Starting the journey..........

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
G'Day all,

Have always tried to keep a nice lawn and plants whilst leading a busy corporate life, then several months back the wife wanted to plant some sunflowers...why not I said. That then started the discussion, "Lets grow some herbs" which then led to maybe some strawberries and before I knew it I was putting up raised beds in the back yard, planting corn, toms, cues, strawberries etc....what a slippery slope I've stepped on to with plans now to expand further in the new year.

Got to admit I didn't think I'd enjoy the process so much....plus the learning experience that comes with growing your own food.

Anyhoo, when starting out on this journey I was looking for info on "do's and don'ts" can came across Mark's Youtube channel. Really good info and advice in the short vids which has been very handy. Find myself looking for new vids each week.

Here's a few pics of the garden beds so far which have been in for under two months. Still much to learn and plenty of rookie mistakes to make.

Best wishes and Merry Xmas all.

upload_2019-12-22_23-16-57.jpeg


upload_2019-12-22_23-17-13.jpeg


upload_2019-12-22_23-17-33.jpeg
 

Wedgetail

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
Messages
266
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Welcome GKW you are off to a flying start with your new garden it looks great hope you and your family have a great Christmas and happy new year and enjoy your fresh produce. Cheers Dave
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Cheers Wedgetail.

Just out picking the first real decent crop of strawberries and tending to the zuc & cue's that aren't far off from becoming salad.
 

Wedgetail

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
Messages
266
Climate
Sub-Tropical
That's awesome can't beat the home grown. Cheers
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Welcome GKW. Yes plenty here to read and always will be a steep learning curve!
No matter what you think you know there's always more to learn.
Should be able to grow a good garden in Sydney.
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Welcome GKW. Yes plenty here to read and always will be a steep learning curve!
No matter what you think you know there's always more to learn.
Should be able to grow a good garden in Sydney.

Cheers CliassAT.

110% correct...I'm dead set leaning something everyday.

Whilst it's dry as just now, I'm making the most of this not too hot weather in Sydney and put in a new raised bed today...only three more to go (sounded like a good idea at the time) to plant out that wonderful unused corner of the backyard.
 

Ray Speed

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Messages
350
Climate
Sub-Tropical
nice work, its always fun reaping the rewards of growing it yourself
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Cheers Ray Speed.

Nice hog your avatar.
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Welcome GKW! Enjoy!!!!

Cheers Dan.

Just enjoyed putting a new raised bed in today whilst temp was off the boil. Gotta love the raised beds for helping you get rid or should I say make effective use of the garden waste (branches, leaves etc) that used to go into the green bin. Also with the help of a re-purposed old galvanised garden shed, I've made three large composting bays so green bin hardly gets a look in these days. Love it.
 

DTK

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 23, 2019
Messages
332
Location
Brisbane (SW suburbs)
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Sounds like you are really getting into it! Well done!
 

Matthew Duke

Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Messages
20
Location
Melbourne
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Hey GKW, welcome to the community. Pretty helpful folks here from all walks of life and experience. Sure we can help you grow strawberries, but if you were in the market for a home-made bomb shelter we could advise too. Merry belated Christmas & a Happy New Year!
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
but if you were in the market for a home-made bomb shelter we could advise too.

Cheers Matthew and Happy New Years to you.

Love the comment....gotta me self sufficient in all respects.

Cheers

Greg
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTK

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Thanks for joining us GKW!

You have some healthy looking produce growing there... And yes, backyard food growing is a slippery slope alright. At first, I was happy to grow anything but now I'm constantly looking for new challenges and varieties of food crops to grow :)
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Cheers Mark.

It's nice just spending time time in the garden, having a look at how the veg is going....quite therapeutic and given the lawn isn't growing at the moment thus no mowing, it's also an opportunity to have a think about things whilst tending the veg.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers

Greg
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
You too Greg, I'm picking up some cow manure tomorrow morning so what can be better than that to start a weekend off :D

Here is Sydney it was circa 47c a hour or two back out my way so I wouldn't be going near any moo poo at the moment.
 

Spud

Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
5
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Started with a few sunflowers....:idea: sounds like me and my partner. We now have herbs, tommies, lettuce, cucumber, even pineapple. :cheers:
 

GKW

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
317
Location
Sydney
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
So today, we had some friends over. First time they'd seen the backyard and thus it elicited some questions from them about how I did this, what I'm growing, how's it going etc etc.

Whilst I am starting to enjoy the fruits of my (and my wife's) labour, I was also able to share some produce (eggplants and cues) with my friends today too which was nice. Maybe (and I hope) that plants a seed with them when they eat what veg can taste like fresh and organic.

BTW: Eggplant chips...big time Num Num !
 
Top Bottom