Indigenous Gardening. Inheemse Tuinmaak

A dispute has existed for a while now between me/my family and our one set of neighbours. Okay, maybe the word "dispute" is a bit of an exaggeration... they/their guests have irritated us with inconsiderate parking for a few years running. I might also add that it hasn't been one family, but almost the full range of families occupying the said house over the period of irritation.

Our swamp cypress is squarely to blame for the escalation of un-neighbourly feelings. You see, even though virtually our whole neighbourhood moans about the leaves the tree so abundantly throws in autumn/winter, almost all of the very same neighbours love the shade it casts. Our next-door neighbours, and their guests, have taken it upon themselves to park in the tree's shade... on our grass... or even into our garden! You could just imagine the mother's horrified expression when she saw this trend unfolding.

That is the background to this blog post. Over the years we've had various ideas to dissuade our kindly neighbours from abusing our shady grass (including partially submerged spikes), but I finally settled on one idea this past month. I decided to create an indigenous(-ish) bed stretching all the way from the num num bed, under the cypress, to the curb. Not only would this send a very clear message to the perpetrators, but also be a sight more pleasing to the eye than sad-looking kikuyu struggling in too much shade.

The poor momster took it upon herself to remove the grass and dig in the compost. It was needed though, because the soil in that part of our yard hasn't really been composted in years. I had a vision of multiple levels, rocks, grasses and some flowery indigenous shrubs.

Let me show you the process:

The before picture/Die "voor" foto

Here are the after pictures... it didn't turn out too shabby, if I say so myself:

It turns out that the gaura I decided to plant in my indigenous bed is indigenous... just not in South Africa, but rather in North America. Oh well, what is a few thousand miles between friends?

Baby Sun Rose creeper (Aptenia cordifolia) and Guara/Rankende Rooi Brakvygie en Gaura

The Christ plant is a nice focal point in my new bed with it's thorny branches and striking blood-red flowers. It is also more indigenous than the gaura, although still off by a mile or two. It's native habitat is apparently Madagascar...

Christ Plant (Euphorbia milii)/Christusdoring

At least three elements in my "indigenous" garden are Very indigenous, that being the stones sourced from Oudtshoorn, num nums which were already thriving adjacent to the new extension and the two baby sun rose creepers I planted in the foreground. My bed might not be as indigenous as I planned it originally, but at least it is water-wise. Going the water-wise route is always a good idea in our mostly dry country, even in a relatively rainy area like the Garden Route. Here is what the bed looks like from the other direction:

Three creeping num nums (Carissa family)/Drie rankende noem-noeme

Which indigenous plants have you planted recently? #ProudlySouthAfrican (ish)

Looking back on my Autumn Garden. Terugblik op my Herfstuin

It's now the fourth day of winter here in the southern hemisphere. The weather only changed dramatically today, unleashing cold and wet conditions over the Garden Route. Therefore, I thought it an opportune time to look back on the goings on of my backyard veg patch in the last month of autumn.

The Witkiem broad beans sowed middle April are going strong; reaching for the sky they are. The Carentan leeks look beautiful. I'm very chuffed with them. The Sugar Ann Snap Peas are also doing well, but a little bit less so than the broad beans. I'm worried that they're still so small and straggly, but the granny assures me this is normal. It's "bush" peas after all. Let me show you what I mean:

Carentan leeks left and Witkiem broadbeans to the right/Preie links en boerbone regs

Sugar Ann snap peas in the bottom left hand corner/Erte links onder

Something that's not doing as well is the kale. I sowed the Black Palm kale just a day later than the peas and broad beans, and yet they are barely 5cm tall. I don't know if it's due to the general scarcity of sun in their neck of the woods in the cooler season or something else. Maybe snails? I'm hoping against hope that the kale is just a slower grower than the broad beans or peas. Some of the latter are situated in parts of the veg patch just as plagued by shadows as the kale. Oh well, at this moment I can just hold thumbs I guess. Does anyone have any idea what I could do to aid the kale's growth? Or is this quite normal for cold-season kale growth?

A teeny tiny kale plant/Eina-klein boerkool plantjie

The tamarillo is doing splendidly, as per usual. The bergwind once again tried it's best to destroy the tree tomato, but it's still standing. Askew, but still alive. The angle with which the tree is growing is actually aiding fruit development, or so I read. This is because the tamarillo makes side branches when at an angle, and these side branches also produce fruit. My tree is full of big, beautiful tree tomatoes. I'm thinking a Foreign Friday entry would be appropriate once I actually harvest some of them. Just look how gorgeous they are:

Tamarillo fruit/Tree tomatoes/Boomtamaties

Another vegetable which didn't do particularly well this time around were radishes. This was a bit surprising as I've found radishes to be so easy before. Well, not anymore! This time almost all of them had long, leggy red roots instead of orbs of peppery goodness. I didn't sow them that long after I worked chicken manure into the garden, so I think the soil might have been too fertile, or the manure still too strong. That, or it was simply not sunny enough. I did manage to harvest one meagre hand full though. It went straight into my Sweet Potato Winter Soup. I will share the recipe at a later stage.

A handful of radishes/Handjievol radyse

Some inroads were made into solving the shade problem. Well, maybe solve is a bit of an exaggeration. I chopped down another cordyline in order for the morning sun to touch my garden a few minutes more. I tried to saw through the tree trunk, but it was not to be. In the end I had to chop it down. I felt like a veritable Huntsman as the wood chips went flying and the axe went deeper into the tree. It took ages, but I conquered! 

Halfway there with the cordyline

Doing it the green way... sweat and aching muscles followed

A while ago I also sowed coriander and Little Gem lettuce in my biggest container. The lettuces don't look as promising as I would want, but the coriander is going strength to strength. We don't really eat coriander leaves, or what the Americans call cilantro, in my home. The taste is way too "volksvreemd" for us, but I sowed it for the seeds. It gives such a great taste to meat and our national favourites; droëwors and biltong (pickled dried meat similar to beef jerky).

Coriander popping its head out/Koljander plantjies pop orals uit

My Cape gooseberry bushes fill me with joy at the moment. I haven't had any success in the year I've had it. Admittedly the wind destroyed my first bush. Just as it recovered, the sun scorched it almost to nothingness. I subsequently moved the container, and it looks happier now. Happier and producing a husked berry here and there. The real success is the volunteer Cape gooseberry which turned into a giant, almost untameable, bush in the backyard veg patch. I've tried to minimise its encroachment into my vegetable area without removing the bush. So glad I didn't take it out; it is Covered in berries! I have dreams of making Appelliefie Konfyt (Cape gooseberry jam), or just munching on the little golden beauties. Can't wait! 

Little Cape gooseberries galore/Appelliefies in oorvloed

Backyard Farmer Contemplations. Agterplaas Boer Denke

As the autumn season draws nearer and nearer to a close, I thought it appropriate to reflect on my autumn garden. There isn't too much to show harvest wise, except the abundance of sweet potatoes, but let me share with you the goings on in my corner of the Garden Route:

Black Hungarian peppers and Bishop's Crown peppers/Swart Hongaarse en Klokvormige soetrissies

Bishop's Crown peppers in the backyard veg patch

Black Hungarian peppers in the backyard veg patch

Now that the weather is cooler but still warm, the peppers have come into their own. I think I got the green peppers too late in the season to produce, but the Bishop's Crown peppers have stolen the show. Such pretty vegetables, aren't they? Another pepper that has done really well (despite attempts at annihilation haha), is the Black Hungarian pepper. I got these critters from the kind folks at Organic Seed SA. The peppers turn a deep, glossy purple and is really quite mild. Even people who dislike hot food will love this one.

Tree Tomato/Tamarillo/Boomtamatie vruggies

What were only dainty little flowers on my Tree Tomato two short months ago, developed into plump fruits in the meantime. I can't wait to sample some of these fruits. Not only are they delicously strange and exotic, but they are also packed with vitamin A and C. I think they are a valuable and easy-to-grow addition to any South African garden.

Despite hectic berg winds, hail and the occasional downpour my autumn garden is coming along nicely. I hope to share the progress with you next time :-) 

Growing Sweet Potato in the Garden Route. Patats in die Tuinroete

I haven't been posting as frequent as I want because I've been on leave for about a week now, as is normally the case in April. It's such a glorious month, don't you think? The milder weather, all those public holidays and to top it all off; my birthday. What could be better?

Another awesome April surprise was my sweet potato harvest. And boy, what a harvest it was! See, the whole "experiment" started last year mid-winter when my second mom gave me three medium-sized sweet potatoes to start slips with. Yes, I did my research! Unlike the normal potato, which is planted with a seed potato ('moer' in Afrikaans), the sweet potato is planted with slips - or basically stems that grow from a sweet potato lying in water. This is because potatoes are plants that form edible tubers whereas the actual sweet potato is a thickening of  its plant's roots, or that is how I understand it.

By the beginning of October my slips were ready to plant. You know this is the case when the slips are six inches long or more. Most will have roots on them as well. Simply break the slips off where they're attached to the potato and its ready to be planted. This is how my slips looked on 8 October 2013:

Slips started off from 3 sweet potatoes/Ranke wat met 3 patats begin is

Most of them went into the ground on the same day. Since I'm not blessed with limitless space, they had to go in between shrubs, conifers, between small fruit trees and even partially under the massive swamp cypress. 

Small cleared space for sweet potatoes between the grass, ground cover and conifers

The one thing all sources were in agreement with is that sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) should be left in the ground as long as possible. This is due to the plant being native to tropical regions of Central and South America; therefore requiring warm nights and an average daytime temperature in the mid-twenties (centigrade). I decided I would leave my plants in peace until the beginning or middle of April, since March is still basically a summer month in my part of the Garden Route region. I could afford this luxury because I had planted the sweet potatoes so they could crawl into our normal garden, or just form a kind of green, living ground-cover for the soil in the fruit bed. They would therefore fulfill a dual purpose, because not only would I (hopefully) get to harvest some sweet potatoes, but the dense green foliage would help the soil retain moisture in the height of summer. Neat hey?

Sweet potato bed, instead of fruit bed?/Appel, laventel en kumquat skaars sigbaar tussen patatranke

The after photo (7 April 2014):

The fruit bed, sans sweet potatoes/Vrugtebedding na die patat-oes

Did the fruit bed deliver sweet potato-wise? Yes - over and over! I think it is the first thing I planted that wasn't just a success because it gave me pleasure to plant and harvest my own fruit and veg, but also a financial success... I actually put in way less than I got out. Wonderful!!!

Sweet potato harvest from the fruit bed/Patat-oes uit die vrugtebedding

How did the two slips planted six months before fare stuck between grass, ferns and conifers? Well:

Just as the sweet potato harvest was about to start/Nét voor die patats geoes is

Sweet potato harvest from conifer bed/Patat-oes uit conifer bedding

And so, from three average sweet potatoes I harvested 6kg six months later. I am amazed! This is clearly a vegetable I will plant over and over in my garden. Not fussy, no pests, minimal watering, big harvest. The only thing I noticed, once again, is that they shouldn't be planted in the shade. Partial shade is fine, although full sun (6h+ a day) leads to the highest yields. My biggest single sweet potato came from the sunniest part of the fruit bed. It weighed in at a respectable 750g... unfortunately I sliced it into pieces with the spade. Such is life.

Autumn Backyard Garden. Herfs Agterplaas Tuin

My garden is in its transitional phase at the moment. Some summer vegetables are still producing, some are barely clinging on, most are dead, and I am itching to start planting autumn and winter veggies. 

Preparation is key to planting in any season, so I started by working over the bed where my butternuts were, and added some beautiful black gold. Yes, I did go for that turn of phrase because the alliteration has such a nice ring to it... Okay; the 'black gold' I'm referring to in this instance is chicken manure (chicken poo). I bought it at one of the only truly organic chicken farms in the Garden Route area; Red Barn. Go and check it out for yourselves people. The owner doesn't use any nasty antibiotics or chemicals and her chickens are free range in every sense of the word. The bed is nearly ready for the onions I will be planting there in April. I must still just pull out the miserable tomatillos and add some sand. This is how the bed looks now:

Chicken manure added to Onion Bed/Hoendermis by Uiebedding ingespit

 ... and this is why I said "miserable tomatillos":

My one and only tomatillo/Die som van my tomatillo oes

I can proudly say not everything is a miserable failure at the moment. Some plants actually still produce, even if the harvests are mostly meager. The star in my little Garden Route patch is still the pepino, as ever. I have also harvested volunteer cherry tomatoes constantly, but I can't take much credit for these. They are virtually indestructible! We are also enjoying the occasional bunch of Contender beans. The granny picked another 300g the day before yesterday, and we just had it in a gorgeous sweet curry with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and meat yum :-)

Harvest:  450g pepino + 150g cherry tomatoes + 2x cucamelons

Let me take you on a quick tour of the rest of my garden...

The Delicious Monster starting to fruit/Vrugte aan die Monstera deliciosa

Our Delicious Monster (Monstera deliciosa) plant is clearly not past its fruit-bearing age, as I previously thought. I cannot wait for these babies to open up and ripen!

Cherry Guava covered in fruit/Klomp klein vruggies aan die Aarbeikoejawel

The little Cherry Guava/Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum) tree is such a star. It has loads of little guavas, just 6 months after it last bore fruit.
 

Two hiding cucamelons/Die Mexikaanse Suurkomkommertjies kruip goed weg

I might have done exactly all the Wrong things as far as the cucamelons (Melothria scabra) go this year, but luckily I spotted a few small ones hiding behind dense leaf coverage. Yes, I will try them again later this year, and this time I will do it right!
 

Bell Peppers/Die klokvormige soetrissies begin dra

I have a suspicion these bell peppers might already be a strange hybridisation, as the granny used to grow all types of capsicums in close proximity. My motto: who cares, as long as they taste nice, hey?
 

Tamarillo flowers/Boomtamatie blommetjies

Since I bought my Tree Tomato (or tamarillo as Kiwi's call them) in May 2013 it has literally reached for the sky. The tree is now taller than my 6ft1, the leaves are humongous and yet I haven't picked one single fruit from it. Is this normal? I wouldn't know, but my granny certainly had a mouthful to say about it. I'm sure the words "pull out" have entered her mind. Luckily disaster seems to be averted, as I have spied some petite flowers up top. Is this a sign of juicy tamarillos to follow?
 

Another Black Hungarian Pepper/Nog 'n Swart Hongaarse Soetrissie aan't vorm

This will be the second little Black Hungarian Pepper to be harvested. It might have been more if I didn't accidentally destroy most of the plants. An honest mistake due to it looking suspiciously like yet More purple tomatillos... whoops!
 

Yet another ripe pepino/Nóg 'n boomspanspek is gereed om te pluk

Not much more to say about this one. Yes, the pepino is officially the gift that keeps on giving :-)
 

Cold Season Garden Planning. Koue Weer Tuin Beplanning

I started avidly growing veggies in my backyard about 9 months ago, in the depths of 2013's winter. I was so eager to start, that I totally ignored the time of year and therefore got miserable results. Results which should have been expected, but nevertheless disappointing beyond belief. Yes, most new gardens are over-eager and make the fatal mistake of focusing on the vegetables/fruit trees/plants, instead of the soil. All the research I did beforehand warned me of this fact, so I had no excuse.

I won't make the same mistakes again, or I will at least try to improve on what I did wrong last year. Planning is one thing I'm very good at; sometimes so good that I plan and plan and plan, but never really implement. A character flaw I know. This is how the planning for my autumn and winter garden is coming along so far:

Calculating how much space you have

This was the logical first step for me, since the available space (and the type of space) will tell you the type and quantity of vegetables to plant. No simple task for me, as most of my space isn't square or rectangular beds, but have weirdly winding or circular edges. Blame my parents for their creative garden planning! For any other person this wouldn't be such a hassle, but I'm a sucker for precise calculations and mathematical formulae. Yes, I'm not only a garden geek, but a geek geek as well haha. After countless tries with a broken tape measure, pen and paper, and even calling in the help of a genial best friend (those damn formulae!) I had calculated my veg garden size to near precise dimensions. And so the real fun began...
 

Backyard Veg Patch - cold season crops to follow/Lappie vir herfs en winter groente

Deciding on which veggies or varieties to grow

The four factors which influence me on what to grow and where to plant it, are;

• What do I like to eat? More specifically, what does my family like to eat?
• What worked in my (or the granny's) garden before?
• Which plants or vegetables benefit most from each other? (Companion Planting)
• Which plants or vegetables are most suited to my soil type and amount of shade?

Drawing up a Garden Plan

This is one step that small-scale backyard gardeners don't have to spend too much time on. Being the kind of person that I am, I've spent hours and hours planning, calculating, drawing and re-drawing my very first Garden Plan(s).

I only have three spaces suitable to vegetables and the occasional fruit tree; they measure:

• 6.1 sq meter (of which 4.8 sq meter can be used due to perennials)
• 7.8 sq meter (of which 1.4 sq meter can be used due to shade and trees), and
• 1.52 sq meter (all suitable for planting)

This leaves me with only about 15.5 sq meter. Not much by any stretch of the imagination, so therefore pre-planning is vital to optimise my space.

The most wonderful tool I've discovered online is the GrowVeg Garden Planner. Not only is it free for a 30-day period, but all features are available to users of the free trial programme! The first step in the design is to tell the programme the length and width of your bed. Then you simply choose a veg/fruit/flower type and plan out the rows or blocks desired. The nifty little programme will tell you automatically how many of said plant you can chuck into said space. Marvelous!

Here is an example of my backyard vegetable patch:

Backyard Veg Patch Plan/Agterplaas Tuinplan [copyright www.growveg.com]

See the full plan, all suggestions, and how wonderful this site really is at GrowVeg.com

Preparing the soil

As soon as the summer veggies and flowers start looking a bit straggly and production comes to a grinding halt, it is time to pull them out and either compost or destroy them, depending on whether they are still healthy specimens. This normally happens the last month of summer or in early autumn. In areas where chilly weather comes sooner (like the Free State or Gauteng) it would most probably be end Feb, and the Garden Route area where I live it's more likely to be March. There is no hard and fast rule to the month of the year though. 

From Pumpkin Patch to Onion Bed/Toekomstige wit-ui tuiste?

Now comes THE MOST IMPORTANT TASK IN GARDEN PLANNING... Soil preparation. It is very important to spend most of your available finances on preparing the soil well and the smallest amount on buying plants or seed. The type of soil you have is also very important. This is because you will need to add coarse sand to hard, clay soil or huge amounts of compost to loose, sandy soil. I have a mix of good garden soil and heavy, clay soil in my own garden.  

A rule of thumb is to add two bags of good, organic compost to a square meter of your garden. That is roughly equivalent to 2'' of compost (5cm) on top of your bed. It is also a good idea to add a complete fertiliser to your garden. 10-10-10 fertiliser is the best one to go with (equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium). Manure is an alternative to compost, but must be well-rotted. A good indication on whether it is suitable for your veg patch is to smell it. If it doesn't reek to high heaven, it apparently is black gold!

A scattering of red onions to follow/'n Paar rooi uie midde-in die vrugte bedding?

All the preparation stuff must be done at least two weeks before any planting. I've just realised it's already March, and I haven't done even a square foot of soil preparation. I will definitely have to order a bakkie-load of compost from Norgarivier Nursery, some fertiliser... and get in my garden, sweating away!

Spring Harvests. Lente Oeste

With it already being the second day of summer here in South Africa, I thought it appropriate to report back on what I harvested in my backyard garden (and also in other patches scattered throughout) during spring. While some vegetables performed quite well, others were simply not suited to our Garden Route climate, or suffered because of my inexperience and a lack of sunshine. This is what I harvested:
 

End Sep 2013 - nasturtiums, strawberries and "cauliflower"/kappertjies, aarbeie en "blomkool"

The first plants to produce anything vaguely fit for "harvest" were nasturtiums I sowed late July in a container and strawberries the granny and I planted late May and late June. Nasturtiums are always rampant growers, so I didn't expect anything less of them. On the other hand; I am currently planning to replant my strawberries in the soil, because they're not producing as they should in their pots, but then again; maybe their pots are too small. Questions, questions... I won't even mention the cauliflower, as they were a total failure. Of the twelve plants I purchased and planted late May, I didn't get one decent-sized cauliflower head. The biggest one was about 2cm x 2xm! I think I planted it too late in the year, because they got some sort of fungal disease. Perhaps I should plant them earlier in autumn next time?

Start of Oct 2013 - Some of the radishes/Sommige van die radyse

Radish was the one vegetable that performed brilliantly in the garden. Such a quick perfomer as well! I sowed them mid-August and harvested these beautiful babies in the beginning of October. How chuffed was I! The one thing I learned for myself is that they perform miserably in shady areas. Radishes I planted between my broad beans, in a mostly shady area, could only be harvested two weeks later than the ones in full sun, and were stunted and small. Yes, all sources told me most vegetables don't work well in shade, but I had to see it for myself, okay. Haha

Mid-Oct 2013 - An abundance of parsley/Pietersielie vir Afrika

Parsley, parsley and more parsley! Yes, parsley was definitely the biggest star in my spring garden (and I have the dried bottles of parsley to prove it). Both the curly-leaf and Italian varieties performed well, although the latter out-shined the former to an extent. Now that it is summer I'm having problems with them going to seed, but that is to be expected I suppose.

End Oct 2013 - Meager broad bean haul/Skamele boerboon oes

Yes, I made the same mistake with the broad beans as with some of the radishes... too much shade! What started out as a beautiful bed of beans under a leafless Acer negundu tree in autumn, turned out to be the aphid-infested bane of my existence under a fully-leaved Acer in spring! Regrets, regrets! Especially because the little broad beans I could harvest tasted so heavenly in one of the mother's Cape Malay curries. Ai! Note to self - plant broad beans beginning of autumn in a sunshiny spot next year!

Start of Nov 2013 - Lots of leeks and lettuce/Pragtige preie en baie blaarslaai

In addition to the parsley, leeks and lettuce were the other two members of the trio of top performers. Lovely green and purple lettuce bought at Norgarivier Nursery and planted in the beginning of October went into beautiful green salads. The leeks went into a gorgeous Leek, Bacon and Cheese Pie. The family couldn't get enough! Basically you pre-fry the leeks in butter, add it and grated cheddar, a carton of cream, a packet of half-cooked bacon and two eggs to a pie tin, in pastry, and voila! If you don't have enough leeks (like I did), sommer add a few normal diced onions to taste. Works like a charm.

Mid-Nov 2013 - Pole and bush bean harvest/Rank-en bosboon oes

Beans always perform well in our backyard garden, so I expected nothing less this year. This year I planted white pole beans, Contender bush beans and Lazy Housewife pole beans. In the photo, the larger, flattish beans on the left are the Lazy's and the thinner ones are the others. I got the organic Lazy's at Livingseeds - a highly recommended organic seed store. The white beans and Contenders I got from another kindly neighbour. 

We have already enjoyed all of them as green beans and some of them have been blanched and frozen. Now I can't wait for the bushes to perform even better, so the granny can make a decent batch of curried beans yummy!

I planted twelve red onion seedlings during the last week of May, and about the same number of Australian Browns the first week of June. The red onions performed quite well, but the white onions produced the smallest onions imaginable. We harvested them all the very end of November.
The lesson I learned from this comparison? Do not plant onions in hard-as-nails and compacted soil!

Hope I haven't bored you all with this lengthy post, but I guess someone out there might pick up a tip or two from my successes and failures. What do they say; practice makes perfect.