Hello from Sydney

IanB

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Hi,
Just joined after watching Marks videos for a short while on youtube. Im 55 and pretty new to gardening so really appreciate all the good info posted. We live in an old 1921 vintage cottage in the north west of Sydney that we have spent 7 years renovating to the point where we were considering a sea change but can't seem to bear the thought of parting with 'Our little house'

I share this with my lovely wife, 9 yr old son and our latest baby, Rosie, a red cattle dog.

Our house faces north and the back yard is quite shaded so Im slowly transforming the front yard into our veggie plot. I have four in ground beds and a pots and root pouches scattered around.

Im keen on growing some less than mainstream varieties which seems to equate to growing from seed. Im having mixed success but enjoying the challenge.

Anyway, I am really enjoying the community spirit around the whole self sufficiency world. I started as a hobby, but given my wife was made redundant 4 months ago and its looking likely I will suffer the same fate by year end, this is taking on slightly more importance
 

AndrewB

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Welcome Ian.

What are some of the things you are growing?

You can definitely cut household bills down with a little bit of effort in the garden. I've found that it pretty much runs itself once you set it up, I've had quite a few things self seed, my lawn currently has lettuce, spinach, mint & fennel growing in it :)

Other things seem to be very picky about the time of year you plant the seeds.
 

ClissAT

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Welcome Ian and family.
I just love those little old workers cottages. They hold such character if done thoughtfully and respectfully.
You are wise to use the front yard as you would no doubt find the back yard too hot mid summer. Anyway in winter you might find there is a sunny nook in the backyard that will grow a few things you wouldn't otherwise get in winter. Even if you have to use a container raised off the ground to find the slanted sunshine. An old clothes trolley makes an excellent caddy to move a small garden around chasing the sun.
And if you can find old photos from the period, you would find many people did grow their veg in the front yard with the path from gate to front door right down the centre.
A few roses would complete the scene. The man of the house would take up his little weeding hoe after he walked home from work and do a little gardening while his wife finished cooking dinner.
When other workers walked past they would converse over the fence complementing the garden and some small gift of produce was offered to the passer-by. This is unheard of today.
Often, the back yard was given over to kids play areas or the pet. Not to mention the track to the ubiquitous out house!
Photos ! We just love photos here;):thumbsup:
 
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Kasalia

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Nothing wrong with a front yard vege plot or two. Thats what mine is. Welcome to the forum.
20180902_161651.jpg
 

IanB

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Thanks to all for your kind words.
I will get to photos but as to what is in the garden. I have planted 2 blueberries in root pouches which is how I'll plant the various tomatoes once they are large enough. I have lettuce ,snap peas , 3 types of beans, carrot, beetroot , radish , corn all in the ground. Cucumbers are nearly ready to go in.
I have planted asparagus, ginger and tumeric in 95 litre root pouches, nothing has broken through yet but fingers crossed. We have a young passionfruit on the fence and 2 kiwi berries in the ground with a free standing pyramid shaped trellis for them to grow on which has a metal pelican sitting atop proudly. Yes, we have our quirks. Lastly, we have a lemon lime and mandarin trees, all quite young

As much as possible has been done from seed so I'm a bit late out of the blocks. I have only just discovered heated mats for germinating. Next year I'll try and get an earlier start. Cheers
 

IanB

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Hi,
Well, this is a bit of a test post to see if I can successfully upload a pic. In the past I have had trouble with picture sizing when trying to post to forums so I thought I'd try one before upload a few more.
This is a pic of our little girl, Rosie, in front of our mini startup orchard :)
Thats a mandarin in the pot in front of Rosie, to the left in the ground is a lime, behind the lime in the red pot is an apple, to the right at the back in the black pot is a peach, to the right and in front is an orange. On the back fence is a passion fruit.

Anyway, lets see how this goes. I'm actually having solar installed today and power is about to be cut for an hour. Exciting times :)
 

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ClissAT

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Rosie looks a lovely dog. As a much younger person I bred red cattle dogs for show, breding and export to Texas, USA.
I'd love to know her bloodlines. I'm assuming she's purebred.

Your photo was successful and your little backyard looks great.
Just a word about sun on fruit trees. Particularly in lower latitudes it's vital to get as much sun as possible daily. Since yours are in pots you have the benefit of being able to move them around as the sun moves through the seasons.
I have some plants in big pots that I move with the trolley 4 times a year so they are either always in sun or never in sun depending on the plant.
All my roses are in big pots and since they need at least 5-6hrs of sun daily up here. I move them to a different part of my roundabout garden each season so the shade from the trees affects them least.
 

IanB

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Thanks for the advice on the tree's. I appreciate it being a novice.
Re Rosie: Well, the short story is that she is not registered via the ANKC.
The longer story is that we purchased her after meeting a dog from the same breeder that impressed us. The breeder is an older gentleman that has been breeding for longer than I've been alive and long ago fell out with "associations" over interpretation of standards among other things. Rosie could never be shown, but that was never our intention. Having bred and shown dogs myself in years gone by I was fully aware of all of this at time of purchase.

Most importantly, she is a beautiful natured dog. We love her !!

You might find this an interesting read ...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-25/history-of-the-australian-cattle-dog/10390626

Cheers
 

ClissAT

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Intersting that the article doesn't mention the Smithfield arm of the genetics.
I was always under the impression thats where the stumpy tail and some of the red came from.
I was involved in the industry well over 40yrs ago.
 
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