australia - Vegie Guide

The best guide to what to plant when is the Gardening Australia - Vegie Guide

The Case for Garlic

Why grow garlic?

1. Garlic is in short supply globally and the costs have risen dramatically the past years. Prices above $30kg are common.
2. Garlic is fumigated with methyl bromide at entry to Australia for quarantine reasons
3. Imported garlic is often whitened by using chlorine or with a mixture of sulphur and wood ash. 
4. Imported garlic is often dosed with growth inhibitors. This not only extents shelf life but also stops sprouting while being shipped.
5. How can imported garlic be 'organic'?
6. In 2006 Australia produced 300 to 500 tonnes of garlic. Fresh garlic consumption stood around 3,500 tonnes that year. 
7. Garlic is good for the health.
8. Garlic makes food taste great!

Growing garlic in Tasmania

Plant in April harvest in December. Southern Harvest supply good quality garlic for planting. The also have some good tips for growing garlic.

What we've planted
August was when I came to understand garlic would be a good crop. My planting of about 30 plants was very late in the season. I reckon we will harvest in late January. Most of the crop will go to next seasons sowing. Plans are for large cultivation next year! 


...... garlic ..... do it !  ..... next year even bigger.

New Season Pink Eye Harvest

New season potatoes are very popular this time of year. We planted Pink Eyes in August and the crop is coming on strong now. We've been harvesting for about 2 weeks and have about 2 weeks left.


The bucket of spuds, in back of car, are bound for Source at Sandy Bay. I discovered this place recently and the concept is interesting. They describe themselves in two ways:


1. AN ORGANIC FOOD CO-OPERATIVE:
Providing affordable organic, local, minimally packaged & fair trade goods. The co-op lives in a beautiful straw and earth bale building located on French St. on the campus of the University of Tasmania, in Sandy Bay.

2. A COMMUNITY GARDEN: 
Providing a fun & healthy way for people to spend time together, share valuable skills & grow their own food. The garden includes a wood-fired pizza oven, small apple orchard and composting facility.  

M · U · S · H · I

M · U · S · H · I

The Great Dane 

Often mistaken for a small horse

Killer of wallabies and roosters

Lord protector of the garden

Weeding

The joys of spring: weeds! 


The raised beds make it easier to control the weeds at the main event, where the vegetables grow.

'Amish Deer Tongue'

Today planted 'Amish Deer Tongue' lettuce seed in open ground. This seed comes from the 'The Lost Seed' a purveyor of rare & heirloom seeds.

Stake The Tomatoes

Sunday: 
Tie up and stake the climbing tomatoes. 
We have 80 plants in ground. 
One was lost yesterday from wind.

The 'Coke' Bottle Green House

We often use this type of green house to protect and promote growth for our small seedlings. 

From the photos you can see how to make and deploy this green house. Note how the lid is removed from the top of the bottle. We have found the temperature is too hot when the lid is left on. Water can be tipped into the top when required. 


Dad's used PET bottles for green houses for as long as I can remember. It has been very successful for us.

Tomatoes

It's early Thursday morning and the tomatoes are waking up!


Far left bed: Grosse Lisse tomatoes on green stakes.


Next bed: Bush tomatoes.


Right side two beds: The heirloom tomatoes. The big ones on stakes I bought from the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens annual plant sale. They are looking good.

Pinkeyes

Can you call your self Tasmanian if you don't like Pink Eye potatoes? Had the first harvest this week. Dad was very excited, our mainland friends couldn't understand the excitement over potatoes!  

Pink eye cooking suggestion:

Finely chop heaps of parsley and blend with "duck river butter". Steam the pink eye potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain, then smother with the parsley butter blend.

First Bee Hive Inspection

Acquired two hives from contacts at the Tasmanian Beekeepers' Association. We have four boxes for each hive. One brood box at bottom and three box's on top.


After two weeks in new location we opened them up for inspection. Most of the honey was found in the second box (see picture). Very little honey in the top box (4th), but covered in bees so should be good things to come.


PS: Friends bringing a plate of sweet cakes while the hive is open makes them go crazy! Yes quite a lot of people where stung on the head!