Perpetual basil - ocimum basilicum

I had to laugh with the 'scientific name' of the perpetual basis - reminds me of octomum in America. My perpetual basil plant has been quite prolific so that seems appropriate! The perpetual basil is sprouting again now it's spring and I've done some reading about possibly striking it from a cutting. Of course, I have no need other than curiousity, given the way my seasonal basil self-seeds in the garden. Apparently all basil plants are classified botanically as annuals, though my perpetual basil seems to be living up to its name so far. The best advice to strike a cutting from my perpetual basil plant is to take some tip cuttings with some hardwood attached, dip the end in honey (in lieu of hormone rooting powder or gel - has the same antifungal and antibacterial function to clean up the cut end). Nip out some of the budding leaf growth so the cutting can concentrate on establishing a root system and plant either direct into the ground or in a pot to get it started (use good potting soil). I'm also going to stick one cutting in a glass of water and see if it takes root that way. Although 'annual' basil varieties are very easy to grow from seed, the process of striking a cutting means you get a plant just like the original. I think one of the things I really love about gardening is the 'trial and error' and experimenting and learning the science of it all - in a very amateur way, of course. I wish science had been taught in school using gardening, as there's just so much to be learned in practical application.
Perpetual basil is not like 'sweet' basil (genovese) - much more pungent and aromatic and can be used in the usual array of food preparation but also for curries etc. I like it a lot.

September planting

What a great day for some gardening - lots of rain during the week, and clouds with patches of sunshine. Planted the last of the potato tubers, and did a whole lot of potting up in the newspaper pots of self-sown parsley in one of the beds. Put the little newspaper pots out by the driveway - the all went very quickly. Hope they have some good homes to go to and will inspire people to plant and give away their excess. I'm checking out gardenate for the things I can plant this month in my area. Keen to get going with spring and summer crops but in that 'in between' time with winter crops still going. So I'll begin the seed germination business with spring and summer crops in anticipation of getting the beds ready for planting. I ordered some dwarf fruit trees yesterday - hoping there's more space to plant them. I'll plant the dwarf cherry in a pot so I can move it easily in the garden when it's too hot. Bees are busy checking out the broad bean flowers. What a lovely time of the year!

verge gardening

I find myself looking with some longing at wide verges in our locale and disappointed that they're often left as wastelands. We had lawn on the front verge but as we had got rid of the lawns front and back we had no need of a mower and to use a mowing service cost $25 for a job that took less than 5 minutes. I even got down on my hands and knees to use hand shears at one stage. In the end we poisoned the lawn (with council permission) and planted drought tolerant native ground covers. They are well established now and had their first clip around the edges this week. We've planted a ring of bulbs around the street tree which are flowering now it's spring, and I've just planted a second ring again of poppies seedlings which will flower in November. They self-seed in following years and are very determined in whatever soil conditions they find themselves. Perfect for the verge. When the weather warms a little I'm planning to plant some fragrant basil and maybe some other herbs to give some height to the verge. Maybe encourage people to take some home for cooking! I just need to curb my enthusiasm enough to allow room for passenger access to the verge from parked vehicles. I found this website on verges inspiring.

Lebanese eggplant - seeds

I have really become a keen seed saver - and have become incredulous about how much seeds cost given the sheer volume of seeds in most plants. Even on e-bay people give a miserly half a dozen seeds for something like an eggplant - these Lebanese eggplants crop fantastically in summer and produce huge numbers of seeds for the next season. I've bought some of those little plastic seal bags that jewellers sometimes use, and insert info on a small piece of paper about the seeds and how to grow them. Then I give the seeds away to friends and neighbours.  I reckon everyone can grow SOMETHING, even in a plastic milk container with holes in on a dish on the window sill. I'll be preparing my spring 'giveaway' packs soon for neighbours and friends. Fiddly but fun in anticipation of what the seeds will turn into.

getting ready for spring - preparing for seedlings

I bought a little wooden 'doover' (pot maker) to make newspaper 'pots'. They're easy to make with just a glass and newspaper (see here for video instructions or here for a Gardening Australia factsheet). You can sow seeds into the pots ready for planting direct into the garden when the seeds have germinated and grown into seedlings. The video instructions uses more paper than I do - I just use the final 'strip' size cut from a newspaper (approx 9cm x 25 cm cut across a folded sheet of newspaper - I use the local paper!) and roll up, and press the bottom of the pot into the base. No need for glue. So simple and cheap! Using less paper means the base is not too thick when you put the newspaper pot into the garden and the roots can quickly establish in the garden bed. Sometimes I also put my 'cuttings' into such a pot (mint, rosemary etc) to let the cutting get established before planting (or giving to neighbours).
If you want to order a pot maker, Green Harvest stock them (Australia) - scroll down the web page. Not especially cheap but really effective. People who live overseas can just google to find one in their country. Enjoy - very therapeutic way to spend a sunny afternoon!

proteas - front garden

Geoff has been tending these gorgeous 'Braidwood Brilliant' proteas in the front garden. They are so spectacular! Our first go at planting proteas last year wasn't so successful with the intense heat over a long summer. We hope that these proteas are well established enough to survive this coming summer. Climate change makes gardening so much more challenging!
Geoff really enjoys growing flowers to cut - there have been lovely daffodils in the house over the last few weeks. Always a promise of spring to come.
More on protea cultivation on Gardening Australia website. 

September 2010 - peas

The shelling peas growing up the trellis looked healthy - just not a lot of them this year. These delightful specimens were set aside for my granddaughters to eat when they visited. Eating peas straight from the shell - delicious. So fabulous to share gardening with Marley and Lila - so many kids don't know where the food they eat comes from, or how it grows. Time to uproot the peas and get ready for a fabulous new climbing zucchini I've found on the Diggers website. Perfect for training up the trellis and quite space effective.

September garden - celery

Celery patch - with evidence of caterpillars!

September 2010
I'm amazed at how well our celery is going - two patches like this. When we came back after a few weeks away, the caterpillars had taken over. I don't mind a bit of munching but they brought all their relatives and set up a squat in our celery patch!
Now that they've been relocated (some went to people with chooks - apparently they love them!), the celery is thriving again.
I'm just loving going out and plucking some celery stalks to add to meals. I've added some recipes using celery onto the 365 seasonal garden recipes blogsite. The lentil and celery soup is especially delicious!