Child of the Planet

... because I've never grown in before, but I think my Saffron has started sprouting, cause these guys don't look like the other weeds?

An interesting app was dropped this week and I loaded it up on my Pixel 2. I call it the virtual garden label system. You can call it JustALine ( https://justaline.withgoogle.com/ ). This app uses the phone to draw in the real world space. It’s just a demo so doesn't save it’s drawings but it could turn into something really useful. All my plant labels are fading so it would be nice to have a virtual record of everything. Great for mapping out the future of the garden too. With the data this thing collects, it shouldn't be too hard to generate a 3D map of the garden to run in a browser. While it doesn't save any AR data, t does save a short vid and I added some comments when I posted it on FB... If the drawing were persistent, you could mark where you grew stuff, where you buried stuff, what did you add to that bit of ground, pathways to find stuff, put labels everywhere without turning your garden into scribbled mess. You could leave detailed instructions t...

Got a few apples this year. Granny’s were scorched by the heat but the Monties Surprise looks ok. Great tomato harvest and busy processing it all into sauce and eating lots of tomato/basil/parmesan toast for lunch. Capsicums finally fought off the caterpillars and got some fruit to the colour stage. All the grapes are scoffed and almost didn’t have any left for the photo.

New holes dug, and the filling in of old holes with fish heads, bamboo, and grapes. This is a sequel to my previous post ( click here ) A huge hole was dug out the back between two of the apple trees. The intention is to fill it with compost and eventually replace all the sand between the trees with nutrient rich soil.     My biggest problem now is what to do with the new sand dune sitting in the backyard. Have to  release those grains back into the wild. Still amazed at what is dug up out of the back yard. The hole dug at the foot of the back yard fence now has enough ‘fill’ in it to plant a grape given to me by an uncle. I’ve cleaned out the tiny strip of garden that ran along the side of the house and planted some bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii). Had to hire a breaker to knock down the short stone wall.    Turns out there are two types of bamboo, the invasive runner, and the less troublesome clumping type. With this clumping ...

We’ve just has a couple of storms blow through and while it was nice that the tomatoes weren’t blown off the stems, the big bonus is the seaweed washed up on the beach Thick and rubbery, this type gets thrown into the seaweed tea Soft fronds laid out under plants This stuff is old boot tough and gets buried for long term dividends.

I thought this zucchini plant had 'done it's dash' for the summer. Look at the base of the stem... keep looking, right down the bottom of the photo... A tiny shoot appeared during the week. I chopped off the old stalk today and I hope shoot continues growing.

Perseverance, research, and bloody mindedness. All useful. Some plantings have come easy to me in the garden. Such as tomatoes, zucs, garlic, cucumbers. Other things I struggle with.... This blueberry plant is into its third summer and I think it might pull through. There are some green shoots adding bulk to the canopy. Peas again! I have no idea what's killing them. I have a few surviving plants and hope to get some seed off them this year. Try again in 2019. After several years of planting seed, I've got a few basil plants growing. I planted four packets of assorted seeds but only a few have survived. I give the plants a quick squirt with the BT when I’m doing the toms. Now that the garden is becoming established, life is a series of small victories This capsicum is colouring, hidden away in the bottom of the plant. Up till now I’ve had to make do with green immature bug riddled fruit. I guess gardening is all about perseverance, research,...