Lawns, Tomato cages & Celery

Its time here to be fertilising your lawn......Almost two weeks ago is when I fertilised my front lawn.....the photo below actually makes it look rather good, but look closely and you will see that it could be much better....lol

 Using Shirley's No17 from Bunnings, I got to work.............and followed the instructions.......

Look how lovely and green my lawn is now....there is a brown patchy area behind the trailer,  but that is where the trailer WAS originally,  I just need to fertilise that area, and it's all done!

It's the first time I have ever fertilised the lawn....and I'll be doing it again next year when it's time.

I'm really pleased with the outcome.

 ************************************************

Tomato Cages....For the last few years I have had good production of mini tomatoes, but I find in the heart of summer it is a daily chore to be tying them up and supporting them.....This year I hope to at least lessen the time spent tying them up, which will also mean that I reduce the time I spend 'touching' the plants too. The less I 'tend' or 'touch' my tomato vines, the less chances I have of damaging them. Sure, I pick out the new growth directly above the leaf, but other than that....I want my time used in other areas in the garden.

I have always just stopped and stared at the huge prices that Bunnings and other garden centres charge for tied pieces of wire mesh (Tomato cages, and other vine climbing bits and pieces) ....

So while at Bunnings, I picked up two rolls of 5 metres of wire and decided to make my own......

If only I could have sourced the wire mesh at the metal recyclers...they would have been even cheaper. Unfortunately, wire mesh is a rare sight at the recyclers....or it's in a huge roll, way to heavy for me to handle.

Towards the end, it was hard on my hands, but ten cages for roughly $20....is good spending in my books. And, the tomatoes look much happier in their new cages....don't you think?

 

This year I have decided to give larger varieties of tomatoes a go...

I figure Why Not!

In the garden, I've planted Black Krim, Mortgage Lifter & Ox Heart.

I love the tiny toms, and have a few new varieties to try this year.....

They include: White cherry, Black cherry, Red cherry round, Red cherry pear, Yellow round, Yellow pear and Tigerella mini. I think that's all....Only problem now is all the labels have faded and I don't know which are which in the spare ones I plan to share out.  

NOTE: Don't use milk cartons with marking pens (permanent marker) to identify your plants...It fades in the sun....rather quickly too I might add.

I'm hoping for a lovely range of colour in my tomato salads this year, with lots of flavour too.

These have all been planted by seed, and most are in the large tub below. I used the top of an old trellis...and threaded our old clothes line 'wire' (white) back and forth to help give them support.

I'm sure it will help! I will probably need to add more support later though.

 ************************************************

Celery .......Richard from the gardening course will be pleased to know that I have been supporting my celery plants with milk cartons.....I have gathered them from Poppy in Victoria, as we don't buy milk by the carton...You could use wrapped newspaper too if you like, but I was offered these, so I took them. I have plenty of milk cartons now for my celery, even the ones that are still coming along. I'm not sure if they will be large enough, but if I can get the celery to fill the carton..I'd be happy with that too..lol

Celery supported with milk cartons.

Younger Celery supported with toilet rolls.

I hope you enjoy reading about my garden, and what I'm doing......I hope to get some more kitchen posts done shortly....so keep an eye out for them to come.....

 ************************************************

Hey! I don't mind sharing.....but when 'they' take everything in one night...it's a bit rough.....

Here is/was my marigolds planted below some tomatoes to ward off nasty bugs....

and here is the culprit I found moving away from the plant.

This is part of growing with no chemicals...sometimes you share more than you want to...luckily it was just a flower plant this time....last time it was my vegetables.