What's Happening in the Garden

The Thai Basil is going great in the half-wine barrel. They get quite a lot of sun. The cucumbers are producing, though they are bit misshapen, probably due to irregular watering and from being in part shade. The bitter melon have been growing for at least a month and have just started to produce (there is one fruit hanging and I'm waiting for it to enlarge a little more before harvesting). They seem to be very slow, though. Okra, as mentioned in another post, are doing quite well for being in pots. I've pulled the pumpkins out because they were practically killed by powdery mildew (I really need to work out a way to avoid this problem - spraying milk solution seems to have little effect), but at least I harvested four pumpkins (chestnut variety). The chilli plant is looking a little worse for wear with yellowing leaves and stunted chillis. I suspect overwatering, so have cut back, but I think it is too late and the plant probably has root-rot. I've planted a few more seeds to replace this plant. Bok-choy has been amazing. I tried growing these in Melbourne before but never had any success due to snails, slugs, and caterpillars. No snails or slugs in my garden, but there are a few caterpillars. The bok-choy are ready to harvest after approximately a month, and I plant them in the same area (wine-barrel) as some bigger plants (e.g. okra) and harvest them before the main plants need too much space. Shiso has finished and I've collected seeds. Basil has also finished so starting off a few more seedlings in a take-away coffee-cup which I will transfer once mature enough. Purple King beans have been going gangbusters, even in 70% shade (I'm growing them behind a hibiscus plant). However my dog has chased something and in the process killed most of the bean plants. So I've planted some more around the garden. There is tons of buckwheat flowering. I'm using these as beneficial insect attractants, but I'll also be able to harvest some seed.

I purchased a corrugated iron raised vege bed from Masters (closing down sale) and it took my wife an I about an hour to assemble. Not complex, just time-consuming. I've ordered some plants from Daleys which is my goto place for fruit trees, and kumara (a variety of sweet potato) happened to be on special so have bought two plants which will go into this vege bed. What triggered this purchase was a couple of plants becoming available that were hard to get (yuzu, and Acai palm).

In the non-edible world, the Frangipani has finally awakened from its slumber and is starting to flower. The frangipani is easy to grow from cutting, and I saved part of my prunings over winter (the tree was invading the neighbour's territory) and simply shoved them in some soil. Many of them are now starting to leaf up.