Hi Jstar the easiest tomatoes to grow are any of the cherry tomatoes.They are really resistant to pest and diseases.It is a worry what are going on crops and we are eating it.A lot of things are not real good for us and more an more products are being found at causing health problems.

Hi EM Mark & everyone :-)

I appreciate your help with Yates Tomato Dust.....I didnt know it had Sulpfur,copper and spinetoram in it

ewww....Thanks Mark! The mind boggles why its still available to consumers

Paul

Hey Paul, J* and everyone

Mark's on the mark again with his tip on the easiest tomatoes to grow.
They literally pop up all over the place in my garden & I haven't planted tomatoes for about 7 years!

All that rot about "needing" poisonous chemicals is rot. It's what HUGE companies would LIKE us to believe. It's complete misinformation.

Understanding your own garden's micro climates, within your climate, is a key.

Permaculture Gardeners, Biodynamic gardeners & plain ole Organic gardeners prove this over and over again.

I had a DVD on the Cuban Crisis and how Australian Permaculture gardeners went to live in Cuba to help save the lives of the people there by teaching them Permaculture Principles. They taught the people how to grow food, not only in huge farmland spaces but in every tiny space people had in apartments also. With the crisis, people were starving. The citizens lost an average of 10kg in weight each over the immediate crisis time.

They went back to basics, used waste for worm farms etc etc. It worked.

J* yes tomatoes can get fungal issues on leaves.
This can be remediated by only watering the SOIL under the plant. Not spraying the hose all over the plants. Many people use drip irrigation systems to achieve this more easily.

In high humidity areas like ours it can remain an issue. AIR FLOW is important.
I would cut off lots of leaves if it's still a problem.
Drainage, leading water away from the plant so it doesn't "pool" around it is also important.

Also growing from seed is far more successful for us here.
NOT leaving them in a plastic Greenhouse reduces chances of fungal disease.

I love your idea of planting at the end of Summer. Great thinking 99 lol.

I used to plant my "Summer" veg in June! Then have lots of harvesting to do for months right up to Christmas.
If our tomatoes were exposed to any sun after Christmas, they could be cooked on the vine.
They wanted "warmth" not sun.

We can quite easily grow "annual" Basil plants for 4 years! Given mild Winters and the perfect spot in the garden & micro climate for the plants.
Zucchini can be grown right through Winter here too.

I guess I'm trying to say is "think outside the box" or seed packet as the case may be lol.

Happy gardening!

Love EM

Hi all

Heard the welcome sound of a bit of rain on the roof earlier this evening.

Must admit this month is not my favourite in the garden - at least when we get very little rain.

But Gardening Australia is back on :)

Hi all,

Oh so true Em! Growing to one's climate is key. Not expecting to just grow anything, anytime, but to get to know what grows well, and when.

LOL I laughed when you talked about tomatoes wanting 'warmth not sun"- oh yes! So, i have had to cut off my fungal'd leaves, notwithstanding the planting in pots and watering roots not leaves etc etc (can't help that when it rains lol!) and been left with these poor exposed tomatoes which grow to full size but ripen a kind of orange-ish colour- not healthy looking at all! Hence my new idea to try and grow them outside of the hottest months......... we shall see! I'd really like to get a bumper crop- just once- that I can make my own relish from my own home grown tomatoes. Altho if I could have a year round supply of tomatoes- my H seems to have a year round appetite for tomatoes lol-that would be beaut!

So funny, cos apart from relish I don't really like tomatoes and have many bad childhood memories of the constant smell of rotten tomatoes. They also don't really agree with me.(acidic) So if this trick doesn't work, I shall give up and concentrate on growing corn, which I LOVE!

Cheers,

J*

Hey Lilly

I saw Gardening Australia back on my ABC iView app last night and thought of you lololol.

Costa's amazing isn't he? Such passion for growing just about anything!

Love Josh Byrne too. And I miss Peter Cundall more than anything, he was such a monster food grower, probably still is. 38y he did that show and I still miss him! lol. Saw him live once and I was star struck!

Hey J* yes! For those of us who live in hot climes, we have different things to think about than what's commonly thought of.
AND WHERE in our garden.

We have all these little "micro-climates" (whilst trees are not over shadowing - like at mine lol) and to get to know these spaces intimately is a real boon!

During the cooler months, when the sun lowers in angles on our garden, we might have "spots" in specific places that still get the warmth of the sun on some days. I find THESE spots can still grow Summer crops like tomatoes, basil and zucchini. Not sure about corn though... being from climates like Mexico, it's probably sun they need AND warmth.

When I was home schooling and growing for trading, I could grow enough corn and tomatoes, basil and zucchini very easily to last a year BUT when the crops were bulging I was also working hard in the kitchen during the bumper times to preserve them ie par blanching and freezing, roasting and sinking in oil, sometimes dehydrating etc.

One bumper year for pumpkin, we had enough to last 18 months! And nearly turned orange (literally) from eating so much pumpkin. I learnt how to store them well, so that's the key with pumpkin, garlic and such.

I'm positive all this organic food was the key to optimum physical health that combatted all the other stuff being inflicted upon us, unbeknownst to us at the time.

Happy gardening everyone!

Love EM

Hi EM,

Yes Costa is great! :) It’s good that gardening is sort of ‘in’ these days (especially with indoor plants back in fashion.)

In younger years, I was too embarrassed to tell anyone I liked gardening. Was told once that I was like a ‘Nanna’ because I gardened and went to bed early.

I’ll take that as a compliment now because Nannas are awesome.

Did you get to do some moon gardening? We are getting some lovely cool breezes here today. Still feel yuck after mowing the grass but also a sense of achievement.

Happy gardening,

Lillylane

Aha I totally agree, Nanas are AWESOME! I'm a Nana lol!

My grandmothers were beautiful people, I learnt so much from them.

My grandchildren still like gardening, they used to LOVE getting into the garden over at my house but since they're getting older, now when they come they're more into online gaming lol with their teenage Aunties and Uncles!

But it's really wonderful seeing how much they KNOW about plants and gardening, worm farming and the like. These are pretty amazing skills we're handing down.

Nope. No Moon Gardening yet... need to get one CCTV moved to face the back garden first. Just not quite safe enough for me alone yet.
Probably March I'll spend that money lol.
Would like the electrician to put up some spotlight like lights too. That's alot later but as the CCTVs take footage at night, I'd be okay to get into the garden at night once the CCTVs are done.

But I'm EXCITED! Only FOUR sleeps left till my Gardener comes to work with me lol! Better than Santa for me!
I asked him to work 4 or 14 or 104 hours on Saturday lol. He said "Oh the lantana's back I gather?" yep.

It's been raining on and off here still... if it rains he won't come and I'll be curled up in a foetal position somewhere lol!!
NO I WON'T, there's plenty of other stuff to do, we have Yvette's Birthday Party the following weekend.
I'll be disappointed that's all. 🤞😎

Yes it's so cool that gardening's "back in fashion" but did it really ever go out??
I didn't notice! 😂🤣😂🤣

Love EM

Hi all,

Nana's ARE awesome! My best memories come from my nan, and I am really enjoying the thought of being a nana one day. My youngest d is already dilemma-ing over how many kids she'll have lol! AND she is determined that her husband will move in with us. Or else she won't marry him! LOL! She's been like this since she was small. I hope she doesn't grow out of it!

Trees, yep I need more trees. My backyard, altho sth facing and on a steep slope, is very hot in summer. Once we are able to change to being on sewer, then we'll be able to plant some fruit and nut trees which will help things a bit. Atm the septic trench is taking up all the space. It's a quarter acre block, so big for town, but limited still. Anyway, all good for corn! Altho I didn't get another crop in this year.

I've realised that part of my lack of anything in the garden, I can put down to my low mood over the last few months. I was wondering why everything felt like such an effort. Anyway, on the path now, with medical help and LOTS of steely determination lol!

Em your story of growing and preserving as well as homeschooling is so totally amazing! I KNOW how much work that would have been ! Hope it stays sunny for you on Saturday....darn that lantana!!! Maybe it won't be too long until you have another round of grandchildren to share the garden with. ;)

Coronavirus has definitely changed attitudes a bit, making gardening more in the spotlight. When we stop putting in new roads so we can grow more trees we'll know that we've turned a corner. More trees less cars! More weeds less grass!

Lillylane I was once laughed at for being one to sew my own clothes. The ignorance of some ppl! These are the skill which are always needed, and it's great to pass them down. It's almost too late to learn them when we really need them. It's great that you can go to bed early. Do you get a good nites sleep? I go to bed at midnite mostly, it means I stay asleep all nite until about 7am. Otherwise I tend to wake up and not be able to get back to sleep.

Cheers,

J*

Hey J*

Yeah I have wonderful memories of my Nanas. To think they probably had all sorts going on BUT could spend real quality time with me. My Great Grandmother had Lord knows how many grandchildren, let alone GREAT grandchildren, having 13 children herself, but she showed so much patience and kindness.

YIKES! One son says exactly the same thing! He wants to be super rich lol and says no way is he moving out until there's no room left for all the kids he's having lol. At 18yo, he's saving to buy his first house with Alexa. She's promised to do this with them ALL and good luck to them lol.
Primarily as Investment properties.

My mind boggles at their plans but it's great!

Yeah my garden is neglected too J*. It's okay, gardens are very forgiving!

THREE Sleeps left till my gardener comes lol. It rained again today so PRAY for me please! lol.

Hey NO MORE grandchildren here for QUITE a while thankyou very much!
The go forth and prosper is far more popular a quote for me atm than go forth and multiply!
My cup runneth over with children J*. I'm pooped lol.

Another son might marry quite quickly... maybe he'll wait till he's finished his Degree, IDK.
We'll see.

Yeah when my garden is reduced by the cabin and it's garden, I'll be growing VERTICALLY alot more. You can have some of my trees! But some are on their way out.
I'll remove the old pool & pool fence.
Need to leave room for the HOT TUB aka spa bath, BFs direct orders lol. He said that's the FIRST thing he's going to buy and hook up when he moves here. Plus rewiring the whole house to accommodate both Aus and U.S. electrical equipment.

And he wants an Outdoor Cinema 🙄. BF wants to garden while watching Star Trek lol!

Keeping the BIG Italian style outdoor pizza oven I had built. It's the bomb!
LOVE that we have enough timber to burn in it like forever lol.

EMxxxx

My grandma had the most amazing collection of rare plants that inspired my mother and inspired me.I lost her 3 days after my 7th birthday but remember her well especially making me work hard when I came to stay like bringing in firewood and making sure the fire never went out.It seemed like fun as a kid staging where their was no electricity or running water.A crop farm with many fruit trees scattered around and never a shortage of something to eat.

I just planted a tree for my elderly neighbour and she was surprised how big I dig the hole She said no wonder my garden grows so well.I mixed a bit of my compost in the soil for her as well.Our soil can be hard and rocky here so I gave it the best chance to get a good start.

My gf put in 100% organic tomato seeds before she left for home last time she was suppose get back a mth ago but complications her end. Thought l'd kill them for sure l grow great trees and some other unmentionables' but l usually shorten veggie lifespans quite a bit if left to my own devices . Problem is l didn't this time and l now have 3million 231 tomatoes but mostly living on my own until she gets back , be awhile yet.

And no l'm not knocking on neighbour doors with boxes of free tomatoes , it's just not me haha.

That’s a very kind thing to do for your neighbour. What kind of tree is it?

Hi Lillylane I have completely forgotten what I planted for her.She was telling me where she use to live how wonderful the soul was and you could grow anything in it.

Hi randomx you will be making tomato relish and dried tomatoes by the sounds of it.Just hollow if you need any recipes.
Take care,
Mark

Ahh matchy but that's the problem , l can't cook , l burn water . And when l'm on my own l only use 3 or 4 tomatoes a wk anyway . l had no idea these things grew so many.

Wow Mark what wonderful memories, did you get to run up and down the rows of orchards?

Awwww You're such a sweet neighbour doing that. MUSCLE POWER!

Lol. You're awesome Mark.

Love EM

Hi Mark,

Do you have any suggestions on how to preserve mangoes? I’ve picked a few to leave them inside to ripen further but I have a feeling they probably aren’t going to be be soft and sweet ones for eating fresh. So preserving them might be an option instead. Not sure whether to try making jam or chutney. Actually I have very little idea about what the difference is.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Also - how do you prevent possums or other wildlife getting to the mangoes?

Hey rx lol 3 million and 231 tomatoes?

Man! The mozzies here are the size of Pterodactyls (don't make me Google spelling anymore lol) and I've told you a billion times I never exaggerate lol!!

How bout you chuck 3 million in a pot on the stove on LOW and just melt them down.
Cut them in half first!
Then LET THEM COOL.
Then put them in plastic containers with lids OR snap lock bags.
Freeze them.

Your GF will know what to do with them when she comes home lol.

I swear I LOVE you guys putting up with these FREAKING mozzies to connect lol!
Cheeses!

EM!! xxxx

Hi EM,

I’m looking at my Lilly Pilly trees and getting worried they may be getting too tall for me to prune myself. Did you get tree loppers to prune yours? Is it very expensive? Do they charge per tree? I have a row of 5 of them.

I feel like I’m just asking everyone questions today and not giving anything back :p In ‘real life’ I would give you some jars of Lilly Pilly jam to say thanks :)

Haaaaa thanks em. l was getting a real kick too out of not killing the veggies too just for once while she's away but l created a monster . Anyway that sounds rx proof l'll give it a try .

Speaking of mangoes l think they were mangoes , big green things with this film of slim on the outside they need special washing first. Well it was awhile ago you see but the house we rented up in nth qld for a few yrs had three big mango l think they were, trees . So every yr we climbed the trees pick them all box them and sell them to the fruit market guy. lt turned out quite a perk.

rx

Hi all you lovely gardeners,

Rx I am soo jelly of your tomato success! How great is that! You must be missing being able to share it with gf tho. I like Ems suggestion. Just stir it occaionally and it will be fine! The more you cook it down -gently- the more it will become like tomato paste. great for adding flavour to pasta and pizza etc. Add onions and basil for flavour if youre feeling adventurous!

Lilly I think the main difference between chutney and jam is the amount of sugar, and also chutney has salt and vinegar. Smells AMAZING while it's cooking. Or at least I think so. My chutney recipe also has spices + onion and is lovely with vego meals like dhal and rice, or tofu. When I have heaps I also freeze for adding to smoothies. Or theres a great recipe for Weiss bars- uses coconut cream and mangos and sugar. YUM! Wait til you have lovely sweet mangos tho.

Mark what do you suggest for our citrus? We keep getting leaf curl. I've got the stuff for it- haven't applied yet. But are we doing something wrong, for it to keep being a problem? The new lemon tree is in a pot- I think it dries out too much. I wonder if I can have the pot standing in water....will it hate that? I wouldn't be surprised if ants have moved in!

Cheers,

J*

Lillylane said:

Hi EM,

I’m looking at my Lilly Pilly trees and getting worried they may be getting too tall for me to prune myself. Did you get tree loppers to prune yours? Is it very expensive? Do they charge per tree? I have a row of 5 of them.

I feel like I’m just asking everyone questions today and not giving anything back :p In ‘real life’ I would give you some jars of Lilly Pilly jam to say thanks :)

Umm firstly I used to climb the trees myself and used a mini chainsaw to cut down the branches.
THEN I used one on a pole lol.
THEN I borrowed my Uncle's reciprocating saw to do it.
Now I'm just watching the big one GROW!

Omg the cost of tree lopping ain't fun!
Plus most tree loppers I've had have been reckless.

So BE CAREFUL and very prescriptive!

Some charge by the hour, some charge by the tree.

Some charge for the "full job" - done badly IME.

My last tree lopper was pretty awesome, he LOVES trees!
He charged me $200 to prune 3 Crepe Myrtles "just enough" near the driveway, as I asked.
I'll most definitely get HIM back.

The ones before charged me $2000, if I remember correctly - to practically kill my pines and cut 2 Lilly Pillies in the OPPOSITE way I asked.
Everything was done very badly with them.
They missed 2 trees included in the quote.

Stupid me did all that verbally, the walk, the quote.
So get everything in WRITING, even via text is okay.

Lills, no need to pay me back lol "pay it forward" if you must but I think you already do plenty.

Love EM

Haaa funny thing though j she'd give me all these instructions all the time but l kept forgetting to do it all anyway. Poor things pretty well grew themselves .

rx

Hi Jstar citrus leaf curl can be caused by a few things from not enough water to or to much to temperature being to hot or cold but theost common one is insect attack which could be mealy bugs or aphids or the common one is Cyrus leaf miner which can be noticed by silver trails on the leaves and is actually a moth that lay eggs on the leaves and when hatched tunnel into the leaf causing curling.
You can spray the tree with pest oil which is organically certified or Eco oil.

Hi Em and my grandparents farm was sorounded by natural bushland and my brother and I would walk through the farm and into the forest exploring it.I am surprised we never got lost.It was a wonderful place to go for holidays.I did have a misshap with an axe under the ma go trees.I thought I would chop some firewood.I still have a big scar on my foot.
Take care,
Mark.

And J* about the leaf curl; you need to cut off all the curled leaves.

I've gone to use the Eco oil I have, about 5 times over the past 10y lol, then realised the temperature was TOO HOT to put the oil on.
So then I just poured Weed Tea all around, in fact my orange tree is quite old so I dump the entire 11L bucket decomposed weeds an' all, all around it.

I realised also it was probably THIRSTY! Because I neglect my garden so much (yeah it's true).
We're on a slope, so I put alot of timber branches on the LOW side to stop the water running away.

Having the row boat Frog Pond on the HIGH side has seemed to help too.

Anyway those things have seemed to keep any issues away for about 3y. I'll keep you posted!

Love EM

Thanks Mark and Em

yes that’s the problem I have also with eco oil- too hot!

shall try to keep it moist. I may have to empty the pot and check for ants nest first. They seem to move at no invitation!

J*

I checked my beans this morning and their is some on their ready to harvest.I will be having green beans for awhile.I am still picking tomatoes and eggplants.My sweet potatoe has taken over and is spreading onto the footpath and into my neighbours yard.
Happy gardening,
Mark.