Lisa From Tasmania Checks in with Pictures of Her Amazing Garden

One of our favorite readers, Lisa from Tasmania is checking in and holy cats, her garden this year is as beautiful as ever.

{New around here? Catch up on more of Lisa’s posts HERE}.

Hello!
Today it’s all excitement at Norwich House as I just picked our first corn for the season!!
As I begin to type this it is on the stovetop steaming away.

Well… where to start?
Probably with water – or lack thereof!
I think we just went through the driest spring in Tasmanian history. (Even Ruby said so!!) We are usually drowned right up until at least December, so having to start watering the garden in September was a rude shock.

Our only water supply has been two tanks that hold a mere 18,000 litres (Caught from roof run-off). We have managed (just) for the past 4 seasons by being very conservative but there was no way we were going to make it through summer this year on our usual supply. Both tanks were half empty before summer even started. (You can see the tape marks on the tanks pictured)

So… we bit the bullet and got a fellow in to dig a bore. It’s not cheap, but it does add value to the property with the added bonus of not having to watch every single drop over summer.

It was an exciting day when the truck came in and (to us) quite fascinating to see the whole process done.
There was much celebrating when the first sludgy water came gushing up!! It cleared out pretty quick and we determined we had some excellent water we can use on both the gardens and in the house!!
So if you come and visit in summer we will let you take a shower!! Smile

In all seriousness it is wonderful to be able to give the gardens their full measure of water. Even the non-food plants are being treated to regular drinks.

We are still conservative with it – living in the driest inhabited continent on earth, it’s kinda second nature!

This season I have been thrilled with the performance of our raspberries! I kept the water up to them as much as possible (before the bore) and put down a layer of newspaper and topped with seaweed to mulch and keep the water in. Every time I went near the patch it was humming with the activity of the bees busy visiting the thousands of flowers.

Taking a (raspberry) leaf out of Mavis’s book I decided to weigh each picking I did. (There are discrepancies as you have to make allowances for what gets scoffed during picking!)

I was completely impressed as we managed over 30kgs (66lb’s) of fruit this season. There are a few more stragglers down there I just help myself to when I am down the back.
The patch has paid its way too as I have sold them fresh and in jam and taken in over $100 so far! (remember we are all about saving and making extra $$ this year!)

I have also discovered the delights of baking raspberry – choc chip muffins!!

I let the main vegetable garden go a bit feral over the winter season. I had garlic in as usual and got a lovely crop there. I did get lots of broccoli – and one cabbage.

Its was quite a decent job to get the garden in order and doing what I wanted over spring. Right now it is a lush green mega producing paradise! (haha – if I do say so myself)

I tried a little experiment on deep watering using some old soft drink bottles for my zucchini’s. I have had rotten luck the past two seasons for whatever reason so this year I was determined to not kill them all. So I dug in the bottles which has allowed me to get the water deeper into the ground.

They must have liked it because now I have 6 rather large healthy plants that are producing like crazy!! I have cut and frozen quite a lot of bags for future use (altho with a lamb and side of beef and a million raspberries, space is at a premium in the freezers!) We eat a lot fresh mixed into the tomatoes and garlic and slop over mashed potatoes.
Plan to sell as much as I can at the next market.

The hot house as usual is worth its weight in gold. The early start on tomatoes is wonderful and I tried to get more chilli plants growing in there as they just take too long outside here.

The one cucumber plant that survived is the hothouse one and it is trying to take over the world!! We have gotten so many cucumbers from it!! I don’t feel so bad about the others dying as there is a limit to how many I can use!

There was a pause at the end of the last paragraph while we ate dinner and I can confirm that the corn tasted even better than it looked! Best we have ever had! Yay! 🙂

The garden has a big potato patch and we have been ‘bandicooting’ them for a while now. Eventually we will dig them all up and store them in the pantry. Hope there will be enough there to keep us going for about 6 months.

The beetroot and tomatoes are being used in relish and chutney – they are popular on the market stalls. The outside tomatoes are not ready yet – ok I had one, but there is enough other food to keep me out of trouble so I am glad they are a bit slower.

While at the market last year I found a fellow that made and sold raised garden beds. For only $40 plus delivery I decided to get one – here you can pay around $300 for a similar sized one at a hardware shop or nursery!

I filled it with the compost I had been making, along with hay and mushroom compost.

It’s a great little space – two thriving tomato plants, a pumpkin that I am training over the side, a row of rainbow chard for the chickens, some basil and a couple of capsicum plants that have metamorphosed (is that a word?) into some weird chillies!!

I did have lettuce but they got eaten long ago!
It’s been good to see what a small space can produce and I like to show beginner gardeners what they can do without being overwhelming with a massive garden bed.

As I mentioned before, over the last few years we have had a number of travellers come and stay – to work or sightsee! It’s been such good fun meeting people from all over the world. Often it’s really handy for me to have an extra pair of hands to get through the work more quickly – then we can do some fun stuff, like go to the beach or go hiking!
Somehow, right now at my busiest time we have no guests!! Didn’t plan that very well!! Any takers out there??? Open-mouthed smile

This year I am letting a lot of plants go to seed. I am telling myself it’s not lazy!

It also brings in plenty of bees which is a great thing in the garden! I have collected heaps of seeds ready for the next season. I have enough broccoli and cabbage seed to sink a ship!

I have a massive patch of parsley as instead of pulling up the spent plant I just watched it grow on and flower… then I ignored it over winter!! It’s brilliant now! The silver beet and some lettuce are going to seed, as well as the leek. I have collected all the snow pea seeds and also sweet pea.
I will keep some of my garlic to replant in a few months, and try to winter some tomatoes.

I had some success with that so I am keen to winter several more tomatoes to get a big head start next year! (Plus I like free tomato plants!) I will definitely winter some of the Black Russian variety and also keep seeds. What a beautiful tomato!!!
I will also save seeds from my cucumbers and zucchini and see how I go with them next year.

Despite the lack of rain we have had a beautiful display of flowers and the usual overload of cherry plums.
And the best thing is?? Still another whole month of summer left!

Cheers !!
Lisa

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.