Feed and Seed

I am still getting used to how fast things grow up here. This is the growth of my corn in just 3 days...it looks to be almost 30cm. My cucumbers have really filled out! My strawberry plant is slowly picking up and I will get in and trim the dead parts today. My lettuces still haven't sprouted - neither the inside nor outside seeds. aarrgghh

Sitting here drenched. I just braved the tropical downpour to check if my lettuce seeds were receiving the rain. As I suspected, they are totally sheltered by the lemon tree. I think this new row might have more chance as I've been keeping a close eye on them. I also started a little experiment and have placed some seeds in an egg carton inside to see if they germinate.

Off to scrub my avocado seed clean!

So I finally took some photos this morning. This is an overview of the general area. Everything was reasonably perky but I have seen them looking better.



Carrots - do they need thinning out further? or will they not last the transfer. I've read that it's best just to remove a few when they are almost ready and the remaining carrots will grow more.



The cauliflower was already well established by the time we moved into the house. The lettuces were planted from tiny seedlings and have grown a lot in just a couple of weeks!



My corn. I am really looking forward to these being ready. Their growth has been phenomenal!



My beautiful cucumber seedlings. I am so proud of these!



My mint. I also have a pot of peppermint. In general, I don't use mint when I cook, however someone told me that it's good to keep flies away. I have the peppermint on the outdoor table and the mint is usually inside. There has definitely been a reduction in the number of flies buzzing around.



Little cherry tomatoes. I'm just waiting for them to be ready. They already look yum!



And sadly, here is the failure. My poor little strawberry plant. I need to get a bigger and better pot for her as soon as the shops open again. As sad as she looks in the photo, it is a marked improvement on how she looked yesterday so maybe there is hope yet.



It would be awful to finish this post on such a bad note like the strawberries so here are the lemons on the tree that overhangs into our yard. They are coming along nicely. I'm not sure how long lemons take to ripen. There is a lime tree next to it but they all seem very hard, do they soften up as they ripen?

Merry Christmas!

Welcome! I have recently moved to Far North Queensland - the wet tropics. This little blog will document my attempts at vegetable gardening in this somewhat difficult climate. I've read many books and websites on growing vegetables but none really take into account the tropical climate. As my new home already came with a vegetable patch squared off I thought I'd try my luck and see what will work.

The garden was extremely overgrown and it took a good while to remove the weeds and old growth. Unfortunately, in my haste to get started I removed a tomato plant. I tried to replant it but it did not survive the process.

Already in situ was a chilli plant. I have let it be and only time will tell if it bears fruit.

In just two short weeks I have had great success with lettuce. Okay, I cheated and bought seedlings but they have quadrupled in size since then and we are already eating the leaves in our dinner salad. They are simply delicious. The heat of the day and the extreme humidity takes its toll on the lettuces and they are quite wilted by midday however return to their perky state by late evening. Likewise, my carrot seedlings suffer then recover. I have just a few seedlings so far.

My other success is corn...well, we haven't had corn from them yet but from baby seedlings planted on Dec 5, they are now measuring over 60cm tall. I separated the seedlings but due to the limited space, they aren't quite spaced out as far as is recommended. Again, we'll have to wait and see!


On the not-so-great side is strawberries. I planted these out last week and I could see them going down hill every day. Tonight I knew if I didn't take action they would be dead by morning. I dug up the little plant and put it in a pot again. I'll only let it have a few hours of morning sun and see if it cheers up a bit. If it comes back I might repot it to a larger container and leave it there. Perhaps my soil was a contributing factor? I don't know what kind of soil is in the garden, it doesn't look like it's anything special though.

I also attempted to grow lettuce from seed. I was very disappointed when not a single one sprouted! I planted them just as the wet season really started and it rained day and night for three days so I stopped my regular watering. It was only when the rain stopped that I realised that the seeds were planted in a spot that may not have received the rain, I can't be sure so after a week of no sprouting, I decided to replant more seeds in the same row. I did that yesterday and I will be sure to water them or check that the rain is getting them.

The outstanding winner of my first vegetable garden is definitely my cucumber. I planted seeds 10 days ago and by day 2 every single one had sprouted and they are now a good 20cm tall! I have high hopes for these fellas!

I know this is a long first post but I wanted to document what has happened so far. If you have any comments or suggestions please let me know. I'll try and take some photos tomorrow. Merry Christmas everyone!