Spring Seeds 2014

The wonderful folks at Mr Fothergill's have sent a free box of seeds for use at PCG. A few of these have already been sown and it looks like the Tiny Tim Cherry Tomatoes in the middle of the photo (above) are ready to be potted up, just like these Amish Paste Tomato seedlings, in the lower photo, that were recently potted up.
They are living snugly in my greenhouse right now, soon they will be taken outdoors each morning and returned to the warmth each night. Eventually they will stay out all night when the temperature permits ready to be planted into some of the beds up at the Peterborough Community Garden.

Also sown recently and only just beginning to emerge are:
Burpless Tasty Cucumbers
Golden Nugget Pumpkins that grow on a bush instead of sprawling everywhere!
Lebanese Zucchini which produces a grey zucchini
Tonda di Piacenza Zucchini which produces round zucchinis

These seedlings will be shared with the Plotters at one of the Twilight Get-togethers in October.

Hopefully everyone is busy clearing and feeding the soil in their beds in preparation for the coming Spring and Summer growing season.
Here is a link with info on doing just that.
Feeding Soil/Plants in Wicking Worm Beds

October 2011 Update

During October the Kids of PCG were busy planting
during the school holidays.

The first week we sowed seeds of Giant Sunflowers and yummy Nasturtiums around the edges of the Kids Beds.
The second week saw seedlings planted into the beds:
Tomatoes "Black Russian", "Big Rainbow" and "Ida Gold"
Lettuces "Black Seeded Simpson" and "Red Coral"
Cucumber "Bushy"
Zucchini "Rondo de Nice"
Squash "Yellow Button Scalloped" and "Acorn Table Queen"
Curly Parsley
Lemon Balm
Chives
Coriander
Thyme
Marigolds "Oranges and Lemons"

A load of fresh manure was delivered from the meatworks but it was a bit too fresh so another more decomposed pile was delivered later.

The new beds have been filled with a mixture of the two manures with the fresher stuff sitting at the bottom of the beds. When the composting worms get to work on these beds they will mix up the manures and make a great growing mixture for vegetables.

The local Council has delivered three plant benches for us to use!

In the middle of the month we held a stall at the Hospital Fete and raised money to go towards building an all weather shelter shed that we have part funding for.

A giant Raffle has been started
to help raise the funds we need too...
...tickets are selling fast!

September 2011 Update

During September ten new tank beds arrived.
The sites for them have been cleared and levelled using crusher dust.

Some of the beds have new seedlings planted,
mainly lettuces,
so the shades have been put up to protect them on warmer days.

August Update

Work has continued at PCG this month with:

More mulching

More straw arriving

The big tank is in place

Sites have been cleared for 10 new Tank Beds

Things are still growing well:

Rocket flowers

Strawberry Bed

Strawberries flowering

and Brassicas galore!!

July 29 Plotter's Pleasures

The Plotter's Pleasures on July 29 saw some new tools arrive.
Some spare end of financial year funding was found
to provide us with a couple of new "big people" wheel barrows
and some useful tools.

For the kids some "mini sized" wheel barrows, some tool sets
and a cute little table and stool set.
These all have a home in the shed now and are put safely away after use.

The weeds were beginning to take over the place
so a couple of helpers got stuck in and weeded and mulched the edge beds.
Great job girls!!

With all the green weeds they loaded up a spare tank to start a compost heap.
Later in the day some pony poo was collected to add to the mix!

Plotter's Pleasures April 30 2011

The last Saturday in April it was time for the Plotters Pleasures!!

The Sunflower plants have survived the caterpillar attack
and grown to produce amazing flowers!

All the beds are growing well.
Summer crops are just about finished
and the greens have taken off.

A local gardener who lives close by, wandered up to have a chat, came back later with a bag full of strawberry runners to donate. He helped us plant them in one of the Kiddies tank beds. Thank you so much for your kind donation. We hope to see you soon as a plotter in the garden!

Meanwhile work has begun filling
the three new plots/beds for some waiting members.
See this link for how these Wicking Bed systems are built.

And some new native plants have been purchased
for more windbreak and general plantings.

Plotters Pleasures 26 Mar 11

A chilly morning greeted us but the second Plotter's Pleasures was well attended!

The shade covers were moved to the back of the beds
to allow more sun for the plants
but still provide much needed wind protection from the western side.

Eeek!! Something was eating away at the leaves...

...luckily we had some children present
to collect a few and off they went to squish them!!!

Our carpark was nearly full...

...thanks to the local Lions Club
who had accepted our invitation
to join us for morning tea/coffee!

January Photos

A quick photo feast of what's growing up at PCG right now...

Everyone now has shade in place!

Folks are already picking Lettuce leaves for healthy salads

Cherry Tomatoes are ripe for picking!

Silverbeet with it's coloured stems.

Cucumbers have taken off!!!

With cucmbers starting to form.

Watermelons are spreading out.

A trial placement of compost worms in the tank beds
is looking promising!

The Eucalypt trees are flowering.

Jan 10 2011

2 new beds were filled and planted

Now there are 6 beds growing food

The Shadehouse being used as a Coffee House.
Sheltered from sun and wind!!

End of December 2010

A total of 4 beds have been planted up with Tomatoes, Capsicums, Chilli, Lettuces, Chinese and Ceylon Spinach, Silverbeet, Strawberries, Watermelon and Cucumbers.

3 beds now have shade up now and just as well. 2010 ended with high temperatures and strong hot northerly winds!

As extra support and to neaten the appearance and stability of the shade cloth, pvc pipe can be added between the hoops. With the ends of the pipe cut to fit over the hose and a hole drilled through, cable ties attach it firmly.

Neat and secure from the wind.

Peterborough Community Garden has been planted!

The first Wicking Tank Bed was planted on 10 Dec 2010.

During the week a magnificent 41mm of rain fell and lucky for us the work experience guys had connected up the guttering on the little shed. The rainwater tank now has water in it!!!

Workshops were held for prospective plot holders to learn how the Wicking system works and to see a bed being built, planted and shaded.