Gardening/School gardening thread

[morg176]

Finally have some space to garden at one of the schools I casual at.
There are six largish beds, all well framed but otherwise in a bit of a state of disrepair and unloved neglect.

But I have the space.

Be it flowers or vegies, the season is late and seeds take forever (most of them anyway)
So seedlings it must be. Trying to get my hands on the bulk full trays, way cheaper per plant.
Half trays are by comparison, a rip off, but often all one can get.

Got to dig the beds up, probably not all six, and see what I have to work with. Get rid of a few weeds, maybe some compost..

The goal is, flowers: lobelia, primula, pansies/viola, salvia, foxgloves, tall snapdragons.
Maybe others
Vegies: not too at these but see how we go
Tomatoes, radish (small and fast), anything seedling based or fast growing seed.

Was also thinking of putting in a couple of passionfruit if I can, but will need a trellice.
And strawberries.

All before the end of 4th term

I call it the Gardenbox Project

[tron07]

I am moving to a new place and going to have a south facing garden/yard. I dont think its getting sun as its blocked by the 2 story building. Now still pondering what do with it. At a back corner will plant some herbs and vege that dont require much sun. Maybe will try a stone fruit tree that dont require much sun during the winter months. Will see how much of sun light we going to get in spring/summer.

At a sunny spot outside, I will probably try to plant a curry leave plant there, hope dont get into trouble with the strata. At the north facing entrance, I will plant some tomatoes and all in planter pots. Maybe a small kamquat/calamansi tree in one of the big pots there.

At my current place, south balcony most of my voila/pansies passion fruit, herbs, etc did well during summer as we get morning sun, but come winter all died or half dead. spring onions are doing very well though.


Some of the design I am pondering for the new south yard.


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[morg176]

And then when you go to prepare the garden bed that you think has been allocated to you, someone else has already dug it up, hang on, whats going on.... errg someone else has claimed the garden. Gardening project cancelled until further notice
Grrrr

[tron07]

ALDI got Garden Bed for $29.99 this coming Wednesday. Size: 120(W) x 90(L) x 30(H)cm

Now thinking should I get 1 for my south facing yard or not.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Hmmm... first frost of the year and it’s still March. Given the amount of plants I’ve propagated I should have built a much bigger hothouse (I built a little 3m x 1m x 1m out of old shower screens I bought from the tip).

Most of the plants I’ve propagated are mint, rosemary, succulents and cacti along with a ton of comfrey I plan to plant out in the paddock come spring. All are pretty susceptible to frosts and I learned the hard way last year my huge shadehouse does little to stop them.

[morg176]

I was wondering, have any of the avid gardeners or farmers used the plug trays to grow their seeds -> seedlings? I experimented with some snow pess in a ~4 cubic foot box (made from formply and I put casters on it), but grew the peas from seeds in a 128 plug tray, it worked well, little wastage, everything germinated.

I'm looking for the 200 cell - maybe 288 cell trays especially for small seed plants, including lobelia (impossible from seeds) and others.

But the trays are expensive, where can I buy new ones cheap, willing to buy in sets of ten.
Does any one know a good supplier, maybe in australia?

Thanks
Garden on!

Might grow tomatoes next...

[BigTransformerTrev]

I was wondering, have any of the avid gardeners or farmers used the plug trays to grow their seeds -> seedlings? I experimented with some snow pess in a ~4 cubic foot box (made from formply and I put casters on it), but grew the peas from seeds in a 128 plug tray, it worked well, little wastage, everything germinated.

I'm looking for the 200 cell - maybe 288 cell trays especially for small seed plants, including lobelia (impossible from seeds) and others.

But the trays are expensive, where can I buy new ones cheap, willing to buy in sets of ten.
Does any one know a good supplier, maybe in australia?

Thanks
Garden on!

Might grow tomatoes next...

We use them when we plant dozens of seeds out at once. I think most of ours are around 100 cells.

Not sure where to buy them, ours got passed onto us. Maybe try plant nurseries or a Bunnings -I’ll keep an eye out for ya at any rate.

On a farming note, I’ve just spent two hours collecting cow pats for my Comfrey. Fenced off my orchard and am digging 1m deep holes 1 meter apart in rows of two between the tree rows. Then filling them back up with 70% manure 30% dirt. Hopefully I’ll have 3 dozen holes ready to go by spring when the 36 Russian plants I propogated last season wake back up.

[morg176]

Hey trev, can one grow strawberries from seeds or is it a lost cause. Plants are often $3-4ish and im happy to wait for seeds to grow

Seeds from a packet or seeds from the friut at the supermarket?

Thoughts
Others are welcome to chime in : )

[BigTransformerTrev]

Hey trev, can one grow strawberries from seeds or is it a lost cause. Plants are often $3-4ish and im happy to wait for seeds to grow

Seeds from a packet or seeds from the friut at the supermarket?

Thoughts
Others are welcome to chime in : )

I’ve never tried with seeds from the fruit. I’ve tried with seeds from a packet and failed miserably. So now I just grow a half dozen seedlings from a nursery, but make sure they are the types with runners. Strawberries are super easy to grow from runners and then transplant to somewhere new so you end up turning a half dozen plants into dozens

You may have better luck with seeds than I though

[Megatron]

Hey trev, can one grow strawberries from seeds or is it a lost cause. Plants are often $3-4ish and im happy to wait for seeds to grow

Seeds from a packet or seeds from the friut at the supermarket?

Thoughts
Others are welcome to chime in : )

Best way to harvest strawberry seeds is pulp the strawberries in a blender with some water, then pour off the pulp and non viable seeds with the water. Collect the stuff that sinks to the bottom, which will include any viable seeds.

Cold treat the seeds for better results. Place them in an airtight container in the freezer for two to four weeks. Then allow them to gradually adjust to room temperature, and they are ready to sow (in a seed tray is fine).

By the way, strawberries will not grow true from seed from most hybrid cultivars (most store-bought varieties), so you will end up with plants and fruit that are unpredictable and random in their characteristics if you plant these out. You should get a better result from seeds of heirloom (non-hybrid) or alpine varieties (which you can get in packets from a good seed supplier).

Good luck with your endeavour.