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10 May 2014

New Gardening Techniques

I've been a bit busy lately but now I finally have something worth blogging about.

Due to the problems with making gardens where I now live I've decided to try Micro Gardening and growing Microgreens. I scored a few bargains along the way to achieving this.


These cost me $20 all together. Not sure what I'll do with the seed distributor as I don't have a paddock to hand sow but eventually I'll have a gardenhose to use the attachments with. There's a perforation in the base of the wheelbarrow but I'll ask SO can he repair it for me. Handy him being a welder by trade :)! I bought some linseed oil for the tool handles too.


 Above: The cress seed microgreens when I sowed them - 30April. The container on the right ended up in the compost as I left the cover on it but it had a thin covering of compost sprinkled over the seeds which became mouldy. The one on the left only had a covering of potting mix.
Below: The remaining container a week later - 7 May.Sorry for the blurry photo but it was taken indoors on an overcast day.



Above: The Micro Garden with dwarf peas and baby carrots at the eastern front corner of the house.
Below: I'm classing the stawberry strip at the front of the house as a micro garden because it's about a 1/4 of the size of one I used to have!





Above: A barrowful of old mangey geraniums and weeds that I cleared.
Below: A future micro garden. The objects scattered across it are mandarin peels to keep my cat, and other local cats, from doing their "business" there. Thanks Karyn, the citrus peel deterrent really works :D! This garden will be planted with snow peas and probably a row of baby carrots in front. More work still needs to be done on it.


Thanks everyone for tolerating my infrequent posting. I'm still developing routines here and I've had computer troubles so can't access photos and other information.

Happy Gardening,
Robyn XO

17 comments:

  1. Good to see you back, Robyn. Have you seen Anne Gibson's website The Microgardener. She has heaps of ideas there for growing in small places and also for growing micro greens. You sound like you are settling in well.

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  2. Hi Chel, I have that site bookmarked but haven't looked at it much yet :).

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  3. I love the header picture at the top of your blog Robyn :) Glad you are getting something achieved around your garden. I really enjoy getting down and dirty...in my garden! Mine is a bit neglected at the moment though. I will have to get my act into gear and get out there because the weeds will take over otherwise :)

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    1. Hey Tania, I was thinking of changing the header to the one in the right side column but I quite like that one across SO's little acreage :).

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  4. Hi Robyn, beaut to see your post. Love your microgarden idea and its already taking shape beautifully. Always good to get stuff growing, such a really feelgood activity. All the best :D)

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    1. Thanks Susan! It gives me a feeling of achievement to grow some of my own food :).

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  5. I'm still not sure what a micro-garden is, but that's cool. Gives me something to research:)

    I checked out Anne Gibson's that was referenced on DTE forum. Very nice. Still reading it.

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    1. Damaria, to me a micro garden is a pocket book version of an average garden and is akin to the cottage gardens of old. Anne Gibson's site has given me some interesting ideas.

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  6. You sound happy, and you're busy. Excellent :)

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    1. Happy to be doing what I like. Lol, busy keeps one's mind occupied as well as one's hands :D!

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  7. Hi Robyn, it's quite weird...I only opened your blog yesterday while going through my blogroll, looking at the blogs that haven't posted for a while (they are at the bottom of my roll) and I thought I may as well delete them. Most close off their blogs abruptly so you cant even read previous posts - so annoying if you want to re-visit for recipes etc.

    Anyway, there you are this morning at the top of my blogroll! Good to see you are settling in and back gardening and enjoying life with SO (significant other?). I look forward to seeing your little garden progress. I want to do a micro veggie garden too. There's only two of us now so no use growing too much if it goes to waste.

    Cheers - Joolz xx

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    1. Hi Joolz, think I was meant to post now as the last post I did was 2 months ago and I decluttered my blogroll then. Dropped about a third of them as they either don't blog anymore, were inacessible, or they were ones that didn't interact with me and my lifestyle has changed so their blog content no longer interested me. Trying to develop a habit of blogging first and facebooking second as blogs are easy to search for recipes/ideas/patterns but fb isn't!
      SO is significant other but he lives 3 hours drive away though we see each other a couple of times a month and stay in touch by phone. Sounds a bit strange calling him a boyfriend when I'm 51! My adult son house shares with me so we keep costs down that way.
      Cheers, Rob xo

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  8. Rob your an inspiration in the making, keep smiling.

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  9. This is making me look for areas here where I could put a few boxes of these. The only space not yet covered in concrete is the little strip of grass along the driveway that belongs to the attorney office next door. I wonder if they would let me rip up the grass and plant food that I would allow them to harvest as they liked.

    Just a dream, but I will never look at that small patch of green the same way again.

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  10. You'll be picturing it with flowering herbs or calendulas in it maybe?!

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  11. Co-incidence?...I bought some 'micro-greens' at the markets two weeks ago...still eating water cress on our salads (I have them growing on my kitchen window sill)...and reading about your microgarden...perhaps that's what I'm doing too? I may have to research a little more.
    My 'microgardens' resulted out of necessity as our soil is very poor and I reclaim little pockets or sow herbs/vegetables in containers.
    Good luck with your gardening endeavours.

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