Self sufficient wannabe

[Jake]

G'day from the eastern suburbs of Victoria, Australia...

I recently moved from a small block with barely no backyard to a larger block with plenty of room to grow fruit, veggies and herbs (and a family!). My partner and I love the idea of "home grown" and we stumbled across Self Sufficient Me which is our number one source of information to help us on our growing journey.

It's very early on, but we've successfully grown coriander, mint, broccoli, broad beans and currently have healthy looking cherry tomatoes, dill and some chilli seedlings and basil growing. With plans to add more raised beds, we're very excited to learn from our wins and losses.

Take care, let's get into it!

 

[JoshW]

Welcome Jake, sounds like you're well on the path. Enjoy your time here

 

[Jake]

Welcome Jake, sounds like you're well on the path. Enjoy your time here

Thanks Josh. Plenty of knowledge within this group, be prepared for some silly questions

 

[JoshW]

Thanks Josh. Plenty of knowledge within this group, be prepared for some silly questions

The silly question is the one you don't ask

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Welcome to the forum @Jake !
Feel free to ask any questions you have on here

 

[DragonLady]

Hi Jake,
No silly questions here, we're all continuously learning in life

 

[GreenThumbsUp]

Welcome to the forum Jake! There is never a question that is a silly question to ask in my books. Ask away. Hope you enjoy this forum as much as everyone here.

 

[Gardenfuher]

Hi Jake. It's been a wild spring (for us in Victoria at least) to start a new garden in this year. Hope ots going well for you.

 

[Jake]

Hi Jake. It's been a wild spring (for us in Victoria at least) to start a new garden in this year. Hope ots going well for you.

Yes, and this recent mid November cold snap/no sun isn't helping. I live up in the mountains, very cold here. Finally some sunshine today though, and just harvested some more broad beans. It's amazing how much beans they produce, can't keep up!

Have you recently planted yourself? I have some spare dirt to grow some veggies in, suggestions welcome

 

[Gardenfuher]

Yeah, I'm in the mountains too and it's got wicked cold for a few nights earlier in the month. Everything's been growing so slowly this year.

For veggies I've got garlic (planted in autumn), asparagus, kale, rocket, lettuce, couple of different beans (love my broadbeans), leaks, radish, rainbow chard, peas, chickpeas, Onions, tomatoes (big and cherry), scallop squash,cucumber, zucchini and some peppers (I think that's everything currently in the ground). Oh and a volunteer that might be a butternut squash.

I always recommend radish. Super quick and easy. 6 weeks from seed to harvest.

Do you start your own seeds or are you buying seedling?

 

[Jake]

Yeah, I'm in the mountains too and it's got wicked cold for a few nights earlier in the month. Everything's been growing so slowly this year.

For veggies I've got garlic (planted in autumn), asparagus, kale, rocket, lettuce, couple of different beans (love my broadbeans), leaks, radish, rainbow chard, peas, chickpeas, Onions, tomatoes (big and cherry), scallop squash,cucumber, zucchini and some peppers (I think that's everything currently in the ground). Oh and a volunteer that might be a butternut squash.

I always recommend radish. Super quick and easy. 6 weeks from seed to harvest.

Do you start your own seeds or are you buying seedling?

Oh wow, you've got plenty growing

We've only bought seedlings this far but tomorrow we'll be heading down to Bunnings to buy a few things for growing from seed. Watched plenty of YouTube videos and we're ready to give it a go.

Particularly interested in buying some LED or fluorescent lighting. Feel free to give me some tips if you grow from seed using lighting.

 

[Jake]

Just a few of the things I have growing. Happy with the progress. Green beans are producing plenty and so are the cherry tomatoes. Chilli plants are starting to throw out plenty of fruit. Corn, radish, cucumbers, beetroot all looking great too!

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Just a few of the things I have growing. Happy with the progress. Green beans are producing plenty and so are the cherry tomatoes. Chilli plants are starting to throw out plenty of fruit. Corn, radish, cucumbers, beetroot all looking great too!

They look amazing!

 

[Justin M]

Happy growing, you picked a strange year to start, the weather has been odd and unpredictable in SE Victoria the last 6 months.

Good luck.