I first heard of this great day through Donna at Casa Famiglia.....It was a great week, as I met Donna at her lovely home on the Tuesday.....and then I had the pleasure of visiting April who runs permaculturevisions .
I spent most of the day there....and was naturally the first of the public to arrive....so I was blessed with
April showing me around her garden one to one, teaching as we went.
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| Here is my water pond, it's early days yet, This is the pond I am growing Chinese Water Chestnuts, my new friend Sonia gave me some from her water pond. |
From April; I have been given some Fernia Azola (not sure of the spelling), it is the small floating plant that will continue to grow until the whole pond is covered...this keeps mosquito's at bay. Also some peppermint.
April also suggested adding some lemongrass to my pond..... Mind you my pond is a laundry sink from the tip for $5.00.....I just cut a round tin plug and sealed it on the plug hole with silicone.
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| L to R: Elderflower, Ice-cream bean plant, Fig, Locut. |
It may go horribly wrong, it may work, who knows....but its worth a try to have such lovely fruit trees added to my list.
April had some plants for sale that she had grafted herself.....I bought a pot with two fruit trees in it for $15...A bargain for an Ice-Cream Bean plant and a Fig....I transplanted them into their own bigger pots today.
Another idea, I noticed in April's garden was the lovely ceramic tiles located at each plant...all different shapes, colours and sizes....but clearly labelling each plant....what a brilliant idea....
I found a tub of small green ceramic tiles at the tip the other day....and new instantly what I could use them for....Thanks for the idea April.
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| Here is a finger lime from April's garden, we all had fun tasting one half and used the other half in a tossed salad. |
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| Like myself, April also uses bird cage tops to protect young plants. this lettuce has self seeded...and I don't want Cindy dog to piddle on it....so I have covered it for now , when it is more established, I will transplant it to the garden... There are actually quite a few seedlings scattered around the garden pebbles. |
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| Also planted today some Garlic, and Jerusalem Artichokes and two Taro pots. Underneath I have two larger pots with Tumeric planted today |
I was also given some Jerusalem Artichokes to plant....which I also did today.
I have seen other people's gardens in the last few weeks, and it has certainly opened my eyes to more and more possibilities.....I may have overdone it though, and not quite thought it all through...but I have huge plans now for my little plot of land I call home...I am working on a great variety of fruit trees...I just hope I can organise it all....I'm sure it will be worth it.
Hi I have just stumbled accross your blog and am really enjoying reading back through all your posts so far.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the vanilla bean tree goes it can be kept on the smallish side even in the ground. Our neighbours have one that is no more than 3m tall but quite wide about 5m. The loquat will get big well more tall than big and the fig well that depends on the type of fig. However that is based on living in QLD so with cooler temps they will no doubt all behave differently.
Good luck with it all i am looking forward to more posts
I toured April's garden recently too - it's fantastic isn't it? I wrote a few posts, starting with this one (you can read the rest by following the links at the bottom of the page):
ReplyDeletehttp://green-change.com/2010/12/26/protecting-seedlings-from-birds-and-chickens/
I've used Daleys, and been very happy with the plants. I also want an ice-cream bean and a finger lime, and I'm getting Jerusalem artichokes going. Lots in common!
I'd like to get some azolla for my pond - it's supposed to be good to feed to chickens, ducks, pigs, etc, and also good for the compost, and it grows really fast. Once you've got it fully established, I'll have to hit you up for a scoop!