What I've got growing on this season.

[Grandmother Goose]

Despite having been a bit unwell, which forced major delays in some of my garden plans this year, I've been doing a good job of utilising pot growing to make up for it.

I've managed to collect most of the fruit trees that I want. I now have one of each of...
Elberta Peach
Indian Peach
Sugar Plum
Elephant Heart Plum
Granny Smith Apple
Red Delicious Apple
20 Ounce Apple
Magus Summer Surprise Apple
Cocktail Pear
Black Mulberry
Red Shahtoot Mulberry
White Shahtoot Mulberry
Double-grafted Stella-Royal Rainier Cherry
King Tai Mango
Babaco
Sugar Bubba Mandarin
Desert Finger Lime (Aussie native)
Variegated Pink Lemon x 2

I also have Red Dacca banana and Blue Java banana, which aren't trees but close enough.

Still on the wish list of trees to get are a blood orange, mission almond, papershell almond, another type of pear which I'm currently undecided as to what type I want, and an avocado tree, but I have no idea what type of avo tree to get because I like avo, but not enough to have any idea about the different types. More research is required. I'll probably get most of my wish list trees next winter.

All my trees - and the bananas - are dwarf, semi-dwarf, espaliered, pot suitable, and/or can be pruned to keep them to a smaller size, which is good as I wouldn't be able to fit that many trees in my yard if they were all full-size versions.

I've also now got some sweet yellow capsicum and some Trinidad scorpion plants, a midyim berry bush (Aussie native), and quite a few large pots of potatoes: purple sapphire, purple congo, and La Ratte fingerling. I decided to get into growing in large pots because my patience was wearing thin, I didn't want to wait another whole year to get more garden beds set up and filled before I could start growing some seasonal veg, so even though I've previously never been great with pot plants, I'm going to win this time, because I'm fully determined to make it happen.

I've now got two very large garden beds to fill up, once that's done and the season is right for it, I'll be having a go at getting a variety of alpine strawberry seeds to pop in one and the other will be for mostly flowers with some perennial veg. That was one of my projects that went from a plan to have done before spring to something to work on throughout the year a bit at a time as I'm able, as spring has been springing here since around mid August and I still haven't got the beds finished, which messed up my spring planting plans. Winter wasn't quite as cold as usual, so I wasn't expecting any fruit on my chill hours required trees, but my sugar plum - which isn't supposed to be able to grow and fruit here according to all the literature - has some fruit starting to grow on it. There's not a lot of places where one can grow both sugar plums and mangos in the same yard... though it'll take a couple of years to see how well the mango does, other people have been able to grow them here, and my sugar plum is definitely breaking the rules for me.

Unfortunately, I can't show a single photo of any of it at the moment, because every device I have access to that can take a photo or video has ended up either accidently broken, died of old age, or can't be found. I think I might have to ask a friend to visit and get some photos for me on their phone or whatever... or stop spending money on my gardening antics and save up for a new photo taking device... oh the pain of priorities! Garden or anything else in life... eesh!

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

That sounds amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing them one day. I'm glad to hear you've got (most of) the plants you wanted - that's super exciting!
And plants growing in pots can always be planted later, but at least you've got them growing now, rather than next year
That's really cool that you managed to grow sugar plums! I wonder if the heat affects the taste of the fruit - keep me posted please.

Frankly, if you spent money on something that makes you happy, I'd say that's money well spent.

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Latest news:

The good stuff: my little fig tree is popping heaps of baby figs. My Magnus apple is popping some apples, which are already quite a size compared to the ones my other apple trees are attempting, and they're weird looking, very dark purple, almost black. My 20-ounce apple looks like it's going to pop a few apples as well. The sugar plums are hanging in there. My Elberta peach tree needed thinning as it was trying to grow too many peaches for such a little tree to keep up with. The mango has a big flower bunch on it which is giving way to potential fruit now, there's some tiny little balls where the flowers were, how many hang in there if any and actually form fruit is yet to be seen. The red delicious apple and the granny smith apple look like they might be trying to grow a few, but I don't trust them yet at the size they are because last year they dropped all but one each of the apples they tried to grow. The mulberries and babaco have doubled in size, except for the white mulberry which has grown at least 5 times larger, I suspect that one is going to give me a lot of pruning work in years to come. My potatoes are doing really well leaf wise, only harvest time will tell how well they did underneath the mulch. My tiny little midyim berry bush is starting to produce a few tiny flowers. The bananas are gradually getting taller with each new leaf, but the weather keeps being weird and goes from hot to cold and back again, so they're not completely happy yet.

I've had an explosion of various native bees, wasps and hover flies in the yard. Leaf cutter bees have been very busy cutting up the new soft leaves of one of my rose bushes. I've also had a lot of lizards visiting the yard, mostly geckos and skinks, one of the skinks I didn't get to look at long enough nor well enough to be able to look it up to ID it, but saw it well enough to know that it was significantly larger than a mere little garden skink and a species I wasn't familiar with. And in the past couple of days, we've had an adorable juvenile bearded dragon move in. Yesterday he was exploring my potato pots, today he spent most of the day perched on top of a pile of rock alongside the driveway that is on the list of things to do something interesting with later.

Disasters so far: my attempt with ginger, galangal, and turmeric last year didn't do so well over winter. They all died back, I left them where they were hoping they'd come back in spring, but none of them have showed any signs of returning yet. I think I'll have to dig them up and see what the story is underground and if any can be potentially rescued and revived.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

That sounds awesome! I am so happy and excited for you! Yes!

Your garden sounds like it must be absolutely lovely to be in. Even with the setbacks, the stuff going well is significantly larger.
Naughty leaf miners!
I must admit, my turmeric isn't doing well either. It all died back, and I haven't tried digging them up. Maybe there's something left, maybe not. Some mint took over the area and I frankly can't be bothered haha. Maybe I should check...

How are the new raised beds?

 

[Grandmother Goose]

That sounds awesome! I am so happy and excited for you! Yes!

Your garden sounds like it must be absolutely lovely to be in. Even with the setbacks, the stuff going well is significantly larger.
Naughty leaf miners!
I must admit, my turmeric isn't doing well either. It all died back, and I haven't tried digging them up. Maybe there's something left, maybe not. Some mint took over the area and I frankly can't be bothered haha. Maybe I should check...

How are the new raised beds?

I've got the large one with my miniature trees in it fully constructed, just have to finish filling it with soil, which is proving to be a bigger project than I'd anticipated. Got another smaller but still quite large bed mostly put together in the front yard, but have only put in enough of the little nuts and bolts to size and position it, yet to finish nutting it up and put in the support rods... then I'll have to fill that one as well (groan)! Putting them together is fun, planting things and watching stuff grow and harvesting the rewards is fun, but filling the beds up with soil when I can't just go and buy a pile of bags that I can dump in there is not so much fun. My health is improving a little more each day, so now I've really got no excuses, I'm just procrastinating about it.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Aah, I can only imagine it being quite a job. I'm hoping to put my first-ever raised beds in soon! Though perhaps I'm procrastinating a little too; I will have to dig out large rocks and even out the ground, not to mention its on a slight angle so I will have to dig part of the bed in a bit. Having never done this before it's getting me both nervous and a little excited. I am worried about the soil quality that we will get delivered though. Someone else gave us a voucher and well... I have my doubts. Nothing I can't fix though, I think.

I am so glad your health is improving, that's absolutely awesome!!!

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Aah, I can only imagine it being quite a job. I'm hoping to put my first-ever raised beds in soon! Though perhaps I'm procrastinating a little too; I will have to dig out large rocks and even out the ground, not to mention its on a slight angle so I will have to dig part of the bed in a bit. Having never done this before it's getting me both nervous and a little excited. I am worried about the soil quality that we will get delivered though. Someone else gave us a voucher and well... I have my doubts. Nothing I can't fix though, I think.

I am so glad your health is improving, that's absolutely awesome!!!

Soil quality is my biggest problem. I have 3 choices, in order from cheapest to most costly...
1. Soil from the back of my yard. It needs to be sieved, rehydrated as it's currently hydrophobic, mixed with a lot of organic matter to make it worth using, and then months pulling out baby weeds that will grow from it.
2. Soil from the only local landscaping company, which needs to be mixed with a heck of a lot of organic matter because it's rather sandy and only good for growing desert natives in.
3. Soil in bags from one of the local plant shops.
I think this is the main reason I'm procrastinating. Option 1 is just too much work and will take a long time even if I go hard on it every day. Option 3 is too expensive. Option 2 is probably my best option, but will still require more money than I have available at the moment. The annoying part is, if I buy soil instead of use what's up the back yard, I'll need to dig all that dirt out and dump it later on anyway, so may as well use it, but my gourd it's a lot of hard work, and a lot of water to rehydrate it, and a lot of compost and poop to get it working, and a lot of future weeding.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Possibly don't sieve too much and fill the bottom with option 1, next layer with option 2 and then top layer with option 3? That way you can build up your soil quality, whilst giving your plants something accessible from the get-go.

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Possibly don't sieve too much and fill the bottom with option 1, next layer with option 2 and then top layer with option 3? That way you can build up your soil quality, whilst giving your plants something accessible from the get-go.

Good idea, why didn't I think of that?

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Haha, sometimes brainstorming with someone else brings loads of opportunities!

 

[bestgalvanizedraisedgarde]

Oh, this has been such an interesting experience. I'm looking forward to finishing my raised beds soon! Last year I didn't do well with my garden. Next time I will do it more carefully.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Sorry to hear that @bestgalvanizedraisedgarde ! Feel free to start your own thread and ask questions, we'd be happy to help you along

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Haha, sometimes brainstorming with someone else brings loads of opportunities!

Which is one of the many reasons I love this forum site, even though I don't spend anywhere near as much time on here as I'd like to, it's always here and good value when I can find the time and temperament to show up and read and type something (though little secret, I do come here more often than it looks, I just don't always let it be known, I often quietly reeds and leaves - pun intended.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Don't forget we're always out here. If you have a bad day, check back in the next. There is no need to feel rushed or pushed. There is always another day
I myself have taken a few days if lesser presence, as some bad things have been happening. So I took some time to breathe, relax, and then enjoy again.

Not saying I want you to stay away at all - I love your cheekiness
I've got a saying, though it doesn't translate too well; A day without laughter, is a day not lived.

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Latest update is a funny one. I'm on some medication to help me quit smoking. I've survived 3 days so far, yay, go me. Anyway, the funny part is that one of the side effects - which has hit me like a wrecking ball to the face - is wild and vivid dreams. So wild and vivid that the only way I can tell reality from my dreams is by waking up and grounding myself. I was asleep and have only just woken up, therefore that was a dream. I'm awake and have been so for a while, therefore that was reality. It was working right up until washing the dishes I was thinking about my garden and I got this little mental image in my mind of a large ugly looking green capsicum growing on one of my little pot plants. Why did I think of that? I have no idea. Where had I seen that? I had no idea... probably one of those vivid dreams, because it's not likely I have a large ugly looking capsicum growing already, plants only started flowering a few days ago, and why does it look so ugly? Must be a dream memory not a real one. Makes sense. Carry on...

Later that day I decided to give my pot plants a little top up with water because it had been a fairly hot day and some were looking a little bit stressed. Low and behold, one of my capsicum plants has a large ugly looking green capsicum growing on it. I couldn't help it, in surprise and confusion I said out loud, "Hey, you're not supposed to be real! What the hell do you think you're doing having such a large fruit before everyone else? Grew one sneaky little early flower that you hid from me, huh? Well, I still think you're ugly. Why are you ugly?" Of course it didn't answer me, but my neighbour did. Some comment about talking to plants and no wonder mine are growing well, but does calling them ugly actually work? "OH! don't mind me, I'm just losing my mind!" and I proceeded to explain about the side effects of my medication. He seemed to understand, or maybe he was just being polite, he only moved in next door a few days ago.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Ah yes, I hear you. I've got wild and vivid dreams too, without the need of medication though. And they've been getting worse and worse over the years. It can be quite frightening and confusing sometimes. I found it's helpful to go through things like ticking a box. Random examples are; did I really shift those rocks? No, my back isn't sore. Has the laundry been eaten by a wolf? No, sadly not; I still have to wash it. Etc.
Nowadays I usually have a little fun with the dreams, have a bit of a joke at them. The mind can make up amazing and terrifying things, some suggest that it's to prepare yourself for odd situations. And others say it's to help you work through things.
My mother accidentally stopped smoking cigarettes. She got very unwell and actually ended up getting hospitalised, needing surgery. She was in there for weeks (if not months) and was so unwell and sore that she never even thought of smoking. Turns out most of her symptoms after surgery were actually because she stopped smoking. She was nauseous, had cold sweats, restlessness, unable to concentrate, etc... Do bear in mind she was a very heavy smoker. Nearing the end of her stay she realised when talking to some nurses that she'd actually gone through it all already. And she stuck by it and stopped smoking. She's been smoke-free since I was about 18 (8ish years ago). She did create a little reward system. Half of the money (at first all) that she used to spend on cigarettes were now put in an envellope. She could use this money for whatever she wanted and reward herself. She's taken my dad on holiday, she's gone and had her nails done, she went and got regular massages for a while... it was great!

Haha I think I would have a good laugh if I heard you talk to plants like that!
Don't worry, I've done it too. WIthout the need of medication

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Laundry being eaten by a wolf? That's an interesting one. I think my weirdest so far was waking up fully convinced I have been in a dedicated long term solid relationship, complete with many years worth of memories shared... with someone I have never met. That made figuring out where I was and who was in the house interesting for the first few minutes of being awake.
Anyway, another smokeless day gone by, and another pile of teabags to empty into compost. I've made some pvc pipe in-ground worm farms for my big garden bed out the back. And I really need to save up and get myself a decent photo taking device. Not just so I can get photos to show my gardening antics here, but also because the amount and variety of wildlife that has been visiting my front yard lately is amazing. I've had regular visits by magpies, ravens, crested pigeons, yellow throated minors, singing honey eaters, white-plumed honeyeaters, a spotted pardalote, blue banded bees, green carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, leafcutter bees, hover flies, mud wasps, several varieties of ladybugs (one of which was a 28 spot that I squished) trapdoor spiders, golden orb spiders, various unidentified little garden skinks, various unidentified geckos, a bearded dragon that has been hanging around now for about a month, and an eastern striped skink that has been hanging around for a couple of years ever since it was a wee little thing and is now reaching 8 inches in length and now scares the [expletive] out of me every time I spot it because it doesn't move and I don't see it until I move whatever it's hiding under, then it skitters away like a little bolt of lizard lightning with its super long tail in tow that makes my brain think "[expletive], snake!" and I freeze in place, to then realise it moved so fast by running on legs.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

My dreams get really weird, these are the tame, PG rated ones. I can think, feel pain, taste and much more in my dreams. They can be very confusing and very upsetting. In one dream I went through a whole pregnancy and had a child, which meant that when I woke up I was in mourning as I lost a child I never actually had. Messed me up pretty bad for a while that one. Thankfully I had friends that were very understanding and let me hold and play with their little one until that passed.

You are doing awesome! Every day is a day won! You're doing great

Your garden sounds absolutely lively. That's so cool, I mean, except for the heartattack skink haha. I've got one of those around too and he scares the living daylights out of me. Especially as we do have many, MANY, snakes around. I saw one just the other day, slithering away from our car. Brrrrr.