Archive for December, 2007

A New Look and Focus

Gardening, General, Web Sites and Social Networking | Posted by Dean
Dec 10 2007

Over the past few months I have been largely devoid of interest in the usual topics covered by SCHWOIT. As a result the site was easy to ignore, knowing it was running along happily in the corner and was not getting over run with nefarious activities. During that time of complete disinterest, and other commitments, I developed a keen interest in gardening. Whilst I am very much a novice I am learning as I go.

After stumbling across and reading the Urban Cultivation site I have adopted the idea of blogging on my gardening experiences. Although, I have stopped short of a niche blog dedicated to the subject. As such you will see a larger focus on garden related materials, particularly in relation to growing fruit and vegetables in an urban jungle. This will probably become the major focus of the site, however I can not ignore my Geek nature totally. As a result of the new focus I have added a new theme to the site. The header is actually a photo of one of my White Bird of Paradise leafs on a super zoomed in shot. The light refracted nicely and was far too good a shot not to use.

So what have been the main drivers for gardening taking root in my life at this point in time? Well I guess there are a number of reasons.

  • Deep down I have always wanted to grow my own produce, probably goes back to the fond memories of the massive vegetable patch my Nanna/Grandad and their neighbour had. They grew basically everything and bought very few vegetables from Coles/Woolworths. It was a great achievement and was sustained up until my Grandad’s passing. It was simply too much work for my Nanna to maintain.
  • The legalisation of GM foods and deep rooted distrust of the supermarkets. The NSW government has allowed the sale of genetically modified (GM) foods in the state I do not trust the produce that the supermarkets will be dishing up. Sure, they will be full of flavour and longer lasting, but what are the true long term health effects of these foods. Noone can put their hand on their heart and tell you as they have never been tested over a period of 20+ years. Call me a doomsayer if you must, but I simply prefer to know that the fruit and vegetables I consume are not being altered by chemicals.
  • Get away from the PC. It was far too easy to switch back to work when I was using the web. It is impossible to do so if you are getting your hands in the dirt and planting something.
  • I had to find another outlet as I had become a Stress Monkey and quite frankly very difficult to live with. Even in myself I was finding it difficult, and you know when you can not tolerate yourself something has to change. As a result I have thrown myself into gardening and have found it to be incredibly therapeutic. There is something harmonious about the care of plants.

Rest assured the site will become far more active now with the convergance of two of my interests now. Rest assured my Geek side will come out from time to time, for example theres an 80GB iPod Classic under the Christmas tree so expect something about that in a few weeks. However, the major focus will be on the cultivation and garden for the foreseeable future.


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Tomatoes, Capsicums, and Chillis are Coming

Gardening, Herb, Fruit and Vegetables | Posted by Dean
Dec 10 2007

Well after the very brief thunderstorm of yesterday I had a look at the fruit and vegetables and was delighted to find that one of the Grosse Lisse and the Beefsteak tomatoes both have flowers on them. This is great news as both have been flourishing without outward signs of producing fruit. After a more careful inspection I can see about 3 or 4 more buds forming, which again is a fantastic sign. I then took a look at the Yolo Wonder capsicums and the two chilli plants and they too are full of buds. I am looking forward to a harvest in the next few weeks now.


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A New Blog After Months of Nothingness

Cat and Pest Control, Flowers and Decorative Plants, Gardening, General, Herb, Fruit and Vegetables | Posted by Dean
Dec 09 2007

Time to write a new blog seeing as I have not updated since April Fools Day after seeing the 300 for the first time at the cinema. I have since bought the DVD and seen it again at IMax when it made a limited run return trip. The reason that I have been slack in posting new material has largely been due to work pressures and commitments that have seriously drained my free time. I have been largely ignoring this site whilst ensuring the directories tick over.

Also, recently I decided that I wanted to spend more time outdoors and relaxing. Building some distance between my laptop and me as it was becoming far too easy to slip in an out of work mode, for example at 10 o’clock at night I was jumping onto work and picking stuff up unnecessarily. This has resulted in one little stress monkey who is holding on for leave beginning at the close of the next business week. Hooray no more work until the new year! That said the need to build that distance took effect several weeks ago.

So in order to alleviate stress and because of a desire to increase our level of self-sufficiency I have taken up gardening. We have limited usable sun filled area due to a plethora of units and established and shady trees around the yard. Also, given we plan on moving early in the new year we have decided that our best strategy is to take on the challenge of cultivation in pots. This will make the plants easier to transport when the time comes.

After an early drama with one of our pots not draining that led to several plants drowning we have the following plants and shrubs thriving in the pots:

  • The Fruits and Vegetables
    • 2 x Grosse Lisse Tomatoes
    • 1 x Beefsteak Tomato
    • 1 x Cherry Tomato (attempt 2)
    • 2 x Yolo Wonder Capsicums
    • 2 x Chili Plants
    • 1 x Egg Plant – did not really want it but it came in a seedling pack
    • 1 x Green Lettuce
    • 1 x Red Lettuce
    • 1 x Strawberries
    • 2 x Passion Fruit
    • 1 x Spinach
  • The Herbs
    • 1 x Curry Plant
    • 1 x Chives
    • 1 x Mint
    • 1 x Parsley
  • The Show Ponies
    • 1 x Jasmine
    • 10 x Dwarf Lavender
    • 4 x Fairy Lights
    • 1 x Blue and White Bird of Paradise
    • 5 x Red & White Petunias

Of course the current weather conditions in Sydney have assisted no end in supplying ample water to the plants and a lot of warmth, fair to say it has been a bit like a green house when you don’t have a greenhouse of late. Horrible weather for me personally, but fantastic for the plants.

We have been using a mix of potting mixes. Beginning with a Coles brand mix and since moving through a Yates mix and now to a RichGro. I think we will stick with the RichGro given it is enriched with Seasol, Ezi Wet, and Ozmicote, Each plant that has been planted in this mix has instantly taken off. Whereas the others have taken a bit more encouragement and H2O to establish. All though are now very healthy plants.

In terms of garden harvests we have only had some curry plant and parsley. That said going by the abundance of buds and flowers appearing on the plants that is set to change shortly.

Also, whilst mentioning the garden, last weekend saw a monster cleanup. We managed to take a full trailer load to the tip and then promptly managed to get at least another trailer load of green waste ready to go. That is now stacked in the back yard slowly turning into mulch. Although, with our imminent move we probably won’t see that used. The cleanup continues with the vast amounts of leaf litter being dropped from the trees around us. Most of which are not in our yard.

After the bulk of the cleanup last weekend we set up our outdoor Christmas decorations. It looked great with 5 inflatable displays, 1 light tree, and several garden lights set up. Unfortunately since then 2 of our inflatable displays have died due to water in their air blowers. Not happy Jan about that and am awaiting a return e-mail from Christmas Warehouse on whether we can get replacement units. The display has also been attacked by next doors cats with one of the star lights broken.

The crazy old lady next door continues to support an insanely high amount of cats. Currently there are at least 10 next door. Most are kittens, and with the sighting of yet another pregnant cat there are more on the way. The RSPCA have been around several times since we have lived here, but nothing has changed in regards to her pussy habits. It is ridiculous and we now have them living on/in our stuff.

Yesterday was a prime example. In the yard currently I have a large cardboard box that the new Victa came in. In the box I have various gardening supplies, ie. pots, snail pellets, etc. Anyway I moved the box yesterday in order to get to the things underneath it. Next thing the box has fallen from a stable position. I have snapped my head around and this little rat cat furball is running away. So I smacked the box with a bamboo stake and another little rat cat furball jumps out and runs off. It is ludicrous that we are now expected to put up with it. I am on the verge of contacting the RSPCA and requesting they lay traps in our yard to round the cats up and take them away.

Anyways, I best be off again and start building another table for Christmas in the marquee set up out the back.


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