Garden of St Erth Visit

 You sure did miss out on a great day,

although the wather was a bit wet on the way over, we were treated to very green and lush garden, full of inspiration.

What I knowabout tomatoes

Black Russian

Not that I'm an expert but this is a rough guide to how i grow my tomatoes and what i have found to work. i would really like to open a discussion and post the various suggestions or questions.



Tomatoes need warm soil and warm weather to thrive and ward off diseases. It seems to me that every year Bunning’s and other big garden suppliers sell their tomatoes sooner and sooner, knowing full well that the customer will probably be back for more. Depending on how the season is I don’t plant my tomatoes in the ground until after Melbourne cup, and well after if we are having a frosty spring.

Tigerella & Tatura Dwarf

Many times you can put in a tomato plant a good month after your too-early one, and find the later-planted seedling quickly catching up and surpassing the other deprived, stunted one you nursed along during a too-cold spring. Another good time to plant your second successive crop is on Boxing Day or when first lot flowers.

Tomatoes need good nutrition. To get big fat healthy tomatoes,  First dig a deep hole and at the bottom of that add a fish head. This adds both nitrogen and calcium as it decomposes over time. I then add two or three crushed chicken eggshells; The value of eggshells is that it's a cheap, organic method of adding calcium to your soil. Sulphate of potash is next which is high in phosphorus, which aids in both root formation and blossom production. The more flowers you get, the more fruit you get, and it adds to the flavour.


I also put two handfuls of a good dry, all-purpose organic fertilizer in the bottom of the hole. "All-purpose" means that all three macro nutrients are represented in similar quantities. The macro nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, making sure it is organically approved and not just called organic approved. Check here or here

A tablespoon of worm castings goes in and two regular aspirin tablets a few inches into the soil about 6 or so inches away from your planted tomato seedling. Aspirin contains salicylic acid, which has been shown to boost the immune system of tomatoes, making them more disease resistant. 

Tomato plants want to be planted deep, so get at least two thirds of that stem under the ground.  This is because all of those tiny fuzzy hairs sticking out of the stem turn into roots once buried.  The more roots there are, the better able the plant is able to uptake more nutrients.  You can either dig a deep hole, or use the “trench” method, which works particularly well with long seedlings.  Dig a narrow trench, about four or five inches deep, then lay the plant in sideways, bending the top up and out of the end of the trench.  Make sure you water all along the length of the trench for a while, in order to get the root ball wet.

Tomatoes don't like to be crowded. Tomato plants also need a free flow of air around them to keep down foliar diseases, and crowding them will inhibit airflow around 90cm apart. allow them to grow up naturally using good vertical and horizontal supports. i use 2mt high cylindrical cages. Simply cut lengths of large square chicken wire or weld mesh , attach them into a cylinder using either narrow gauge wire, or bend back and twist the cut ends together to secure. These cylindrical cages can then be placed over your plant (one per cage). Drive a star picket or bamboo well into the ground next to the cage, and then tie the cage to the picket at several intervals. As the tomato plant starts to grow out of the cage, gently push back the growing tips inside the cylinder, training the plant to grow up inside the cage.

Feeding your tomatoes Use an organic fertiliserer every three weeks (every week if growing in a pot). I particularly like using worm casting tea. It's simple to make: throw a handful of pure worm castings and some comfrey leaves into a 20lt bucket of water.(dairy bucket) Let "steep" for two -three days.To use get yourself a 7.5lt sprayer  add one and a half regular aspirin in the bottom of diluted worm casting tea dilute it up to four times with water then strain through cheesecloth. Spray this elixir once a week, but at least once every two weeks on the leaves in the morning. It tends to settle to the bottom of the bucket, so stir it up before watering.

Don’t over or Under Water .Most people water their tomatoes too much. It makes for watery tasting tomatoes, more diseases, and less fruit. The only time that a tomato needs to be watered every day, is if it's in a pot and the weather is consistently in the high 30's and in direct sun.

You should observe your plants every day and see how they are doing with moisture. If the ground is wet, they don't need watering again for a while. If the plant is wilting, it may not be water deprived; it just may be hot for a few hours in high heat and will perk back up in the cool of the evening. Also some diseases cause the plant to wilt, and no amount of watering will cure that.

Worm Tower

This I came across from a permaculture site and I just had to share it with you all. I love easy solutions and this in situ worm farm is as good as it gets. make sure you check out the comments at the bottom, they explain it even further

how-to-make-a-worm-tower/

Seed Saving Tips and Tricks Part 1

RECORDING YOUR COLLECTED SEED

It is important to record the details about the seed you have collected because:
• you may forget why you saved it by the time you want to plant it
• you may want to give it to someone
• you may want to compare it with another variety

How to record your collected seed at home

• Keep a notebook or old diary with the dates.
• Write down the following details on the date you picked the seed:
  - Name of vegetable
  - Special qualities of vegetable e.g. disease resistant, long yielding
  - Dates of collection
  - If there were special conditions at the time it was growing e.g. very dry
• If you sent some to your seedbank send these details on the packet
  Address of sender
  Name of seed and special type
  Details of the seed – e.g. can grow in dry season
  Date of collection
  On the envelope you have placed the seed in, write the same details.

From Michel and Jude Fanton, The Seed Savers’ Handbook, Byron Bay, Australia, 1993

Italian Torpedo or Italian Red Torpedo Onion

I came across this while checking one of my regular blog reads and i know these onions have been shared around by the Violet town group, and Derek is growing them at the moment, very similar results here Do check it out and give it a go maybe planting late summer.

http://masdudiable.com/2010/11/02/onion-rouge-de-florence/

Monthly Natter - November

Now is the time to take stock of what y0ou have planted and what you need to, successive plantings of crops will stop the glut. Carrots parsnips, celery, corn, and lettuce corn and lettuce every three weeks beans peas can be timed whenever the first plantings begin to flower,  and another lot of zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers in December. In the seed garden broad beans and peas will be fruiting, don't be tempted to take the best looking pods leave these for seed. generally the first pods are the best to save. if they are affected by chocolate spot, or other spotty fungal disease try and save pods from plants that are least affected.

These are my purple carrots setting flowers, they are the prettiest flower, and could be part of any cut flower collection. A
Foliar feed with liquid manure, worm tea or seasol. A great recipe can be found on ABC gardening http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1805268.htm
or http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2947565.htm

This week in my garden

Beans General McClay & Purple King
Basil Purple & Genovese
Onion - long keeping Stuttgart
More Peas Telephone & Sugar Snap
Carrot, baby round
Beetroot Choggia & Golden
Beneficial creature attracting Flower mix - Cosmos, queens Anne lace, phacelia, coriander, red clover, cosmos, dill, caraway, marigolds, buckwheat and sweet Alice.
Planting out  seedlings

Cucumber Lemon & Richmond River
Spinach Ceylon
Tomato Yellow Pear
Watermelon Moon and Stars
Zucchini Lebanese - Rondo De nice

CERES November/December Workshops

In the Nursery Workshops
Australian Bush foods
With Justin Calverley
Saturday 6 November 2010 10.00AM—3.30PM
$125/$115 CERES member/concession

In the Kitchen Workshops
Gluten Free Cooking
With Gad Assayag
Sunday 7 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM

$88/$77 CERES member/concession
Preserves and Jams
With 7 Stars Food Project
Sunday 14 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Fresh Sausages
With Sausages Made Simple
Wednesday 17 November 2010 6.30PM—9.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Turkish Cooking
With the 7 Stars Food Project
Sunday 21 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Fetta Cheese Making
With Carole Willman
Sunday 28 November 2010 10.00AM—4.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Sour Dough Bread Baking
With Jao Blair
Sunday 5 December 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$120/$110 CERES member/concession

In the Garden Workshops
Seed Saving and Propagation
With Matt Daniele
Saturday 6 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession


Beekeeping With Lyndon Fenlon
Sunday 7 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Understanding Soils
With Annie Raiser-Rowland
Sunday 14 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Kitchen Gardens for Schools and the Community
With Justin Calverley
Saturday 20 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Potted Gardening With Justin Calverley
Saturday 27 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Chook Care With Louise Kay
Sunday 28 November 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Waterwsie Gardening With Justin Calverley
Saturday 4 December 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Composting and Worms With Justin Calverley
Saturday 11 December 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Beekeeping With Lyndon Fenlon
Sunday 12 December 2010 10.00AM—3.00PM
$88/$77 CERES member/concession

Backyard MedicineWith Melissa Collins
Sunday 12 December 2010 1.30PM—4.30PM
$66/$55 CERES member/concession

For further information contact Luisa Brown, Training Coordinator on 9387 2609 or luisa@ceres.org

For bookings contact: CERES Visitor Centre on 9387 2609.