Hello everybody! It's been a busy time around here. On top of all of my work and study, it's been a strange month weatherwise.
No temperature records were set, but we did receive a lot of rainfall. The month's total 272.4mm broke the 2000s record of 244mm set in 2003. In addition, the 121.4mm received up to 9am on the 17th was also a record.
Some plants, such as afro parsley and garlic chives, seem to love every drop of rain they receive. Others, such as spring onions just get soggy!
Considering that my deck is soaked with water, I don't spend a lot of time out there. I'll report more when I'm out there more!
Showing posts with label Spring Onion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spring Onion. Show all posts
03 March 2010
20 February 2010
Day 72 - More Rain, Less Spring Onions
If you live around Brisbane, you will have experienced the torrential downpour that we had on Tuesday. It was the most rain in a 24 hour period since 2001, and caused mayhem. In my experience, when we have extreme weather it usually affects suburbs or the surrounding countryside. This time, however, the city copped the whole lot of it. Living 8km from the city centre, my apartment (and therefore plants) took a hammering. The force of the rain was so strong that it ripped most of the leaves from my chillies. The other, smaller leaved plants fared better.
It was another bad week for the spring onions. Even with the addition of seven new plants, the yield was a paltry 5 grams for the week.
I've decided to take a new approach to the harvest of my garlic chives, spring onions and afro parsley. Instead of harvesting all that I have available, I will only take one gram each of afro parsley and garlic chives and five grams of spring onions each week (parsley and spring onion day is Saturday, chive day is Thursday). This will continue until either a) I run out of crops, b) they grow to an optimum height (spring onions and chives) or c) the afro parsley starts going white (which it does if I leave it too long).
The amounts harvested per week are intentionally below the weekly average so far, as I hope to have some fuller looking plants. I'll keep you informed!
It was another bad week for the spring onions. Even with the addition of seven new plants, the yield was a paltry 5 grams for the week.
I've decided to take a new approach to the harvest of my garlic chives, spring onions and afro parsley. Instead of harvesting all that I have available, I will only take one gram each of afro parsley and garlic chives and five grams of spring onions each week (parsley and spring onion day is Saturday, chive day is Thursday). This will continue until either a) I run out of crops, b) they grow to an optimum height (spring onions and chives) or c) the afro parsley starts going white (which it does if I leave it too long).
The amounts harvested per week are intentionally below the weekly average so far, as I hope to have some fuller looking plants. I'll keep you informed!
13 February 2010
Day 65 - The Effect of Rain
We all know that without water our crops will die. However, I would much prefer that when rain comes it is accompanied by at least a few hours of sunshine each day. The effect that rain without sunshine has is striking: last week I cut 12g of spring onions. This week - 5g.
In other news, the jalapeno has come out of its stupor and is now producing flowers like there's no tomorrow. I think it's liking the sub-30 degree top temperatures that we've been having.
That's it for this post - expect about two per week during school terms and a bit more during holidays.
In other news, the jalapeno has come out of its stupor and is now producing flowers like there's no tomorrow. I think it's liking the sub-30 degree top temperatures that we've been having.
That's it for this post - expect about two per week during school terms and a bit more during holidays.
09 February 2010
Day 61 - What's New
Not much is new in the Australian Kitchen Garden. I've gone back to school (teaching) and am almost back at university (doctorate), so I'm letting the garden do it's thing. In some ways it's going to be really good for the garden - I tend to pick anything as soon as it looks half ready, such is my impatience. Now the garden gets a break to grow during the week.
My wife picked up some more spring onions to plant in amongst the current ones. While the first bunch comprised 11 onions, this latest one consists of only 7. They are big 'uns, however. I'm hoping they don't take over the little ones, as the family's spring onion appetite requires all 18 to be flourishing!
We had quite the downpour last weekend, with a 24 hour total of about 90mm (20 of those coming in half an hour). Luckily everything seems to have survived, although things just don't grow without sunshine. Darn it!
My wife picked up some more spring onions to plant in amongst the current ones. While the first bunch comprised 11 onions, this latest one consists of only 7. They are big 'uns, however. I'm hoping they don't take over the little ones, as the family's spring onion appetite requires all 18 to be flourishing!
We had quite the downpour last weekend, with a 24 hour total of about 90mm (20 of those coming in half an hour). Luckily everything seems to have survived, although things just don't grow without sunshine. Darn it!
06 February 2010
Day 58 - The Spring Onion Experiment: Part 3
Over the previous week, I've been taking measurements of my spring onions to see how I should be harvesting. I grew two groups of crops, one harvested back to the base and one harvested so that there were shoot stumps remaining.
Day 2: No Stumps: 5.6cm each - Stumps: 5.7cm each
Day 4: No Stumps: 12.2cm each - Stumps: 11.7cm each
Day 5: No Stumps: 14.2cm each - Stumps: 14.0cm each
Day 6: No Stumps: 18.0 cm each - Stumps: 16.7cm each
Day 7: No Stumps: 21.6cm each - Stumps: 19.2cm each
It's pretty definitive - prune your spring onions back to the base and you will have better growth. I harvested them again today (this will probably be a weekly occurance) and they all went back to the base. It was pretty surprising that the results were so clear - I was expecting nothing too big.
By the way, growing spring onions is a cinch. I got 12g of shoots from one week. Why would you ever buy spring onions?
Day 2: No Stumps: 5.6cm each - Stumps: 5.7cm each
Day 4: No Stumps: 12.2cm each - Stumps: 11.7cm each
Day 5: No Stumps: 14.2cm each - Stumps: 14.0cm each
Day 6: No Stumps: 18.0 cm each - Stumps: 16.7cm each
Day 7: No Stumps: 21.6cm each - Stumps: 19.2cm each
It's pretty definitive - prune your spring onions back to the base and you will have better growth. I harvested them again today (this will probably be a weekly occurance) and they all went back to the base. It was pretty surprising that the results were so clear - I was expecting nothing too big.
By the way, growing spring onions is a cinch. I got 12g of shoots from one week. Why would you ever buy spring onions?
04 February 2010
Day 56 - It's Really That Quick!
My spring onions are loving life at the moment. The picture below was taken one day after they were cut back to nothing - in other words, almost everything green is less than 24 hours old.
Four days later, they are still flourishing. My wife points out that they now have established roots, which means that they will have quicker growth now than when they were first planted.
01 February 2010
Day 53 - The Spring Onion Experiment: Part 2
After the success of the previous spring onion experiment, I decided to do a little more investigation. But first a little background information. My spring onion bases that I planted back at the beginning of the month looked like a stick with roots. Over time this stick grew shoots, so the plants had 2, 3 and in one case 4 hollow cylinders coming out of the base.
I came to harvesting today and wondered whether to cut back to the base, or to leave a few millimetres of each shoot. I could see reasons for both - plants often respond to savage pruning, however saving them the effort of creating a new shoot must mean something.
Anyway, I'll see how the differing plants respond over time. Keep an eye out for details!
I came to harvesting today and wondered whether to cut back to the base, or to leave a few millimetres of each shoot. I could see reasons for both - plants often respond to savage pruning, however saving them the effort of creating a new shoot must mean something.
Anyway, I'll see how the differing plants respond over time. Keep an eye out for details!
31 January 2010
Day 52 - Monthly Roundup
Weatherwise, not much happened this month. In contrast to my predictions of rain, rain and more rain it's been quite dry with only 47.8mm of rain (compared with a 2000 - 2009 average of 118.9mm). No temperature records were set, and the averages were only slightly higher than usual.
I had a mixed bag with the crops, although I'm pretty happy with the results so far. January concludes with the garden being $27 in deficit. For details on individual plants, read on:
Jalapeno - The last of the original three fruits was picked as late as possible, just before turning red. Unfortunately, it still didn't have that much heat, although the taste was good. One baby chili and two flowers point to a continuing crop.
Habanero - The three fruits ripened in quick succesion, but have not been replaced with flowers. The leaves have curled up, which may be an aphid problem.
Sweet Basil - The crop that grows itself - my basil plants are doing very well. One plant in particular is growing exceptionally (10cm taller than all of the others with strong leaf growth). I'll have to look up how to save the seeds from this one!
Afro Parsley - This crop is still growing - I've left it to thicken up for a while. I'm aiming to have a dense hedge of parsley, but I reaslise that will take time. So time I will give it!
Garlic Chives - Growing slowly! This is another one that needs time to thicken up.
Coriander - See previous entries... it's all too depressing to repeat!
Spring Onions - Doing very well, with each plant growing on average 1cm per day. The second crop that grows itself.
And finally for the blog itself: I've written about 2500 words this month and have had about 150 page hits. Thank you for reading!
I had a mixed bag with the crops, although I'm pretty happy with the results so far. January concludes with the garden being $27 in deficit. For details on individual plants, read on:
Jalapeno - The last of the original three fruits was picked as late as possible, just before turning red. Unfortunately, it still didn't have that much heat, although the taste was good. One baby chili and two flowers point to a continuing crop.
Habanero - The three fruits ripened in quick succesion, but have not been replaced with flowers. The leaves have curled up, which may be an aphid problem.
Sweet Basil - The crop that grows itself - my basil plants are doing very well. One plant in particular is growing exceptionally (10cm taller than all of the others with strong leaf growth). I'll have to look up how to save the seeds from this one!
Afro Parsley - This crop is still growing - I've left it to thicken up for a while. I'm aiming to have a dense hedge of parsley, but I reaslise that will take time. So time I will give it!
Garlic Chives - Growing slowly! This is another one that needs time to thicken up.
Coriander - See previous entries... it's all too depressing to repeat!
Spring Onions - Doing very well, with each plant growing on average 1cm per day. The second crop that grows itself.
And finally for the blog itself: I've written about 2500 words this month and have had about 150 page hits. Thank you for reading!
30 January 2010
Day 51 - The Spring Onion Experiment: Part 1
Folks, it's a piece of cake. Get some pots and potting mix, add roots of onions you've already eaten and watch them come up. But how much room do they need? I did a little experiment using 4 sizes of spacing to see if the extra room resulted in extra growth. I've labeled the pot sizes A (26 square cm each), B, C & D (largest 157 square cm each). All pots had more than one plant in, so I've given them numbers.
A1: Day 23 = 26cm, Day 26 = 30cm
A2: Day 23 = 22cm, Day 26 = 26cm
B1: Day 23 = 37cm, Day 26 = 38cm
B2: Day 23 = 27cm, Day 26 = 30cm
B3: Day 23 = 33cm, Day 26 = 35cm
B4: Day 23 = 12cm, Day 26 = 14cm
C1: Day 23 = 19cm, Day 26 = 23cm
C2: Day 23 = 19cm, Day 26 = 24cm
C3: Day 23 = 39cm, Day 26 = 43cm
D1: Day 23 = 29cm, Day 26 = 35cm
D2: Day 23 = 38cm, Day 26 = 43cm
So, for day 23, the size averages were 24cm, 27cm, 26cm & 34cm. In day 26 they were 28cm, 29cm, 30cm & 39cm. So it's pretty clear, if you want bigger onions, give them more space. However, the smallest onions only had one sixth of the space of the largest, so I wouldn't hesitate to plant them in tightly. At the density of pot A you can fit 385 plants in one square metre, but at the growing rate of 1cm / day, who needs close to 4 metres of spring onions every day?
A1: Day 23 = 26cm, Day 26 = 30cm
A2: Day 23 = 22cm, Day 26 = 26cm
B1: Day 23 = 37cm, Day 26 = 38cm
B2: Day 23 = 27cm, Day 26 = 30cm
B3: Day 23 = 33cm, Day 26 = 35cm
B4: Day 23 = 12cm, Day 26 = 14cm
C1: Day 23 = 19cm, Day 26 = 23cm
C2: Day 23 = 19cm, Day 26 = 24cm
C3: Day 23 = 39cm, Day 26 = 43cm
D1: Day 23 = 29cm, Day 26 = 35cm
D2: Day 23 = 38cm, Day 26 = 43cm
So, for day 23, the size averages were 24cm, 27cm, 26cm & 34cm. In day 26 they were 28cm, 29cm, 30cm & 39cm. So it's pretty clear, if you want bigger onions, give them more space. However, the smallest onions only had one sixth of the space of the largest, so I wouldn't hesitate to plant them in tightly. At the density of pot A you can fit 385 plants in one square metre, but at the growing rate of 1cm / day, who needs close to 4 metres of spring onions every day?
12 January 2010
Day 33 - What Price A Good Crop?
Way back on Day 1 I said that I wanted to grow crops that would normally cost a lot to buy in a supermarket. Herbs ended up being a good choice, as the price per kilo is quite high (although I don't know many people who buy herbs by the kilo). Just in case you were wondering, here are the prices that I got from my local supermarket for the herbs in my garden (prices are for fresh, not dried produce).
Garlic Chives - $98.00 / kg
Coriander - $54.00 / kg
Sweet Basil - $43.78 / kg
Afro Parsley - $30.30 / kg
Spring Onions are really cheap, coming in at $6.30 / kg. However, mine were free i.e. we ate them and I planted the roots, so anything I get out of them is a bonus. They're going very well, with one of them doubling its size in the last eight days.
Garlic Chives - $98.00 / kg
Coriander - $54.00 / kg
Sweet Basil - $43.78 / kg
Afro Parsley - $30.30 / kg
Spring Onions are really cheap, coming in at $6.30 / kg. However, mine were free i.e. we ate them and I planted the roots, so anything I get out of them is a bonus. They're going very well, with one of them doubling its size in the last eight days.
07 January 2010
Day 29 - First Photos!
As promised, here are some photos of my kitchen garden:
Chillies: (from left to right) - habanero, jalapeno seedlings, jalapeno
Spring onions - the green sections have grown since planting
Garlic chives (left) and the newly healthy coriander
Afro parsley (top) and sweet basil
Spring onions - the green sections have grown since planting
Garlic chives (left) and the newly healthy coriander
Afro parsley (top) and sweet basilThey aren't normally set out like this!
05 January 2010
Day 26 - Different Starts for Different Plants
I've been thinking about the different ways that I could start some plants off. So far I've come up with four ways:
My jalapeno seeds are going well, ranging from 4cm to 7cm tall. I'm not going to thin them out, rather I will see which ones take over, if any. The best thing is that if they don't work, I can pull them up and start again!
I plan to work on some basil cuttings later to create a type of basil 'hedge' in my 40x10 planter box. Much more research to be done on that!
On a technological note, I will be adding photos to The Australian Kitchen Garden shortly. Not only do they illustrate some of my points (much more succinctly than I can), but they will show the growth rates of plants. Fun times ahead.
- Buying seedlings / mature plants
- Growing from seed
- Making cuttings
- Growing from supermarket root stock
My jalapeno seeds are going well, ranging from 4cm to 7cm tall. I'm not going to thin them out, rather I will see which ones take over, if any. The best thing is that if they don't work, I can pull them up and start again!
I plan to work on some basil cuttings later to create a type of basil 'hedge' in my 40x10 planter box. Much more research to be done on that!
On a technological note, I will be adding photos to The Australian Kitchen Garden shortly. Not only do they illustrate some of my points (much more succinctly than I can), but they will show the growth rates of plants. Fun times ahead.
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