New to forum, 1 season in on gardening

[TimelyBehaviour]

Gday forum members and of course Mark,

My story begins in spring of 2022.
Now picture this, Sydney, 2022 lol just kidding but yes. So I was thinking about starting a veggie garden but had no idea where to start. I began watching you tube and almost all of the presenters are in the USA and UK, so I was doing what I could do taking notes for when their season begins here down under.
Then I came across Mark.V and self sufficient me. Grazie Dio. Finally an Aussie that I can watch, follow, understand and learn from.
So I got a bunch of small planters from Bunnings to try things out and test the waters so to speak.
I grew Roma tomato’s, potato, carrot etc. we had a great spring with fresh veggies. Summer hit pretty hard but most of the plants survived and made it through. I chalk that up to following Mark’s tips.
Now, I’m getting ready for the winter season and have begun planting new crops. I was looking at an older livestream and Mark mentioned this forum, so here I am to learn more.

Honestly a special thanks to Mr Valencia and all of his hard work putting together everything. Cheers Mark.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Welcome to the forum @TimelyBehaviour !

I agree! Mark is very easy to learn from; he gives lots of details, shows his experience and more! One of my favourite - if not my absolute fav.
Sounds like you're having a good first year! That's awesome!

I, personally, love Winter the most! There's less bugs attacking my plants and I can grow plants that prefer cooler temperatures like lettuce and spinach.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have! I would love to see your setup too

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

Hi @Mandy Onderwater,

So I went through the harder of the two growing seasons then on my first go?
Will post pics in the coming week, never thought of taking photos. Didn’t think there was much to photograph really.
My potatoes went to flower about 3 weeks ago so I’m going to see what I get, I have low hopes so that when I get it right I am happy.
Other than that I will be planting some small bed of potato, pumpkin, broad beans and broccoli this weekend coming. Got to get ready for the coming winter and stay ahead.

I love lettuce and had a good first go at it. Will let one of the plants go to seed this time and will be planting more than last time too.

Relaxing hobby. My other is watch collecting and repair, hence the name.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Each season has their own pros and cons. Summer is ideal for sun-loving plants. Tomatoes thrive and do their best in Summer, but when grown in Winter you can enjoy less pest damage and a significantly lowered chance of fruit flies, even if production is less.

I grew up and lived most my life in The Netherlands and as such, most of the things I enjoy eating are cooler climate plants. Hence my favourite season being Winter. Living in the sub-tropics now, instead of temperate, means I can grow things year-round, but it also means I need to learn what can grow here. Things taste different when grown in these conditions, which is both a pain and a bonus.
Back in The Netherlands I could never imagine growing tropical fruits and veg, which have been a fun learning expercience! (Imagine pineapple, cucumber, etc)

I'm going to try growing peas for the first time this year. I've heard that they taste amazing picked right of the vine! It's something I'm really excited about growng this Winter.

Very cheeky, haha. I like it.

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

Well, let’s see what I can do this season. Who knows, I might even grow something

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Heck yeah! You got this

And you've got us to back you up if you have questions

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

I appreciate that. Having people that actually know what they are doing on standby is a good thing to have as a beginner.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Anytime! Gardening is so much fun - and it's good for you too! But sadly, many people only see the hurdle they would have to overcome... not knowing we are out here. We are more than happy to turn those black thumbs into green ones! We all start somewhere

 

[JP 1983]

Cool beans another Sydney-sider ay? See ya round this dysfunctional town.

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

Cool beans another Sydney-sider ay? See ya round this dysfunctional town.

That’s right, Sydney where all the traffic comes together at 3pm daily. The city that is as hot as QLD and as cold as Melb all in one.

 

[Nick Freeman]

It's great to have you with us @TimelyBehaviour ! Even if I'm new to this as well! I look forward to hearing how you're beds proceed this coming season!

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

It's great to have you with us @TimelyBehaviour ! Even if I'm new to this as well! I look forward to hearing how you're beds proceed this coming season!

Thanks nick it’s much appreciated.

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

So here goes.

These are the small beds I have going at the moment. I’m thinking about putting in a large raised bed but at the moment it’s the $ that’s preventing it from happening.

This has just had broccoli seeded.

Cherry tomatoes that have stopped producing. Probably going to pull them.

This is going to be for pumpkin, I’m going to put a trellis behind and let them climb vertically to help with space.

Eggplant with a few on. It did nothing then all of a sudden boom.

As you can see

Little potato patch that is almost ready to harvest. I went investigating just now. A lot of medium to small sized at the moment.

Sad little cucumber plant with a few on and a few carrots at the base.

Carrots on the way.

Tomato monstrosity from this summer. I think I need to get serious with it and trim it back to promote som new growth. It’s a mess.

Chilli, I think capsicum and tomato in the back.

Planning on another two beds. One full of lettuce and the other peas and broad beans.

Well this is my lot so far. It’s a start and a learning experience.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Looks pretty good! Especially considering you're pretty new to this! I especially love how you used sticks and bamboo as trellises - smart thinking.

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

Looks pretty good! Especially considering you're pretty new to this! I especially love how you used sticks and bamboo as trellises - smart thinking.

Yeah I was trying to use what I have but will need to go and buy some proper stakes this weekend as the plants are too high for them.

I got things to grow though so that’s the most important thing. I’m going to be digging some of them out soon but I will be burying some food in the beds. I want to buy some worms as well.

500 worms amongst the beds you see plus two more should do it. Worms = gold.

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

Any advice on controlling the tomato plants?

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I don't blame you one bit. I do the same for the most part

I haven't ever bought worms, but I do try to attract them (like, burying kitchen scraps in the soil and whatnot. Keep feeding them, and they keep coming).
The fertiliser I enjoy to use is Blood & Bone. It's awesome. Though I do change it up from time to time depending on my mood more than anything. I also have a seaweed fertiliser and fertiliser granules. I also enjoy spreading eggshells over the soil as they'll eventually break down into calcium for the plant, though I recommend using shovels or gloves if you have to dig the soil over - they can be a little sharp.

What do you mean by controlling the tomato plants?
Tomato plants can be determinate (only grows to a certain size, and usually fruits and ripens all at once) or indeterminate (keeps growing, fruits and ripens each bunch at different times/more spread out).
I generally don't do much. just give it some support and cut off some of the bottom leaves. They do the majority of the work themselves. I am tempted to top my tomatoes next time, as I tend to grow indeterminates. It got too tall for even me to reach (I'm 1,85m tall) and the top kept flopping over anyway.

 

[TimelyBehaviour]

I don't blame you one bit. I do the same for the most part

I haven't ever bought worms, but I do try to attract them (like, burying kitchen scraps in the soil and whatnot. Keep feeding them, and they keep coming).
The fertiliser I enjoy to use is Blood & Bone. It's awesome. Though I do change it up from time to time depending on my mood more than anything. I also have a seaweed fertiliser and fertiliser granules. I also enjoy spreading eggshells over the soil as they'll eventually break down into calcium for the plant, though I recommend using shovels or gloves if you have to dig the soil over - they can be a little sharp.

What do you mean by controlling the tomato plants?
Tomato plants can be determinate (only grows to a certain size, and usually fruits and ripens all at once) or indeterminate (keeps growing, fruits and ripens each bunch at different times/more spread out).
I generally don't do much. just give it some support and cut off some of the bottom leaves. They do the majority of the work themselves. I am tempted to top my tomatoes next time, as I tend to grow indeterminates. It got too tall for even me to reach (I'm 1,85m tall) and the top kept flopping over anyway.

Going to try the egg shells.

I mean I didn’t really stake the tomatoes and they sort of commingled in a tomato monstrosity. Does it produce? Yes, is it neat, no.

Lol my OCD kicks in sometimes.

 

[JP 1983]

Any advice on controlling the tomato plants?

Since yours look like indeterminate varieties, you need to pinch off the new fruiting stems which emerge at the leaf bases. Keep it to 3-5 fruiting stems per plant and let them run high and thin.

Mark did a vid on it a while back:

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I like to stake my tomatoes as I find that it's easier to see what's going on - and easier to harvest. I also find that flopped over tomatoes that touch the ground tend to be more subsceptible to soil-borne diseases.

It's really a matter of preference at the end of the day, but I do recommend staking them. Make sure it's something sturdy, as fruiting tomato plants tend to get quite heavy, especially depending on it's species