Hello!
Just a quick post today, with the latest pictures from what’s been happening and growing in my garden.
With all this talk of dust storms and gale force winds, I’ve been so busy cleaning up! But my plants have been busy too- let’s take a look 
Used to be parsely and dill.
The ducks have decimated my once-robust parsley and dill, but little signs of life are sprouting up so I think they will prevail! Time to get some wire mesh and fence off the pot so they can’t get their beaks into it again.
The seedling-house is going well.
My little makeshift greenhouse/seedling nursery is doing well! Lots of sprouts have come up and are thriving in the protected semi-shade position. Currently there is tomato seedlings, jap pumpkin seedlings (yes they all sprouted!), radish plants (see below for a picture), cos lettuce, flower seedlings, beetroot seedlings, avocado seedlings, an orchid plant, and probably more that I can’t think of at the moment. If I were more organised, I’d keep a list of what plants I have and when I put them in there.
Speaking of the orchid plant!
I was told the name of this orchid when I bought it, but have since forgotten it. An orchid ID book would be a useful addition to my library, I think!
I bought this for $5 from a street-stall, from a nice old man who grew them all himself. I’m annoyed I didn’t write the name down when he told me, but he referenced an orchid ID book so it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Isn’t it beautiful for $5!!! It’s starting to send out new shoots/roots at the bottom so in a year or so if it’s big enough I think I’ll try and divide it up and then have two of them
Radish!
This is the first time I’ve grown radish from seed and am so pleased with how it’s going. The bulb of the radish is clearly visible at the base of the stem so it won’t be long until I can pull it up and see how it tastes. I’ve got a newfound appreciation of radish, since tasting the long white Daikon radishes (my local asian grocer sells them two for $1.50), and having surplus red radishes after buying the bunches and giving the tops to my rabbit. She loves the tops, and I’ve grown to love the radishes. It’s a shame I only have two radish seedlings, really! Radish only takes just over a month to grow and mature, and this site has a lot of helpful tips in regards to growing radishes. Can’t wait to taste mine
Grown from seed. Maybe that's what I should have called this blog 
My little pumpkin seedling is all grown up and is now a proper pumpkin plant! It has four flowers on it, two female and two male, as far as I can tell. You can see the female flowers because they have a little bulge at the bottom of the petals (this is the ovary where the pumpkin will be produced if the flower is pollinated).
Female pumpkin flower: (from here)
Male pumpkin flower: (from here
Here’s a good picture showing both together: (from here
One of the male flowers appears spent, so hopefully the two female ones will open at the same time as the second male one so I can hand-pollinate them and hopefully get two pumpkins going.
My tomato plants are all in flower now, and the beginnings of fruits are showing up on some of the spent flowers. If all the flowers produce a fruit, then I’m expecting close to 50 tomatoes
Plenty more flowers where these came from.
And remember the poor little tomato plant that got snapped off right near the base by the blackbirds?
Aug 21st. Not looking happy.
I repotted it, and gave it some TLC and it has just grown so well over the past 4 weeks.
Look at it now!!
Sept 22nd. Such an improvement!
And what looked like this on the 21st of August:
August 21st. They're so tiny.
Now looks like this:
Sept 22nd. Almost ready to harvest.
I think I’ll put another styrofoam box in the shadecloth area with my cos lettuce seedlings, but if I can’t do that then I think using Gai Lan as a shade companion plant would be just as good an idea.
And last (for today- there is still a lot more happening here) but not least:
Coriander going to seed.
This coriander plant has served us well, and try as we might, it was always destined to be a seed plant (if you go by what the packet says) so it’s finally been allowed to bolt and I’m keen to see how fresh coriander seeds compare to the dried ones you buy in the supermarket. Some of those seeds will be replanted, and hopefully produce a true-to-form plant. Fresh coriander is infinitely better than the flavourless, overpriced, bunches you buy in the fridge section at Coles. Our local asian grocer (my favourite) sells big bunches for 40c which are market fresh and have a lovely spicy aroma, so at the moment I am happy to buy from there but it’s very convenient to have your own little plant out in the backyard.
The flowers are quite pretty, too
Coriander flowers. Similar to carrot flowers, no?
Happy gardening everyone, and off I go to wash out the last of the red-dust that’s settled all over my garden and inside the house.
Here are the flowers from my little Viola ‘Johnny Jump Up’ that I grew this season from seed:
Aren't they pretty
