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[DAND]

Hello everyone,
My name is Dan, 38 yr, last year bought a 5 acre place in Darwin suburbs. It is a rural block with a main 3 bedroom house which I rent out and a granny flat that I live in, this helps pay off the massive mortgage. When I bought the property it already had a few fruit trees with plumbed in irrigation and have been slowly putting in raised garden beds which are almost ready to begin planting. Just like to share a few progress photos so far.

April 2022 Vege area Orchid

October 2022

January 2023

I have only fill the beds in the last few days and will be topping with mulch and letting the beds rest till March-April, this is when Darwin's dry season will be starting and the best time for growing most things. I have to say it is so hot and humid up here. I can usually only get 3-4 hours of work done, before I expire to heat stress. It has been good fun and can't wait to start growing things.

We already have on the property:
Thai basil
Sweet Basil
Kafir Lime
Chilli
multiple Mango trees (Mango buds eaten by birds/fruit bats )
Black Sapote
Sapote
Lemon grass
Mulberry
dragon fruit (has not produced fruit)
lime
lemon
pineapple
lady finger banannas
Papaya (died due to rot and ants)

These where half the reason for buying the place to begin with.

We have hundreds of palm trees here, so there will always be an endless supply of palm frond mulch.

Enjoy,

Dan

 

[JP 1983]

Living the dream ay? Love it.

Hopefully ya got some kakadu plums growing somewhere there. If not, they're super easy to grow from seed. Loving your progress! Keep up the good work.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Welcome to the forum @DAND !

Sounds like you've got quite the amount of plants going - love it! Do you have past experience gardening already?

 

[Lunai]

Welcome to the forum! Would love to see and read the progress if you plan on keeping us updated

 

[DAND]

Welcome to the forum @DAND !

Sounds like you've got quite the amount of plants going - love it! Do you have past experience gardening already?

I have limited experience with gardening, but have been studying up the last few years with Marks videos.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Not to worry, you can ask any questions you have along the way on here

 

[DAND]

Sugar cane mulch applied.

I really want to make the gord tunnel like Marks, joining two garden beds together. This will also allow me to put some shade cloth over as dry season can be a bit harsh. Finding the concrete mesh big enough has been tricky. Any ideas?

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Some people have suggested to go to scrap yards in the past and to connect the pieces by twisting wire. I believe Mark's tunnel isn't all one piece everywhere either. I believe it's 2 pieces, repeated (side, side, top part).
He actually has a video on how he built it!

 

[DAND]

Today sorted out the irrigation for the garden beds.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Nice going!
Are they set to a timer or are they manual?

 

[DAND]

They are set to a timer (main control box, with multiple zones). It will go off every night for 15-20mins.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Ah cool. One warning I would give is to be careful it doesn't get overwatered on days it's been raining

 

[Scantey]

Today sorted out the irrigation for the garden beds.


View attachment 8809

I have been wondering whether to use the tiny sprinklers, like that, or to use soaker hose or drip tubing. Opinions, please? Does it depend on the plants? The environment? I live in zone 8 of the US.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

@Scantey soaker hoses are less precise than drip irrigation. On top of that drip irrigation can be installed just underground, so they may look more appealing. I believe drip irrigation is also more water-efficient. Sprinklers are usually cheap and easy to set up, and can water a large area at a time, but if not timed right you could get stuck with wet foilage overnight and slowly rot your plant away.

Honestly, there are up and downsides to just about anything. I personally water by hand, as that way I can keep check of any issues with my plants, be it fungal,insects, etc. I am tempted to maybe install temporary sprinklers in the future so that I can water my garden even if I'm away from home on some occasions.

 

[DAND]

Hi Scanty,
I choose these because they were spares I had lying around. I am also at work 12hrs a day, 5 days a week and don't have the time to be hand watering. This was an easy and convieniant option for me, if I do get too much leaf rot I will change to a different type.

 

[Cathy]

Garden looks fantastic.

I lived in Darwin for about a year and it was a struggle!

I put one of those soaker hoses on my Birdies bed and just manually turn it on as needed. I did cut it down to size so it fit better.