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 :-) 

Backyard Harvest. Agterplaas Oes

I think a report on my harvests is long overdue. Don't let the word "harvests" fool you into thinking massive, farm-scale hauls however. No, the produce harvested in a backyard garden is much more humble. It still leads to pride and joy - especially if the harvest is larger than expected. An occassion that, admittedly, didn't occur very often in my little South African patch this summer.

So here goes:

Clockwise fltr: Gem Squash/Skorsie, two Pepinos/twee Boomspanspekke, tomatoes/tamaties

One of the most successful plants in my backyard veg patch isn't a vegetable at all, but the pepino. It's like the gift that keeps on giving. I get at least one juicy pepino every week from a bush less than knee-height. Plant it if you live in a sub-tropical or moderately humid region people!

The gem squash wasn't through any effort of my own. No, a volunteer plant sprung up under my little kumquat tree. I think the manure-enriched compost might have something to do with it. The plant soon lost the fight against white powdery mildew, but not before providing us with two lovely squashes. Two might be a meager amount, but they were unexpected, so I'm appreciative.

The tomato haul has been bitterly disappointing. Blight of course. The only tomatoes that seem to flourish are the volunteer cherry tomatoes, and even they got blight in the long run.

Clockwise fltr: Brandywine Sudduths, Red Kaki, Dr Carolyn Yellow

The Red Kaki tomatoes (dark-green round tomato pictured centre-right) were a complete flop. The plants all got blight too early for the poor little tomatoes to flourish. At least I received the seeds for free haha. The blight is definitely to blame, but this cultivar seemed the most prone to it. I don't think they will get any of the valuable garden space in future.

I got some decent-sized Brandywine tomatoes. The plants also developed the dreaded blight, so most of the tomatoes had to be harvested greener than should be, but their taste was  great. No fake taste, like all those beautifully plastic-looking shop tomatoes. They are a bit mushy for my taste though. I think I will try another fleshy cultivar next year. Any suggestions?

The biggest surprise has been the Dr Carolyn Yellow tomatoes. I harvest at least a handful every day. They also lean to the mushy side when over-ripe, but they produce like little machines! They also look beautiful in salads. I don't know if this is pure coincidence, but they also seem more blight resistant than the other cultivars I tried this year. Think I will give them a go again next year.

How does your summer harvest look thus far? Winter harvest, if you're living on the other side of the equator?

The Joys of Summer Gardening. Vreugdes van 'n Somerstuin

I did complain extensively about all the woes and problems summer heat and humidity causes in a garden, but it's not all doom and gloom. Yes, white powdery mildew explodes on cucurbits and blight attacks almost everything, but the warm season brings on its own joys and beauty.

Nowhere is it more evident than with all the flowering plants. I would like to share with you a few photos of the blooms in my little Garden Route garden:

Carnations/Angelier (Dyanthus caryophyllus)

I must confess that the Carnations are the granny's babies. She nurtures them every day, and look how gorgeous they turned out to be! I simply love the intoxicating scent of them - daardie eksotiese mengsel van soet blommegeur en speserye. The botanical name for carnations 'Dianthus' means Heavenly Flower, and yet it is also a symbol of socialism on the one hand and bad luck on the other, in Francophone countries. What a contradiction!

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)

A Peace Lily's leaves are so glossy it always reminds me of a good imitation plant. It's simply so beautiful and shiny; with the weirdest little white flowers. Weird or not, these plants are a good solution to those troublesome shady corners. This is because peace lilies don't need much light or water.

Miniature  Pansies/Miniatuur Gesiggies (Viola x wittrockiana)

Pansies just have a way of cheering me immediately. I mean, who couldn't love them? Especially in their cute miniature form. The Afrikaans name for pansies make them sound even cuter; 'Gesiggies' (little faces). Adorable right? These are more commonly referred to as violas, but nevertheless the same species as those big annuals. 

Foxgloves/Vingerhoede (Digitalis)

After I saw a stunning garden layout in the Garden & Home magazine, I simply HAD to have some foxgloves in my garden! The photo above is of the first one that flowered. In this one instance I like the English and Afrikaans names equally. In Afrikaans they are called 'Vingerhoede'. A 'vingerhoed' is a metal cap used in the olden days to protect women's fingers from needle pricks. Since this flower resembles the shape of that little thingamajig I suppose the name was a logical fit.

Inca Lily/Inka Lelie (Alstroemeria)

When I started with my veg patch and fruit gardening I took it upon myself to destroy most of my mom's Inca Lily bed. It has one of the most invasive tuber root systems I have ever seen. It's nearly impossible to get rid of them! A single piece of tuber in the ground leads to a lily popping up later. As always, the hardiest plants come from South America. It's not all that bad when you're rewarded with flowers as gorgeous as this though, is it?

Impatiens

The wonderful thing about Impatiens is that they seem to multiply into different colours; some of which turn out to be variegated! We plant a pink impatiens, and its flowers turn out to be cerise pink, purple, orange and... Wonderful! The one thing to always remember however, is that these little plants are not water-wise in any way, shape or form.

Bird of Paradise/Strelitzia

In addition to numerous clivias, I also have a few other indigenous plants in my garden. The Bird of Paradise might have one of the strangest, but most beautiful flowers. It certainly does resemble the bird its English common name is linked to, doesn't it? In Afrikaans we sommer call it by its botanical name, Strelitzia. Orange is always such a striking colour in nature!

African or Cape Iris/Wilde Iris (Dietes iridioides)

Another beautiful indigenous flower in my garden is the Cape Iris. The bush forms clumps of hardy, dark-green leaves resembling stalks and produces flowers quite a lot. One flower only lasts one day though. The plant is still well worth it, because it is water-wise, grows easily, divides even more easily, and heck; who can say no to such a flower?!

Pelargonium/Malva

 

In Afrikaans we tend to call both geraniums and pelargoniums "malva's", but they are actually two distinct species. Pelargoniums are more hardy and indigenous to southern Africa. Some of them also have medicinal or culinary uses, like the lemon pelargonium. A must in any South African garden.

Christmas Cactus/Litroos (Schlumbergera)

And the pièce de résistance... the breathtaking flower of my grandmother's Christmas Cactus or Litroos ("lit" = joint + "roos" = rose). The flower only lasts one or two days, maar die hele jaar se gewag is die moeite werd wanneer hierdie asemrowende mengsel van pienke en rooie oopgaan. Awesome!

What is your favourite garden flower?

Favourite Corner - Spring 2013. Gunsteling Hoekie - Lente 2013

Although I'm more of a winter person, Spring is probably the most beautiful season in any garden. The abundance of flowers, new growth in the backyard veg patch, new shoots on trees and iridescent green leaves on deciduous ones. What's not to love?

I want to take this chance to share my favourite garden corner of the season with you:

My favourite corner/My gunsteling hoekie

It's actually a wild mix of grasses, ground cover, indigenous plants, self-seeded volunteers, a huge trunk and an unidentified bush. Oh, and some stones added for effect. I think the result is quite striking. The mother can take most of the credit for this creation though. Can anyone identify the big shrub behind the trunk?

Originally, only pink impatiens was planted, but the bush somehow multiplied into normal pink, dark pink, white and variegated impatiens. Wonderful!

Impatiens galore

The ground cover plant in this spot is Mexican Daisies, or Erigeron karvinskianus. Quite a mouthful for such a petite plant. It might have petite pink and white flowers, but it's an aggressive grower. It survives even the worst neglect and water shortages. A great bonus in an often-neglected garden *blush. 

Dis nie soseer uit pure nalatigheid nie, maar aangesien ons area al deurgeloop het onder erge droogtes is dit slim om waterwys te plant. The neglect is not always voluntary, but sometimes due to serious droughts in our Garden Route area. Therefore I would recommend the Mexican Daisy to all gardeners in this region of South Africa:

Mexican Daisies

The latest addition to this spot, as I wrote about previously, was a Clivia. How happy am I that it turned out to be a red one! Weereens dankie aan 'n dierbare Tannie vir die geskenk!

Red Clivia and pink Impatiens

Do you have a corner in your garden that just makes you happy instantly?
 

Growing Clivias in the Garden Route. Clivias vir Afrika in die Tuinroete

By this stage you must all think my garden only consists of broad beans, exotic fruit and an assortment of other vegetables. Oh no, that is not the case at all!

My parents have always been fervent gardeners, with our garden once being the pride of the neighbourhood. After a few years of neglect, this was not the case anymore. The garden still had its joys and beauty, but it was all a bit wild, tangled and overgrown. Luckily my new-found passion for gardening wasn't limited to produce though, but also included the bigger "normal" garden. As I now owned the house, I wanted to restore the garden back to its former glory.

Part of this strategy was to jazz it up with a dash of colour here and there. The problem in my urban garden was the lack of sunlight. My parents planted various trees, especially cordylines, (what we sommer call:) wild banana trees, conifers, palms of all sorts and a massive swamp cypress way back. 

So which plants or flowers could I plant in shade, with minimal water needs and maximum colour impact?

My answer was Clivias. Indigenous, water-wise, and fully shade-tolerant? Yes, Clivias were certainly the answer!

Two Clivias already established in the garden - proving some plants flower beautifully in shade

'n Clivia, met sy rooi sade

I already had two huge Clivia bushes in my front garden, and two smallish ones in the backyard garden. Now I just needed a dozen more... maybe two dozen? How happy was I that not only was my best friend's mother part of our local clivia club and therefore had tons to share, but that she was willing to share. And share she did!

Just part of my Clivia haul... Ek sal ewig dankbaar bly Tannie :-)

I had grand plans for creating visual features in the garden, and giving a bit of colour to a pathway's borders. And That is when the hard work started! Who ever thought gardening is such WORK?! Need to loose a few kilos and considering joining a gym? Don't! Start gardening, or better yet; help someone else in theirs. You'll see the difference within a month. I promise!

Firstly, I gave a sad spot in the garden a breath of life by adding two Clivias. I think the mixture of green shrubs and ferns, white rocks, a greyish-brown tree trunk, pink impatiens, blue iris, orange Clivias and ground cover works quite well. What do you think?

A new Clivia next to the road and one planted underneath the big tree trunk

Secondly, I planted one of the bigger newly acquired Clivias in a corner that was just too dull for my liking. It consisted of green, green and more green. Albeit different shades of green, but green nonetheless. Two different conifers, a wild banana, delicious monster and a few ferns had two Clivias added to them. And the result???

Lovely red Clivia as focal point in my green corner. Pragtige rooi Clivia as fokuspunt in die groen hoekie

Lastly, I wanted to beautify a pathway we already had in the garden. The pink Bottlebrush provided stunning colour to that corner, but the path just needed something along the edges to zhoosh it up. In went more Clivias:

The completed, yet still not established, effect

Clivia border along a pathway strewn with Bottlebrush flowers

 Have you planted any indigenous flowers or plants recently?

Foreign Friday. Volksvreemde Vrydag

Pepino/Boomspanspek (Solanum muricatum) 

After James Wong's Homegrown Revolution bug bit, I couldn't wait to try out foreign-sounding and strange-looking fruit and veg in my own urban garden. My backyard veg patch might be in an South African town, but luckily we have an Oceanic, almost sub-tropical climate with a decent annual rainfall. Perfect conditions for growing most fruit and veg; even the most exotic of exotic edibles.

One of the first exotic fruits I planted was a Pepino. As I referred to in my post about creating beds, I received it from a work friend. She gave me two big plants and a very small one I could split from the mother plant. I was told the plants would adapt quickly, grow fast and sprawl over a big area if not controlled. Immediately after planting them, one plant looked better than the other and the smallest one had only a small chance, I thought. That's before we had a horrible berg wind. After that unfortunate occurrence, the healthy-looking plant died despite my best efforts to save it. In the long run though, the other plant flourished and the small one survived as well.

Pepino/Boomspanspek

Luckily the same lady who so kindly gave me the plants brought a ripe fruit along as well. When it is still unripe the fruit is greenish with light purple stripes. The stripes get darker and the green turns yellow when ripe. Don't expect a delicious rockmelon taste though! It tastes somewhat bland; like a cucumberish wintermelon. Very refreshing though, and much like a cucumber, it tastes like pure summer to me   :-)

Pepino flower and fruit/Boomspanspek blom en vruggie

A Pepino is part of the nightshade family, to which a tomato and potato belongs too. A fact quickly made apparent by the striking similarities between the aforementioned plants' flowers. I am still amazed how quickly my Pepino produced its first small fruit. This after bringing it back from the verge of death just a few short months earlier! I am suitably impressed, and very chuffed! Now I can't wait to get a harvest big enough to try making some Pepino Chutney or sauces yum...

Solanum muricatum fruit/vruggie

Botanical Name: SOLANUM MURICATUM
Common Name: Pepino, Pepino Dulce, Fruit Salad Plant
Volksnaam: Pepino, Boomspanspek
Native to: Peru, Colombia and other neighbouring Andean countries
Date planted/sowed: Planted 12 June 2013 (winter)
Ease to grow: Very easy to grow but needs sufficient water and rich, composted soil
Costs: no input costs
Notes: Produces first fruit within 4 months of planting

South African Container Gardening. Kleinskaalse tuinmaak in die Tuinroete

The one problem all backyard farmers and urban gardeners share is surely the lack of space. While I would love to plant an orchard of apple trees, another of various peaches, a few exotics like loquats and avocados, space; or the lack thereof, simply makes this impossible. Oh, and the mother, who is filled with dread at any mention of planting a new tree! Not only do I face space problems as far as fruit trees go, but also for smaller shrubs and even vegetables. My backyard is tiny, so there's only so much lawn I can take out, and most of the front yard is outside the boundary wall. I can't plant vegetables there, because I want to actually harvest some for myself...

What to do?

The answer most obviously lies in container gardening. Filling every container I already own, and getting new ones made by the father. Sulke pragtige hout bakke; hoe trots is ek!

The first thing I planted in a container was a Cape gooseberry I received as a gift from a colleague. I added two smaller ones in the same plastic container. So far so good. It's just that the area I had it in earlier was too windy in winter and too sunny in summer. Note to self; choose a sheltered spot for Cape gooseberries.

Cape Gooseberries in plastic container/Appelliefies in plastiese houer

The next thing to go into a container were herbs. My family isn't big into "volksvreemde kruie" (strange herbs) so I went for curly and flat-leaf parsley. The same container got a pest-repellant marigold in and a strawberry plant or two. I was quite chuffed with the arrangement, although the parsley grew so rampantly, it kind of overshadowed the strawberries:

Parsley and Strawberry container plus Nasturtiums

Kappertjie bak en Pietersielie plus Aarbei bak in agtergrond

Next I had to beg and plead and go down on my knees for quite a few weeks with the father. You see, he promised me a few wooden containers, but none was forthcoming. After a little bit more irritating pleading I got my way... and three amazing containers! In the first one I sowed cucamelons, as recommended by James Wong. I also sowed chives, but have had no success with them so far. The cucamelons only took  3 weeks to germinate, and the germination rate was quite good as well. Maybe I don't have the right technique for chives yet? I decided on yarrow as the companion plant to repel pests. Two out of the three has come on beautifully:

Yarrow and cucamelons at back/Duisendblad plante en Mexikaanse Suurkomkommertjies

The smallest container would get a few more herbs I thought, but in the end I settled on a comfrey plant, garden mint and a small sowing of Pak Choi. The reasoning behind this combination was that garden mint would be quite useful in summer drinks, and pak choi is apparently a hardy lettuce-like Asian vegetable. It can grow in much warmer conditions than plain lettuce, without bolting or dying. Comfrey is a gardener's best friend, according to some blogs I've read, especially African Aussie. This is because it puts valuable nitrogen back into the soil. So I had to plant at least one:

Pak Choi sowed in front, garden mint left and comfrey right/Tuinment links en Smeerwortel regs

The medium-sized container was a toss-up. At first I wanted to plant some sweet potato slips there, but then I planted those in our front garden. The plan changed to lettuce and green peppers, but our backyard would be too hot and sunny in summer for the former, so I settled on potatoes. Originally I wanted to plant my potatoes in tyre staggers, but after reading horrifying stories about heavy metals leeching into the soil, and therefore into my beautiful homegrown tatties, this plan was abandoned. Now I had to fit 6 potatoes in one smallish container. Lets hope it works:

The Potato Container/Die Aartappelbak

Last but not least was a flat, wooden container the granny and I revitalised. Although it gets mostly shade our thyme seems to do well in it, but since I also bought normal lettuce the green peppers that filled the rest of the container had to go. We also turned the container around, so the thyme would get most sun, and the lettuce very little. Out with the old, and in with the new. Hope this experiment pays of...

Thyme in the background and Lettuce to the front/Tiemie en Blaarslaai

I'm very keen on seeing whether this type of gardening produces good results. I guess it's a waiting game now...

Growing Broad Beans in the Garden Route. Boerbone in die Tuinroete

Since I rediscovered my passion for gardening at the end of autumn here in the South Africa, I was faced with a bit of a dilemma. I couldn't plant autumn crops, since I missed the season. I couldn't plant most winter crops as they should've been planted in autumn, and it was way too early for spring/summer crops. What to do? 

According to some blogs I read, broad beans could be planted in winter. Bingo! I settled on broad beans as the first vegetable for my veg patch. Many other bloggers have explained the benefits of planting broad beans in a backyard garden, but mine were -

3 Reasons to plant Broad Beans in a South African garden:

1. Broad beans, as part of the legume family (that's garden geek speak for plants grown for their edible seeds or grain, incl. beans and peas), put valuable nitrogen into the soil.
2. Broad beans are the only beans which can be grown through winter.
3. Broad beans produce heavily and at a time when not much else can be harvested.

The family wasn't too keen on this broad bean idea, however. They thought it too "volksvreemd" (alien to our eating habits). Everything that doesn't fit into the neat 'rice, meat, potatoes and veg' staple of Afrikaners are sometimes deemed "volksvreemd" in my home. This was before I punched in 'broad bean' on Google Translate, and learned that it is actually plain old 'boerbone'. Oh, how smug was I when I shared this morsel of information...

Broad bean germination rate: 

Thanks to the good folks at Living Seeds I had my beans in lightning speed, planted them in the beginning of July, and this is what popped out two weeks later:

Proud moment: my first broad bean/Trotse oomblik met my eerste boerboon

I must still confess, I did feel a bit despondent after a week with no germination. Luckily, Adelaide Gardener gave me hope again (as referred to in my previous post); and a week after that - voilà! I had a germination rate of around 90%. Not too shabby hey?

Small broad bean plants:

A week and a half later (last day of July) and my little broad beans were soldiering on:

The first few broad beans (vicia faba) to have germinated

I guess only a fellow gardener or farmer can understand the joy of seeing something you've put into the soil, nurtured and spent hours thinking or worrying about doing well. I'm such a garden geek! I planted the beans quite close, as they will later support each other.

The leaves are quite beautiful when they unfurl, I think. Dark green, hardy and glossy. The stems are not as hardy, so they will have to be supported at quite an early stage. I'm one proud backyard gardener, though!  

'n Klein boerboon plantjie - een van my eerstes

Broad bean flowers:

Another five weeks on, and the broad beans are flowering in full force. Now the stress of how big my harvest will be and how well the flowers will be pollinated is weighing on me. Soveel dae, soveel sorge...