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VEGGIES & FRUIT

This is a list of all the vegetables I have grown (or tried to grow) in my current garden. Not all have been successful and some have worked better at one time than another.

We fertilise our garden beds every 3-4 weeks with Bunnings NPK all purpose fertiliser using 500g to cover all our veggie beds. We also spray Seasol onto the leaves of plants that appear stressed. If any plants start to go a yellowish colour we apply extra fertiliser early to bring them back to a nice healthy green. During the second growing season we are also adding blood and bone and some liquid fertilizer.

SEED SAVING

To save money you should begin saving seed from your garden veggies as soon as possible. Most seeds are viable except those that may have cross pollinated with similar species.

Make sure you clean the seeds well, dry them out completely and store them in air tight containers. We use small zip lock plastic bags.

Planted : February (Mid-summer)

Harvested : Unknown

Position : Full sun

Propagation : From seed

These were planted from seed that was obtained from a plant growing near the south coast of W.A. We are still waiting for results but the plants are growing well.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : November from seed. Planting failed. Tried again in January in better soil, now germinated but growth has been slow.

Harvested : Only one harvest so far (April). Removed leaves and part of stems only leaving some leaves, toots and stems to re-generate.

Position : Shaded.

Propagation : Waiting results

Not easy to grow. The first planting failed to get going but we are trying again with better soil

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : **

Planted : Grown from seed early spring (September)

Harvested : From October.

Position : Shaded in the late afternoon. They appear to resist running to seed if kept in shade.

Propagation : Save seeds, dry and plant in spring. Basil will also propagate from cuttings that are kept in water until they develop roots and then re-planted in soil.

A garden herb, basil is one of the easiest plants to grow. We have planted it in a position where it gets sun until about 2pm and then shade. It went to seed fairly quickly and then proceeded to spread all over the place. It seems to be used mostly in European recipes which means we only use it occasionally.

We grew the basil from seed. Although some of the leaves get eaten by various pests, they produce so many leaves that this is not really worth taking action on.

All died off during winter. Re-planted from saved seed the following season.

No apparent serious pest problems.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : early Autumn (March)

Harvested : From late September. Allowing one plant to go to seed.

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Unknown yet

The position we chose means it gets sun most of the day and it seems to be going quite well at present.

These plants were bought as seedlings. So far we have not harvested any beetroot so are unsure if we will have any pest problems.

The original planting had to be spread out as the plants got bigger and it took until September before some of the beets were big enough to harvest.

Ease of growing : ***

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : ****

Planted : early Autumn (March). Self seeded from original plants in late spring.

Harvested : From May

Position : Full sun

Propagation: From seed

Planted : full sun this has grown quite quickly and we started to harvesting it after about 6 weeks. We have found that the flower heads are more loose than the ones we are used to getting from the shops but it is still quite edible.

Apparently it is possible to eat the leaves but they turned out to be very tasteless.

These plants were bought as seedlings. Various pests eat the leaves but the flower heads appear to be unaffected. For some reason the flowering heads were very sparse and not tight as the ones in the shops are. We have had three meals from the plants so far and are waiting to see if they produce more flower heads. The first flower heads seem to be the largest but the plants continue to grow smaller ones once the large ones are cut off.

Broccoli is one of the best plants you can eat for your well being but they took too long to grow. We  saved some seed from the first plants and have had no problem growing from seed but we are still having problems with the flower heads being too sparce.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : ***

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : **

Planted : early Autumn (March)

Harvested : From October

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Unknown yet

A very slow growing plant. We planted it at the same time as the broccoli (above) but it has only been growing very slowly. It will be some time before we have more to say about this.

These plants were bought as seedlings. It has taken all winter for the plants to start to get large and develop the sprouts. Now - mid-August - we are still a few weeks away from being able to harvest. Some leaf damage due to snails but no other pest problems so far.

The tops of the plants were attacked and damaged by aphids. Controlled somewhat using pyrethrum spray. In the end this proved to be ineffective. Took off the sprouts and re-planted the bare stalks which now seem to be re-growing from the base.

It was September before they were ready to harvest.

We have re-grown from the first plant which is now producing more brussels.

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : ****

Planted : early spring (September). Second planting from seed in January.

Harvested : From December

Position : Full sun for some and afternoon shade for others

Propagation: Keep and dry the seeds until needed. Plant in spring.

Initially difficult to tell apart from the chilli plants, capsicum seems to eventually grow into a larger plant. For some time we have been having problems with moth grubs attacking these and the chilli. We are now spraying with Dipel bio-insecticide and hoping to reduce the attacks from the moth grubs. If this works we should be able to leave the capsicums on the plants long enough for them to turn red.

The Dipel seems to have worked, either that or the cold weather has rid us of the pests, but now we are finally able to leave the capsicums on the plants to mature.

The plants stopped producing over winter and are became little more than green sticks. When spring came round they all started sprouting new leaves again. It is taking a long time for them to get going again.

These plants were bought as seedlings.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : ***

Production : ****

Planted : early summer (December)

Harvested : From April (better growth during winter).

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Remove stalks and re-plant. Try to get as much of the bottom end of the stalk as possible. Also split bunches and re-plant.

We planted this a bit too early and it became a bit woody. It appears that planting it later in summer would have been better and new growth on these plants has been much improved.

These plants were bought as seedlings. We are hoping that one or more plants will go to seed to provide us with a means of producing next years crop. It turned out that they simply split into new bunches anyway so production has been on-going and very simple.

One benefit of growing your own celery is that when you want just a small amount all you have to do is remove a few stems and let the remaining plants continue to grow.

This has done very well over winter. Lots of new growth and more tender stalks. Will propagate by just pulling off stalks and replanting.

Eventually the celery went to seed and we have now planted that seed and are waiting for results.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From November to May

Position : Full sun for some and afternoon shade for others. They seem to do best in full sun.

Propagation: Keep and dry seeds until needed. Plant in spring.

The chillies have been one of our best crops. Despite the attacks from moth grubs (see capsicum above) we continue to pick chillies regularly. They are one of our most used ingredients and are expensive in the shops so getting so many is a big bonus.

Chillies are very easy to grow and we are getting to the point that they are re-seeding too quickly.  It is now winter (June) and there are still a lot of chillies on the plants.

They have lost most of their leaves by the end of winter. With the start of spring they have all started re-growing leaves.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : Late winter (mid-August)

Harvested : From October

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed.

Planted as seeds and is growing well but the pests just love to chew it to bits. We have now put some under a screen enclosure and they are doing much better. A third planting was also chewed to bits despite the application of Dipel.

The pest problems with this vegetable are a real pain as it is very nice to eat and grows well.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : Nil

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : Poor due to high pest rates.

Planted : Late autumn (May) by buying a choko waiting until it sprouted and then putting it into a big pot. The only reason we put it into a pot is that we are going to move from where we live and we want to take it with us. So far it has taken 1 year for the plant to really get going properly and we hope to get some fruit in spring.

Harvested :

Propagation: Keep the 'fruit' until it begins to shoot then plant.

Chokos are climbing plants and the 'fruits' (for want of a better word) and leaves are edible.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : Unknown

Planted : Late autumn (May). These were bought as seedlings and it has taken quite a few weeks to see some results. We have also planted some from seed and they are even slower to get going.

Harvested : From August

Position : Full sun.

Propagation: Keep and dry seeds. Plant anytime.

Snails love eating the leaves and a a huge pest of these plants. We are still waiting to see hw these go as a crop. In late winter they stated to flower and we allowed them to grow up as we want to get seed from them. The only problem (apart from snails) is strong wind which tends to push the plants down if they are not supported.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ***

Planted : mid summer (late December) with good results but a later planting in late January did not do so well. Latest planting has been from seed in early September.

Harvested : From February

Position : Full sun for some and afternoon shade for others. The ones getting afternoon shade did better.

Propagation: Unknown yet

We have tried two crops of corn. The first we planted during summer and this was quite successful. The second crop we Planted : late summer / early autumn and this was much less productive. Corn cobs that do not fertilise properly produce few corn kernels and are stunted.

It appears to be important to help these plant fertilise if they are not Planted : large blocks.

We bought all the corn as seedlings but next year we will try using dried seed.

No pest problems evident.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : **

Planted : Early spring - September as a small plant. Planted again from seed in January in a shaded spot. New planting moved to a different area as it did not do well in shade.

Harvested : Seeded in November and has started to re-grow in May.

Position : Sun and late afternoon shade.

Propagation: Dry the seeds and re-plant as required.

Coriander always runs to seed very quickly. We will wait and see how viable the seeds turn out to be.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : **

CUCUMBER

Planted : November (late spring) from seed

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Failed to grow.

No notes yet

Ease of growing :

Pest resistance :

Ease of further propagation :

Production :

CUCUMBER (APPLE)

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From November

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown

We bought this as a seedling and didn't know at the time that it would be important to manually fertilise the flowers. Like pumpkins and melons the flowers on these plants are either male or female and manually taking the male stamen and inserting it into the female flower helps produce more cucumbers. We did get a few cucumbers out of it before the plant expired but they appear to be rather short lived.

They are very nice to eat but poor production means we may not bother with them again.

These plants were bought as seedlings.

No pest problems evident.

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : **

Planted : early spring (October)

Harvested : From December (dies off in winter) Plant took until November to start re-growth.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown yet

We use curry leaves a lot in our coking and having a plant that we can take a few leaves at a time from is much better than keeping dried leaves.

This is another plant that we bought as a seedling and have kept it in a pot. It is kept well watered and fertilised and has grown steadily. The cold weather all but stopped any growth but with spring the plant has started growing again.

If these plants survive they will grow into a fairly decent sized tree. They grow easily from seed.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ***

Planted : Mid-spring / Late winter

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown yet

Planted as seeds, waiting for results. Originally we tried planting egg plant seeds taken from egg plants but nothing happened. This time we have bought commercial seeds and are hoping for a better result.

Unfortunately the result was the same.

Ease of growing : *

Pest resistance :

Ease of further propagation :

Production :

Planted : early autumn (March)

Harvested : From late April

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry seeds. Plant in late winter / early spring.

We are just trying these out for the first time and they have grown well but have not produced many beans as yet. We put up a small trellis and the beans have been making great use of it. In the end we got very few beans out of these plants, enough for only one meal. We have saved some seeds and will put in more plants next season and see if we can improve on the first rather dismal attempt.

These plants were bought as seedlings.

For our second season we are trying seeds saved from the first season. So far only three plants have appeared from the seeds. The planting from saved seeds has not worked well as only three seeds germinated. Second crop failed. Giving up on growing these.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : *

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : *

Production : *

Planted : early spring (September) from seed. Failed to germinate. Re-planted in January in better soil and has germinated this time.

Harvested : Began harvesting from early April. We have allowed one gourd to grow and age in the hope of producing seed for next year. Gourds to eat are best taken when they are about the size of a zucchini which in fact is what they are similar to to eat.

Position : Full sun.

Erected trellis as this is a climbing plant.

Ease of growing : Unknown yet

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown yet

Production : ****

Planted : early winter (June)

Harvested : First leaves appeared in November.

Position : Shade.

Propagation: Re-plant tuber sections.

Very similar to ginger. Little happened until January when the first leaves started to appear.

Ease of growing : ***

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : early autumn (March)

Harvested : January.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Separate bulbs a re-plant.

We planted this from one bulb of garlic and each clove has sprouted. It takes a long time before garlic can be harvested but each clove turned into a head of garlic.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ***

Planted : early autumn (March) / Late winter (August)

Harvested :

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Unknown yet

Planted seeds, nothing germinated. Trying again in August. So far no results, these have been a complete waste of time and money.

Ease of growing : * may have been a dud packet of seeds

Pest resistance :

Ease of further propagation :

Production :

Planted : early summer (December) Second planting in May.

Harvested : First leaves from May planting appeared in November.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Re-plant root sections.

This is another experiment that so far does not appear to be working very well.

Initially we just bought a small piece of ginger and put it in the ground where it would be watered and fertilised along with all the other plants. This seemed like it was going to work (see photo) but during the severe heat of summer the leaves burn badly. The plant has continued to struggle on but has not really recovered.

We will try this again next season but we will put the plant in a shade house with much better soil.

Eventually we dug up the old ginger plant to find that a new bulb (bigger than the old one) had grown even though there was little evidence of anything going on above the soil. We will plant a number of small ginger roots next time.

The second planting was with a number of smaller tubers and this appears to be working well so far.

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : Unknown

Planted : Late winter (mid-August)

Harvested : First crop was too small to harvest.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed.

Planted as seeds, waiting for results. Only two plants grew from the first planting. We will let these seed so we can plant more out. These are very prone to attack by insect pests.

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : *

Planted : January (Mid-summer)

Harvested : April

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed.

This is easy to grow but it is a favorite food of just about EVERY garden pest. We have discovered that planting it next to Vietnamese mint (see left) helps protect it from caterpillars etc.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : ***

Planted : Late winter (August) from a cutting.

Harvested : Any time.

Position : Part sun, afternoon shade. Will be under shade cloth during summer.

Propagation: Unknown yet.

Waiting to see what happens.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : ****

Planted : Late autumn (May)

Harvested : From October. Started flowering in November.

Position : Full sun, late afternoon shade.

Propagation: New plants appear to sprout from the sides of larger plants. We are re-planting these to see how well they go.

These have been terribly slow growing. They took about 5 months to be ready for harvest.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : *

Planted : Late autumn (May)

Harvested : First fruit was 2 years after initial planting but was only 2 lemons.

Position : Afternoon sun but planted in a large pot so can be moved.

Propagation: Specialist grafting to root stock is usually required.

Selected a grafted tree of about 1.5 metres high. Planted in a mix of potting mix and sand with citrus fertiliser added. In January this was moved to a permanent place in the garden.

Ease of growing : Still waiting for results but it takes several years before the tree is big enough to be productive.

Pest resistance : ***

Ease of further propagation : Not attempted

Production :

Planted : Late autumn (May)

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon sun but planted in a large pot so can be moved.

Selected a semi-dwarf grafted tree of about 1 metre high. Planted in a mix of potting mix and sand with citrus fertiliser added.

Seems rather unhappy with the cold weather. Lost most of its leaves. Recovered well in spring.

Ease of growing : Still waiting for results

Pest resistance :

Ease of further propagation : Not attempted

Production :

Planted : early autumn (March)

Harvested : From September

Position : Full sun.

Propagation: *****

It took until late Autumn for the seeds to germinate but growth is quite slow. We have now separated the seedlings and are waiting to see how long it takes before they are ready to harvest.

Some of the plants we have grown seem to be more dry and a bit tougher than the ones we buy at the shops. Not sure why as they get plenty of water. For some reason only a few plants seem to develop a heart.

Some pest problems with a small insect that attacked the leaves. Controlled using pyrethrum spray.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : early autumn (March) Second planting done in late February. Started harvesting in April.

Harvested : From September

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed. Easy to grow.

It took until late Autumn for the seeds to germinate but growth is quite slow. We have now separated the seedlings and are waiting to see how long it takes before they are ready to harvest.

Plants became larger by the end of winter but suffered badly from attacks by small insect pests. Some sort of leaf miner. Controlled by using pyrethrum spray but leaf damage was extensive. See photo to the left.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : ***

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ****

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From December (dies back a bit in winter)

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Pull up a section of grass with the root attached and re-plant.

Bought as a small seedling, this plant took a while to really get going but now it is a huge clump of grass and is doing very well.

Lemon grass is an essential ingredient in Thai cooking. We don't use this very much but enough to make growing it worth while.

By the end of winter the lemon grass was looking rather unhappy with a lot of brown leaves.

No pest problems evident yet. Snails love to climb up the lemon grass but don't seem to eat it.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : Mid-autumn (April)

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation : Unknown

Ease of growing : Unknown

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Not deliberately planted so no way to know when the seeds got there.

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry the seeds. Re-plant as required.

These were not deliberately planted by us but have sprouted anyway. So far we have had three plants come up but the melons they have produced have all been very small. They seem unable to ripen in cold weather.

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : *

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From October (dies off a bit in winter)

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: It just keeps growing. This is a plant you need to keep under control as it wanders.

Mint is very invasive and has to be kept under control. I am not really sure why we bought it but it just seems to be a traditional vegetable garden plant.

These plants were bought as seedlings. No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : January (Mid-summer)

Harvested : Not enough planted to harvest as we are trying to build up seeds. First fruiting occurred in April.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation : Unknown yet

Ease of growing : Unknown

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : spring (October) also a second batch planted in Autumn (April). During the second growing season we have planted a couple of different type starting in early winter (June).

Harvested : First trial From February.

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Re-plant bulbs in the first year then collect and dry seed in the second year.

When we planted our first onion we had no idea that they were biennial. his basically means that during the first year the original bulb splits into several sections (ours was 8) and produces 8 new onions. The following year any of these onions that are planted will produce flowers and eventually seed. This we have now collected ready for next year and we will report on how well it turns out next summer.

No pest problems evident.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : ***

Production : ****

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From November

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Dig up sections of plant with roots attached and re-plant and move to a new site.

Once this gets established it goes crazy and spreads out in every direction. Oregano is another traditionally European herb and we don't make much use of it.

These plants were bought as seedlings.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted: early summer (December) through to mid-autumn (April)

Harvested : From late January

Position : Afternoon shade and full sun. The ones with afternoon shade did MUCH better.

Propagation: Collect seeds and re-plant as needed. Can be planted all year.

If you let a couple of pak choy go to seed they will produce enough to keep you going for as long as you like. We are getting so many plants sprouting now that we have far more than we can possibly eat.

They seem to like a bit of shade during the afternoon as when we had them in full sun they didn't do as well.

All our pak choy have been grown from seed. They seem to be happy enough with the colder weather but they are much slower growing and seem to go to seed quickly.

Pests include caterpillars and snails. Growth is so prolific that this has not been a major concern.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : Mid-summer (January)

Harvested : From April

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation : Save and dry seeds.

Once established these plants do well and are very productive for their size. They can be used as a substitute for capsicum in cooking.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ****

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From January

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry seeds. Re-plant in spring.

It seems as though all pumpkins are prolific in both leaf growth and pumpkin production. Most of the pumpkins that have grown in our garden have come up as a result of seeds being put into compost holes as kitchen waste.

Pumpkins love to spread out along the ground and they also love to climb and we have found them happily producing very large pumpkins high up in trees that the vines have climbed.

These are another vegetable that produces separate male and female flowers so they also benefit from manual fertilisation. Although the larger pumpkins (see below) died off in the cold weather there is still one butternut vine growing but it is not flowering so no pumpkins are being produced.

Eventually the cold weather killed off all the pumpkin plants.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ***

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From January

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry seeds. Re-plant in spring.

Everything we have written about the butternuts (above) applies equally to the Japanese (or Kent) pumpkins.

It is just as well that pumpkins can be stored for a long time as they produce far more than we can usually eat. The cold weather has pretty much knocked the pumpkins on the head with the vines withering up and the last pumpkins staying very small.

We have had no pest problems with any of our pumpkins.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ****

Planted : Late winter-Late summer

Harvested : Continuous

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed.

Planted as seeds. Good results. Quick to grow, few problems and a good harvest.

Not many people are aware that radish leaves are edible. Not only can you eat them but cooked in the right way they are very tasty. A good addition to your vegetable garden.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ****

Planted : early autumn (March)

Harvested : From June

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown yet

We bought them a seedlings and they have had great leaf growth. This is unfortunate as it is the stalks that are the edible part - the leaves are poisonous. So far we have had five harvests from these plants, removing the largest stalks and leaving the smaller ones to grow. It will be interesting to see how many harvests we can get using this method.

No pest problems evident yet.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : ****

Planted : Late winter (mid-August) planted from seed.

Harvested : November - February

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed. Very prolific seed generation.

Planted as seeds. These grow easily and quite quickly. We allowed some to seed and got more seeds than we could ever use.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : ***

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : ****

Planted : early autumn (March)

Harvested : From September

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Unknown yet

So far these have been very disappointing. They were planted about 5 months ago and have grown VERY slowly. So far we have not been able to harvest any and are waiting patiently to see if they improve. We have moved these to a new position to see if they improve.

This (along with the start of spring) seems to have finally got these plants to grow properly.

Silver beet has an earthy flavour and isn't one of our favourite leafy vegetables.

Pests include snails and caterpillars.

Ease of growing : **

Pest resistance : **

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : *

Planted : early autumn (March)

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown yet

Complete failure. Bought as seedlings and they all died.

Ease of growing : *

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : Seedlings early summer (December) / Seeds early spring (September). Seed again in January.

Harvested : As yet not enough have grown to harvest.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: From seed.

Very poor results. These were probably planted at the wrong time and despite the healthy appearance of the one in this photo, the rest were spindly and miserable.

These were bought as seedlings but it is an experiment we are unlikely to repeat. We have now bought some commercial seeds and are trying those to see if there is any improvement.

Pests include snails and caterpillars. Susceptible to heat, should be grown in a shaded area.

When we finally got a couple of these plants to flower and seed we found the seed pods were very spiky (similar to double Gs). We have planted from seed and plants have started growing.

It doesn't matter what we seem to do with these plants they just do not seem to grow well. We have now given up trying to grow them.

Ease of growing : *

Pest resistance : *

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : *

Planted : early spring (September) from small commercial plants meant for eating.

Harvested : From December. We have harvested seeds (September-October) from the first plants and have re-planted some. It is now mid November and the seedlings are starting to appear.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown yet

This was one of the first plants we put in to the garden and it has grown well. No problems through the heat of summer and no noticeable pests. We don't use it that often but it is handy to have when needed.

We originally planted spring onions that we bought from the supermarket. They grew quite happily. As they are about to flower (September) we are hoping to collect seed for next years crop.

Ease of growing : *****

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : ****

Production : ***

Planted : late summer (February)

Harvested :

Position : Full sun

Propagation: Re-plant tubers.

A dismal failure. Planted a long time ago and no sign of anything happening. We have now tried again and this time the tuber has sprouted and seems to be doing well.

Ease of growing : Unknown

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : December (early summer)

Harvested : Unknown

Position : Full sun

Propagation: From seed

This was basically a happy accident. We had some tamarind candy that included a few seeds. We saved the seeds and planted them and it wasn't long before they germinated and small plants grew up. These are usually grown in the tropics so it remains to be seen in they survive the winter.

If they do grow to trees they will have to be pruned as the trees can grow to be vary large.

Ease of growing : ***

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation :Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : Early winter (June)

Harvested : From August

Position : Full sun

Propagation: From seed

These took a long time to get going but now spring is around the corner they have all taken off and some are bolting to seed. This we don't mind as it will give us next years crop.

Snails do attack them but seem to prefer pak choy so damage has been light. Once the pak choy had gone the snails switched their attention to these with great vigor!

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : ***

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : early spring (September) Have planted both seedlings and from saved seed. Both seem to do well.

Harvested : From December

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry seeds. Plant in spring.

We had mixed results with our tomatoes. We Planted in early spring using a mixture of seeds and seedlings. For some reason it was the cherry and grape tomatoes that did very well while the larger varieties were very poor.

We probably planted too many too close together and then failed to thin them out. The leaves eventually got a disease of some sort and the plants died off in mid-summer. Even so we estimate we got 20-30 kg of tomatoes before cropping stopped.

We are currently trying a cold weather crop but they grow very slowly and don't seem to flower much so growing in cold weather seems to be a waste of time.

Pests that caused a problem were moth grubs (the same ones that attack our chillies and capsicums.)

The second season tomatoes were planted in early spring but in December they seemed to suffer from some sort of wilt disease. We still got a good crop but it could have been much better.

Ease of growing : ****

Pest resistance : **

Ease of further propagation : *****

Production : *****

Planted : early spring (September)

Harvested : From late November

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry seeds. Plant in spring. (Seeds failed to germinate)

An unusual type of zucchini that is not easy to get. Yet another male/female flowered plant that benefits greatly from manual fertilisation.

These cropped fairly well considering we only had one plant to start with. The plant lasted all through summer and has only just started to die off (April).

The eating qualities of these are superior to zucchini and their storage life is much longer. They will cross pollinate with zucchini but seeds in the resulting 'fruit' will be sterile.

We hope we do have one true bred 'fruit' and we are hoping that seeds from it will allow us to start new plants next season.

Purchased as a seedling. No pests noticed. Definitely not a cold weather plant.

Ease of growing : ***

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : **

Planted : Early winter (June)

Harvested :

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Re-plant tuber sections.

This looks a bit similar to ginger - except for the colour - and we are wondering what will happen with the tuber. We are trying to grow it for the leaves rather than for the tuber.

Ease of growing : Unknown

Pest resistance : Unknown

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : Unknown

Planted : Planted  in early spring (September) from seed

Harvested : These took a long time to grow and we only started harvesting in December. Another crop (planted in January) grew faster and we started harvesting in late March. If the leaves and stems are taken and some leaf and root left behind they will readily re-generate.

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Unknown yet

They need a lot of water as the name suggests.

Ease of growing : ***

Pest resistance : ****

Ease of further propagation : Unknown

Production : ***

Planted : early spring (September) with good results but a planting in early autumn (March) failed. The first year we grew these from seedlings and the second year we are trying them from commercial seed. (Saved seed failed).

Harvested : From late November

Position : Afternoon shade.

Propagation: Save and dry seeds Plant in spring. Saved seeds have not worked well.

We had two separate lots of zucchini. The first consisted of only 4 plants and they produced very well over summer. We planted a second lot in early autumn and they produced just three zucchini before the plants started to die off. Definitely not a cold weather plant.

Bought as seedlings, no pests noticed. Overhead watering does tend to encourage mildew on the leaves.

The second type of zucchini (see second picture to the left) has grown well  and is harvesting from mid-November but the flavour of the zucchini is not as good at the dark skinned variety.

Ease of growing : ***

Pest resistance : *****

Ease of further propagation : *

Production : ***

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