The FastDay Forum

Post surgery I'm brilliant. Everything has settled, my specialist says that the bone graft is integrating nicely (it will take up to 2 years to be fully bonded) and my pain problems have vanished. The only lasting side effect is that I have lost the feeling in the littlest toes on my right foot and up the side of that foot for about 2 inches. I barely notice it now.

I had dropped all fasting and exercise over the school holidays because life just got stressful, really stressful and I'm regretting it. All my aches and pains are back, to do with my age, not the operation. I have lower back ache, I walk like an 80 year old when I get up from a chair etc. So its back to the gym on Monday.

Today its a beautiful blue sky day, so I'm going to try and get my garden in order, as I was away for 4 weeks, its gone wild and is wonderful to see, but it needs dead heading and the doc leaves needs digging up and the mole hills need to be pounded back down.

Oh @Julieathome gosh good to hear your progress and do agree keeping up the gym reduces the pain and helps you move better so don't feel 80 anymore. I know the feeling and exercise keeps it at bay for me. Are mole hills really what I think ... from moles and when you pound them down don't the just pop up elsewhere

Well Downunder I am only fighting the snails and maybe the birds so might have to net my veggie patch.

Yep, mole hills, we are going to have to do something about them. But I've only found 4 and we were away a whole month so its not too bad.

At the moment I'm chilling with a cold drink as its lovely and warm, i do have nettled hands and scratches from the bushes, plus I found a dockleaf that had grown from nothing to 4 foot long in the time I was away. I didn't get all the root out so I will zap it with weedkiller once it regrows.

I would like to join too, please. Although it is autumn now in the states I am planning on making a garden next spring. I have the spot planned out and am interested in pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green beans. I guess I best get a large area due to all these plants spreading out with vines! I haven't gardened for years so any ideas will be helpful to me.

The Native Americans used to do companion planting. One of their combinations was to plant corn, pumkins and peas together. The corn would provide the framework for the peas to clamber up. The peas would fix nitrogen in the soil for the other plants to use and the pumpkin leaves would smother weeds at ground level.

Thats a first for me, I've just found an 'Elephant Hawkmoth' . Now its identified I'm popping it back under some leaves. Fascinating markings.

One year I tried the Native American companion planting you mention, Julie. Unfortunately, the early sweet corn I chose was not tall and sturdy enough to support the vines. The original maize the NA's used was probably the very tall and strong "field corn" grown for drying, not eating fresh.

I will keep that in mind for planting. I use the field corn to feed the critters running around so that would be strong enough to hold the vines. Then I would also have corn to decorate in the fall. I wonder if green beans would be good as we don't eat peas. I definitely want pumpkins, zucchini, and cucumbers. Any suggestions for planting these? I am breaking ground this fall and am wondering how much land to plow as most of these plants take up so much space. But...if I can combine the plants like you all suggested that would be wonderful.

We have had some fab sweet corn, and even managed to keep most of it before the badgers found a way in and scoffed the rest. We had a very windy night last night and most of the heads have been blown off the flowers, shame. There is one 8' tall hollyhock with one flower left at the top, it looks quite funny. I guess that's the end of summer at last.

My flowers haven't figured out the seasons yet. My Cosmos is only just starting to flower, the lupins are giving a good second flush of flowers and my Oriental Poppy has new buds showing.

Tammae wrote: I will keep that in mind for planting. I use the field corn to feed the critters running around so that would be strong enough to hold the vines. Then I would also have corn to decorate in the fall. I wonder if green beans would be good as we don't eat peas. I definitely want pumpkins, zucchini, and cucumbers. Any suggestions for planting these? I am breaking ground this fall and am wondering how much land to plow as most of these plants take up so much space. But...if I can combine the plants like you all suggested that would be wonderful.

Tammae, we always planted pole beans on bamboo teepees--do you know that method? Tie 6 or 7 bamboo poles (at least 7 feet tall) together at one end and sink the other ends into the soil (at least 5 or 6 inches down) spread out in a teepee shape. Plant 6 bean seeds in a circle around each pole. Except for the first ones on the bottom, the crop can be picked standing up--oh joy. We expecially like the "Emerite" variety of narrow french-style beans. I think the beans would do well on the strong corn stalks, too.

Tammae wrote: I would like to join too, please. Although it is autumn now in the states I am planning on making a garden next spring. I have the spot planned out and am interested in pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green beans. I guess I best get a large area due to all these plants spreading out with vines! I haven't gardened for years so any ideas will be helpful to me.

Hi @Tammae! I did green beans this year and we had way to many, I had to give a bunch away. We only got about 12 pumpkins this year but we had so much zucchini that the chickens were well fed for a long time. My cucumbers did great as well. Welcome to the gardening tent!

Thank you all for the information. I will look into pole beans for next year. This tent is making me excited for planting season... but I have to wait another 7 months! I plan to do some freezing too. I don't have any chickens to eat my leftovers. : )

Hi didn't know this corner was here. I'm a wannabee gardener - know the theory, and give it a good attempt every few years, but rarely have any success. Suspect it's because plants needs lots of small snippets of care for a long period of time, not the get in, plant a whole heap of stuff, water for a few weeks then forget about for a few months...

This spring I was inspired by a friend, and have now got 5 strawbales cured and I've planted into them. Tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, coriander, peas, yellow "patty pan" squash and loads of lettuce dotted throughout. I also found some gems squash seeds in my freezer which I've somehow acquired, and they are now 10cm high plants. Gem squash are abundant in South Africa, but not very easy to get in Australia (or anywhere else I've been) - a small round squash that are one of my favourite veggies. So hoping for a bumper crop from them.

Time for a garden update. Welcome @Katamac. So you are straw bale gardening too! That's fabulous and it sounds as if your bales are ahead of mine. Are the plants doing well? My 10 bales are now ready to go. I planted 2 cucumbers the other day and they are looking happy. I also planted some parsnip seed, erecting a net over it to protect against black birds scratching, I had to order more seed of everything because the mice have eaten all my seed in the shed. Meanwhile 12 tomato plants have gone into the new raised bed - not a straw. We were very happy to have lots of home made compost to add to the bed along with chook manure. I made 98 units of local currency from selling tomato seedlings and the last 29 went to a high school community garden which was really pleasing. Meanwhile my snow peas are finally podding up and the broad beans flowering madly. The onion bed is doing well and I picked my first spring onion the other day. Soon there will be leeks too. The other crop we are eating plenty of is English Spinach. It is an excellent winter crop here. You pick the outer leaves and next day there are more there to pick. It's like a Magic pudding, cut and come again. My project to make coriander a weed in the garden is progressing and hundreds of seeds are germinating under the peach tree. Meanwhile in the flower garden area of the garden the wilderness pervades. Yesterday I started a project to dig out all the three cornered garlic, only that. I got 2 huge garbage bags of the stuff under the silver birch tree. Now on to the next garden bed, same target. It's quite easy to do at the moment as it is in flower so easy to spot. What are other people's gardens up to?