Hello from Sydney, Australia

[Daniel RM]

Hello everyone,

Mmy name is Daniel, im a 37 year old man.
I live in Sydney, work as a Telecommunications Engineer (but more on the office side of things).
Though I have been into technology all my life (from being interested in electronics, computing and gadgets).
I am looking forward to get closer to nature.

I have very little experience in the garden. I hope to grow my own garden in my backyard. So far I have started with a basic self-assemble tumble compost and a small raised garden bed (with a plastic/greenhouse cover) [the one from Aldi].
Growing my first veggie/fruit will certainly help me take that first step
I later plan to expand by building my own garden beds and expand my plant empire.

Hopefully one day I'll have the means to move out of the City of Sydney and to the outer parts of Brisbane.
Open to suggestions to what would be the best first veggie/fruit in a tiny bed, right now it is Winter where I am.

PS: Mark, big fan. Been watching several gardening videos on youtube, and your videos are the best.

 

[AndrewB]

Hi Daniel,

Radish are a great starter vegie, they grow faster than weeds, so it's good for keeping motivation when you can see the food popping out of the ground. They are great roasted.

Beetroot & Swiss Chard/Silverbeet are other quick growers that don't mind the cold & you can just harvest the leaves as you need them.

 

[Vicky]

Hello and welcome Daniel, if you go to the Gardenate Web page you can subscribe to receive emails for your designated area that will remind you what you can plant in that month. The emails come out weekly too so you don't forget, that is, if you check emails regularly.

https://www.gardenate.com/

 

[Daniel RM]

Thank you both for the excellent suggestions
Weekend is here. Should have time to get my hands dirty

 

[DTK]

Welcome Daniel! I have been fiddling with gardens most of my life - even still, every day is a school day and I repeatedly learn from this forum, Mark's video's etc. I grew up in Sydney and worked (I thought it was slavery then, but appreciate it now) with my mum in our back yard in Bankstown. I agree with the comments re Gardenate and I receive the monthly reminders, in my case. Personally I would rate Mark's gardening content right up there with my old Yates Garden Guide, Peter Cundell on Gardening Australia and (I have to say) my now 93 year old mum's teaching, hands on as a little squirt. Anyway mate, enjoy the process. (Aside: For what it is worth, I was a PMG (old version of Telstra and AustPost) TIT in 1969 but left that to explore other adventures.) Happy Gardening!

 

[Simone Pennington]

Hello Daniel, just to echo AndrewB`s advice, radishes are a great way to start, instant success if looked after. Before we had our garden on the farm, we grew a lot of stuff in containers on our patio at home. Potatos even do well in buckets/small bins. This year we are doing tons of bush beans in containers, I have put chicken wire all the way around the insides of the buckets, so that the plants are supported and do not fall over - like they did on me last year when planting straight into the garden beds. If you have little space to spare, then grow stuff vertically, you can build trellises with just about anything, we have been going to our local scrappy for years, bits of cut of fencing and all sorts of things that give height are available for very little money. We are growing peas around old discarded wine racks this year. Anyway, just a few ideas, I hope I did not carry on too much for your. Kind Regards. Simone

 

[GKW]

G'Day and welcome Daniel.

Agree re Gardenate.....good additional resource to review and use along with this forum.

Be warned....turn your back on that raised bed and before you know it, they will have multiplied and covered the backyard ...which is not a bad thing and was my experience in recent times.

As a Sydney lad too, some of the things I've got growing in the veg patch right now (planted for late autumn / winter growing) inc carrots, radish, leeks, spring onions, garlic, peas, snow peas, beans, a variety of different greens ie lettuce, baby spinach, struggling to get the beetroot to come on but trying and I threw caution to the wind in mid autumn as I had some cherry tomato seedlings hanging around and pot planted them in the sunniest place in the backyard and they are doing okay and throwing fruit for me.

Getting ready to plant out the spuds come (in pots / planter bags) come July / Aug.

I've put a lot into pots going into winter inc strawberries, blueberries, chilies, broccoli inc potting a Myer lemon and dwarf Tahitian Lime to maximise use of available sun during winter. Come summer that part of the yard will be too hot...too much concrete so more back into the raised beds. Have a good look during the course of a sunny weekend day for where the sun moves across your yard and plant out some pots with greens, radish (fast growing) and have a think about what you may want to plant in Spring for summer and start growing some spring veg from seed inside during July for Aug / Sept plant out.

Best wishes and keep us posted.

 

[Mark]

Open to suggestions to what would be the best first veggie/fruit in a tiny bed, right now it is Winter where I am.

Peas and cabbage! And jump off the deep end and give making sauerkraut a go - it's one of my all-time fav foods to eat!

Thanks for joining us here on SSC!

 

[Daniel RM]

Thank you all for the great suggestions

Got myself Gardenate, seedling mix, and a Seeding Tray from bunnings.

With strawberry seeds that were starting to pop from a very ripe strawberry and lettuce seeds from the shop.

Starting with a dozen of each.
Keeping the soil mix moist and keeping them in the sunlight as much as possible.
Hopefully keeping them in the shed is enough to keep them safe from the cold nights.
Though might start keeping them inside the house.

Once they sprout ill move them to the small bed I have and try a different seed batch for August/September.
So many veggies/fruits to try.